Double your commisson money!!

[elzi]

Bear with me this is a rambling story...

So my bloke just read a well known hypnotists book about making yourself richer and in it there's this story about a guy who is a personal trainer. Basically the hypnotist says well just charge them ten times as much for a day and the guy is like 'no way i can't do that' and then the hynoptist says well just charge them twice as much then and the blokes like 'well ok that's not so bad'...

Anyway to get the the point I got 3 enquiries about commissions at the weekend and one lady got back to me. I was going to charge her not much (as for some reason I always undercharge for my time and end up doing far too much work and feeling bad about it..) and my bloke told me to charge her a fortune... So there was no way I could have charged her what my bloke said but I did ask for double what I would usually have said!

Well she took a week to get back to me and I was really feeling stupid like maybe my art isn't worth that much and then today she came back and said she wanted an even bigger piece for more money!!!! So now I have a commission AND I'm actually being paid a fair amount of money for it!!! Which makes me feel a lot better as it's quite a complex piece of artwork she's asking for and I'm not being underpaid for my art!!! Yay!!

So i just thought I'd share this story in case anyone else is feeling a little underconfident about charging money for your craft. Just double your fee! Sometimes it works out!!!!

[krafty1]

That's fantastic! Well done on your commission and I bet it'll be worth every penny!

I've recently put the price of my stuff up by quite a bit as well and have not noticed any decrease in sales. Have sold a lot in the last week alone. So yes, you're right, charge a bit more and see what happens

[elzi]

Thanks!

I put my prices up as well a while ago and I was really pleasantly surprised that people were still buying them! It's really nice when you realise people value your stuff!

[cupcake]

Fantastic, and that's absolutely right, don't undervalue what you do. You have worked hard making it, you should charge for it.

[Autumn Faerie]

That's great, just proves how good your stuff is

[biscuitlid]

Well done you. I too find it difficult and am probably a bit of a soft touch so I will take a leaf out of your book.

Hope it keeps on working for you!
Victoria

[pepsi]

I know how you feel Elzi, Friends and family bring me those box canvases and want abstract rubbish Art and huge flowers etc, to tie in with their rooms colour scheme. I waste time doing something I don't really want to. Then off they go not even thinking I have to buy the paints etc, GRRRRR!!!
Then my sculpts I just give away. I really don't think they are up to selling quite yet. Maybe one day soon though. You go for it darl and the best of luck. xxx

[Warlax]

lol soudns great. depends on how much u charge in the first place tho id guess :P

[toppotter]

Excellent, now you only have to have half the sales to make the same amount of turnover with less cost and more time to do other things.
It is also now easier to discount a few pieces by 10% for those people who always want a deal!

[Moonbeam Angel]

Well done, I was thinking the other day that I am going to put my prices up I never take into account my time because I love what I do but, maybe my things are too cheap that people don't believe I make them. So now, I am upping the prices, after all my mosaics are one offs so what people are buying is art not craft! (Perhaps if I say that enough times I might believe it lol)

[elzi]

Thanks everyone, its really cheered me up today! I think its all a confidence thing... or maybe I need an agent!

[Katianne]

I know exactly how you feel! I always worry about pricing when it comes for commissions. I have set prices for items in my shop but when someone contacts meand asks say for a mirror to a ceratin size and their own spec I always worry about how much to charge. The other day I was so worried I reduced the price, then the lady emailed back straight away to say yes and I then worried that I could have asked what I was going to originally!

Well done for going for it and sticking to your guns - I might of caved and emailed her again with a cheaper price - again this is not good!!!