Pricing Commissions

[Brother Heinrich]

Hey Folks,

 

Just wanted to see what the general opinion was for pricing on commission work & how you go about pricing it out (i.e. Point values, model count, model size, etc.). More specifically what do you guys would think a fair price for the work I do would be. These are some examples of models I've painted just for reference as to the standard I usually do:

 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q532/mv8830/Night%20Lords%20II/509f9f4c-fadf-4ddc-800a-102e64e023dd_zps8fbaa6d9.jpg

 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q532/mv8830/Night%20Lords%20II/1977366_10152702684803761_1077778513_n_zps073cfc26.jpg

 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q532/mv8830/Commissions/fca4760a-e4c8-4267-bb6e-0a7e496e6de4_zps9cf1084d.jpg

 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q532/mv8830/DSC00477_zpsfefe80c1.jpg

 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q532/mv8830/1904060_10152646959423761_850781098_n_zps41c83037.jpg

 

I know commission work is hardly a lucrative trade and more a labor of love, I'm just trying not to sell myself short on the work I do, while still being fair about pricing. Any advice, recommendations, thoughts, etc. would be greatly appreciated as I love painting and building armies, however I can't justify doing it for nothing, especially given the amount of personal time it takes up. Thanks in advance everyone. Cheers!

[Teetengee]

On average(if batch painting divide total time by number of models) how long (of actual dedicated painting time, not including drying) does it take you to do an infantry model? a bigger model? a centerpiece? a monstrous creature? a vehicle?

How quickly do you go through paints?/How much paint do you use per model?

 

Will you be making them? Converting them? Just painting?

 

I would imagine that minimum price would be 3-5 times the material cost if you are just painting, and double the material cost if you are starting from sprue. (keep in mind the cost of modelling putty and super glue in that case as well). Chances are you may charge significantly more than that though.

[Chaeron]

Consider looking at other commission painters first - see what they're charging and at what standard they paint. You want to be comparable within the market, without being cheap or expensive. The trouble is, there are a lot of people out there doing it - the guideline seems to be you pay the RRP of the models to have them painted... So to have a Tactical Squad painted, the box is £25, you would charge £25. Not saying that's foolproof - and there are plenty of factors like standard etc. - but worth considering.

[Kaedes Nex]

I'd hire you for commissions.

 

The thing you have to remember about pricing is you need to charge enough to make it worth doing for you, personally, but your customers will always want it as low as possible. Even the rich guys who pay $100-200 for a single HQ would appreciate a price drop in theory.

 

I'm not an extremely critical judge, so I'd honestly consider these display quality even if they're not competition level. The tidiness of the paintjob and overall attractiveness of the models would land this at a high tabletop standard. If you end up charging a price lower than the average or for what your painting level is worth, you will get a lot of clients for this level of work. There is a guy called Azard from 4chan's /tg/ board who does great work and charges far too little for his work, like less than 75% MSRP of the kits themselves.

 

I think that's a good basis to work around. The cost of the models and the cost of the paintjob. The best artists charge more than the cost of the models, easily. Often two or even three times as much.

[krushgroove]

I tend to think starting at retail price is the lower end of what I'd charge, depending on what the client wants. Lots of weathering, conversions, basing, etc., can add to the cost so I stress that my first cost is an *estimate* and not the final total. This really helps if the client is very particular and has very specific demands or (worst of all) wants something re-done.