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how much to charge for a commission

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  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
how much to charge for a commission
Posted by smeagol the vile on Sunday, January 3, 2010 12:58 AM

A friend of mine wants to commission me to paint a 5inch McFarlain Halo figure that he customised.  He wants to know how much it would cost, but im not sure.  What do you guys think is a good price?

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Canada / Czech Republic
Posted by upnorth on Sunday, January 3, 2010 5:19 AM

Before you can tell him how much it will cost, you have to get a better idea of exactly what he wants you to do with it and how much money he had in mind to pay you. As he is your friend, you could of course work in a discount if you liked.

In my former career of graphic design I did commission work a lot. The bane of any pricing negotiation is when the client asks you to provide some sort of estimate but gives you only the most bare bones idea of what they want. It's up to you to get more info out of them, pin them down to details. DO NOT commit to a firm figure if they won't give you enough to create an accurate number from; that's a recipe for either ripping them off because you over estimated or ripping yourself off because you underestimated.

Things to consider:

1: Their budget for it:

Don't offer them more than their planned expenditure dictates.

2: Time and materials:

You need to know how much detail they want and what sorts of detail if you are to properly calculate how much time it will take you to complete it and how much any extra materials you may need to complete it will cost.

3: The value of your time:

You know how much your time is worth to you and that you could be doing a lot of other things with it; make sure the other party knows this from an early stage of negotiations. You will not get much respect in negotiations if you do not show that you value your time.

A lot of people sell themselves short and set themselves up to take a loss because they don't defend the value of their time enough. I think this is a psychological thing as a lot of us probably have a little voice in the back of our heads (likely a parent's voice) telling us not to be "Greedy". Valuing your time is NOT greedy, it's self respect, full stop.

4: Balancing the above three:

More often than not, you will have to tell that potential client that their planned expenditure and the level of detail they are expecting simply are not compatible with each other. It's not unusual at all for a potential client to ask for the moon and the stars at a near slave labour cost.

It's not that they are really out to rip you off; quite often they just have no idea at all what goes on on your end of things, so you have to educate them a bit. Take some time to show them what you do, how you do it, the materials you use and their associated costs as well as the time it takes to achieve the results that you do. After that, it's on them if they want to continue to persue the project with you.

If they want to continue, then you either have to talk them up in price or talk them down in detail. They'll have to decide where the compromise will be.

The cost of your time, unless you're doing the project for friends or charity, should be non-negotiable. you have to draw your line somewhere and, as a service/product provider, this is where you do it. You get no respect from others if you aren't strong enough to show self respect. Just don't forget where self respect ends and conciet and arrogance startWink

Once you and your potential client strike an agreeable balance, you should be able to carry out the commission with minimum risk of disappointment to you or your client.

Pitfalls to watch for:

1: Your hobby as a money making prospect:

Using arts, crafts and hobbies to make money can be very difficult as a lot of potential clients will just think you're doing it for the joy of it and the creative rush more than the money. That's fine if you have another source of primary income and you just do some piece work from time to time. However, if commission work becomes a bigger part of your income, you have to know when it's time for the hobby hat to come off and the business hat to go on.

My mother loves sewing and embroidery and has done both for years both as a hobby and as a source of money. She does have a normal career to make the majority of her income, but she does do a lot of sewing work for friends. Her work will get admired by friends of those friends and they will want her to do some sewing or embroidery for them. Nearly 100% of the time when she gets approached for work for friends of friends they are shocked at her estimates for the work. She always carefully and patiently explains to them where the costs are incured and so forth and how the estimate breaks down. Quite often the person approaching her for the work will back out.

Lots of people are more than willing to "Ooooh and aaaah" at your work and tell you how much they like it. A lot of the time, if they like it enough to enquire about commission work, they will back out quickly if they can't get it for a price that would amount to the same as them throwing a few coins at some street kid in a third world country selling jewellery made from scrap metal.

You can see a parallel to this situation in our hobby. As modelers, we go on and on about how we would like to see this that or the other kit produced but a lot of us are woefully ignorant of the processes and costs involved in making a new kit.  We have in our heads an idea of how much we might be willing to pay for said kit if it ever came to be, but if we were ever sat down by those making the kit and had the whole process outlined for us and had the breakdown of the MSRP explained to us a lot of us might back out of wanting that kit in short order.

2: Legalities:

Of course they don't affect every transaction, especially those between friends, and they differ jursdiction to juisdiction. however, when you do commissions for people you don't know personally or for organisations, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get eveverything in writing! Have a paper trail to protect yourself with if things get ugly. This is especially important for larger more complex commissions or if you do enough commissions on the year that it could be considered taxable income. Basically, cover your backside. Your potential client might see it as nit picky and bureaucratic of you, but in the long run you're doing both parties a big favour by insisting on it.

Sorry for being so long winded about it, but a lot of people really underestimate all of what's involved and very quickly get in over their heads and into serious financial and even legal trouble doing this sort of thing ignorantly.

I have no idea how deeply you want to get into commission work, but if you want to look at it as potentially serious income, do yourself the favour of signing up for some evening or weekend business courses. Making the product is one thing, but don't underestimate the importance of good basic business skills.

I hope I've been helpful and not put you to sleep.Smile

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Sunday, January 3, 2010 3:23 PM

Thanks for the info, thats really helpful!

the client is a friend of mine, we were in a band together for a bit etc.  Hes bought some of my old transformers off of me for a fair price (more then I could have gotten off of ebay) so I trust him.

I already told him that it would cost materials plus my time, and I also told him it wouldnt be a quick thing.

Overall the project is pretty simple, its just a clean paint job of a custom built action figure.
The only reason I decided to take it this early (told him he would have to wait) is because FINALLY I got myself a girlfriend, and I have no job so I need some income, and this doesnt seem a hard job at all.  the hardest parts are going to be pannel lining the thing (ALOT of them) and he wants a Triforce (from zelda) on the dude's shoulder, and we all know how hard it is to paint yellow.  I'm gona mask it, and if that dont work, im gona just buy some decal paper and make a decal for it.

 

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Neenah, WI
Posted by HawkeyeHobbies on Sunday, January 3, 2010 4:08 PM

You know what they say about doing business with friends and family. Whistling

Gerald "Hawkeye" Voigt

http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/

 

 

"Its not the workbench that makes the model, it is the modeler at the workbench."

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Monday, January 4, 2010 2:48 PM

My prices are thus:

10.00 per hour to paint.

15.00 per hour to build & paint.

20.00 per hour if you watch me do either.

25.00 per hour if you help me do either.

50.00 per hour if you constantly call me for "progress reports" or "just stop by to see how I'm doing".

100.00 per hour if you tried to build & paint it yourself before you bring it to me..

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Monday, January 4, 2010 5:09 PM

none of those sound to bad, though< if there watching, I say charge more, that stuffs disconserting.

 

  • Member since
    September 2007
  • From: Truro Nova Scotia, Canada
Posted by SuppressionFire on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 1:32 PM

Capitalism at its best, supply and demand. Hitting each curve dead center is the hard part.

As a modeler who tends to go over board on scratch building I would like to see finished commission projects, the price clients paid and how long it took the builder to complete. I'm sure it would add enlightment into this question. That being said can anyone who has been paid to build a commission share this with the community? Thanks, looking forward to $eeing a few!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/razordws/GB%20Badges/WMIIIGBsmall.jpg

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:00 AM

I didn't have a digital camera at the time I was doing my last build... I had a POS web cam that I could take small pics with, but they were pretty poor... Example:

I won't let anything go out the door without photos again though...  My last one was a diorama with 13 1/35th vehicles (6 ea M109 howitzers, M548 carriers, one Humvee, and 43 figures... That one was a flat-fee of 1500.00... I didn't make much on it, but it was a retirement gift to a former Battery Commander of mine from his wife, had to do about 60% of the work on-site as well.. The entire diorama was on an 8-piece base measuring 8 x 16 feet...

  • Member since
    September 2007
  • From: Truro Nova Scotia, Canada
Posted by SuppressionFire on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 5:57 PM

Thanks Hans!

Thats a lot of work and plenty of plastic, I see how you calculate not much was made on that one. Impressive indeed, maybe the proud new owner can get you some pictures to post for the community to enjoy. Bow Down

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/razordws/GB%20Badges/WMIIIGBsmall.jpg

 

 

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