Setting the right Fee for your Art
One of the hardest things, when it comes to creating a business or surviving in our daily life, is finding the right rates for your work. Nobody really wanna talk about money, because it’s still a topic that makes other people jealous, angry, or disappointed. Or you are just not allowed to talk about it from your company. But this is even harder for every beginner who has NO CLUE what to say when it comes to jobs or selling their own work.
I struggled a lot with that. Nobody wanted to give me a clear guideline or tips on how to deal with money in general. I needed to find it out all by myself. The thing is, i understand now, why it’s so hard to find out what your art is worth. What your skill and time is worth it. Because there are a lot of different factors, which will influence the amount of money we can say to others. And the hardest part is to keep in mind, that pricing not only has something to do with your skill level. There are other factors that will come into the game, that can raise your money bar.
I still find it hard to say the right price for my work and to find out how i can deal with it. I’m definitely not at that point to be fully confident about it but it gets better every time i have jobs and i know from my own experience, is harder to decide the price and rates for your own art than for others, because our emotions and thoughts play a big role for that. I can’t really give you a clear golden rule or guideline because that doesn’t exist. It’s the same as say, drawing this kind of artwork and you will get a lot of attention. That’s just not how the world works. In the end, it’s up to every single one of us, to find out the right path for ourselves. Everybodies path is different and that is the first thing we have to remember, especially when we look at others.
BUT i can definitely give you tips and a little inside in my own journey, how i came from 0 to what i earn now. (what is still not the best, but I’m making my way up slowly. More to that later.) And yes, i will tell you the numbers. Not talking around like many people do. Talking openly about it maybe helps you to give you a better idea of what you can do and think when it comes to pricing yourself. Be open-minded about it and see this blog as a help for your own journey.
So let’s start. :)
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🌙 Money Mindset
So the very first step we have to talk about is our mindset about money. Maybe you ask yourself why this is important. The only thing i have to do is be better in my skills, right?! Having amazing skills brings me more money. Sadly, no. I mean skills are definitely needed to get to the point of paying your bills, being independent, or living a secure life. But it’s not the only thing that defines you.
I truly believe, that our mind is so important in ALL areas of our life. Not only when it comes to money. But to start from here.
The best thing you can do in the first place is, find out how you feel when it comes to this topic. Does it make you feel happy when you think about your financial situation? Is it something you can easily deal with and being positive even when things dont work out like you wanted it to be? OR do you feel depressed, stressed, sad, jealous, unlucky? Do you feel money is a pressure, a problem, is bad, or changes people? Do you believe that only money can make you happy or save you? All those thoughts are important to find out what you really think about money.
I was always a person who got stressed when it came to money. I thought i never had money on my own and when i needed it i never had it. I saw others who always had enough and i felt unworthy of having more in my own life. Definitely not a good attitude towards money. This mindset, which i thought I’m not worthy of more, brought me exactly that - No money. Since i changed my view and thoughts about that topic, i have the feeling that more money come into my life and it gets easier to get it. I know that is more a spiritual thing but it helped me to feel way better when it comes to financial things.
Why is it important? Because i believe that, when we dont like something in our life, may it be a job, a task, a person, an emotion, a feeling, or an object, doesn’t matter what, it never gets easy to live with it. Every negativity makes our life rougher and harder to go through. That’s why it’s always important to learn how to control your mind. This needs a lot of time and inner work but it definitely helps you to think about money in a different way, which also gets better results in the end. I experienced that on my own.
When you start seeing money in a different positive light, you will notice that your stress level calms down and that you can make better decisions from that.
"Good desicions always come from a calm balanced mind. Not from an angry, sad, disspaointed, jealous, stressed, depressed mind. No.
From a calm and balanced mind."
One example that a lot of us have to deal with is when we get a job offer as an artist. The only thing we think about is, 'I NEED THAT MONEY. I NEED THAT JOB'. To have that feeling of 'needing' brings immediate stress and a bad feeling into your life, right? I was there too. Yes, we need money to pay our bills, buy food, or live in a house. But you have to control HOW your mind is thinking about it. Needing is a word that brings addiction to something, and addictions are never really good when it’s uncontrollable.
Instead of bringing an addiction up followed by negative thoughts, 'i need that money so i can pay my rent. That i dont be homeless. That i do disappoint my parents or partner. ', tell yourself something positive about it. 'I get this money, to have a healthy life. I’m grateful to get that opportunity. This money is coming at the right time. This job will bring me more experience.' Something like this. It may sound a bit esoteric or spiritual, but we all know that negative thoughts can bring a lot of bad things into our life. It can make us sick. So why not have positive thoughts to bring good things into our lives and to be more healthy? We always have the choice to go right or left.
"We act how we think and feel. When we remove the negative thought, with it goes the drama and pain."
See money as a thing that can bring more value to your life and the people around you. It is not better or worse than you. It’s just another thing in our life. Don’t put money on a pedestal either. It’s never good to put anything or anybody on a pedestal. When you learn how to put things in a neutral light and on the same level as you, you will realize how calmer you get about a situation. Even if you wanna be wealthy and rich, this thought is totally fine too.
I know a lot of people think, it’s not good to have that thought of being a millionaire or wanting to be rich in general, because being modest is the way to go. Yes, don’t brag, be modest, but also know your worth. There is nothing bad about wanting a good lifestyle, wanting financial freedom, and even wanting materialistic things. Don’t think about money in a bragging way though. See it as an opportunity for you. Yes, we don’t need a lot of money to be happy (because money is not the thing that brings us true happiness. Look at all the millionaires who are depressed after getting so much). You definitely keep that in mind. But more money can bring you the opportunity to do the things you are interested in. It can be easier to fulfill your dreams or to bring some value to people or support more around you. Helping more. So money can bring a lot of good things to our life if we handle and control it in a good way. So don’t see money as a bad thing. See the positive in it.
One thing i like to do when i have a lot of negative thoughts in my mind, and i know that is not for everybody, then i listen to positive affirmations. The thing about affirmations is that you program your thoughts in a different direction. When i listen to a video or audio, then my mind is mostly stopping and i just listen. So my negative thoughts stop as well. Here is an example of an affirmation video/audio i listen to sometimes when i wake up in the morning, or when i need some clarity of my thoughts when it comes to money and success. (I know it’s weird for some of you, but it helped me in the last months so so much to get rid of negative thoughts. The brain is a fascinating thing!)
So no matter what mindset you have about money right now, try to bring your awareness of how your thoughts are built around the whole money topic. Be positive about it, money is not good or bad. It is just a tool you use to reach your goal, not the goal itself. Do what you love or are interested in, and money will follow. And keep in mind, that the more you think positively, the better your results will be in the end.
Money is not better or worst than you. It’s just money. Same level.
You don’t need money to be happy. But it can be a great help for your life.
See money as an opportunity, not something you need.
Positive thoughts about money are calming you down, instead of stressing you out.
Don’t get controlled by money, have control over money.
Don’t work for money, let money work for you.
It is okay to want less money, but it is also okay to want more.
Money doesn’t define who you are.
Don’t put many emotions into money. It is just a tool you use.
Money will come and go. Always. Don’t stress about it. Let it flow.
Get help from guided meditations if your thoughts going crazy.
🌙 It’s all about Marketing
One thing we have to keep in mind is, that money doesn’t only come because of our skill level. Sadly not. For us artists, it is so so important to learn how to market ourselves in this business. Marketing is 50% of the whole financial topic. I know that we as artists, just wanna be creative and draw our artworks 24h a day. We don’t like marketing, selling our stuff, or advertising it. It often brings an uncomfortable feeling, when we try to bring our art or products to other people.
I feel always awkward talking about my art and how good this product is or how useful it would be for others. I totally hate that feeling. All i want is to do my art and hope that people like it and of course like it by myself. But when you are starting a professional career, you cant just concentrate on your work. I heard so often that artists said, after they got more popular, or got more attention in their business, they do less art and more marketing. And yes that is true. To sell your art, your products, and your brand, you have to learn how to market your art and of course yourself. Because as an artist YOU are your brand. Of course your art too, but also the artist behind it. Keep that in mind.
Why is marketing so important? The thing about marketing is, when you do it right, you can sell everything you want to people. Even when your skill level is low. Looking at all the influencers these days is a great example. Most of them don’t have a professional education or do something really good. It is all about marketing and they can make millions with it.
Also maybe you know that story about the banana taping on a wall? Yes, you heard right.
There is an artist who just taped a banana on a wall in a museum and sold it for $120.000. This.. has nothing to do with skills in any way. It is about marketing. It’s about being smart enough to go with something so simple and make it bigger than it is. Not really clear why this is a thing, but this example is really good to make clear how marketing can influence the world around us. There are so many other artists out there who are not on your skill level or didn’t work as many years as you, or who don’t have the experience of you. But still, they earn more money than you. How can that be possible right?
I’m definitely not the best in marketing too, i still have to learn a lot more about it and i highly recommend you to do the same. Read books about marketing. Try to learn more about how artists sell their work. Learn from others who are successful. One book i read is here: "Make more money selling your art by Eric Rhoads". It talks about how marketing is important for artists. But don’t stop by that. Read other books and learn from professionals in this field. Also other artists who are good at marketing, and advertising their work. If you are planning on selling your art one day, then you have to learn more about it. Remember, skills, experiences, time, hard work, everything of this is important, but marketing is a topic that is at the same important level as anything else.
I know that as artists we have problems advertising our stuff. But one thing we have to learn is overcoming this fear of uncomfortableness, of having the mindset that we brag about our art when we wanna bring it to other people. Believe me, you don’t brag in any way when you wanna create a business. YOU are bringing value to other people. YOU are bringing joy to them when they can hang your art on their walls. YOU can help them speed up their workflow or learn more about a topic you are more experienced in by selling brushes, tutorials, writing blogs, etc. YOU are doing amazing things by giving your work away to the world.
See it like that. Without advertising your art and your products, couldn’t help other people or bring less joy to them. So whenever you have that uncomfortable feeling when you wanna sell your art or make it more visible, then keep in mind, that the world will be a better place and people happier when you give something back with your work. Be okay to say, 'hey i did a new tutorial or product in my shop, have a look and enjoy it!', ' Hey i did a new post on social media which will help you to draw better eyes. Hope that helps!', 'A new product is in my shop that will help you to get a better workflow for your own art. Let me know what you think!'. Be positive about your own creations, so people can believe in you and your products as well.
"The world would miss something when you dont share your passion and knowledge. Only think about the value you give."
So like i said, marketing is important. Put your head around that and learn. From others, from videos, from books, from courses, doesn’t matter what you do, it will help you to get a better income at the end of the day.
Being a professional artist is a lot about marketing. Not only art itself.
A higher skill lvl or experience doesn’t make you automatically earn more money.
Learn marketing to sell your stuff.
Be okay to love your work and to say it loud.
Think about the value and joy you bring to other people with your products.
You don’t have to be a pro to make a lot of money. One Tip Marketing is also when you offer a good service. When clients know how nice it is to work with you and what you bring them, then this is a good marketing strategy and advertisement that brings more clients to you and lets old clients stay. Good service means: replying to E-Mails fast, Being friendly and professional when it comes to feedback, Making good and easy feedback rounds for them so that they don’t need to do a lot on their side, naming your Layers/Subtools clearly, and organizing them so they have an easier time to look through your files, listen to the client needs, make small extra work if you can, make compromises to build better client relationships, and so on. Good service is a great marketing strategy.
🌙 Which fees can you offer?
When it comes to that, it all depends on what you prefer or what the client offers you. You can make a fee per hour or per day, or you can say a fixed price.
Talking about the hourly rates first. One thing i experienced by myself and heard from other artists as well is that the hourly fee kinda stresses you out more than it should. Because you have to write down every hour what exactly you did so you can make sure that the hours are correctly counted. It also can happen that the client will take an eye out for it even more because when you are a slow worker, the price gets up of course and the client wants to know why this is the case. So overall i wouldn’t really recommend doing fees by the hour (for example $35/h).
A better way to avoid that kind of stress from both sides is to do a daily rate. (for example $100/day. You can easily calculate your daily rate when you decide which rate you want for 1 hour of your work and then just multiply it by 8. 8 hours is a normal regular job in a company). Now you can decide how much time you spend over the day on this client project and you can organize yourself better when you don’t have to count each hour. The full day is there for the project, like i said 8h is a regular job per day where you normally work, so now you can organize and schedule your day more easily with that knowledge.
And then we have the fixed price. I actually prefer having a fixed price at the moment, because it reduces the stress while working on something. The only negative thing about that is, that when you don’t specifically add a revision rule to the fixed price, and you are working with a weird non-professional client together, then the client can make as many revisions and feedback rounds as they want to. What can be a problem, when you are working more on the revision than the actual art itself? (that would push your time up but the price is still the same). So my tip for that is to avoid weird clients with an unsettled mind, you can add a revision rule to the fixed price. A revision rule is when you say, for example, the fixed price for a 3D model is $1000 + 3 free revision/feedback rounds. If more feedback rounds are needed then every round would add another $200 to the bill. When you are doing that, then you can make sure that the client doesn’t go crazy with changing something on the art all the time, but if they do you have financial support for the time and work you put into it. It’s your choice if you want to use that rule. Sometimes i do, sometimes i don’t. Depends on the client.
For a beginner, i would definitely go with the fixed-price version first. The reason for that is, that as a beginner, you are new to the whole industry. Your experiences are not big, you probably don’t have a proper workflow so you would waste a bit more time on figuring things out, maybe you are not familiar with how to deal with clients, and overall you will be a bit slower. It’s not the client’s fault when you are slower or when you need to figure ways out how to do a step. The whole responsibility is on your side. You should make good art, in a time what is okay for the job and your skill level and to have a good price that everybody is happy with.
You have to make sure to make the client happy and of course yourself too. To avoid stress from your side and to give you the time you need to slowly get experience in the industry and of course to give the client the security that they don’t overpay, i definitely recommend going with the fixed price in the beginning. You can decide if you want to add the revision rule already or if you just go with a simple fixed price without limits. That’s totally up to you.
I’m already over 5 years into the industry and i still like using the fixed-price version for my own clients (but i also do daily rates). It all depends on your own preference. You could also do the daily rates but i would recommend doing that only when you already have more experience in the business. But these are just tips and no golden rules. Do whatever feels right for you.
🌙 Questions you have to ask
When it comes to finding out what rates you want for the job, you first have to know what exactly you have to do. Without knowing that, you can’t figure out how much time you have to spend on it. You don’t know which steps you have to do or which programs you have to use. Or which style or detail the project includes. So to avoid all of these uncertainties you have to do your part. Don’t only rely on the client.
Most of the time clients come to you and ask you if you are interested in a fantasy project or if you are familiar with collectibles or if you need a character artist for an upcoming adventure game. Sometimes they immediately ask you for your rates as well, but before you rashly send back your charge, you need more information. Every project and job is different and you have to be flexible as well. That means you have to decide for each job an individual price. But more of that later. So, because of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), clients often don’t say exactly what they need in the first place. They can’t give out information without being sure you are on board. When they do that, just let them know that 'you are okay with signing an NDA, because you need a little bit more information before you can say any price range. But you would be interested in working together.'
One Tip Dont talk too long and too much about a project without getting any more information. Clients dont know if you are on board, and you dont know if they would accept your price. So every long conversation, where the client is talking around the project but doesnt come to a point, is a waste of time for both of you. So keep the first messages short. Asking for an NDA is always a good starting point so the client can be sure you are professional, and they dont need to be scared that you talk about anything in public.
After this is done and you know more about the project, you can ask all the questions you need for calculating your fee, if they aren’t answered already.
It depends on the project and what area you are in as an artist, but here are some examples of questions you can ask (in short and mixed for both 2D & 3D):
The size 2D: 3000x800px, squared, 16:9.. 3D:13 feet, 3 meters..
The minimum and maximum amounts of polygons for a model
What they need (Lowpoly, Highpoly, different LODs)
Specific color palettes
References, drafts. Already finished work on the project
Size of texture maps (4K, 2K…)
Number of texture maps (Single uv or udims)
The poses (T-pose, soft T-pose, dynamic pose)
Rigged or animated or both
Any Background (often asked for 2D art)
Props (weapons, armor, or pets…)
Mood and Atmosphere of the whole project/models
The art style (stylized, cartoony, realistic, semi-realistic, cyberpunk, pixelated..)
How detailed is the model/painting
Any Restrictions (not allowed to show naked bodies, blood or anything like that)
Setting, timeframes
Any Deadline
Any specific Packaging (when you need to send something)
Remarks and notes
Full body, bust, head, or another body part
Number of prints
Full package (model, texture, uv, rig, animation..)
High-quality render (Image or Turntable, different angles)
Any Documentation
Font specifics
Text to be included
Duplication (will this product be a timepiece or sold multiple times)
Purpose (private, business, or commercial - Also find out how big the client’s company is. The bigger, the more money you can ask for)
Fees: Daily rates or a fixed price
Payment method (over the bank, Paypal, TransferWise..)
Which file formats are needed (.jpg, .bmp, .tif, .ztl, .obj, .fbx, etc.)
Files: all program files, or only the final product
Upload site preferences for sharing Updates: WeTransfer, GoogleDrive, Dropbox..
Model finish: printed or molded in one piece or sub-pieces.. ..and many more questions which are relevant to the job.
Of course, you don’t need to ask the client hundreds of questions. Mostly it’s just 3-5. Oftentimes questions come up during your work. Just make sure you know everything that is relevant to you, to make the best calculation for your price.
🌙 Some Formulars you can keep in mind
After we talked about the questions you have to ask, we have to cover another important thing. How do you use this information for calculating the price? Like i said before there is no golden rule. Every artist kinda has their own rules when it comes to money but i just wanted to show you a few formulas you can use, change or add when it comes to knowing what to add to the price.
The first thing you have to remember is, artists, set the value of their work. You don’t only sell the artwork. You sell way more than that. You sell your idea, your concept, your plan, your style, your vision, your personality, your stress, your time, your years of experiences, your tears, your late nights of practicings, your struggles, your skills, and your materials. That’s why so many non-artists think we overprice our work because those people only see the artwork and only wanna pay for that. But that’s not the case. Our art is a piece of ourselves, and we are complex creatures. And also skills are not learned in one class of 8 hours and that’s it. Art is so much more complex than people think. Sadly even when art is overall needed and available, people still think art is a thing that is learned easily. (Well screw those people and don’t listen to them. We know it better.) So when it comes to calculating, here are a few examples. (They are just random but i wanna give you an idea of what you can do)
Formula 1: Years of experience + The amount of time + Feedback sessions + extra 20% for you = Price.
Formula 2: Monthly bills + your art skills + your time + level of details + amount of objects = Price
Formula 3: Material & overhead costs + Daily rate average + Comparable pricing + Popularity & demand + Gut feeling = Price
Formula 4: Your skill level + how fast you can finish something + monthly bills (rent, program/tool costs..) + which client (indie, big studio, privat..) + how big is the order (1,2 models + assets + ani + rig + 30sec rendered video..) + only unique piece or will it be sold multiple times = Price
I could go on and add, reduce, change, and mix them up to get the perfect formula. You can see, you can add all the things which are relevant for you, and bring all these together to make the best fee for a project. It can change for each client or for each project as well so it’s good to keep that in mind.
The key here is, to make sure that you cover your living expenses + to make also a profit from it. If you only get what you immediately have to put in your bills, then you will never build a safe spot in your bank account. And we know suddenly the car breaks down, our pet gets sick and we need to pay a surgery or anything else that can happen and where we need money.
Also, something you have to do before you start even setting up a formula for your own business. It is important to do a bit of work behind the scenes. Sit down and write down what fix costs you have during a month. First of all the things you definitely need like costs for the rent, energy, food, insurance and so on. These are the basics everybody needs to survive and live. Write all the costs down and prioritize them in the 'very important category'. Then you can go on with things you like to have but are more of a luxury like car costs, phone, Netflix, gym membership, and so on. List everything up and find out what your monthly fix costs are. This is a good start to realizing how much you DEFINITELY need in a month from your jobs.
Then you can list all the things you need for your job. software, hardware, internet, courses, and classes to learn more, tools and materials, office supplies, maybe rent for a small office, and so on. And then you also can write down things like your debts and maybe a monthly plan for how you could pay it all back. So what do you need monthly to pay the whole debt back in 5 years or so? You also can write down the money you wanna save each month (It’s always good to have 2 bank accounts. One for the daily costs and the other one for saving up money that you don’t touch).
Let’s say, from all the work you are doing, you wanna save $500 each month. You have to calculate that as well in your formula. It is highly important to get to know what goes into your bank account and what goes out. I know, nobody really likes dealing with numbers especially when you don’t have as much as you want to. And seeing red numbers is never nice. BUT as an adult and working person, you have to do that. Know your bills, know your costs, Know where the money is going and coming from, and know what you want for the future.
Take your work seriously. Be a professional even when you are not a professional yet. If you want to build a business or even when working in a company and only do a side hustle besides that, know your numbers! Get your head into the financial game and take care of that. You work like everybody else in a different working field. Even when there are a lot of people who think we can do art for free or for almost nothing, don’t let yourself get into these games. YOU are worth every work, time, and hard work you do. Never forget that!
The 3-point work circle When it comes to pricing your art, there are 3 things you need to consider as well.
(Quality) - The quality of your work
(Speed) - The amount of time needed to do the work
(Money) - How much it costs?
The graph you see below presents how these three factors relate to each other.
The image represents the 3 factors needed to create an art piece: Quality, Speed, and Money. Most of the time your clients want all three of them and that is not possible. I will give you an example. Let’s say you have a client who will hire you to do some work. Keep these in mind:
1. You do quality work in less time but that will raise the price.
2. You can finish the work fast for less money, but that will compromise the quality.
3. You can have good quality work for less money, but then this will take longer to finish.
I hope this makes sense. It would be ideal to set a balance with all three perfectly positioned: quality work, for the right price, delivered at the right time. Well, Time is money, but people often think that you can do an amazing job accomplished in a very short time and therefore don’t need to be paid much. Do not fall for this trap of argument. This is one way to undermine your work, skills, and time that are valuable and worth it. If someone doesn’t respect any of this, respectfully decline to do the work. The client will be pressed for luck in trying to find someone who can do the job given his or her unrealistic expectations. I have heard many times that clients don’t see value in the work artists put in and to be honest this is sad. It makes artists look down on themselves.
Try no to be scared to say no to clients like these. Opportunities will open up for you. Just keep in mind that you worked very hard to be where you are right now. If the job was so easy, why then does this person ask you to do the work, instead of doing the work on their own? Right? Because what you do has quality, which takes many years of practice to perfect. Never second guess your worth. For the calculation of a price, it’s very important to know these 3 aspects of your work because it will influence the amount of money you wanna charge for each project.
Btw if you say No to a job, be polite and professional, no matter how weird or mean the other person responds. For example when someone says to you, ‘I know other artists who do it for less’, then say something like, ‘That’s great to hear. I’m not the right fit for you then. Wish you a successful project’. DONE!
If someone says ‘Your art sucks i didn’t want to give you the work anyway’, then say something like ‘Well I’m sorry to hear that. Then I’m not the right artist for you. Have a good day. DONE! Dont let yourself down to mean people. In the worst case, just block them and move on. It’s not worth it to get angry or upset about strangers.
There WILL BE clients and people out there who see the worth in your art and time. Stick with those people and let others flow away.
🌙 Talking about Numbers
For a better understanding and idea, i thought why not talk about real numbers here? You have to remember that there are no golden rules and they can vary in everybody’s life. When i talk about numbers they are no standards or the way you should go. They are only there to give you ideas on where you could start. But in the end, it’s all in your hands. In general, i can say, your price range for, let’s say a 3D character model, can be from $200 to 12.000$+ for a model. I saw everything from different artists. So there is actually a big gap between both of these, but all of that needs just some patience, experience, and the right way to go on that journey. But i believe that you will figure it out one day.
So if you are a beginner and you, let’s say, graduated from an art school, then i know how hard it is, to begin with something. You know already that a lot of artists underrate themself because people just don’t wanna pay anything for art anymore these days (well, not the right people!). So first of all, be comfortable to hear things like 'art is easy, you can do it for less. You love doing art so why not make it for free? I know another artist who is cheaper than you. Why is your price so high, your art sucks anyway.' Those things are common, especially in the digital world, so please don’t let this under your skin. Just ignore those people.
But back to some numbers. As a beginner, i would always recommend setting your fees on a lower end and then slowly raising your price every time you do a new project. (i still do that these days). I know it’s hard to find the balance between enough money and not overrated prices. That’s just an experience you have to make on your own.
Let’s say you are a 3D character artist and you want to do some commissions. Like i said before it’s always good to start with a fixed price as a beginner. It’s a good way of practicing how you work in general. Let’s say a client wants a 3d model from you. They are making a little indie game and want a horse with a saddle for it. A 3d model for a game normal means, that you have to do the high poly model (in a t-pose), retopology(low-poly), uv sets, texturing, and the baked maps. Because it’s an indie company, you can’t charge as much as you would for a big company, which is more financially stable and that makes millions in sales. You always have to look at the client and what they are capable of. That doesn’t mean you have to go down your price so much that small studios can pay it (it’s not your responsibility if clients have a lot or not), but you have to make compromises.
So i said you have to do a horse + asset game-ready.
Sculpt (high + low), uv, texture, maps. When you go with the fixed price i would say, you can start something like $500-700 when you are a beginner.
Make sure that you don’t work on this one model for a whole month though. Remember, you have monthly costs. If you would only work on one model during this month, you would only have $500-700 at the end of the month. Of course, nobody can live from that. But if you do 4 of these models during this month, and each model takes 1 week to make, let’s say you get $500 for each, then you have in the end $2000. This is definitely better to survive during the month, right?
(This rate is just an example. Depends on how good your skills are, how fast you work, your experiences, which client, which country, etc.)
One Tip. I can definitely say that 1 week for a full 3d model is pretty hard to do as a beginner, when you wanna do it right in a good quality. Not impossible, but something you HAVE TO keep in your mind is, that you need to figure out how long you need for making a model. How long do you need for each step. THIS is so important for the future. I know its hard to figure that out in the beginning, because as an artist who just started out, you are playing around a lot and testing things out and because of that you have it harder to get to a simple routine. BUT you have to figure that out.
So you see in the example above that you have to calculate your price in a way, that you get enough work. You can have less work but a higher price, or more work but with less price to get to the same point. You can have 4 models for $500/each or you can have 2 models, one for $600 and the other for $400. Those calculations get a bit harder when it comes to full-time freelance work because you never really know if you get a new job or not. Sometimes you have a month with 3 jobs, sometimes a month with 0, sometimes a month with more. (that’s the risk of freelance work, but that’s another topic). Of course the better you get over the years you can have more models, faster done, and for a higher price during a month. Let’s say you have 3 models, one for $1200, another for $900, and the third for $1800. That would make $3900 at the end of the month. (Always keep in mind that you have to pay taxes every year. So what you get in your jobs is not what you fully have at the end of the year.)
One Reminder When i say you have that money at the end of the month, that isnt really true. You mostly have it on your list done, not in your bank account. Some clients pay immediately when the project is done but very often companies have a 30day payment after finishing a project. That means you normaly have to wait 1 more month to get paid. Just keep that in mind.
With each project, i recommend going up with your price. Not dramatically, that your clients get a shock, but more and more. I think it’s a good stable thing to do because with every job you gain more experience and skills so it’s totally fine to go up with the price as well. Let’s say your first job is charged $300. After finishing that you can go up to maybe $400 or $550 for the next one. When you build up your client list (clients who will come back from time to time), then they could accept it more easily because it’s not a jump from $300 to $1000 for example. Make it slow, have a bit of patience, and don’t overrate too fast. (but also keep in mind that your work and art are worth it, don’t underrate it) Building clients is also important so make sure you make them comfortable with your raising prices. And over the years your fee gets higher and higher, like your skills and experiences. A stable and secure way.
You can raise your rates after every project, every month, or whenever it feels like it. There is no rule. But keep in mind, that it’s better for you when your prices are a bit higher at the end of the year.
Another thing besides client work is when you sell something online in a shop. It’s easy to make your products downloadable, you don’t have to care about any post costs, and the good thing about them is, you have to work for it once, put it in the store, and don’t touch it again. It’s a passive income, which every artist should build slowly. The thing about downloadable products is, that they should be way cheaper than when you do a unique model for a client. Let’s say a client model, fixed price, is $500. Only this client will use it so that’s why the price is higher. Compared to the same model as a downloadable product in your shop, which is not unique because everybody can have it. This is way cheaper, let’s say this will be $25 in the shop. Yes, that is way cheaper than $500, but it also can gain passive income without doing anything for it over the years.
That means you have to do it once and then never touch it again but you still get money from it. Also, a lower price will gain more attention (because we all know free or cheap stuff attracts more people, and also more people can afford it.). Also, it’s better to have more people who pay a cheaper price than just a few who pay a high price. Because you have to see it as marketing as well. When a lot of people buy your product, the more advertisement you could gain from it. More people would talk about it, and when the product has a good price and is of good quality, then people come back (which brings more money).
Of course, the more experience and skills you have, you can also raise your prices in courses or shops as well. Your skills and time are worth the money. But that all depends on how you want to do it in your journey.
There are artists out there who say quality has its price. Ya, that’s kinda true. But i also saw bad content for a high price as well so.. just keep in mind, if you think and know your content and art have a high value, then yes, raise your prices.
You can also base the cost on the size of the artwork when you are a concept artist, illustrator, etc. I have seen a lot of artists who charge their work based on the size and specifications of the commission: full-body, full-body with background, a bust, one character, two characters, + assets, and so on. The bigger the image, the higher the value. For example, an image sized 8” x 10” is worth 240€, 11” x 14” = 400€, and 24” x 30” = 1080€. You can translate these into 3D models as well. Making only a bust would be $200, a full character $450, a character and assets like a weapon or cloth or a pet $740, full character with assets, textures, and uvs $1200, full character, assets, weapon, cloth, uv, texture, maps, rig, animated $2000 and so on. So the more you do or the bigger the model is, the higher you can charge for it. I guess that makes sense.
I know i see so often commission, 2D or 3D, that people only charge $25 for a full bust or only $100 for a complete full image with 2 characters + color. This is insane.. and sad at the same time. Yes, it is kinda nice when you immediately need that money and when you can work very fast or when you just wanna get a bit of money during your school days (maybe get a piece done in 2 days), but overall it is WAY too underrated. I don’t talk about someone who is doing art as a hobby (even then i think it’s underrated. When you are good at what you are doing you should get paid for what it’s worth it), but I’m talking about people who wanna be PROFESSIONAL. Who wanna do that as their JOB? And that is the sad thing about it. Would you open a restaurant and give away a full meal + drinks for $1, even when the food, the building, the service, etc cost you $20 for that meal? No. (I mean when it’s a charity, that’s something different) I’m really not sure why people think doing art is easy or why they think art is not a real job.. but don’t let people, who don’t respect you and your time and hard work, define your worth.
YOU are the only person who can define your worth (and let me say you are worth every penny). I’m not too sure about 2D but for a 3D Beginner, i wouldn’t go under $500 for each model as a fixed price as a start. If you want the revision rule in it as well, say 3 free revisions and every new revision costs $50-80+ or more. This is not a lot, especially when you need 3 weeks to finish that job, but it’s a good start. If you really feel confident and you think you deserve more then i would say start with $600-700. (as i said before, these are no golden rules, just my opinion and it can differ for everybody. Some go lower some go higher for their first jobs and that is totally okay! As long as you make a good job and you get the money you deserve you can do it in any direction.)
Little Tip If you wanna be more sure to get money (because it could be, that clients dont wanna pay), it is always good to say something like 40% upfront payment before you start the model, and the rest 60% when the model is done. And after you got the second half of the money you will send over all the files. You can also go with 50/50 or whatever % you like. So for example, when your fix price is $800, you can say 40% now ($320) and 60% after the job is done ($480). This makes sure that you get at least a bit when something went wrong with the payment.
Also, when it comes to licensing your work for a shop or a client, you have to know what your art piece is used for. A 3D model for example can be 200€ if it’s for personal use and the same model can be 600€ if it’s for educational purposes. A 2D artwork used for a personal website or for a print is estimated at 20€, but once someone uses it commercially, the licensing of the same artwork can be 2000€ or more. So it is very important to know exactly the purpose of the artwork you are making because this can make a huge difference in your pricing. That’s why it’s so important to not stick to one price.
Every project and job is different and you have to go through a few things before you can say what price would be good. The same with Indie companies or bigger companies. You can go with a lower price for smaller companies like $1000 for a full 3D model but the same model for a bigger company (who has more money in general) you can say $2500. These are just numbers but i want you to understand that every job is different and for calculating prices, there are a lot of factors that will come into place. Think smart and be flexible.
Overall i think with all these factors you have to be a bit more flexible. Yes, you should have a limit where you say "i don’t go under $300 for a model. Or i don’t go under $1000 for a model", but each situation is different. Sometimes you have to go lower to build a client relationship. For example, what happened to me was, i got a job for a 3D model and said i want $1800 for it. The client was pretty nice but told me that he just opened his business and it’s pretty new, so he could only pay me $1100. But when everything is working in his favor he would have more work for me in the future and when the business is running he can pay me even more.
So in this situation, you can be stubborn and say no, OR you can be flexible and think about building a client relationship and maybe future work with him (which is often even better than getting at this point more money). So i told him that’s fine, I go with the $1100 price. Since then we are good friends, support each other and everything is great. (Of course, this has a lot to do with trust, and not every person stays to their word. But i guess sometimes we have to risk things, to move in the right direction.) So yes i got less than what i wanted in the beginning but in the end, i got more, if that makes sense.
So that’s a good example of how flexible you should be sometimes. Not always of course, because not all clients are cool and you can connect with, i guess the vibe needs to be right between people. But anyway, that is something very important. Know your worth but also think about each connection and each job individually.
🌙 Working for free. Yes or No?
For artists, working for free is a phrase often heard like a little warm breeze you just let pass your ears. We all hate when people come to us and ask for our help to do art for free. It’s like going to the restaurant and asking them to make you a meal for free, or asking an architect to build your house for free. But jokes aside, art is a job like every other job, which consumes most of your time and energy. You should say to everyone who asks, that you don’t work for free. You can’t pay your bills with air and love.
There are some little exceptions. I say a project happens to be super cool and you would have so much fun to work on it and have so much experience to gain by doing it, then go for it. If you struggle to find jobs and you see something for someone you can do quickly but in good quality, then go for it. Say you can do it for free and if the person or studio needs more work then they can come back to you with a payment this time. This can build connections of course and people will see what your work looks like and how it is to work with you. But generally, when the work does not interest you in any way, please don’t ever work for free.
Be careful with the shit-chatters though. If others don’t value your skills and time, then don’t succumb to their level. Be kind and professional and tell them why you can’t do it for free and that you are always open to paid projects. But if they respond in a stupid way, don’t reply back, just ignore those people. Shit-chatting with people doesn’t bring you any value, experiences, or good connections. So try to avoid jumping in on it. Lecture them in a good and short way, so they can learn from it, and try not to be rude in return. I know that can be hard sometimes ;) If someone is just mean, ignore them and move on. This is the best and most calming way to handle those people without ruining your own mood.
🌙 My journey of increasing money
Not sure if that is helpful for you, but i thought why not tell you about my journey? I’m still a beginner when it comes to financial things and i still learn each day to price my work better and to get my foot in the door. It’s easier to write about it but bringing it to action for your own work is always harder. :) I’m definitely not at a point where i want to be, but I’m still proud of how far i have come.
(When I’m talking about my payments, I will not say any names or companies out of respect and the business rules)
So some of you know that my start in the industry was pretty rough and took me many years. (I can talk about that in another post if you are interested) but i wanna start at that point where i got my first job today.
So my first 3D job as a freelancer was in 2017. (I started 2 years earlier but i was 2 years jobless in the beginning so i can’t count that). I was actually pretty lucky with my first job because i got that job over an artist friend of mine and also had the balls to say that i want 50€/hour. The good thing was, that i got 2 models from the same client, and in the end, i got something like 2.600€ in the end. For a beginner that is a pretty good start. Besides that, i got another job, also from an artist friend and i still work with this client today (I’m so grateful for that). For this client, i got $600 (~400€) for one model. (I have to say, that for this client i couldn’t say any of MY price rates because the whole company has already fixed prices for their models, so i have to go with what they say).
I was excited and thought that my career started now, but well, these 3 models were the only ones i had that year (what is definitely NOT enough!). So like you see my first fixed price was 400€, a bit fewer than the one i told you. But that’s okay.
Then the next year (2018) came and i happily got a few jobs but all of them were under $1000. It went from $600, $900, $750, $600, $800... and so on. (remember $ is more than my currency in €, so everything was even lower for me in the end). That means for my currency i got something between 500€-700€ per model for these jobs.
(I have to say that i was not the most confident person to raise my rates at that time. I didn’t feel worthy of it - which brings me to the first point i talked about. Money mindset!)
But let’s see how i increased. I moved up from 400€ (2017) to 500€-700 (2018). It’s a slow but steady increase, right? Still not enough to pay any bills or live on my own though. The only good thing about this (2018) year was, that i got one big job which made me super excited at that time. $6000 for 3 models. That was $2000 for each. I mean.. that was awesome! Couldn’t complain about that.
Then the next year (2019) came and sadly i had less work this year but the prices were a bit higher. (keep in mind, more work for less money, is the same as less work for higher money). I still had prices around $600-900 but also some a little bit over $1100. Still, the year (2019) wasn’t the best year. I made less than in (2018) and was overall not as happy that i still can’t live from my work and that i didn’t have much work in general. This year i worked a bit more on my other incomes like online shops and started Patreon etc. Of course, the income from that wasn’t so good either but better than nothing. :) We all have to start somewhere and mostly from 0 right?
Looking back i went from 400€ (2017) to 500€-700 (2018) to 600€-1100 (2019) for each model. Still slow but steady. (I’m talking about fixed prices here)
Then in the next year, (beginning of 2020, I’m currently writing this post) i got kinda more confident in my work, my workflows, my skills, and overall my whole person (hurray to self-development). Maybe it’s because i get older, or i slowly get used to that industry. The only thing i can definitely say is, that i worked A LOT (2019) on myself. On my mindset, my view of things, my passion, my self-love, and things i forgot over the years. A lot of inner work. I think that was the key to gaining more confidence in my business as well.
Every job i got that year was over 1500€-2600 per job. And the highest charge i had was 3000€. (which I’m still proud of. Yes, it’s pretty important to allow yourself to be proud of yourself sometimes. It’s necessary for your own happiness and to get the drive to keep going. You don’t need other people who tell you they are proud of you. YOU should be proud of yourself, if you have other people who say that, that’s just a bonus. But make sure you give yourself credit for the things you accomplished).
But ya this year is not over yet but let’s have a look again at how my prices raised. From 400€ (2017) to 500-700€ (2018) to 600-1100€ (2019) and to 1500-3000€ (2020) per model/job. Remember this increase took a few years and that is mostly based on fixed prices. You have to be patient when you wanna make it right. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be faster though. Just saying that life and things need time to last longer.
Also, keep this in mind. I was never the most confident person in the past, that’s made my journey pretty slow and i increased my rates only slowly as well. (It can be way faster for you.. so keep your head up!) But after i felt way better about myself and thought i was worthy of more money (2019 - 2020) you see a huge jump. And that’s the key!
Besides the fixed prices per model, I will include more daily rates from now on as well, because that’s something that raises up money as well. Also, it’s always good to have choices because sometimes it’s better to make a fixed price, and sometimes better to go with daily rates for projects.
I hope i don’t deliver the feeling that i brag about the prices because i want you to LEARN from it, to make your own mind and thoughts about YOUR journey. And i only can do that when I’m open with the numbers. People talk a lot about money but never really show numbers and i thought that would be more helpful for you.
I’m totally honest with you, I still struggle in my business and had a hard time getting to this point. I still don’t have a stable income or enough in my bank account saved to live on my own. (i still live with my parents. Nothing bad about that.) But slowly after 5 1/2 years (first 2 years jobless), i get more confident in the things I’m doing. I’m more confident in my art, in my business, and more confident in myself. I’m not perfect and never will be, but as long as I grow and learn, nothing can stop me. I move forward. SLOWLY but it’s always better to move slower than standing still or moving backward. (I guess I’m more like a turtle my whole life. I was always the slowest of all the people around me. In school, relationships, and business. So well i like turtles, my fav heroes are the TMNT so i guess that fits haha).
But jokes aside, i definitely see more light now and know that i can make it as long as i believe in myself. I have more experience, more connections, and more knowledge and I’m still on the journey of raising my money up the better I get and the more years pass.
Important to remember:
Other artists have a faster journey to success, some are slower, some never make it. We all have different paths at different speeds. Don’t feel bad when you see others walk faster than you, that’s okay, let them move. Every one of us is so unique that you can’t compare yourself to anyone. You are special, your journey is special, and as long as you believe, be patient, never stop learning and work hard, you will make whatever you want to fulfill.
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I hope this was a bit helpful to you. I know i can’t give you any specific price range you should go with but at least you know now what you have to do to calculate your fees, that you also have to play around with it, challenge your fears, and that you definitely have to work on your inner mindset as well. I saw changes in my prices when i worked on myself. I believe that this is the key to success.
