LOL. As a mother of sons, they hit a certain point and the food consumption is insane!

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ManicPixieGirlyGirl@reddit

Yep! My nine-year old son has eaten more than me for years.

RubiksCub3d@reddit

Ps1 games were around $40 in the 90s The n64 cartridges is what drove their prices so high

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snarkwithfae@reddit

Go back to the generation before! The higher prices on some incredible titles were wicked high too. The CDs of the PS1 really helped the pricings

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Ironwarsmith@reddit

Huh, I actually looked into it and you're right! N64 games were 60$!

dropthepencil@reddit

This is the answer being sought.

Adding on: art requires disposable income. So part of the answer is dependent on how much disposable income is available at the price point.

I'd likely pay $100 for art I like. I likely would not pay $1k. My available disposable income would force a choice for that $1k between the art and many other options.

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OkKindheartedness194@reddit

Agreed. I would not pay $1k but would pay $100.

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MacaroonSad8860@reddit

Same. I could afford $1K but I’d rather spend that on a vacation or save it. There’s only so many walls in my apartment and I can decorate them with decent prints and local, less expensive art from up and comers.

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parkerino24311@reddit

this is so great to read as an up and coming painter

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BrainFartTheFirst@reddit

A tank of gas is now over $50.

For some of us it's been over $50 for the past decade.

OkKindheartedness194@reddit

I'm just sharing what we spend. We mostly get large Chinese or Mexican dishes that can be shared, plus a side. It definitely would be more if we weren't thoughtful about our takeout order. I also always pick up and don't pay for Door Dash.

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djfilms@reddit

I get 3 meal kits/week for two people, it’s about $100

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alaskawolfjoe@reddit

A tank of gas is over $50?

If it takes you ten hours to make a piece and you sell it for 50 dollars you made 5 dollars an hour.

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chongjin@reddit

Depends on the art

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Salish_R@reddit

$100 is:

5 days of food cooking at home for two 4 tickets to the movie theater 4 pairs of cheap jeans 2 bottles of mid-priced whiskey 2 x monthly gym membership 1 tank of gas for the car 1 month of the water bill, car insurance, or Internet 1 dinner and drinks for two people at a sports bar 1 ticket to see a musical in theater 1/2 dinner and drinks for two people at a nicer restaurant

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Lower_Neck_1432@reddit

$100 pays a monthly electric bill or gas bill. $100 pays for two at a decent restaurant.

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FlatElvis@reddit

The Economist uses the price of a meal at McDonald's to index prices. A Big Mac, fries, and drink is $9 where I live. So your art is the price of 11 fast food lunches.

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Ehhh - the market isnt what it used to be. Over saturated, everyone really raised their prices since Covid, and the adopt/design route is really where people shill out the big bucks (unless youre doing very niche or extreme fetish nsfw content). Source: am furry, have been buying commissions online since 2012, using everything from Deviantart to furaffinity to toyhou.se and discord.

The average furry is a broke college age art kid. The super wealthy tech bro furries are over represented.

That’s my monthly water bill for a family of six. Paintings or what type of art?

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schoolydee@reddit

its a going out to a nice, but not high end fancy, dinner price.

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BrightCelery754@reddit

The US is a HUGE country, with extreme variance in income and lifestyle.

Example: I’m a nurse. Living in most of the country, nurses make $30-50/hr. In those areas, they take home about $3000-4500/mo, then pay ~$1500-2500 for housing, and have only $1000-2000 for all bills, food, living expenses. These people typically spend $200-750 per month on “extras”, which would include art, vacations, hobbies, etc.

I live in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country. Nurses here make $70-100/hr. Take home ~$7-9k/mo. Housing ~$2500-3500+. People typically spend more on “extras”.

This profession is more middle or upper-middle class, depending on where you live.

Federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25/hr. Some states are higher, such as California at $15-20 an hour based on industry type.

Over 1/3 of the American workforce makes less than $15/hr. They probably take home about $1500-2000/mo, and still spend $1000+ on housing. They likely need to spend a few hundred on healthcare monthly, and then barely afford to pay for their other essential bills and food. 50-100 bucks for art could take months, or even be a once per year kind of splurge.

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IHSV1855@reddit

Some things that I buy often that cost me $50:

A bag of dog food

A round of golf

Mid-level takeout meal or pizza delivery for 2

Three-quarters of a tank of gas

Flowers for my wife

A fairly nice bottle of whiskey

——————————-

Some things that I buy often that cost me $100:

Casual dining out for 2

250 rounds of shotgun ammunition

A massage

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Puzzleheaded_Door399@reddit

I just paid an artist $45 for a commissioned piece of digital art, meaning I get a file. If I want to print it and frame it, that’s on me. I would have paid more if asked and probably will tip them on ko-fi.

If I make enough money to consider buying art, $50-$100 is very reasonable.

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Rogue_Cheeks98@reddit

just did the math on my take home salary, and it would take a little under 3 hours to get $100

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Mundane_Professor596@reddit

If you are doing NSFW commissions, I think you can easily charge $150-$200 if the quality is good.

I bought a small print in Mexico for $90. I paid $150 for a medium sized digital print as a gift for my dad.

For context, I’m an average income person for New York. I spend $80 on a haircut

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Kotetsuya@reddit

$50-$100 varies a lot for most people in terms of Value. Some households wouldn't think twice about spending $100 on a hobby or recreational activity. Other households would only spend that money on necessities.

OOP, If you are an artist doing commission work, I would HIGHLY encourage you to look into websites like VGen that act as an intermediary on behalf or artists and their clients. This site has listings from hundreds of other artists that you can effectively use to properly price yourself based on art style, effort, pose complexity, full-body vs 3/4ths vs waist up vs. bust up, etc.

As a frequent commissioner of artwork, I have artists who regularly charge $38 for full-body, fully color rendered character arts. I consider this price to be VERY low for the art quality (and have recommended they raise their prices). I have ALSO paid $160 for full-body reference sheets that include 2-3 poses, character details, color palette breakdowns, etc.

Imo, your best bet is to compare your portfolio to other artists and price yourself accordingly.

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sparklyfluff@reddit

For a lot of people I know that would be expensive— but if it’s quality work then you’d be able to reach those who can pay for it and to them it’s not expensive.

sucha vast country there’s MANY answrs 2 this Q. PLEZ, include more info abt WHERE this Q applies. Even that - will return poor results for the Q (as many diff socioeconomic classes can live in close proxmity). NAME ur product as many will Not buya piece of art that is ‘strange' for themselves... and so on\~

More detail gets better answers. GL, keep tryin !

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Mattturley@reddit

This can very broadly. A bartender likely makes that much in tips in 4 hours. Those in minimum wage would have to work about 16.5 hours when considering taxes and the federal rate of 7.25 per hour. When I left the workforce due to disability I billed between $280 - $525 an hour depending on my contract. I made about 30-40% of that in salary/bonus structure.

If I were looking to purchase art, I would be fine paying $20 to 50 for a reasonable quality PRINT of art in a decent size without a frame or with a cheap frame. For original art, considerably more, depending on the medium and quality and how much I personally enjoy it. The most I have spent on real art is maybe $150 for a vintage handmade woven rug from an estate sale and that was a steal since I have seen similar sell for over triple that. I don't have a lot of art and do eventually want more. I have a lot of my own and some cheap prints and thrifted art hung up.

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No_Perspective_242@reddit

Just a reminder that only 1% of hourly workers make the federal minimum wage in the US. Most are part time, food industry workers and women. While 1% is too high, most of the US work force makes more than that.

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1911Earthling@reddit

Pocket change now days. Dimer for wife and I and two drinks!

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jesusmansuperpowers@reddit

It’s what lunch for 2 costs at a mid range restaurant.

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lgherb@reddit

A trip to the local pub with a burger and fries (chips) + tip can push close to 50 bucks.

iknowyouneedahugRN@reddit

I think about things in the hours I have to work to afford it.

So I'm a nurse in a hospital of a small-to-medium size city (135,000-ish), the metro area is about 800,000. I am long in my career and make between $45-70/hour (depending on shift, if it's bedside vs. education time, lots of other things).

So a piece of art that costs two hours at work is good.

I'm in a pretty poor part of the country, so here goes.

100 dollars would comfortably cover my individual groceries for a week, and take me about four hours to earn.

it would pay my water bill for about 3 months. It would cover most of my electric bill, in months where I am not using any air conditioning.

It's half my monthly cellphone bill (three lines total: two of my kids are still on my plan)

it would probably pay for my entire family (6 people in total) to order a meal at a fast-food restaurant, even the hungry teenage boys.

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joedenowhere@reddit

$100 is dinner for two at a decent restaurant--if you don't drink. I think you're being underpaid.

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My husband makes about $500-$550 a day. So it’s not much.

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moonmoonboog@reddit

I think my family of 4 spent $63 at Wendy’s last week. If I leave the grocery store with less than $100 I’m shocked by how little I spent.

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SheepherderAware4766@reddit

In terms of food, 50USD is a single fast food meal for 3, or a week of cooked meals for 1.

In boy scouts, the cookmaster would typically budget $7 per scout per day for food. That was a little old (2019), but does not account for leftovers given we couldn't reseal food and was conservative given we couldn't run to the grocer to get extra.

$100 is the largest an unplanned expense could be without adjusting my income for the month.

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codenameajax67@reddit

A full meal at McDonald's costs $8 now.

Water for me is $100 a month.

If "commissions" means digital art of, say, fantasy characters or IP (e.g., "Can you draw a picture of my D&D character?"), you're probably selling mostly to teens and young adults for them to show to their friends or admire on their computer, and for whom $50-$100 could be a meaningful amount. The minimum wage ranges from $7.25-$21, but they may be using money given for a birthday or holiday, rather than a real wage.

I do not think $50-100 is expensive art at all. I make well less than the median \~70k/yr (though definitely above the min wage/poverty level $15/hr) for my area, in a relatively low cost of living area.

You are likely undervaluing your art for the US market, but it depends on what it costs you in time to make it - if you are allotting yourself less than $15-$20 per hour in time to make it, you are definitely underselling yourself. If you're knocking out one or two per hour, you're doing fairly decently. Keep in mind that you're doing a skilled job - your experience and skill took time to develop - so you should be valuing your work above a minimum wage.

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2Asparagus1Chicken@reddit

I'm Brazilian and, in my head, $1 = R$ 1 in purchasing power

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lavendar17@reddit

$50- $100 is one takeout meal where I live. A grocery trip for a five person household is $250. Two-four hours work. It would be very inexpensive for a piece of art.

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Elivagara@reddit

My gas this morning was 56 dollars. Dinner for 4 from take out last night was 60. You are not expensive.

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Jp95060@reddit

In CA you need around a million to buy a home. It’s around 40 thousand to buy a car.
I cost about 70 dollars to fill your gas tank.
You will spend around 150 dollars at store for two people for a week of groceries.

Going out to eat for two is around 100 dollars.

So 50 dollars will get you nothing and 100 a tank of gas and a milkshake.

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Rastard_the_Black@reddit

Dinner with a drink at a casual dining restaurant is $100 for two people. Dinner and drink at a steakhouse for 1 person

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ABelleWriter@reddit

$50 -100 is dinner out for my husband and I.

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IlexAquifolia@reddit

Where I live, a typical low wage job pays $10-15 dollars an hour.

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Which is why I said "average."

The median U.S. salary is a little over $60,000 per year. (That's median, not average, so it's not overweighted by the multi billionaires bringing the average up.) $60,000 per year is $30 per hour.

If you want to rule out outliers, median is a good metric, and the median weekly income for full-time employees 16 or older is $1,204 which works out to $30 an hour. So half make less than that, and half make more. If you go 25 or older it goes up to $1,268 or $31/hour.

Gymnastkatieg@reddit

Minimum wage (what fast food workers and similar jobs get) is 15 dollars an hour where I live. So that gives you some idea. My water bill is about $100 bucks, 2 days of day camp, several days of groceries, a nicer blow up pool, a Girl Scout vest with what a kid needs to get started, a restock of non food essentials (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning wipes, vitamins, dish soap, garbage bags), a pair of shoes, and my dog’s grooming are all things that fall somewhere in that range

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Classic_Breadfruit18@reddit

On paper the US minimum wage is $7.25 but in reality in most places the minimum wage (the least people will do any job for) is $12-$15.

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Demented-Alpaca@reddit

I mean it also depends on what you're selling. A quick digital render? That's expensive.

A really composed, highly detailed digital render? That might be pretty cheap.

A stick figure drawing? Expensive. A 3'x5' oil on canvas painting? Cheap.

I paid $40 for a painting of a daisy done in acrylic on a kitchen cupboard door. The artist is a homeless guy who does odd construction jobs and takes panels like this and paints on them. Then he sells them instead of begging on the street. It's a nice painting and I thought it was worth the money.

Ratatoskr_The_Wise@reddit

In my town of Chicago, $20 is a little above minimum wage ($16.60 per hour.) If you pushed grocery carts for 5 hours at Costco, (their workers start at $20 an hour,) you would be paid $100.

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NoForm5443@reddit

It heavily depends on how much money you make or have

Federal minimum salary is 7.25, so you're talking of ~6 hours of work; median hourly wage is ~26, so it's 2 hours of work for the median worker.

50-100 is a meal for two at a sit-down but not particularly expensive restaurant.

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Rockcrawlintoy@reddit

I make 75 an hour or it’s a little less or a little more than an hours work

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halfscaliahalfbreyer@reddit

The psychology of spending money isn’t quite this simple, I’d bet you’ll find a ton of people who waste this amount of money regularly on small transactions but would absolutely balk at the idea of spending the same amount on a single purchase.

Value is complicated. For many people art is decor and they compare it mentally the fact that people give decor away all the time and it’s hard for them to psychologically spend. It’s like if you use a coupon each week for your coffee and then they stop printing coupons, you won’t wanna pay full price anymore.

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seanodnnll@reddit

It would take 2 days at minimum wage to make $100.

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wmass@reddit

Minimum wage in the USA is around $15 per hour. Someone who only earned that would be unlikely to buy art that cost 50-100 dollars. If an American were traveling in Brazil and liked your art, they would probably buy it. People earning minimum wage don’t have much opportunity to travel.

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Shot_Construction455@reddit

This is going to be very difficult to answer since wages have a huge spectrum in the US. I can share that it takes more than $60 to fill my gas tank on a subaru at $4.59/gallon of gas which is the current cost in my area. My family and I are fortunate that we can pay for our needs and most of our wants without difficulty. The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour but in my state of FL it is currently $14/hour. Neither one is actually a liveable wage.

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Nah man, you’re going about this the wrong way. Don’t try to compare yourself with the responses in this post, you’re getting everything from a minimum wage worker at a gas station, to a white collar manager at a Fortune 500.

If you are so busy you can’t keep up, have a waiting list etc., then you’re priced too low. It doesn’t matter in the slightest if you just want to earn an equivalent US wage, or you don’t think your art is worth it, other people do!

If you’re not busy enough that you can’t make ends meet, then you’re priced too high, and may need to it your prices to get more work, and maybe supplement with other jobs.

I would ask you where I would most likely buy your piece from.

Pieces of a local cafe, crafts fair, or street art will go for around $40 - $250. Basically unknown artists, hobbyists, art students, etc.

A community art show typically go for $150 to maybe $300. Think locally known artists.

Pieces at a juried art show are about $350 to 5,000. Typically regionally known artists.

Galleries are around 5,000+ (anything in this range should be google-able and I'd expect the artist to have a website and reputable gallery presence). There's probably a secondary market for pieces.

Of course there's no upper limit.

Obviously, this depends on urban area and how well the arts are regarded by that city. But this feels like a good rule of thumb for major us metropolitan areas.

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JustafanIV@reddit

$100 is more than I'd be willing to spend on a lark, but also something I wouldn't worry about paying if it's for something I really want.

Around $500 and above I'm giving my wife a heads up because that amount kinda affects the bank account and I won't spend it unless it's something I/we need or a special occasion.

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9inez@reddit

Right now $50 is abt 12 gallons of gasoline

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Training_Signal9311@reddit

I’m single, I eat a lot of fast food and other sorta budget/quick meals (think one pot, tv dinner, etc). I maybe spend about 50 bucks a week on food including going out and groceries

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Raddatatta@reddit

One way to think of it would be in terms of hours. The average income in the US is a bit over $60k for one person. That roughly translates to $28 an hour. So $50 is about 2 hours of work for the average person. Minimum wage varries state to state but for most of them it's somewhere between $12-$15 ish so that would be 4 hours for them.

For art $50 I would say is reasonable for something not too complicated. For anything more elaborate I would probably go higher.

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PeorgieT75@reddit

I can easily spend $50 on a trip to the grocery store.

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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

This is dependent on who the person is, how much the cost of living is where they live, and what their income is.

For some people, $50-$100 is a lot of money. They would never spend that much on art. For others, that’s not much to them and they spend that much on personal things all the time, if not more. They might even consider that inexpensive for art.

There is no basic US citizen really.

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Forgive me for quoting myself, but I do sometimes actually say, "50 dollars is a lot of money for a cup of coffee, but not a lot of money for a car."

Is it a lot for original commissioned art? In general I would think no, especially if the client has already seen your work samples and knows they like your work.

It's also not typically an everyday expense -- people have only so many walls on which to put art!

50-100 USD is enough money that people will notice and think before spending it. But it would be foolish to think that you could commission good quality original art for less than that, in my opinion. If I saw an artist whose work I liked and wanted to commission some for myself, and was quoted 50-100 USD, I would consider that a very fair price.

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qu33nof5pad35@reddit

Depends on where you’re located.

My wifi payment is $50… for a 100, that would be my half if I go to dinner with my friend.

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cassbaggie@reddit

I buy a lot of art. For a printed work like a photo, I would expect to pay $20-$80 depending on the quality of the printing. For a unique physical work like a painting or sculpture, I would expect to pay $100-$2000 depending. It depends a lot on what it is.

I live in the Northeast. $50 fills my car with gas once (it was much less a couple months ago), $50 feeds my small dog each month, it can buy a decent pair of jeans or a really nice pound of coffee beans. $100 is about 90 minutes of work for me.

I live in Chicago where the average rent price for all apartments is about $2100/month. In the most desirable neighborhoods, the average price is $2,300/month for a 1 bedroom apartment.

It would not take long to spend $100, but it might take a little under a day to earn it.

Federal minimum wage is $1,256.57 a month.

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Mysterious_Peas@reddit

A cheap meal for 2 is probably $40. $100 can buy 2 a decent dinner with (maybe) a glass of wine.

My artist friend charged $2-3k for commissions, and like $1500-$2k for original works that weren’t huge or super complex. Prints were $75-$200.

It's not enough to take my family out for a sit down dinner, though it will cover takeaway with something to spare.

It won't cover my phone bill, all four of us have phones. It won't cover the power bill, it won't cover the internet bill.

It will cover the gas bill, and the car insurance but not both.

Basically, it's nothing.

However! If I am spending on something that isn't needed, it is something I would pause and think about, because it's two and a bit tanks of gas.

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kreativegaming@reddit

Roughly 5 to 20% of their weekly paycheck depending on where they live. That's nothing to someone in California but its a huge purchase for someone in say Mississippi

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CunnyMaggots@reddit

As someone who is disabled and lives well below the poverty line (14k a year), $50 is a lot of money to me. It's also at the same time not alot of money in the sense it doesn't go far at all. It would buy 2 or 3 meals at a fast food place or a cheap diner. It might get you half a tank of fuel in the average car in California.

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tyoung89@reddit

$50 is about a full tank of gasoline/petrol for a smaller car; 12 gallons (\~45 liters) at $4.20/gallon. A meal at a restaurant is $15-$30, generally, depending on how nice the place is, and what you get. (obviously not including really fancy places) My cell phone service is about $50/month. My home internet service is $100/month. A Big Mac at McDonalds is $5.29 where I live, the full meal with fries and a drink is $8.79.
So $50 isn't exactly a small amount of money, but it's not a ton of money either.

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nerowasframed@reddit

We order in our take out 1-3 times a week. Any other meal is with homemade or leftovers. One take out can be $30 to $50. So, $50-$100 is our average weekly delivery/take out budget, as long as we eat out 1-3 times a week.

How that helps. I thought that would give you a bit of perspective for what that amount of money is worth in the US. I remember when I was little, $100 was a lot. It's worth now what $50 was worth in the 90's: a decent amount, but not a lot.

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WinterRevolutionary6@reddit

A week’s worth of groceries for 2 people cooking for lunch and dinner 4-5 days a week plus a couple weekend meals.

2-3 full tanks of gasoline for my car

About 30-60% of an average Costco run “just to refill some basics” then I overspend

A nice pair of jeans

A 30 day prescription for my medication I take daily

Enough fast food for 3-8 people/meals

For reference I make ~$40k annually and my bf makes ~$48k

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backlikeclap@reddit

In my experience $50 can be either two books, a videogame on discount sale, dinner and a drink for two at a very casual place, a weeks worth of cheap groceries, half my monthly electricity bill, a months worth of cat food, twice the price of all my patreon subscriptions, two clothing items at a vintage store, a train ticket to a city 4-5 hours away, etc.

In art terms I would not expect to pay less than $200 for a decent piece of art. A well done framed 8x10 piece by a good artist who is early in their career would start at $400-$500.

yozaner1324@reddit

If my girlfriend and I got out for dinner or drinks, it's usually around $50-100.

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RedditWidow@reddit

Where I live in the US, $50-100 would pay for a month of internet service or a week of groceries for one person or a meal for 2-3 people in a mid-range restaurant. The average wage here is $1,200 a week.

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distracted_x@reddit

My monthly phone bill with unlimited data is $50 if that helps.

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RainbowCrown71@reddit

$25 is my cellphone bill each month, $50 is like a day of food, $80 is my internet bill, $60 is my tank of gas for 2 weeks. Rent is $2,200, so that’s the biggest expense.

I paid $70 for 3 people to get Ihop yesterday.

I’d day $50-100 is a small splurge, like I expect to spend than when I go to the movie theatre, or to go eat with family or going to the thrift store for vintage stuff.

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General-Winter547@reddit

It’s between an hour and two hours of work for me.

It’s less than 15 minutes of work for my spouse.

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SmokedPumpkin@reddit

$200/day is about the bare minimum you can survive on in the USA. And that’s living paycheck to paycheck.

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Plus_Carpenter_5579@reddit

If a person has a relatively shitty job they make 100.00 in one day.

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Extension_Variety190@reddit

Right now thanks to our idiot president and his unplanned war failures, we're paying almost seven US dollars per gallon (4 liters) for gasoline here in Los Angeles and if I want to take my "old man cruiser" (1966 Plymouth Fury - gas hog) for a little joyride, it costs almost 100 US dollars to fill the 25 gallon tank.
And again, this is not a serious daily car, it's my old man toy (350 horsepower), and it drinks a lot of fuel!

One bag of groceries is likely to cost almost a hundred dollars, or at least around 75, depending on what you bought.

These prices mean $50-100 for artwork is incredibly reasonable - aside from the jewelry, none of these items require a significant investment of an artist’s time to produce and all of them are consumed within a few days - they don’t last like your artwork.

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Brennisth@reddit

A typical AAA video game is $70. Thats a reasonable stand in for "average person's" monthly treat for self budget.

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bluepanic21@reddit

50- 100 dollars barely fills the gas tank all the way up. It’s hard to get out of a restaurant for less than a 100 dollars anymore

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virginiabeachgal@reddit

I would say $50 to $100 is the expected amount to spend on a birthday gift or send to someone as a gift. So seems like a very reasonable price point!

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kartoffel_engr@reddit

Depends on who you ask.

Someone working at the federal minimum wage, that’s nearly 14hrs of work for $100. For others, less.

If the art was good and I wanted to display it in my house $50-$100 isn’t bad for an original piece. For a reprint, probably a bit much depending on the size. $100 is a little less than an hour of my time at work.

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Educational-Big-6609@reddit

$50 is a cheap piece of art, unframed. $100 is a budget buy. Good, framed art runs $300 or more in the US.

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argella1300@reddit

Depends on the finished product and the level of career you’re at right now. $50-100 USD I could see a full color portrait of a person’s character, maybe a bust or full body with minimal background and in an uncomplicated pose

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DoubleHexDrive@reddit

$100 is less than one hour’s wage for me.

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BestMagician3200@reddit (OP)

can i send you my reume LMAO

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Gusstave@reddit

The thing with the USA is that cost of housing (rent or mortgage) vary A LOT. NYC wildy different than rural Wyoming (or wherever else....). Which means the value of 100$ varie a lot with your location.

100 bucks where I live, Brazil, gives me 1/4(25%) of minimun wage

It’s a trip to the grocery store for 1-2 people.

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WhichWitch9402@reddit

Gas just hit $5/gallon where I live. my vehicle holds 17 gallons so a fill up today would cost $85. day to day driving I can get by on a tank for close to three weeks.

Thats cheaper than most of the "art" pieces you can get at Target or other retailers.

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Engelgrafik@reddit

The average wage in the four biggest cities in America is $40-45 an hour.

The average *minimum* wage in the four biggest cities in America is $17-19 an hour.

How many hours does it take to do your commissions?

Most artists sadly are pretty much losing money by undervaluing their work, in hopes that "exposure" will give them more business.

Labor + costs, and multiply by three is a common formula.

3 hours minimum wage is, say, $55. Materials are maybe $10-15. Now you have $70... x3 = $210.

3 hours x $30/hr = $90. $15 materials = $105. $105 x 3 = $315.

Bear_necessities96@reddit

Honestly it’s nothing about 4-5 hours worked for average Americans

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For me, if you converted my pay to hourly that would be approximately 3 hours work. It's not a lot for any middle classed family or individual. I'm not an art person, but the few pieces I have purchased were around that amount.

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imthe5thking@reddit

$100 here is anywhere from a day of work to half a day. My wage is $15 per hour, so it’s just over 7 hours of work for $100. I don’t spend that amount quickly, but sometimes I need to.

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ReignyRainyReign@reddit

It would be earned in about a day for most, an hour for many.

A person from a rural area boasting about wages...do you get it?

Median household income in rural America is 60k

He said many people make that much. It's in the millions of people. I think that counts as many.

You're the one arguing a simple fact.

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Kamikaz3J@reddit

Many people are pedophiles

True or false?

I'd say some

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NothingButACasual@reddit

AnitaIvanaMartini@reddit

I’m a professional artist and I make all my money off of painting commissions (in the US, Canada (and a few in Hong Kong). When I first started out I wanted exposure. I wanted to find my clientele because just doing a painting and hoping someone likes it is gambling a lot if you aren’t established.

On weekends I’d park close to a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Food, where I put a tent sign on my car roof that said “Make me an offer!” I hand painted some postcards with my info on them and sold paintings out of my car trunk. I was only chased away once! Importantly, I learned what people were willing to pay, and made connections.

As I gained some followers I gave them 20% off a new painting if they referred a new client. I hustled, found my niche, and am doing fine.

I wish you all the success you dream of. It’s a rewarding profession…. eventually.

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clap_yo_hands@reddit

$50 where I live can buy about 3 days worth of groceries or one fast food meal for my family of 4. $100 is what I pay for about a weeks worth of groceries or one sit down restaurant meal for my family. We can fill one car with gasoline for about $50. We have three cars.

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buttstuffisland@reddit

Exchange it for your local currency then you’ll know exactly how much it is for you

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LaLechuzaVerde@reddit

50 bucks well I went to dairyqueen today (idk if they have them in brazil) but its just a fast food hamburger place with ice cream. And got a burger, fries, and a ice cream and a small thing of pretzels. That cost me like 23 dollars. So.... if that gives you an idea of price.

Figuring out the real value of money across economies is tricky. I find it is easiest to give an idea of what you can buy with the money to give an idea of value. Assuming not a high cost of living area (New York or California or a coast) $100 in the US will buy you one of the following: * About 5-8 fast food combo meals (depending on restaurant) * A mid quality pair of shoes. * Almost 2 new release.video games * 30-50 loaves of sliced bread * A meal for 2 at a fairly nice restaurant. * Around 1/20th of a month of rent on average. * An emergency room visit on most health plans that don't suck. * A month of an unlimited phone plan for a single line (more or less) * 2 tanks of gas for a mid sized car (although that's rising fast) * 3-6 days of groceries if you are very frugal.

Your mileage may vary. This is all based on costs in a large, Midwestern city with a relatively low cost of living. Well... A moderate cost of living.

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JamesMarM@reddit

$10 buys any one of these items, or $100 for all of them!

10 lbs chicken quarters

5 dozen eggs

2 lbs cheese

5 lbs apples

3 gallons milk

12 pack beer

1 bottle budget wine

10-20 lbs rice

15 lbs potatoes

1 gallon cooking oil

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ChemistRemote7182@reddit

$50 is a sit down dinner for two without alcoholic beverages in 2026 moneys

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No-Giraffe9226@reddit

When we don't feel like cooking, we pay around $65 for takeout for our family of 4 in southern California. In my mind, a commission fee for a very inexpensive artist would be a minimum of $400 dlls.

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SummitJunkie7@reddit

Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour. Working 40 full-time, 40 hrs/wk, their take-home pay is about $267 for that week. (based on an online calculator, estimating withholdings).

So $100 is about 40% of their weekly take-home.

But not everyone with minimum wage jobs can get a steady 40 hrs/wk, and it'd be rare to have much if any leftover each month after rent, food, auto costs, health care, and basic life necessities. $100 for something merely for my own enjoyment would've been a rare, like once annually if that, splurge for me when I was in that earnings level. And chances are that "splurge" would still be something functional/needed like clothing.

Generally minimum wage workers having to fully support themselves are not going to be your target market for art buying. For those that can and will choose to spend some money on art, $50-100 could be too much, totally reasonable, or a steal - depending on what the art is, the size, the quality, and just how much the person likes it.

Price your art in a way that, at minimum, compensates you for your materials and your time according to the wage you need/want to earn. Depending on how it sells you can increase the price and/or make more of it, or lower the price and make it at a loss for the love of it, or discontinue making it.

Good luck, and have fun!

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Thatonecrazywolf@reddit

I routinely get commissioned art work done from a digital artist I really like.

Typically I'm charged $250-$450 depending on the complexity of the piece.

Depending on your skill level, I'd say you might be under charging or you might be charging just right. Depends on the work you're offering.

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HighlandUK@reddit

I live in Boston at the moment, a coffee shop opened down the road from me and they hang art by local artists on the wall for sale.

Great concept which I 100% support, but they are bang average portraits of dogs about 6"x6" selling for $300 which is just outrageous in my opinion.

I've moved around the world a fair bit and have always ended up with some local street art on my wall, but not at that price (and size lol).

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unoredtwo@reddit

Commissioned art in the U.S. for $50-100 is extremely cheap.

$50 is like a dinner out for one at a nice but still casual sit down restaurant, and dinner for two at a diner style or very casual restaurant. $100 is like an internet bill, maybe a cellphone bill for one if you have a cheaper plan.

Your typical low end service job (say McDonalds) pays around $12 an hour depending on where you live. So $96 a day for low wage work assuming their job gives them a full 8 hour shift. That low wage worker is also going to have taxes and stuff taken out and might get to keep $68. If you’re doing art, you can probably pocket all the money without taxes, for a while, until you get caught.

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MiketheTzar@reddit

Allow me to use the most American of metrics to convert this for you. The Big Mac.

$50 is comfortably 8 big macs and $100 is roughly 17 big macs

Converted through purchasing power that means your commission are roughly R$216-459.

In terms of impact your most expensive option is approximately 1/11th of the average adult weekly budget across the country. This or course can vary wildly.

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LadyMRedd@reddit

It depends on the size and medium of the art, but I consider $50-100 very inexpensive for art. Unless it were tiny I'd wonder if it were original. Even high quality reproductions often cost more.

My husband and I have a general rule that if a purchase is under $200 we don't have to discuss it with the other person first. Over $200 is what I start to consider "big" purchases.

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LastCookie3448@reddit

My gas tank holds 16 gallons of gas, I'm paying $5.49/gal, so roughly $88 for enough gas to last me the week if I don't go see my family over the weekend, they live 50 miles south of me. If I head south, I'll refuel on the way home as their gas is approx. 75cents less per gallon (different county = different taxes). As a single mother with two teen boys I'm spending almost $1000 on food alone.

In USA many necessities have become luxuries.

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Jojowiththeyoyo@reddit

A tank of gas.

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MILFrogs87@reddit

$50 fills up my gas tank. $50 is a fast food order for my family of 3. $50 is my insurance copay for PT. $50 is 5 rotisserie chickens from Costco. $50 honestly doesn't go far.

$100 is sit down restaurant, but nothing fancy. Think Texas Roadhouse (steakhouse) vs Ruth Chris (fancier steak house). $100 at Ruth Chris might work for one person, but not two plus. $100 is 2 weeks of groceries (fresh) for my family.

Our electric bill is $250 every 3 months. $100 could potentially pay for one month, if they accepted payment like that. But we get billed quarterly which is every 3 months.

Our water bill is about $175 a month.

You don't want to know what my rent is. It's ridiculous is what it is.

Brave_Speaker_8336@reddit

50-100 bucks is about how much me and my SO spend on an typical unplanned meal out at a sit-down restaurant

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faerydust88@reddit

Mininum wage is $15 an hour where I live, so a person with a minimum wage job would make $120 (before tax) in an 8 hour day. For median jobs, like $25 an hour, a person would make $200 (before tax) in an 8 hour day. $100 would buy a week's worth of groceries for one person.

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beccahas@reddit

I could go out to dinner with my husband, but not to a place that is too nice, and spend about 100. The babysitter would cost 50 or 60

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Jumpy-Cranberry-1633@reddit

I make $52/hr, so $100 is 2hrs of work for me (~3hrs if you take into account taxes). If I shop smart I can feed my family of 3 on ~$150/wk.

To answer your question: $100 is....

How much pocket money i withdraw from my (every other week) paycheck for incidentals.
About half my weekly grocery budget.
About two months worth of my cell phone bill.
Currently, two tanks of petrol.

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g3294@reddit

I spend more than that on liquor in a week.

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Accomplished_Cell768@reddit

In California McDonald’s employees make $20/hour. I spend about $100 per week on groceries and household goods (eg. toiletries, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc).

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MaleficentMousse7473@reddit

$50-100 is going less and less valuable every day. It just cost me $75 to fill my gas tank and i do that every week to get to work and back.

I paid $63 to put gas in my car today so...

A family of 3, we spend about $200 a week in groceries.

My son and I went to dinner Sunday, it was almost $50.

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HermioneMarch@reddit

It would buy one nice dinner out or a weeks worth of groceries. So it just depends on how frugal yiu are. I could pay my phone bill for a month (family plan). Most months that would not cover power bill. Would only pay about one-tenth of most people’s rent or mortgage.

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urquhartloch@reddit

Minimum wage in Colorado is \~$15 an hour after taxes. Thats enough for a single person who watches their finances to live moderately comfortable.

Kamikaz3J@reddit

The median American makes less than $22 an hour

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TheRealThordic@reddit

I said average, not median, but sure.

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Suitable_Matter_9427@reddit

I pay 120/month for my cell phone and service if that helps contextualize

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Saved_by_a_PTbelt@reddit

$50 is about a tank of gas. It would cover a cheap-ish meal for two at a restaurant.

Our national minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. That isn't a living wage. The median household income works out to about $40 per hour. Thats household, so in a lot cases 2 incomes; and median, so half of households are bringing in less than that.

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Combat__Crayon@reddit

The median individual income in the US is like $60k a year for someone working full time. That's about $28/hr, so you're looking at 2-4 hours of work to earn enough to buy it. So it could definitely fit in the splurge or gift category for a lot of people.

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