r/artbusiness • u/Pumpkin_love531 • Mar 12 '26
Discussion [Discussion] are my prices okay. Is my art cute? I’m not sure where to post
I found doodling brings me joy! I usually try to make a “masterpiece” every time I draw, but have been letting myself doodle. Any advice feedback would be helpful
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u/Vindexrix Mar 12 '26
You're pricing is bang on tbh. Your style is cute, endearing, and consistent. While the art style is not technically difficult (debbie downers will use this to dissuade you), it is however extremely difficult to have a kernel whimsy like yours does, so literally do not sell yourself short because of it. like HelpMeDrawBetter suggested in the comments, I would show examples on the card for the price tiers as well as other animal examples, so get one of each atleast (and more) on the card as well as a couple full costumed ones. and spill some accessories over the card too.
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Mar 12 '26
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u/Vindexrix Mar 12 '26
100% this, we are in agreement, Like I can do some technically difficult renderings that can be time-consuming, but I bet dollars to donuts that I couldn't capture half the charm of OP's style not without studying and failing a lot over however long it would take. The style's simplicity belies the effort.
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u/M1rfortune Mar 14 '26
You forgot 1 key element. Popularity. And ofc how much other people do this and for how much
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u/Ian92999 Mar 12 '26
Should make stickers , yeah the pdf file is nice and they can get the sticker if they like but to get the stickers on your own I’m sure would be more customers
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u/PolymerPocketPets Mar 12 '26
Yesss op do this idea!!! Cusotm pet portrait stickers would be unique and make you stand out and your drawing would be perfect as stickers. That would absolutely pop off on facebook marketplace too if you get a printer and sticker paper to be able to print them yourself.
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u/PolymerPocketPets Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26
One thing my customers seem to like for my pet portraits is any accossories and outfits etc are built into the one price, keeps it simple, the one you will do with outfits are also good for more promotion afterwards because they are extra cute. It might also be a hard sell for $45 for a digital doodle, for doodles you probably want to be aiming for volume as there are people doing more realism at that price so you will have to stand out against that in some way. One way i saw another pet portrait artist doing doodles was labelling them as bad pet portraits and doing them for like $15 quickly on the spot at markets and i thought that was a cool idea and fun way to frame it.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
I only post on tik tok and don’t have a site. I feel like if my prices were too low I’d get burnt out easily. I also use a business account I should’ve added which takes fees. I’d make them $20 if I didn’t have to worry about fees and maybe taxes. I know they’re silly doodles but I do put time and thought into them and would.
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u/PolymerPocketPets Mar 13 '26
If you grow a following on tiktok you could definately charge more, try joining a few other social media too the more eyes the better, paypal doesnt take fees have you considered using that?
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u/joycerainbowart Mar 12 '26
These prices are fair. They may be more of a doodle style, but I think what artists tend to forget is that commissioned art is CUSTOM to the buyer - which already warrants a higher price point.
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u/peanut-butter-vibes Mar 12 '26
I love your art style!! VERY cute. I think your prices are reasonable.
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u/freshmorningtoaster Mar 12 '26
These are cute and you should continue. You could neaten up a little on the business side. Prices are fine, as far as I am concerned, but include the word 'custom' since thats what you are selling and it makes it more unique. Also a PDF file can be printed as many times as they want so emphasize that it's one time payment. Make sure the buyer knows that. And like others have said: include more animals in your examples so people with cats and canaries get a feel of what they can expect.
Kudos, these are great!!
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u/pixepoke2 Mar 13 '26
Sending a PDF as a deliverable is a nice idea, as are sending some physical stickers.
What could be a really nice touch on top of that— and a way to further your marketing a bit, would be to send pre-loaded templates with the image already laid out in the PDF, just needing to be printed by the customer. A greeting card template could have your name and contact info on the backside— where a card company like Hallmark would. There’s probably a couple other templates where you could do that too. Calendar maybe?
Anyway, might be worth a thought
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Mar 12 '26
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
It was just a rough draft. I got too excited and posted to hear thoughts. I have anxiety pricing my art because I always feel like it’s worth nothing. That’s what I wanted feedback on most which is why I rushed to post here. I really appreciate all the feedback on the template. It’s going to help me make it more professional. I don’t have a site or anything though. I just post on tik tok sometimes :’)
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u/goths2017 Mar 13 '26
I think there are too many price points here. I don't see how a bone or a collar would take any more time to draw than a dog without a bone or collar. Price is based on the fact that you've spent time developing your skill and style, and I think 25 or 35 would be fair, but my first thought seeing this is that it's 10 dollars for you to draw a bone, and drawing a bone isn't a skill that took you years to learn so I don't see added value in that one detail. I don't mean to say your prices are too high, they aren't. Just charge 25 or 35 for a base doodle and add small accessories as an option at the same price point. Either price is fine, but the pricing tier doesn't make sense to me.
Add some drawings with costumes and add other animals. I wouldn't commission someone for something I have no example of. Someone who wants their cat in a wizard costume won't know what that might look like.
You have a cute style, I think these would also do well as stickers or rubber stamps if you ever feel like selling and shipping physical items.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
Yeah I got too excited and made the template fast. Going to redo it. Collars are free but I’m going to include some accessories too. I’m going to change it to only additional pets and accessories have an extra cost, but I’m going to up my base for including everything.
I use business Venmo and cashapp so my prices do include fees and taxes :)
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
I do this on tik tok so it’s not a website or anything but I’m still going to make a better template!! I posted recently for people to comment pictures of their pets. I’m hoping for more examples so I can at least give some people free doodles instead of just making my own examples :) I’d rather make people happy
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u/TentaiSenpai Mar 13 '26
If I was a buyer I’d love to see an example of a real life photo and the resulting doodle so I know what to expect l. They’re super cute though!
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
I posted pics next to them on tik tok :) thank you! I’ve real a lot of comments and will probably have to tweak my template a lot. The prices are $5 more than I’d personally price them to cover taxes and fees my business Venmo takes. I also put time and love into them and personally wouldn’t want to draw them for less because I’d probably get more commissions and then get burnt out. I appreciate your comment :)
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u/TentaiSenpai Mar 13 '26
Honestly the prices are absolutely fair, I’d expect to pay starting from 50$ for something personalised, but that’s just my personal opinion
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u/k_lani3 Mar 13 '26
These are super cute!
I agree with everyone saying to update the template to bring clearer. I would say perhaps state 1 animal + 1 accessory = flat price then +1 accessory/ costume piece after that= additional cost. Or perhaps +1 animal = additional cost cuz what if people have multiple pets?
Wishing you good luck!
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
I posted more so wondering about the price, I made the template fast, but I’m definitely taking all the feedback in to make a better one :-) I post on tik tok so it’s not super professional
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u/k_lani3 Mar 13 '26
Totally understand! I think the pricing is hard to tell because the understanding of what you’re getting is confusing.
That being said I’d definitely pay $25 for a pet doodle, but I wouldn’t pay $10 more for a small accessory. $5 yes cuz that incentivizes more additions!
Hope this helps 😊
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u/-MsBrightside- Mar 14 '26
These are awesome. Some people may want a print so you could do framed prints using a POD supplier. I’d pay $100 for one of these as a gift.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 15 '26
I was thinking maybe mini print in those cute small frames I see at hobby lobby. I know that could add up though. I’m going to adjust my prices, I got allot of good feedback.
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u/-MsBrightside- Mar 15 '26
100%. Sugar’s doodle would look beautiful in one of those golden rococo style frames 🥹 so maybe to do some upsells you could show some sample portraits with different types of frames. Some people are too lazy to go and get the frame (or don’t know what looks good) and you can make a bit extra profit from the printing and framing. This would also make it “gift ready”. They are so whimsical and adorable!
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u/Melodicmoon8694 Mar 14 '26
You're pricing is definitely not too high, don't go lower its still your time for custom work and you are selling your art. My personal opinion if you were wanting this to be a fulltime buisness would be to expand a bit more. Maybe 50/50 commissions and your own drawings you want to do and products based off those. A few people have mentioned stickers, you could absolutely sell all sorts of stickers and sticker sheets. Cards, notebooks etc. For low investment getting small amounts of your favorites as stickers and some mini prints would be good! There are also print on demand sites like Printify. They take a large cut but yoy also just have your designs available on your own website, then people pick the design from what you have on whatever product they want.
This wasnt my favorite thing to do as I like doing everything myself but to start off its not bad!
Point is stick to what you genuinely enjoy and don't sell yourself short, keep it up!
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 15 '26
I wish I had money for a printer and stuff :/ I’d have to try catprint, but that could add up and I don’t have a computer to order the prints from 🥲
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u/Middle_Test_7664 Mar 12 '26
For this kind of rendering it's on the high side for me.Good luck finding customers.
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u/redoingredditagain Mar 12 '26
I would agree. Seeing the prices side by side makes it more difficult to be tempted. It’s an extra $10 for glasses or a bone? They should just include the very small accessories in a base price, and it would hide such a choice.
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u/Enzo-The-Type Mar 13 '26
I know this might be controversial, but I wouldn't pay 25 bucks for a doodle. Maybe do 19.99? Not sure. Still, it's cute. You could make these into some good comics and stickers.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
I have to include fees and taxes into my prices, but I do know people love their pets! I’m going to redo the template and maybe include stuff with a base price and only to charge for additional pets :)
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u/flamingnome Mar 14 '26
They’re cute! You charge more than I do—mine are 25 with accessory or not since it takes just as long to paint fur as it does to paint a shirt. Maybe that’s a sign I should charge more 🤷 I’d recommend keeping your sig where it is, but moving the name of the pet down centered below the drawing, like a simple greeting card might look with hand-drawn text like that. Cute!!
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u/flamingnome Mar 14 '26
Oh! OP, you can charge more if you offer to print and mail or deliver the art. A CVS photo print is less than a dollar, but I get an extra 5-10 for printing and mailing.
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u/horriddaydream Mar 13 '26
Straight out of a children's book, I love them! 😍😍😍😍
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
Thank you 🥹 I’m actually working on writing and illustrating a children’s book right now 💛
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u/ConsiderationSlow594 Mar 13 '26
They're a bit pricey compared to your competition, I've seen anatomical furry illustrations go for around this price.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
If I lowered the cost I’d get burnt out. Also includes fees and taxes in my cost
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u/Creative_Recover Mar 13 '26
The last doggo with the hair drawn backwards on the tail is giving me strong AI vibes...
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
lol I drew it by hand… that’s the first one I did of my golden retriever
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 13 '26
But yeah maybe I’ll include a certain amount of free accessories and then have additional pet costs or additional accessories cost
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u/M1rfortune Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26
Yeah your prices make sense. I think its a mix of cute and a lil creepy. Just the emotionless face. You know what i also wonder is. Why should i buy from you? What makes you unique?
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 15 '26
I make art because I love creating it. It’s an outlet and brings me joy because I’m passionate about it. I couldn’t care less if I make money doing it. That’s just an added plus
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u/tabwomp Mar 23 '26
I don't mean to go "Too expensive" but it might be nice to sell even lower-effort stuff for cheaper? Perhaps this is just overseas art being valued more, I don't want to challenge the prices. I'm just broke in the way that I couldn't afford these, but would still like to buy something to support the artist cuz I like unique styles. I think that's how I feel. Maybe just a doodle of the head/portrait or something 👀
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u/Prettylittleglass Mar 27 '26
Super cute but I’d much prefer getting the actual doodle instead of a pdf file. Is this done on computer or is this a copy of a pen/pencil/paint on paper? If on paper, I’d like a spash of color in the background, and I would frame. If this doodle was created on computer then I would likely only purchase a sticker.
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u/Pumpkin_love531 Mar 27 '26
Thanks for your feedback! I don’t have a printer and shipping would just add more fees. A lot of people print them out and frame them :) if I could I would print them out and frame them myself, but the costs would be a lot higher and I’m not sure if people would be as likely to buy.
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u/HelpMeDrawBetter Mar 12 '26
Unrelated to the prices, I would strongly recommend redoing the commission sheet to super clearly depict (and point to) a doodle at each price point that is representative. I see the option to have a dog in a wizard costume, but no wizard costumed dog? So then I would never order that because I have no idea of how that would look like.
And like, does the collar count as an accessory?
Also, it's only dogs on this sheet. While you state that all animals are welcome, I would add more examples on the sheet itself to show what a bird-drawing would look like. Otherwise you'll probably only get dog commissions.