Help! I'm a pricing noob

Geoellen

New Member
Hello everyone,

I wonder if you can help? I'm sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place, I'm new here :giggle:
I've been asked to do work for a large highstreet brand which involves flying abroad (from London to Asia) to paint a huge mural (10m high but with assistants) and also to use that same image for a run of t-shirts.
I need to come back with a quote pretty soon but as there are all these variables of licensing the image, flying abroad and the unknown of how many days the painting itself will take me I'm super lost.
Of corse I don't want to undersell myself but I'm also scared of overpricing and scaring them off.

Thanks in advance!

Georgie
 
If it's a large highstreet brand I dont think you need to worry about over pricing. If anything they may question your compitency if you come in too cheap. And if you created the artwork they want to use, then they cant really go elsewhere for the work.

Questions you need to answer:
• Do you have to pay the assistants or is the client dealing with that?
• What standard are these assistants? You need to know if you're directing skilled artisists or managing local school kids.
• How much does a business class air fare cost? Its a business trip so why rough it in economy?
• How much will comfortable accomodation cost? Hotel/hostel standards in Asia can be much more varied than in the UK so make sure you know what you get for the money.
• How long will you be there? This is where the standard of your assistants comes in.
• What's your daily rate? You'll need to charge that from teh day you leave to the day you estimate getting home
• What expenses are you likely to have over there? It's completely reasonable to expect them to cover expenses such as food and travel
• How much will the client likely make from the sale of your design on t-shirts?

If you're not sure how long the painting might take, take an educated guess then double it. You may also need to leave your travel tickets as open return (just in case the project over runs).
 
You could quote for your time but state that the client must pay for business travel (I wouldn't want economy to Asia from London) and decent accommodation.

Whichever way you go I'd want the cost of travel paying up front before I'd even consider buying the tickets, ideally I'd want all of the money up front but not sure how that would work with the client. Remember when working with non UK companies you have a lot more hassle getting money from them if they refuse to pay.
 
Thank you so much both of you Dave and Levi, this has been most helpful. I've bitten the bullet and priced it.
I have just found out that they are paying for everything else outside of my artist cost. They will pay already for flights and accom and for the assistants on top of this.
Fingers crossed now xx
 
A bit late to the game but I agree with the above.

I work with a mural company and if it's a high street brand then I wouldn't sweat the budget too much.
The most important things to them by far are getting the deliverables on time.

Budget is less important to them although it is to you.
Just don't be tempted to underprice yourself as it may lead to repeat work and you will have shot yourself in the foot from the off.

Same with the licensing of the design.
Just try to make it clear from the start where you stand just to avoid any confusion later on about usage and such.
 
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