Simply Ada (The Graphite Maiden)

Pricing for FREELANCERS

A lot if artists don’t know how to price their work. Also many who have it figured out arn’t so transparent about what they charge and how they establish value.

Here’s something to help you figure out pricing.

Take your desired yearly income. Divide that number by 232 (365 days of the year, minus 28 days for vacation, minus 105 weekend days).

The number you get is your day rate.

Example based on $50k/year:

$50,000 / 232 = $215.51

Divide that number by 6 (8 hour shift, minus lunch, minus breaks

$215.51/ 6 = $35.91

That is your hourly rate.

When taking commissions, charge based on daily rates. Realize that you’re selling blocks of time when you do a commission. Use the parameter of time to also moderate feedback and alterations. Don’t allow new work or changes to exceed the time constraints or else you will lose money.

As your work and portfolio advances, raise your hourly rate and adjust the calculations accordingly. You’ll want to raise prices because in many cases you’ll be haggled back down anyways. So add cushion so you can comfortably negotiate.

Always charge a minimum deposit (half day rate for setup + materials). 

Figure out what blocks of time are comfortable for your attention span. (For example I personally need at least 3 days to finish something nice.)

Figure out what you can do within your preferred time allotments, and build a realistic portfolio around what you can complete in them.

The better you can estimate your time the more you can predict your prices.

There are other pricing strategies, but this is a solid start.