How to Tell a Client That Art Costs Money

Long time readers of TAA know today's guest affiche, Melissa Dinwiddie. She's ane smart cookie, and happens to be my partner in ArtEmpowers. Melissa has written here at TAA about how her art career nigh destroyed her happiness, and has been mentioned as 1 of my 7 favorite art bloggers.

Recently an artist emailed me and told me that in that location was essentially no way that a person can draw pictures and sell them on the Internet for a significant sum of money. In response, I'd encourage you to read this postal service, and then check out Melissa'southward website. I completely love this post, and every artist should pay attending.

Practise you lot struggle with pricing your piece of work? I sure exercise, and most artists I know have the same problem.

In my many years of selling my artwork (and selling my instruction, consulting, music performances, and a whole lot more, as well), I've had to larn how to set my prices the hard way. I wish I knew then what I know now!

In the hopes that you don't have to get through what I did, I'd like to share with you five of the near important lessons I've learned about pricing. This is in no way a definitive guide, and I don't have a simple one-size-fits-all formula to offer you (lamentable!), but hopefully these tips volition be helpful.

Important Pricing Lesson #1: If you're feeling resentment toward your clients or customers, it's a skillful bet yous need to raise your prices.

When I offset started out, like many artists, I woefully undercharged for my work.

Existence woefully underpaid leads to feeling woefully undervalued, and, sooner or afterwards, resentful. In the centre of executing my third ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) commission (which took106 hours to create, and for which I ended up earning not much more than minimum wage), I felt and so resentful of the lovely and delightful young couple I was creating the piece for that I came a hair'southward breadth away from never accepting some other ketubah commission.

Resentment will do that.

Thankfully, I realized that what I needed was non to quit;what I needed was to raise my prices! Which I immediately did.

From that moment on, I used resentment as a reliable gauge to tell me when I was charging too little.

My advice: at a minimum, you should set your prices so that if someone buys from yous, yous experience well paid, and there isn't even a blink of resentment.

Important Pricing Lesson #2: Nothing adept comes from getting defensive near your pricing.

Sometime after learning the lesson higher up, I met with a couple in my living room for a consultation about a possible ketubah commission.

They flipped through my portfolio and raved nearly my work, pointing out specific elements of previous pieces that they liked and telling me the images and colors they wanted incorporated into their own ketubah. I drew a few crude concept sketches, I gave them a price approximate, and later some discussion about timing, they wrote me a deposit cheque for 1/iii of the judge.

A few days later the bride-to-be called. "We really beloved your work," she said, "but my friends are telling me it's too expensive. I can get a ketubah from some other artist a lot cheaper."

SMACK. SUCKER-Punch MOMENT.

Tin can yous say "flustered?" Tin you say "buttons pushed?" That would be me correct then.

What I wish I'd said was, "If you like what I do, this is what I accuse. If you don't want to pay that, you don't have to buy information technology."

Instead, I blathered defensively mosthow much fourth dimension a ketubah takes me to create, trying toexplain and defend my pricing, feeling worse with every word that fell out of my mouth. (Although to my credit, I did not offer to lower the price!)

Oh, it was ugly. And painful. One of those moments in which you wish y'all could hit rewind, delete, and start all over. Like that.

If you similar what I practise, this is what I charge. If you don't want to pay it, you don't have to buy it. Period.

When someone challenges your pricing, your impulse may be to want to justify why you lot charge what you do. (If so, you're non alone! I still struggle with this!)

But yous know what? None of your justifications are relevant. All that's relevant is this:

If you like what I do, this is what I charge. If y'all don't want to pay it, you don't take to purchase it. Menses.

Practice this one, and have it at the ready the adjacent someone tells you you're charging too much.

Important Pricing Lesson #3: Some money is too expensive.

When I was trying to justify and explain the price estimate for that couple'southward ketubah, I felt icky in a weak, whiny, victimy sort of mode. And if my intention had been to salvage the sale, it totally backfired.

Now that I felt all disrespected and wimpy, there was no mode I could work for this client.

Of course, it's unlikely I would have wanted to work for them anyway — it'due south very unpleasant to work for a client who doesn't value what you practice. Plus they usually make the biggest PITA (Pain In The Donkey) clients.

Clients are PITA clients when they don't value your work, when they treat you like a servant or are only generally rude, when they don't go back to you in a timely fashion (and so force y'all to cease their projection in a rush!), when they're overly demanding…

I've learned from hard experience that working for PITA clients is never worth it. Or as an ex-boyfriend of mine liked to say, "Some coin is too expensive." Learn to say no and look for "less expensive" money (ie, customers and clients who are a pleasure to piece of work with and sell to).

Of import Pricing Lesson #4: State your toll, then close upward!

In one case I met with a couple who'd flown all the way from the east coast to meet with me well-nigh creating a ketubah for their anniversary.

I knew the extremely detailed design they wanted me to create would be incredibly time-consuming, probably more so than whatsoever ketubah I'd ever made. I had been continually raising my prices, little past little, but the amount I knew I'd accept to accuse in gild to non feel resentful was more than I'd ever made on any single piece! I really wanted this commission, but I was agape the clients would balk if I quoted a toll that would really pay me for my time. (The fact that they flew from the other side of the country to run into with me should take given me a clue to how much they were willing to pay, but equally I said, I'd never charged that much before, so I had no experience of anyone existence willing to pay it.)

I stole some time by telling the couple that what they were looking for was at (what was and then) the "high end" of my toll range.

"And so, um," I stumbled ahead, "That would amount to, um, near, um, $5,000…"

If just I had kept my oral cavity closed right then…

Instead, I got all nervous and freaky that they were going to totally balk on me, and before I even gave them time to reply, I watched in horror every bit out of my mouth came the words, "…but if that's also much for you, I can ever simplify the blueprint…"

"Bogus! Bogus!" screamed my inner voice, "The pattern never gets simplified in reality! Maxim you can simplify the design but ways yous'll work just as hard for less coin!"

Alas, my inner voice was too late, and I continued "…and I tin arrive for $4,000.. or $3,000…"

I could nearly see the words flying out into the air above my dining room table, and I longed for goose egg more than to catch them and stuff them dorsum into my mouth.

But information technology was too late. The husband responded without batting an middle, "Well, $three,000, $4,000, $5,000 — it'southward however to me. But I'm a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, then why don't we go with the $4,000 version?"

And just like that, in a affair of seconds, I lost $1,000.

Ouch.

Whatever yous practise, don't talk your client out of a sale. State your price, then close up! Exit space for your client to answer earlier you do anything else. They may surprise you. And if they're not comfortable with your cost, so y'all can negotiate — or not — equally you wish.

Of import Pricing Lesson #5: If someone's willing to pay it, it's worth at to the lowest degree that much.

Every bit I became more particular about whom I would piece of work for (ie, no more PITA clients!) and how much I wanted to be paid (at least plenty and so that I wouldn't experience resentful!), I got more and more confident about commanding college and higher prices.

If a project was non something I was excited well-nigh doing, I'd merely charge a lot, figuring that few would be willing pay it. And if for some strange reason they did pay it, I'd feel well paid for my efforts, so information technology would be worth it.

Well, blow me over with a feather — sometimes somebody did pay information technology!

Many times I've quoted prices anticipating that a project would accept me, say, 40 hours, and then completed the work in half, or even a quarter of that.

The start few times that happened I felt guilty, and nigh offered to lower the price. Thankfully, I realized that the clients weren't paying me for my fourth dimension. They didn't care if information technology took me 15 hours, 150 hours, or 1,500 hours! They were buying the piece of art that they were dreaming of owning.

To their heed, the corporeality that we had agreed on to begin with was what that slice of fine art was worth.

Which makes it that much easier to accuse that much next time. If y'all've been charging $500 for your work but one person'south happy to pay yous $ane,000, you tin can honestly say that your work is worth that much… at least to that 1 person. And if i person is willing to pay it, that social proof makes it easier to command that toll with the next person to come forth!

(This is ane big reason I recommend pricing by the project or piece, rather than by the hour. It's too why it'due south so important to learn to find your Right People — the ones who are more than than happy to pay your prices to buy what you lot offering. The ones who validate that yep, your work is worth what you accuse.)

Summing upwardly

So there you lot have it. My top 5 pricing lessons, all learned the hard way. I hope you notice this helpful.

Do y'all have anything to add together? If y'all have any hard-won pricing lessons, delight share them in the comments below!

Melissa Dinwiddie is an artist, writer, performer and inspirationalist, on a mission to empower people to follow their ain creative callings. She coaches and consults with individuals and groups and leads creativity workshops and retreats in inspiring locations around the earth every bit well as online. Through her partner project with Cory Huff, ArtEmpowers.Me, Melissa helps artists to deprogram themselves of the "starving artist" mindset and larn to thrive from their fine art. You lot can find Melissa at Living A Creative Life, Playing Around Workshops, and Melissa Sings.

Want More on Pricing?

• How to Toll Art Prints
• Pay What You Will Pricing
• The five Rules of Art Pricing

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Source: https://theabundantartist.com/5-art-pricing-lessons/

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