I'm in a situation where some years ago I agreed to do a trade with another artist - in fact, I believe I've posted about this before here. Said artist is well known in community, so I would rather not name names, even though at this point they've blown me off twice about this. :/ I would really like to give them one last chance to make right before I call them out - but that's not the point of why I'm posting.
The second time I approached the artist about why they'd not finished their part of the trade, which we agreed to do and I completed my half of on the same day, July 24 2010. Said trade item was delivered to the artist by hand at the following FWA, during which they mentioned that they've just not had time to do their half. Between all of that time, said artist had taken numerous commissions - more than I could even begin to count.
Said artist continues to take tons of commissions. Again, more than I could even begin to count. The last time I inquired about when they might finish my part of the trade, the artist mentioned that they might like to just pay me for the value of the ACEO, but I suggested that I would be pleased to settle for just a sketch, even though our trade agreement was for a full color ACEO. The artist agreed to this. This was on May 16, 2013. Since this time, the artist has continued to produce tons of art - sketches, finished work, you name it, they've done it.
At this point, I am preparing to ask the artist to just pay me for the value of the ACEO becuase I'm tired of waiting and messing with this. Which leads to my question: do I ask for the price that I charge for ACEOs now? Or what I charged then? Generally when dealing with commissioners, if four years had elapsed between getting a price quote, they'd be required to stick to the new, more current pricing. Is it fair to do this with a trade gone bad, as well?
The second time I approached the artist about why they'd not finished their part of the trade, which we agreed to do and I completed my half of on the same day, July 24 2010. Said trade item was delivered to the artist by hand at the following FWA, during which they mentioned that they've just not had time to do their half. Between all of that time, said artist had taken numerous commissions - more than I could even begin to count.
Said artist continues to take tons of commissions. Again, more than I could even begin to count. The last time I inquired about when they might finish my part of the trade, the artist mentioned that they might like to just pay me for the value of the ACEO, but I suggested that I would be pleased to settle for just a sketch, even though our trade agreement was for a full color ACEO. The artist agreed to this. This was on May 16, 2013. Since this time, the artist has continued to produce tons of art - sketches, finished work, you name it, they've done it.
At this point, I am preparing to ask the artist to just pay me for the value of the ACEO becuase I'm tired of waiting and messing with this. Which leads to my question: do I ask for the price that I charge for ACEOs now? Or what I charged then? Generally when dealing with commissioners, if four years had elapsed between getting a price quote, they'd be required to stick to the new, more current pricing. Is it fair to do this with a trade gone bad, as well?
- Current Mood:annoyed
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Edited at 2014-07-23 10:20 pm (UTC)
I would have to disagree with that - OP has presumably spent at least some time chasing this person around trying to get their half from them. That's time and effort that wasn't factored into the initial deal, and has taken enough of a toll on the OP that they are feeling that they have to change the trade. So although there was not more time spent on the piece itself, there was more time and trouble spent on the deal as a whole.
OP, personally I would charge what you feel comfortable charging, not exceeding what you currently charge for ACEOs.
So to say if my price for a sketch back then of that quality was $10, but now I charge $20 for a sketch 4 years later that is far better quality and takes the same amount of time, I would not feel comfortable charging the $20 for that $10 sketch, as it is still a $10 sketch in my eyes.
This is purely my personal take on it however, if you feel that this situation warrant's a sort of interest on the piece then that is for you to decide on the matter.
Because I'm bitchy that way.
Your time and effort have worth.
Though, personally when the artist originally asked to pay for the art, I would have taken it out of courtesy, because I see that (and in commissions, refund questions) as a more subtle way for them to indicate that they're really not feeling up to doing the image and rather have it off their plate this way.
Not that its right for them to not finish it, but just to keep it in mind if similar thing happens later.
When I joined FA about 4 years ago, I only charged $5-$10 for what I now charge $100 for. The quality, obviously, improved ten fold (My old art was utter crap). If your situation is the same, charge the old price.
If your art skills (and price I guess) haven't improved tons, stick with the current pricing.
Though it sucks they blew you off for so long, it's only fair to charge for the services they received. If your art has increased in price, it's likely due to the quality increasing.
I'll keep an eye on this to see if it becomes a full beware. I do a lot of trades, and I would like to avoid this person.
It's difficult to make a call on this one really because we don't know how much the price has increased. If it's went from $30 to $40 it's a different story from the price going from $30 to $100.
It's really lame that they haven't come forward with their part and I'm absolutely not defending it, but I can at least understand the reason, I guess. I'm guilty of similar things sometimes, unfortunately. I wouldn't blacklist this person from trades for this, but I would probably wait for them to do their half before I worked on mine if we ever did a trade in the future.
Anyway, hopefully this reminds them to either pay you or do their part [assuming you're still interested in the artwork at all]!
And to actually answer the question, I would charge probably somewhere in between my prices before and my prices now. I charged $12 for ACEOs 4 years ago and now charge about $25-35 depending on complexity, so maybe I'd ask them for $18 or so. I think that would be a good middle ground between charging them twice the skill level they actually got and not getting anything for the time I spent waiting. It's really up to you, though!
It's been over a decade, which makes it tricky to set a price. But I'm considering charging my current full price; we agreed to do the trade when I was at that skill level, he didn't do it for ages which is not my fault.
If I wait to pay my bills I have to pay interest too, so. *shrug*
i've got someone myself who has waffled on a trade for 6 years. now i find they're leaving, i left a comment about it, but they didn't respond. boooooo
It just makes me sad, because these folks are SUPER talented and incredibly skilled people. I can absolutely understand being so over-worked with paid projects that trades slip their mind, because priorities and all, but I honestly think a lot of folks who skimp out on their half of trades just simply lose interest and are too embarrassed to say so. So they keep putting you off until it's just not something they ever want to think about again.
Which, again, I can understand on an emotional level, but is still very irresponsible and disrespectful to the person you engaged in the trade with, especially when they've delivered their half fair and square.
Though... are art trade concerns allowed on A_B? I was never sure, it always felt like a very gray area and I just assumed this community was primarily for paid works.
Regardless,
Edited at 2014-07-24 06:39 pm (UTC)
Its really sad when people can't complete their trades, I know I'm a bit guilty of leaving them in the back burner a lot. But it's a sign of responsibility and time management to complete work that's owed, paid or not.