Being a photographer myself, I don’t really know how to price my photos and charge for my services. Personally, I haven’t found the balance between being affordable enough and yet properly compensated.
Upon talking to a couple of friends who are also new in the art industry, I realized that I am not the only one who’s going through this struggle. Thus, I asked a few visual artists for tips and insights on how they price their artworks. Read more below.
Jonas Rodrigo, Drawing
“Although I do draw commissions, I don’t have any strict pricing plan. For portraits drawn on 8.5×11 paper, like my Logan drawing, my go-to pricing is a base price of 500. Additional 500 per face so 1,000 initially for a picture with 2 faces. I just usually add a few hundred peso or more depending on the level of difficulty. For example, if the picture has a very elaborate background or complicated shirt design.
Some say my pricing is very low, but I don’t mind. I’d like to think of myself as just starting out.”
Kaa Yeo, Painting
“Nagstart kami ng mura lang yung work namin Parang 1,000-1,500 pesos yung 10″x8” tapos yung 3×3 ft. namin 7-10k lang nun (2012). Ang goal namin nun makalat yung work namin, na nag-eexist yung work namin. Hindi na bale mura siya nun, at least napansin yung trabaho. Hindi ibig sabihin na binenta namin ng cheap nun e, hindi na namin vina-value yung work. Yun lang yung tinatawag namin na tuition fee nun. Para makapasok, mapansin, na may ganitong work dito.
Kasi syempre, alam natin na kapag gawa natin proud tayo, maganda yun, etc. kaya gusto kaagad natin mahal kasi ganun yung tingin natin na value ng work natin. Pero kasi kung ako na baguhan na artist tapos pe-presyuhan ko yung work ko na 20,000 kagad kasi yun yung tingin ko na value niya, tapos meron dun sa kabila na established artist na 20,000 din yung price ng work. Bibilhin na nung tao yung established artist. Kasi, sino ba tong baguhan ang mahal ng trabaho?
Habang tumatagal at na mamaster mo yung ginagawa mo dun din naman tumataas ang value ng work. Kaya kailangan lang maging patient at laging maging humble.”
Jomarie Basilio, Videography
“I base mine sa usual rate sa group na sinalihan ko as freelancer. Usual dito satin pag videographer’s rate for main or creative videographer is around 5,000 each. Pag video only with edit (MTV style highlights), my usual rate is 5,000 to 7,000. Then if may photo, additional 2,000 to 3,000. For pre-nuptial and same day edit weddings, around 10,000 to 12,000.”
Ed Enclona, Photography
“Mine kasi is based lang sa bigat ng workload and how big the project is. For example, Starting Clothing line wants to release their current lookbook, the minimum I quote is 5,000-8,000 depending on the photos and editing of the best shots. If I might need an assistant and studio rental when it’s for a designer, sometimes I charge per look ranging from 2,000 to 3,000. When depending on the use like they need new photos for their website like product shots and establishment shots. I charge for at least 20,000.
Pero kung gagamitin siya for advertising and needed yung raw files, mas mahal. It might cost per day na. Walang editing kasi gagamitin siya sa advertising so 50,000 per day. To sum this up, ang key factors to consider when quoting a project are number of shooting days and/or number of hours, purpose of the project, equipment to be used and team needed.”
Justin Remalante, Digital Art
“Actually kasi sakin per portrait talaga, 1,000 for now. In the near future kasi pag kaya ko na ng couple photo, I will charge 2,000 pesos. Effort lang talaga based.”
There you go. We hope you learned a thing or two on how to price your artworks. Of course, it would still be best to really research and test things out in order to come up with rates that will allow you to sustain your art. Plus, at the end of the day, it really depends on how much you value your work. If you have any insights and suggestions, we’d love to hear all about them.
What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments!
