Looking for design inspiration?   Browse our curated collections!

How Much Should You Charge For Your Artwork?

Jeffrey Campbell

Blog #5 of 23

Previous

|

Next

August 20th, 2014 - 04:41 PM

How Much Should You Charge For Your Artwork?

Everyone (I hate to assume) has associated costs pertaining to their artwork. Some things might include:

Internet
Your time
Phone
Petrol
Vehicle
Food
Insurance
Discs
Editing software
Cameras
Lenses
Batteries
Storage (memory cards)

Joe, the amateur photographer, decides to take a 90-mile round trip to the local mountains to photograph for a client. He will be traveling by car. Let's set aside peripheral equipment for a moment and just concentrate on the daily fees of other basics.

Monthly costs divided by 30 days. These are simply average numbers.

Internet $50 / 30 = $1.66
Phone $45 / 30 = $1.50
Petrol (to and from the shoot) = $8
Food (for the trip) = $12
Vehicle insurance $200 / 30 = $6.66
Time (Joe's daily working wages) $100, but the trip only covers one half of the day. $50

Joe has spent $79.82 in this scenario. In order for him to turn a profit he has to decide on his mark-up price. Let's say his mark-up is 30 percent.

$79.82 + 30 percent = $103.78.

This is Joe's morning cost of doing business, not including peripherals or the final printed image.

Camera + lens + tripod + memory card + battery based on a 5-year equipment life expectancy:

$1000 + $500 + $200 + $10 + $40 = $1750 divided by 5 years = $350 per year, divided by 365 days = $.95

Software = $800 (Photoshop + plug-ins), 5 years before he upgrades = $160 per year, divided by 365 = $.43

$103.78 + $.95 + $.43 = $105.16

Assuming on a POD site (or to his client) Joe expects to sell his image only one time, in order to make a profit Joe needs to sell his image for $105.16 plus materials (e.g. paper, ink, mat, and framing) for the morning trip.

What about all those other images that sit idle and do not sell - how much more money is waiting to be recouped? Once you determine what your daily costs are, trimming the fat off your expenses will increase income and allow a more realistic idea of what you should charge.

Disclaimer: Figures are fictitious, but close in proximity. I recommend accounting software to properly track your expenses.

Click Here for More Information

Comments

Post a Comment

Kathy K McClellan

9 Years Ago

Florence, AL

Jeffery, Very helpful. Thanks for sharing.