How much is too much to charge for a custom?

[bagheera86]

Hey guys, Now I'm not new to painting but I'm new to painting ponies. And apparently  the Aussie Cavy sanctuary has some money owing to their preferred vet so I was thinking of trying to raise some cash! So I pondered to myself...

'What do I have to offer?'


Not alot was my very quick conclusion. I would do a bake sale but... I don't want to make anyone sick (or have someone claim I did) and then have them try to come after me for money. I don't have anything I'd like to sell so the only thing I can really offer, is commissions. I figured that I'd paint any model how they like (preferbly animals, not dolls.. unless you wanna try your luck >_>, a flat fee! and if it's really small like a breyer stable mate I'll do two for that price.

But how much is too much? I was thinking $50, and using $25 for supplies while the rest will be saved to be donated to the shelter in a lump sum, and if there's anything left over from that I'll put that aside for the shelter as well. Is that too much to charge? Is it too little? Although I will require the buyer to send the item to me with signature on delivery and signature for the return as well to give us both piece of mind.

What cha think?

[Chibiskittles]

To be honest, $25 per custom as a fee for supplies seems rather steep.  Also if you are new, $25 for a base price also seems kind of high.  I've never taken commissions before, but the 2-3 custom ponies i've done in the past never ran me more than $5-$8 for supplies (including the base, and paints which can be used over and over again, hence why i find the per custom fee steep), and they never sold for more than $10.  Pony customs however, are my only experience in this matter so my opinion is rather worthless xD

[bagheera86]

To be honest, $25 per custom as a fee for supplies seems rather steep.  Also if you are new, $25 for a base price also seems kind of high.  I've never taken commissions before, but the 2-3 custom ponies i've done in the past never ran me more than $5-$8 for supplies (including the base, and paints which can be used over and over again, hence why i find the per custom fee steep), and they never sold for more than $10.  Pony customs however, are my only experience in this matter so my opinion is rather worthless xD

Oh I noticed breyer/stone/gc customs start at $20 and can soar after that. All money goes towards the shelter if I don't spend it on supplies, plus some people might want mohair for their horses and the breyer/stone horses can get quite big and they can take a fair bit of prepping and then there's the actual painting to make it realistic. And I figure if they're my little pony sized or smaller i'll do two or three for that price. So all I'll get out of this is the joy of painting and being creative, I don't plan to pocket any of this money.

[Iceglider]

Are you talking in Australian currency? I am not familiar with the exchange rate. You might be have to charge a lower amount if you are inexperienced, but then some people might be willing to pay more for a good cause. I don't know. Just make sure you actually make money for the shelter. If you spend $20 on tons of paint and supplies and only make $20 total you might as well just donate $20. If you think you can make more I'd say go for it.

[bagheera86]

Are you talking in Australian currency? I am not familiar with the exchange rate. You might be have to charge a lower amount if you are inexperienced, but then some people might be willing to pay more for a good cause. I don't know. Just make sure you actually make money for the shelter. If you spend $20 on tons of paint and supplies and only make $20 total you might as well just donate $20. If you think you can make more I'd say go for it.

Yes this is australian dollars and it's pretty much the same as USD at the moment, give or take 10-20 cents. The spending amount is just a guesstimation and whatever is left of the $50 would go to the shelter so it'd probably be more than $25, I have quite a few paints/pastels on hand and I might need to go to buy more. But I was going by how much a tube of paint would cost and a set or single pastels and what not. So would $40 be fair then? Or $30? I wasn't sure how much to charge honestly, this is why I thought it would be best to ask to get an idea  from everyone else.

[Ambar]

do you have pics of your customs? or maybe you paint other things, you should post pics
so we can have an idea about the quality of your work and then calculate an approximate

[bagheera86]

do you have pics of your customs? or maybe you paint other things, you should post pics
so we can have an idea about the quality of your work and then calculate an approximate

Oh duh, I should have thought of that *face palm*

Post Merge: May 14, 2012, 06:48:07 PM

Okay here's the pictures I have on hand of the things I've done more recently, usually I'm doodling in photoshop because I got a tablet and for a long time I kinda gave real painting/media the bird because I was convinced my tablet was uber magical xD

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 The plaster portrait I sold recently.

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A plaster cobra... Yes I'm getting them all from the same place, that place where I paint them is like, nirvana. It's so peaceful.

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Another plaster thing. I was trying to go for a more realistic calico but it just didn't work.

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sorry for some reason it looked grainy, no matter how many times I took the picture and the next link is for my first pony custom I did for a friend in exchange for a giant simba toy. I photographed it from start to finish... I do admit I stuffed up the spots.

Cheetah pony this way.

[jupiternwndrlnd]

given that you are new to customs, I would say your price is a little high.

I have been doing customs for years, and I am just starting to charge that much. I also think your estimation on supply cost is too high. (and personally, if I was going to be donating the funds received from a custom/customs, I would donate all the money, and use my own money to buy supplies. makes it feel like more of a donation that way. at least to me)

I love that you want to help the sanctuary out! Amazing cause!
I would say, the best suggestion I could give would be to make some customs...maybe do a set of animals. Your other work shows you do well with painting....maybe do some animal portraits. Everyone loves animal themed ponies Then sell them, or auction them, and donate that money to the sanctuary.

Good luck!

[bagheera86]

given that you are new to customs, I would say your price is a little high.

I have been doing customs for years, and I am just starting to charge that much. I also think your estimation on supply cost is too high. (and personally, if I was going to be donating the funds received from a custom/customs, I would donate all the money, and use my own money to buy supplies. makes it feel like more of a donation that way. at least to me)

I love that you want to help the sanctuary out! Amazing cause!
I would say, the best suggestion I could give would be to make some customs...maybe do a set of animals. Your other work shows you do well with painting....maybe do some animal portraits. Everyone loves animal themed ponies Then sell them, or auction them, and donate that money to the sanctuary.

Good luck!

thanks, It'll probably work out better to do it that way. Guess it was too soon to do commissions ^_^;

[Colorscapesart]

There are some great ideas in this thread.  You have lovely work, it can take a little bit of time to show people what you can do.  Looking forward to seeing what you create!

[saply]

You definitely have a knack for painting. I'd love to see what you can do custom-wise!