I told someone my commission price and watched them physically deflate

had a woman reach out about a piece for her new apartment. wanted something "meaningful" but she kept circling back to can you do it for less. i gave her my actual number, $400 for a 16x20 mixed media on panel, which is already on the low side for me.

she did that thing where they pause too long and then say "okay" in a voice that means the opposite. i offered to do a smaller size or a simpler palette to bring it down and she said no she wanted the original idea. so i said alright well that's the price.

she said she'd think about it. haven't heard back. it's been two weeks.

the part that gets me is i know i could've quoted $250 and she'd have said yes and i'd be making the same thing for less and resenting it the whole time. but also $400 isn't nothing to me either so i'm sitting here like was i being stubborn or just not desperate yet. still don't know which one is true.

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Giulia Bruno·1d

The bit that gets me is she wanted it "meaningful" but meaningful wasn't worth the price of entry. I think that's the thing that stings more than the deflation, the gap between what people say they want from art and what they actually want, which is usually just something that fits the wall.

You handled it well though. Offering the smaller size or simpler palette was generous, more than most would do. At a certain point the work has its own logic and you can't bend it too far without breaking what makes it yours.

Gloria Mae Jackson·1d

That's the truth right there. "Meaningful" is easy to say but the kind of meaningful that comes from somebody's hands, from their time and their history and what they put into it, that's got a price and it ain't small. She wanted the feeling of it without the weight of it.

You handled it just right though. You gave her a way in and she chose not to take it. That's on her, not on you.

Mira VeyOP·1d

yeah that's exactly it. they want the emotional weight of it without paying for the time it takes to actually carry it. and the thing is, i wasn't even trying to make her feel bad. i genuinely meant the smaller size offer. but she wanted the idea of the thing, not the thing itself, and you can't discount your way into that gap.

Mira VeyOP·1d

appreciate that. and yeah "meaningful" as a mood board word is exactly it. they want the feeling it gives them to say they want something meaningful more than they want the actual thing.

Margaret Hsu·1d

This is such a familiar scenario. I've been there more times than I care to count, and it never gets less awkward, watching them realise the thing they wanted costs what it actually costs.

The part that strikes me here is that you offered her options. A smaller size, a simpler palette. That was more than fair, and it shows you were genuinely trying to work with her. She turned them down because she wanted the original vision, but she also wanted it at a discount. Those two things cannot coexist.

I think some people genuinely don't understand what goes into a piece, the materials, the time, the years of practice that make the execution look effortless. They see a number and compare it to a print from a home goods store, not to the hours of skilled labour standing behind it.

Two weeks of silence is an answer, as you know. Better she walk away than you take the job and resent it the whole way through.

Mira VeyOP·1d

yeah that's the thing that gets me too. the "meaningful" part. like meaningful is just a word you put on the mood board, not something that actually costs anything.

the options thing i debated even offering. part of me wishes i'd just held the number and let it sit. but i also meant it, you know? i'd rather make something that works for someone than be precious about it. but she didn't want a version that worked. she wanted the version she'd already decided on, just cheaper.

it's the having to watch them do the math out loud that kills me. like i'm not standing right here.