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Commission pricing is where creative people undercharge most consistently — not from greed or laziness, but from not counting the hours that a commission really contains: the sketching, the research, the client messages, the revisions and the delivery. This guide does the counting for you. It builds a price from three honest parts — your estimated hours at a real rate, the materials, and a buffer that grows with the piece's complexity — then applies the two professional rules that keep commissions fair for both sides: a 50% deposit before work starts, and a revision limit agreed in writing. You get the base cost, the complexity-adjusted asking price and the exact deposit figure. The verdict is warm but firm about the underlying truth: undercharging does not read as humble, it reads as amateur, and a written one-page agreement prevents almost every commission story you have ever heard go wrong.
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Price a commission so it pays for your hours, materials and the unseen work — with a complexity buffer, a deposit rule and the revision policy that protects both you and the client.
❓ Commission Pricing Guide: What to Charge — FAQ
How do I know what hourly rate to charge for commissions?
Start from what you need to earn for skilled work — a rate that would not embarrass you if a fellow professional saw it — then check it does not undercut the price of your own prints. Your time is the largest part of most commissions, and pricing it low prices the whole piece low.
Why is a 50% deposit standard practice?
The deposit covers your materials and reserves your time, and it filters out the clients who were never going to pay fairly anyway. Professional artists and designers take deposits as standard — it is not rudeness, it is the industry norm that keeps commissions honest for both sides.
How many revisions should a commission include?
One or two rounds of changes, agreed in writing before the deposit lands. Revisions are where commissions quietly lose money — an open-ended 'I will tweak it until you love it' promise can double your hours. A written limit protects the client's expectations as much as your time.
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