Painting armies for $$$

Chrispy

Chrispy

Active member
Okay, so I\'ve been asked if I could paint a squad of Sisters of Battle and a Rhino for money. The problem now becomes what do I charge and for how much work? (Jarret, Inge, Cenobyte, I\'m looking at you three)

I\'ve thought about comission work for a long time, but I\'m kinda unsure what to charge. Obviously, I have to take into account the level they want, as well as the figure.. but how far do you go? Should you charge differently based on the size and manufactuer of the figure? And should you charge individually or by squad/regiment?

My take would be:
Charge more for Rackham (for all the detail)
Charge based on Size (Dwarf sized, human, mounted, dragon, etc, etc,)
Charge based on painting level
Charge based on squads of like painting level, charging seperatly for characters at a higher level
Maybe charge extra for freehand?

I should also try and distinguish what constitutes one level from another (eg, NMM, blending, composition) and name them differently (Tabletop lvl, above gaming, display...)

So let me know what you think and let\'s get some prices! :bouncy:
 
K

KatieG

New member
I agree, that you should charge based on time spent, and perhaps also on how much (or how little) you want to paint the group of minis in question. For example, if you really don\'t want to paint something, quote a relatively high price, one that would motivate you to actually paint it. If its something that you would be easily motivated to paint, charge less... you might also want to take into account how much it might cost you in supplies, or whether you\'re going to have to assemble the things yourself or not, whether they want a complicated base, etc. But might I suggest you aim for at least minimum wage for your efforts? Or more if you think your time is worth more of course. The other option is to paint to the level of cash that they are willing to give you. For example if someone\'s giving you $5 a figure, then you won\'t want to spend more than an hour a mini, so paint to that level. Anyways, just my two cents...
--Katie G.
 
B

Baltius

New member
Chrispy, I think you are right on with your category divisions. Pricing seems to be a difficult subject. I would propose that a standard foot troop should go from $10.00 for a quick job to $50.00 for a high quality job, but not quite \'eavy metal standard. For a \"Golden Demon\" standard, a good figure would be $125-$150 per standard model. Probably somewhat less for a full squad. This would be a guideline from my experiences with commission work as a buyer. I would say the manufacturer of the models is somewhat irrelevent as long as the paint level is the same. Obviously, larger models or mounted figures will individually cost more. Time is already factored into the level of work and size of the pieces. It is almost impossible to say how long a project will take ahead of time. So it would be hard to give a customer a quote based on time. Hope this helps
 
S

Shroud

Guest
Hi Chrispy -


That\'s why I use ebay - Im terrible at setting prices! I let the market decide :) But other than that, my recommendation is cost of figs + 10-11 bucks an hour. Plus shipping.

Jarrett
 
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