How much would you charge?

Guy sends me an email asking to paint his mask like the photo. I gave him a price range cause I don't know how his mask looks like. I thought it was a very decent price (150-200) compared to what some of those guys are charging. I don't know what do you think?

L

[landsbro]

Hi Isa
$300 at least...it would be a good price and pretty cheap anyway.there's a guy who lives on painting goalimasks (daveart.com)few miles away from me..hi paints to NHL and swedish hockey leage. for a kids helmet with a very simple design he starts att $600 and pro $1000 and up ,,these are ofcourse sponsored helmets the goalie don't have to pay from own pocket.so don't be to cheap it's quite a job with prepping and 2partclear
doesn't come free either..
now i know it's difficult to discuss charges/prize because we live in different countrys but don't sell you out.think it's atleast 20hours of work plus clearcoat.

[lsabourin]

Hey thanks Kimmo, that's what I thought....

L

[aixguy]

He wants his mask to look like that picture.. Scuff it, use a sharppie and clear it!

[Airbrush Dreams]

I think your undercutting yourself if you go that cheap. I would have to say $450. Start at $450 firm if its for a person you know has the cash. Don't let the customer try to whittle you down and you know they will try. Try saying the normal price would be $850, but I think I could do it for $450.

[theairbrushguy]

Hey now Luc. I know that pricing ranges from area to area and also by the skill of the artist (which does not concern you of course), but you have to have a minimum for certain projects. You know how long it will take to prep the helmet as well as your cost for baseing it and clear. Thats your min. The artwork is where you add into the minimum. Our min is $250 for a helmet. Figure in the artwork and go from there.
Only you know how much your time is worth. If an hour of your time is worth $15 then you may have given a decent price. I think you are worth a heck of a lot more than that but that is just me. It also looks as though there is some detailed paintwork behind the scar looking part. That may take a bit of time to do.
Get your hourly set and go from there. You work is worth it. If they say no, their loss.
TABG

Airpower Art Studio

[Kicks]

Cheevers used a magic marker on the orginal,... this guy must have more money then brains or he'd do the same thing, lol!

[lsabourin]

All great advice guys, I've concluded that I'm pretty cheap labor!!!lol

[dungeonworks]

$300 would be my bottom price and that's only because I have no overhead that an actual shop has. Remember, you do him cheaply and any jobs he refers your way are going to be expected just as cheap. That can start down a road where you may not want to go.

Speaking of cheap jobs, I just had a guy try to get me to mural the outside of a treehouse/treefort from a guy thinking he was going to get this done on an $80 budget! Hahahaha! He is 40 miles away and the tree house is 15' in the air! When I kindly told him that was out of the realm of possibility for me to do it that cheaply, he came back with how little he paid for murals in his kids rooms, I said hire that artist. $80 would cover just getting me to his house and setting up my rig.

[GregerLMacleod]

This is a great thread, it's really interesting to hear every body chiming in on pricing for projects so openly.

People I've talked to range from $50 t0 $85 per hour, only for the air brushing and they only want to do the air brushing, no prep, base coating, inner coat clear, and especially not the finish clear coating / buffing out.

I myself still have never been able to sell an AB job or project. LOL I can't seem to find the secret to getting any interest going in my art, or ABing. I'm taking some pannels around again later today.

This helmet seems very simple to me, compared to lets say the detail in Luc B's Lord of The Rings van. So looks like an average minumum price for little black stiches would be around $300, so what would everyone charge for something with high detail in small dimension????????

[aixguy]

Originally Posted by lsabourin

All great advice guys, I've concluded that I'm pretty cheap labor!!!lol

No, I think $200 is a good price to sharpie the thing and clear it!
The customer did say he wanted his to look just like the picture!

[patoche]

Hi

Just for infos in france.
-I charge 300 to 350 euros for a full helmet job : 415 to 485 $, up price seems to be too much for a helmet here!

-1200 to 1400 euros for a full bike job tank, fenders , lateral protections),
-1200 are for are for a full bike painting (down to metal, emboss touch up, mastic, primer, base coat, pearls or not, design, clear, buff)
-1400 are for the same kind of job , but with hard masking job , (many imbricated tribals , marblizers , and candy jobs ).
-In fact , i've done my bike job prices according to the price i pay the stuff, it doesn't matter for if the airbrush job is complicated or not , The airbrush part is what i like to do and it not change the price.
-For professional customer, exemple : wall painting in a restaurant or something like that, I charge a lot as would do a painting company !
For exemple , i've charged 4200 euros (5800$) for a painting of 6 X 2 meters.

Sometime , i charge less, depending the job quantity i have. If i don't have anything to paint , i prefer to charge less and be sure to get the job.

I have to say that painting is my job and not a way to get a little bit more money. I have a company number and pay taxes every month, fees at the end of the year. it would certainly be different if i had another job.

pat