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Commissions-R-Us — Road to Success: Before Opening Commissions
Published: 2016-05-05 05:56:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 19563; Favourites: 10; Downloads: 0
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Hello guys, earlier today we were messaged by JWatkinsArt about a journal they made giving advice about commissions, so be sure to give it a read 
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TL;DR:
If you guys have any other advice to anyone else has that you don't see covered, feel free to post it in the comments and we'll add it to the list
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Comments: 20
I'm trying to make a commission journal in this group. I dont know quite how to yet but I'll figure it out-
If you check on my profile, I've made portraits, and I wanna do commissions like that -- realistic seems to be what I'm more comfortable with. I dont know how much to sell portraits for though, I sold two for three dollars each. Does that seem alright?
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You can start with lower prices and work your way up. If people want your art, they will buy it. It may cause a slow period, but it will build up again if you continue to advertise your work. I started with cheap pricing and worked my way up. I still have people that commissioned me when my stuff was cheap continue to commission me after I've raised prices. They see the value in my work and are willing to pay for that value.
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You can, but it's an uphill battle.
The point is, why would you want to set yourself up for that? Why spend months or even years building up your client base, only to set yourself up to have to do it all over again? I think it's better to take the slow period when you first start out and just build a solid market that can afford to stay with you through the years.
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That's the nature of having your own business. At some point you're going to have to change your pricing. As an artist improves their skill, work can become more detailed and more time consuming vs. when an artist originally started. I see prices change from artists often, and usually it's once a year or so. Art supplies don't get cheaper for those that do traditional work, and computer software / computers in general need repairs etc. which also costs money. From a business standpoint, you need to have enough money to make to balance out those expenses. It's not just draw and keep the money for bills. It's drawing and making sure you're earning enough for bills AND your business expenses. When you start off you don't have a lot to lose, but as it grows you have A LOT to lose if something goes wrong.
I'm not saying an artist should start off with a $5 commission and then suddenly change it to $40. A gradual raise should be in place yearly, not monthly, depending on (again) the expenses. Obviously an artist shouldn't short themselves either, but if you started off charging $20 a full body shaded piece of art, and then a few years later it's now $80, that's fine. I've seen it done, and I've seen people willing to pay their favorite artist that money. People aren't just paying you for art, they're paying you because they like you. They've developed a trust that they value and are willing to pay for it, even if the price goes up. You're also assuming those who commission just want cheap art and aren't willing to pay more, which is also wrong. Many people who have commissioned me have also commissioned people who charge three times what I charge. That's not a bad thing at all, but it makes me aware that if my prices were to be the same I'd also have the potential of getting commissions for prices like that.
The fact I've personally changed my pricing three times over the past 4 years and I still have the same people returning to commission me tells me they value me as an artist and my work. When I get back to advertising my stuff again I know I can raise up a reoccurring fan-base. An artist shouldn't be afraid to realize their skill level / work load is worth more than their current pricing.
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Okay, I think there may have been a misunderstanding.
An artist can absolutely start with lower prices and work their way up, but they still shouldn't charge less than minimum wage, because at that point there is literally no chance of making a living off your artwork. People in the United States can't live on minimum wage.
The point I'm more trying to get across in that aspect is that if you build a market off selling artwork for $1.00 for a full color picture - that's the market you're building. The people buying artwork at that amount aren't likely going to be the same ones that follow you to $40.00 or $150.00 or $300.00. I've seen some AMAZING artists selling their work for $5.00 because it's what people on the forum tell them it's worth, which is incredibly sad.
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Oh I'm definitely not saying someone should seriously under charge to begin with! I think artists who get stuck in the 'do a lot for little' mentality have little to no confidence in their work. I was more saying start off with proper pricing and raise accordingly down the line.
What I started off doing was have quick stream sketches for cheap, but pointed out that quality wasn't going to amazing or beautiful. Then as people got hooked and my skill better, I altered what the stream sketches were, and offered discounts should someone want to see it finished later on (such as a fully shaded image was $40, but if a sketch was already approved in a stream and paid for in the past then it would be $35). I never planned on doing it for awhile but I realized people enjoyed it and so did I.
I also think that they don't realize customers who only cared about pricing and get in a fit about a price raise aren't people worth working with again in the future. I don't want a customer who comes to me only to complain about the price, because they'll start pushing me to do more for less and that's a situation that no one wants to be in. Artists naturally being mostly introverts, confrontation is something a lot just don't want to bother with and I think they just give in thinking it will save a lot of headaches, which sadly it does not. Maybe instead of talking about commission pricing, it needs to be clear to artists who are thinking about this that first and foremost, this is a business and you are offering a service that deserves to be paid fairly, and those who do not honor that business need not commission. Confrontation is going to happen, you'll have uncomfortable conversations and bad situations, and knowing this before hand might have some artists rethink doing commissions or at least prepare themselves properly for it. I actually don't see a lot of talk about that at all, and I think when artists realize that this side of doing business exists, it will help them rethink their prices.
At the end of the day though, it is up to the artist how they want to run their business. They have their reasons for it, and we should respect it regardless.
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I would suggest that before you open to commissions, be comfortable with your style.
Sadly there are many who will open commissions but are too varied in their style of what they do. People hire you because they want YOUR style, not a copy of someone else's style or something that has many different versions to it. It is fine to offer things like chibi, pixel, and realistic, but this goes more for like coloring and shading. Make sure your coloring and shading is consistent to all the work you are showing as your examples. Humans like things simple and don't want to see 20 different options, the less options you have, the better and more comfortable a human will feel internally. We many not realize this ourselves, but the more options you offer a human, the more confused and stressful they feel and thus they less likely they are going to buy. Less options = less stress= more sales.
Also, I got this tip from someone a while back when it came to selling things for the first time. Offer up deals! Humans love deals!
For example: If this is your first time commissioning me, you get 15% off the total price.... or... If this is your first time commissioning me, if you purchase anything over $25, you get this simple cute chibi for free!
If you offer up a free gift, i suggest doing something simple, that won't take too much out of you, but will be worth it in the end for the commissioner.
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If you like to work with different media (Vector, digital paint, traditional) and your style differs with each medium.
Would you say it's smarter to limit the media you work in?
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I would say no, only because then you limit yourself too heavily. If you are not willing to broaden your abilities and your horizons, then you will, sooner or later, encounter that wall and be stuck. Then what will you do? It is good to specialize in something, yes, but to say you can only digital or traditional will prevent you from growing and even doing things you may want to do in the future. For example, if all you sell is prints of your work, then what will do if you meet a client in person who wants to have sketches right on the spot and has not time to wait for them to get printed? Now you might just say, well, if I bring a computer with me, I can draw it right there and send it to them via email? You still encounter the problem of them needing the physical version there and now.
I mean, a lot of this is also refers to what field you are going in to. For example, if you are working with animators, and you are responsible for setting up the storyboards, all that is usually still done traditionally as you end up having hundreds of cards posted on a board and many parts are edited right there as you walk through them. Then you still need to have knowledge in digital to be able to take those storyboard images, refine them, and put them to pace of the music, voice, and action of the scene.
So it's like a yes and no answer, but I would say, do not limit yourself. We are usually taught traditionally first anyways for good reason. You have to understand the basics first and know how to realize your mistakes without the ability to be able to edit them. That's how you grow and learn.
Make sense?
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It makes sense... It's just complicated I gues...
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Yeah, it can be. All you can really do is try and see what works best. I think it's better to focus on a specific subject matter rather than how that subject matter is performed. If you can do the same subject matter in different medias without it looking too different, then that's a good goal to have.
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That's a fantastic point, actually. Would you mind if I used it as an example in a future journal?
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Oh, this is actually really useful, thank you for sharing!
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Thanks for the tips! I shall read the other journal!
~Ced
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>>> If I charged the minimun wage for my stuff I would get zero commissions...
I agree with everything else.
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I'm Afraid to Charge Minimum Wage for My Art"If I charged minimum wage for my work I wouldn't get commissions."
"I can't charge minimum wage for my work, no one will buy it."
"My work isn't worth minimum wage."
"No one really charges that much for artwork."
It's a little upsetting to see the state of deviantArt's community. These are statements I see every day. What happened?
Well, we all know what happened. DeviantArt Points happened. I don't think it was ever the intent of the site to make these points into some new currency that would drive the overall value of the art on this site down.
But can we really blame the points? No, not really. We need to look deeper.
So what really causes the disgustingly low prices on deviantArt?
Low self-esteem and con artists.
It's sad to say it, but that's really the core of the problem. That, and that people are catering to tweens, children, and people who are willing to take full advantage of new or inexperienced artists. But I'm here to tell you something important. I'm here to say so
I disagree. DeviantArt has a bad reputation for artists being taken advantage of. There are even situations where it's better not to sell at all than to sell for less than minimum wage.
If you're at a point where you can't make that, you should consider expanding the reach of your work and really focusing on building yourself up
Trust me, you can do it!
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>>> Yeah, the problem is that I need money now.. I cant wait years to build a good customer network or become a super popular artist..
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You don't have to be a super popular artist. I'm not.
The thing is, if you're making less than minimum wage, are you really making enough to live off of? People making minimum wage in the United States can't live off of it.
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>>> Of course I dont, but atleast is better than nothing.
People cant live with the minimum wage on the US? they get paid like $10 per hour right?
Well thats enough money to live where I live (im not from USA btw).. But I cant even make that amount anyways, so is pointless to think about it.
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