Standing up against price complaints

I had a few complaints about my prices for my Pay to use files on Deviant Art… These types of comments are not new and I try to handle them the same way.

  1. calm any frustration
  2. collect my thoughts
  3. and write my explanation for my own actions.
    (I seriously have to explain my own actions and decisions that I have chosen for the permissions and pricing of my own creations? Really??)

I know that most people that complain aren’t intending to be rude… but they end up looking that way to artists. (Especially to artists that are trying to make some extra $ to support their passions as well as their food, their rent/mortgage, car loans and other bills.)

Making art isn’t just fun and games for everyone. Many depend on their art for income. Questioning an artist’s motives and decisions regarding pricing is insulting to their artistic skill and belittles the fact that they’re trying to raise money to cover their financial responsibilities. Many of these artists are trying to pay for food and their college degree because they don’t have parents or their parents are unable to support them; these artists have to fend for themselves. It’s hard to understand when growing up and completely dependent on parents for food, shelter, and all the bonuses of childhood. Most people don’t have things handed to them or changed on a whim; not during nor after childhood.

So when these comments arise, I don’t get upset just because this is directed at me. I get upset for the artist community and what these comments end up doing to the community at large. For every artist that isn’t strong enough to stand up and stick to their values, the prices drop, the value of art drops, and the artists lose. ALL artists.

I have vowed that I will not bend to the will of someone that obviously lacks social tact and doesn’t value money or the work/talent/skill/time of an artist (beyond the benefit of some good hand-outs and other freebies.) The only time I have adjusted my prices were by my own will (if I saw that something stood out as being too low or high in relation to similar items.)

With all of these thoughts of how the comment devalues my work, my service, my skill, and my financial responsibilities as an artist, I do my best to keep myself calm and not show anger when writing my responses to these. It’s never my intent to be mean (especially to people that don’t know any better)… I’m simply trying to enlighten and broaden the minds of those who have taken advantage of the horribly low prices of other artists and expect EVERY artist to value their art the same way.

The following is what I replied to the most recent comment which was basically “why is the price so high?” (but with more exaggerated punctuation and tone):

 

Honestly, the price is far more than reasonable. Allow me to explain:

  • I’ve already had a number of purchasers buy this item at the current price. Changing the price now wouldn’t be fair to anyone else who has purchased it.
  • I don’t lower my standards of price just for points. 100 points = $1
  • I worked over 3 hours on this piece. I have included animation, shading, line-art, and instructions so all that needs to be done is color the layers.
  • I have made $23+ per hour for a mundane, talentless day job. I aim to price my art accordingly. This item is a fraction of the price that I would prefer to charge.
  • If you don’t have enough money/points but like my art, I have other items and offerings that may be in your price range. If not, save your money (like all my commissioners have done) and come back to me when you have enough.
  • And before you complain on any other artists’ commissions and premium content files like this, please consider this journal: capukat.deviantart.com/journal… A little tact goes a long way in the art community!

Thank you and have a good day!

 

For future instances, I would just share this journal so I don’t have to re-type every time to (re-)validate my stance in my pricing. I encourage others who share my views to do the same. (Hopefully we will spend less time explaining our prices and we can create more art!)

 

I also had a conversation with Music-lovinFox regarding pricing – people were telling them to lower their prices. I completely disagree with those complaints!

Here are some pieces of advice that I shared with them so YOU CAN STAND UP to people that complain about your prices:

  • Let your price sheet educate the watchers you have – Sometimes if you segment the prices out into different “add-on”s (like pricing a Full-color picture as $10 and offer the add-ons of $5 shading or $10 full shaded painterly style) people can see the value that is added and why they’re paying for the extra work/skill/talent/time you provide!
  • Find watchers who won’t complain – If the same people keep telling you to lower your prices, that just means you need to spread your exposure and find more supporters that understand and agree with your pricing. You can start by adding your commission artwork and price journals to more DA groups like Advertising-Anything and any of the DA groups that are dedicated to commissions like: commission-world, commission-me-gently, commissionpromoter, commission-network, commission-share, point-commishes, paypal-commissioners

Having trouble attracting more DA watchers?

Most people won’t wander randomly to your page. And there are a lot of people on this crazy site that may never see your work if you don’t go to them first! They have to find you in someone’s front page, journal, or +favs. Watchers watch you because they like you as a person or they like your art. If you’re having trouble getting noticed, there are a number of ways to self-promote on Deviant Art:

  1. BE NICE! – Stay positive, greet people, and thank them. Don’t yell at people for commenting on your front page or for not knowing where something is (that scares people away D:)
  2. PRETTY PROFILE – Make your profile look nice so that people can easily find information that they want to see (like commission info) or something pretty/cute/funny. Try to reduce clutter (stamps, PLZ accounts, animated gifs, etc)
  3. GIVE LLAMAS – give them out, people sometimes come to check out your artwork or profile!
  4. SUPPORT ARTISTS – +fav, feature people’s artwork, leave thoughtful/insightful comments, and watch lots of people – more people you do nice things for, the more likely they’ll stop by your page and possibly watch you back^^
  5. DISPLAY YOUR ART EVERYWHERE – Add your artwork to LOTS of groups based on different subjects, themes, styles, and topics!
  6. GIVE POINTS – Hold contests where people win :points: or premium memberships or donate :points: to be featured in a group or on someone’s page!
  7. COMMISSION PEOPLE – Commission lots of people or save up to commission popular artists to draw your OC – You may have a cool/unique/recognizable character but may not be noticed someone until you have your awesome character drawn by an amazing artist on DA!
  8. EVOLVE YOUR ART – If you show a level of determination to improve as an artist, that can be attractive to new watchers! One good place to start is the P.E.A.S. method! In that journal I have listed some of my :+fav:s gallery folders that contain reference photos and tutorials that can help with anatomy, shading, fur, and line-art! ^^

I hope that helps!
Craz

 




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