Co-authored with Zubaida Nazzal
In the previous article, we mostly focused on pricing for beginners and how it’s important to gain customers and clients before you focus on profit, but what about the next phase? after you gain your clients and have more experience? Will material and time be the only pricing elements? or is there more to pricing thatn just an hourly rate and material?
Pricing elements
Many elements contribute into determining the prices of your products and/or services, here is a list of all the contributing elements in order to help you determine your prices:
1. Time:
At the beginning, you might not be able to determine the actual time it takes, so make sure to keep an eye on the clock from now on, and determine the approximate time it takes you to do the job, a timer can do great job with that. At the beginning, it might seem that you get 60$ for 3 hours of work, but as you advance, it will be 60$ for just an hour. With better skills, you’ll finish the job quicker. However, don’t use time as the only factor for your pricing, as it might be unfair sometimes to you, if the work is detailed and demanding. Keep in mind, the better you are, the faster you are; thus, it won’t be fair to finish the job better and quicker, and take the same payment or even less.
2. Details and requirements:
Simple work needs skills and effort in order to deliver it flawlessly, but you can’t deny that it takes less time and effort than complex and detailed work. A simple cartoon portrait for example will defiantly take less time and effort than a realistic portrait of the same character. The size of the work in case you are working traditionally will surely affect the price as well. In crafts, size and details matter as well.
3. Materials used:
Materials are one of the most important factors in pricing, chalk pastel is way cheaper than pan pastel, and oil paint is more costly than acrylic paint. After you calculate your hourly rate, make sure to include the estimated value of the materials used. If you had to buy the materials specifically for the job as agreed upon with the client, then the client shall be made aware of the total cost. Don’t forget to add the costs of searching for certain materials the client assigned you to look for. In some cases a client might want you to photograph using certain lenses or equipment.
4. Deadline:
In general, it’s up to the provider (Creatives) to determine the work duration and when the work will be delivered. However, if the client requests a shorter period, then you might consider charging an urgent fee if you see fit. Any shortening of the period you determined can be a reason for extra charge as you might have to work on your personal time, or postpone other clients.
5. Edits:
Clients like free stuff of course, and it’s advisable to give the clients free edits, but NOT on your own account. It depends on the project you are working on, but usually 2 free edits are advisable.
The easiest way to go about this is to present the first sketch or storyboard to the client, after getting the approval and edits from the client, you can start working on the project, after you’re done, the client gets a certain number of free edits. Any extra edits, means an extra charge, including of course a remake request. If the client decided after finishing the job and giving their approval that they do not want it anymore and want something else, then it’s a new charge for a new project.
The reason be it, making edits will take time, and remaking will mean a new project, and you have already done the work approved by the client, so if he doesn’t see it fit after you deliver the work as requested, then you are entitled to extra payment. However, if you could not deliver the work as requested by the client, then the fault will be on you and you cannot ask for any extra charges.
6. Rights and Copyrights:
The rights of the creative work are automatically owned by the artist, unless it is a fan art of a protected creative work or owned by a person or company via a contract initially signed. Some clients request using the artwork for branding purposes; thus, let it be clear if the copyrights are transferred to them or not. The price is usually agreed upon between you and the client depending on the usage. After you sell them the copyright, the creative work becomes theirs, and you cannot use it anymore, either for a specific period of time or at all, depending on your agreement.
7. Quantity:
In case of traditional art, photographs, digital prints and products, each piece shall be priced on its own, and generally speaking it’s more advisable to give clients a discount to attract them, and make them feel cared for with you. The higher the quantity, the cheaper the piece, make sure to set a price that satisfy you and doesn’t feel unfair to you.
8. Colors and values:
Usually coloring takes more time, skills, materials and effort than using monochrome – greyscale, black or even a single color. Therefore, consider it when pricing your creative work. did you have to buy 2 paints or 6? did you have to do lots of colors research and color schemes or not?
9. Style:
Some styles are simpler and take less time than others, thus you might consider presenting the client with a clear list of the styles you can provide. You can set the price according to your experience, and determine which are more expensive than others.
the pricing will depend on the skill and experience needed to achieve such results, the time and effort and any research or studying related.
10. Project size:
The size of the job helps you change the price, for example, if the client needs a small job, give him the hourly rate, but if he wants a lot of work over a period of time, then consider giving him a discount and lower the hourly rate in order to obtain a sustainable job.
In the end, make sure to take your time to calculate your price before giving it to the client , consider all the contributing elements and factors. And be sure, that working with the right price will guarantee your comfort and improvement in productivity.
Stay tuned for part 3!