I was chatting to a friend over the weekend who is thinking of a painting to go in her lounge, and asked me if I could do it for her, and how much will it cost…?
I asked what the image was of, and she told me, I asked what size she wanted, and she told me, and I asked what type of paint she wanted, and she told me acrylics, which made sense as she wants it on a large canvas…and she was quite specific about the colours she wanted which are fine, and will work for the painting.
I asked what price she wanted to pay for it?
She looked seriously at me and said “I don’t want to insult you, what price will it be?”
And I laughed and said “You won’t insult me”
Because I knew I could do it for her, and I know I can design a painting she will be happy with… and I wanted her to be happy with the price of it. If I said to her a far higher price than she was considering she would have said “Thanks, I’ll have a think about it”… and I’d have never heard about it again.
I always say to people who are wanting a commission..
“Do you want Lidl prices, Tesco prices, Waitrose prices, or Harrods prices?”
And that always makes them smile, as its supposed to, and depending what their answer is, gives me a far better idea of what price to aim for! I have an hourly rate that I work to, how many hours of my time do you want me to put into it?
When they then say a price, I know its a price they are happy with, and can afford, and they know then they aren’t going to upset me. And I know they will get the painting they want, for the price they want.
I like painting commissions! Much prefer it when people design their own artwork through me!
