I need advice!

[starrley]

Someone on Deviant Art liked a stitch I did, and asked me to do a commission piece. They want to know how much I would charge. I've never done anything like this so I have no idea. Does anyone else know? Should I even do it?

[spinuntilyoufall]

I'd love to know about this - too. I am comfortable coming up with prices for my already completed pieces, since they're as-is. I'd love to do commissioned stuff, but it's kind of scary. What kind of terms do you do for commissioned pieces? What if they don't like the colors? Do you offer a time frame?

[johloh]

I've done a couple commissions...it is difficult to figure out a price.

I try to come up with how many hours it will take to complete (approx). Then come up with an hourly rate that you think is fair.

and dont sell yourself short. your piece isnt for charity, so charge a real amount. its easy to get caught up in being asked to do something and setting the price too low.

[amneufeld]

Generally speaking (for friends), my commission prices are as follows:
50 cents per colour used (I combine together 5:1 any colour less than 25 stitches)
Cost of fabric + 2-4$ (essentially, covers the time to fetch or shipping)
Double those costs for labour (I think I calculated it out to about 10 cents an hour on my last piece, lol)
Total.

Bear in mind I'm in no way saying this is a good or profitable way to do these. Just tossing it up as a sample.

[starrley]

Thank you all so much. I was thinking maybe $8 an hour? I don't know if they'll want to pay what that would add up to.

[predawn]

$8 an hour seems fair. In the end, if they don't want to pay what you feel is the cost of your hard work, then don't do it. Stitching isn't a quick thing, and you're putting your time and effort into it, so of course you should be fairly compensated.

[johloh]

$8 is fine. your not a robot putting out a product. your time is worth money.

[corbin]

I am a little late but some of the older women that I have framed cross stitches for have mention they charge per stitch, so the more stitches the more expensive. Essentially they add up all the material costs, framing cost (which would be optional) and then charge like a penny per stitch, depending on how fast you stitch that might be reasonable otherwise hourly is always a good benchmark. So for example my aerodactyl patch I did for the pokemon quilt would be:
$2.49 - fabric
$7.80 - 18 colors + 2 extra for the background
$49.00 - 70x70 stitched area
= $59.29 for me to complete a new one on commission

Obviously you can discount things accordingly like if you buy the fabric on sale or the thread on sale or use left over thread for smaller areas. Note that I have never sold any of my stuff so most of this is just random stuff I have heard/learned from being a framer.

[starrley]

Thank you very much for your help. and corbin, your formula sounds good to me.