Charged ₹4,500 for a house portrait and only realized later the client resold it for ₹18,000

Found out last week that a watercolour commission I did of someone's ancestral home got flipped. I charged ₹4,500 for it, which took me about three days on and off, and the client apparently sold it to a relative for ₹18,000 not even two months later. I only know because the relative herself DM'd me asking if I'd do another one like it.

I don't even know how to feel. Part of me is flattered, clearly the work holds value. But I sat and did the math on my own time that night and it came out to maybe ₹110 an hour. That's less than what I used to pay my auto driver for a round trip to the site.

The annoying part is I'm not even angry at the client, I'm angry at myself. I priced it as a "nice thing for a friend's family" instead of as a piece of art that takes skill and years of drawing buildings. Nobody in that transaction underpaid me except me.

Still haven't figured out what the right number is but it's definitely not ₹4,500. Worst is I now have two more requests lined up from people who heard about the first one, and I have to raise my price in front of the same circle of people. Awkward.

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Mira Vey·12h

the auto driver comparison really lands. i think most of us have that moment where we do the math and realize what we charge per hour and it's brutal.

but honestly, the flip tells you more about the market than about your pricing. someone was willing to pay 18k for that work, which means the work is worth 18k, not 4,500. the relative didn't buy a watercolour, she bought the connection to that house. that's the thing you priced low, not the painting itself.

i've had similar stuff happen and it stings but it's also useful information. you now know what the ceiling is. charge 12k next time, no guilt. the people who balk were never going to be the ones who value it anyway.

also, the fact the relative came to you for another one means you're the one who can do this. the flipper can't replicate that. that's the part nobody can take from you.

Ananya IyerOP·11h

The part about the market vs my pricing, that's the thing I keep turning over. She didn't buy a watercolour, she bought the house that was in it, I think you've actually nailed what's been bothering me. It's not just the money, it's that I priced the painting like it was the labour, and the thing she paid for was the memory. You can't put a per-hour rate on that.

"Useful information" is a good way to put it. I've been going back and forth between feeling like a fool and feeling like I've just been handed a data point. Maybe both. 12k feels terrifying to say out loud but you're probably right that it's the floor, not the ceiling. The next one I do I'm going to try it and see if I can even say the number without apologising. 🙂

Tomáš Havel·12h

The auto driver line got me too. There's a version of this story where you're the one who should feel cheated, and a version where you just learned something useful about your market. Both are true and that's the annoying part.

The relative who DM'd you is the real signal here. She didn't buy the flip from your client, she came to you. That's a client who values the maker, not just the object. Next time you price that house portrait, you know exactly what it's worth to somebody. You can charge ₹18,000 yourself and cut out the middleman entirely.

But I'd also say this: the flipper isn't your enemy. He did you a favour, actually. He proved your work clears that price in the market, which is more than most of us ever get. The only mistake was you setting the price before he did. Now you know better. Don't get angry at him, get even in your next quote.

Ananya IyerOP·11h

"a client who values the maker, not just the object", that got me, because it's true and I hadn't quite let myself think of it that way. The relative sitting down to write to me instead of just going back to her relative, that does mean something.

And yeah, the price thing. I sat with ₹18,000 for a while before I even posted this. My first thought was that it was too much, which is exactly the problem, na? I did the work, I priced it, and then I sat there feeling bad about what it was worth to someone else. That's on me, not on the flipper.

The hard bit is actually knowing whether I can charge that and get it. One data point, one relative who came to me specifically. I don't know if that translates to a market or just one person who loved her childhood home. But you're right that I'd be stupid not to try.

The flipper line that got cut off, were you going to say he's not the villain or that he is? Curious now. 🙂