Commissions and other costs

Lauriek · Joined: 08 Nov 2009 Posts: 9 Location: Melbourne

Being new to this forum and now starting to sell my work - how/what do I charge if I've been commissioned to do a work? Is there a set formula, for example, cost of materials + 50% (whatever) then say a cost per hour? How do the rest of you do it?

Next question - how do you price your work? I went to a gallery opening on the weekend, got a list of the artists' works and there were the prices attached. Should I go around to various galleries and see what sell for what prices?

marri · Joined: 28 Aug 2009 Posts: 219 Location: Western Australia

I will post a reply although I am probably not the best qualified here to do so. Like all commodities, art is worth what the market is prepared to pay. I have talked to people who started out by setting very low prices on their art to get sales, then ramped the cost up as they (a) got a better idea of what the market was prepared to pay and (b) got a name for themselves. Others set the a higher price and concentrate on building up a solid body of work to exhibit. For your commission you might want to look at similar works and negotiate with your purchaser. If you want to work out a formula that might be a sarting point - I have not heard of a "set" formula... too many variables.

Negotiate - set your goal amount - add a margin to negotiate away (50%?), sit the client down with wine, coffee, etc - and start talking dirty.

sunfire · Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 1156 Location: Toodyay

Somewhere in this forum, most of this has been discussed with some interesting results, but I haven't had time to try to locate it again, perhaps try a search. Very Happy

sunfire · Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 1156 Location: Toodyay

Here's one topic I found
http://www.artforum.com.au/vtopic12154-0-asc-0.html

Amandav · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Hervey Bay

gggraph · Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:23 am Post subject: Re - Commissions and other costs

I haven't (yet) had a 'fine' art commission, but I've been doing commercial illustration for some time.

Amanda has pretty much summed it up - in my case I work out the probable hours the work will take, time my hourly rate, plus materials. The same principals apply for fine art, except you may have framing cots as well, and the hourly rate tends to be lower Crying or Very sad

Something I would add from the commercial side, is to take EVERY opportunity (if it's a major commission) to make sure the client is going to be happy with the final piece. I submit a rough, a detailed line drawing, a colour study and technique examples before I start on the real job. I have to do these anyway, and showing them to the client (A) makes them feel part of the process and (B) helps avoid nasty surprises in the end like "Oh, I thought you'd put a sailing ship in the background, instead of the lighthouse". Many clients can see things in their head, and assume you can see it too...

Or alternatively, some of my clients can't see anything in their head and have to see it on paper to realise it's a horrible mistake...*

Cheers

Grant

* sometime, I'll tell you about the sports car, in a T-shirt, ordering a drink at the bar...

thecatsgrin · Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 2163 Location: Gippsland

* sometime, I'll tell you about the sports car, in a T-shirt, ordering a drink at the bar...

When are you starting that thread Grant??! Very Happy

I began pricing based on what I was happy with, which turned out to be very cheap. I have since raised my prices, on some sizes I have more than doubled them, but they are still on the cheap side.
When I get a bit more experience then I would perhaps do as Amanda said and charge similar to similar type work etc...
There is a cents per square cm rule that some people follow (ie. 5 cents per square centimeter regardless of the time it takes to paint the picture) But I dont follow that at all... It may work for some, but is not for me!
I am pretty slack in taking deposits for comissions but I highly recommend doing so, and as mentioned, charge a little extra to normal, as there is usually alot of fuss and bother in bringing someone elses vision to life!
At the moment I am being tortured by the prospect of a commission I have to do, but i wont knock it... there may be a time I want more commissions of that nature.

Good luck!