Guidance on accepting (and charging for) commission work

[happywaffle]

Hi Eurobricks, first-time poster.

An opportunity for paid commission work has fallen into my lap. I'm excited about doing the work, but they've asked me what I charge, and… I have no idea. Honestly it'd be exciting enough to do for free, but I'd like to get paid a fair wage, so long as they're offering.

The commission is for about a half-dozen separate models to be used in a commercial—all relatively simple. It'll probably be 10-20 hours of work, but I'm not even sure about that part!

Anybody experienced with paid work? (I'm in the US, if it makes any difference.)

[Spitfire2865]

How big will the models be? You have to take into account how much the actual Lego will cost you. (Unless they give it back after the commercial, I dont know what the terms are for the commission)

And just think of a price for an entire day of your time. How much is your day worth? Thats up to you to decide.

And no I am not experienced with paid work, but just thinking about it, material and time costs, thats about it unless theres something I missed.

[caperberry]

I've done very little paid work and have struggled with the same problem. But will make some suggestions as to factors to consider more from my Digital project management experience.

Don't underestimate your time. All sorts of things can and will crop up that will require more work. So include some 'padding' in your cost, obviously do not tell them this but it is to protect yourself.

Judge your client. Their overall budget should be decent if it's a commercial, depending what the item and brand are.

Don't underestimate your value; you're a creative. Not a greedy person just playing with kids' toys.

Don't overestimate your value! There are a lot of us out there and sadly they might find someone a lot cheaper. As youve said you're happy just for the experience and that's of value to you.

I'd go in at a rate you genuinely feel happy with. If they say no that's fine as negotiation is usually part of the process.

Never then turn around and say you can do the same work in less hours. That looks bad. Negotiate the scope - e g do they really need xx models? Do they actually need to be as sturdy as you've assumed? etc.

Break costs down in your estimate. Not massively; a few rows. This helps them understand the process is skilled and not that simple. e.g. Model Design, parts purchasing optimisation, final cost of parts. If you're starting in LDD or MLCad maybe CAD Design? If you need to photograph in development to secure approval, allow time for that. You don't want to send crappy pics of your beautiful work.

Contingency is a useful weapon to include in budgets. It is common to add a percentage of the total on top as contingency; exactly like the padding I mentioned earlier but this time you're being upfront about it. Literally add it as a row in your cost before the Total. I'd say 8-10% is defendable, so if negotiation occurs you can say in light of this and that (e.g. "my first time working with you") you're happy to halve the contingency to 4-5%. Usually doesn't reduce total cost massively, but tends to go down well with clients.

If it goes ahead Get them to draft a contract, to protect both parties in the unlikely case things go wrong.. Include estimated timings of what they'll see when. Also a schedule of payment - aree you happy waiting 30 days after final delivery? If not ask for say 25% up front to cover parts, another 25% at some point and 50% on completion.

Hope some of that is of use.

[Legogal]

Good replies so far!

Have you built something like these models before? If so, that could give you an idea of how long it took, how many parts were required and their cost. If you are buying the parts and giving the models to them, make sure that you mark up the parts as well because it takes a lot of time and effort to buy parts. And you may have to buy a lot more parts than you use in the project if you are not building to a plan with a published parts inventory.

The budget of the client is critically important, too, because your charges have to be an amount they can afford. If possible, do sign a contract, and get around 25 per cent progress payments for each fourth of the work.

Take a photo of each model while building it to document your labor and prove that you built each of the objects.

Good luck with what sounds like a very entertaining project!

[happywaffle]

Thanks for the responses so far. Just to add some specificity:

I'll be making about 10 models, most of them relatively straight-forward (e.g. an apple), each approx. 10-12" tall.

I'll also be making 11 letters, about the same height, used to spell out words.

I'll be using my own Lego collection, and it goes without saying that any additional Lego I need to buy will be paid for. I'm mostly wondering about how much to charge for creative work, aka labor.

[Spitfire2865]

How much do you value your time as?

[Aussie BJ]

Never done paid work myself but I'd be charging about $200 AUD a day for my labor. But that said, Lego it's our hobby and we build for the fun and enjoyment so I'd probably do it for free or let them decide how much. You might be surprised how much they pay you.

[TheLegoDr]

A lot of good responses so far. I'd also agree by looking at your typical hourly/daily wage. How do you value your time? I'm quite pleased with how much I make; however, if I were to be paid more, I wouldn't say no to that. So typically I recommend going a little bit over what you would want, so you have a buffer to negotiate. If you go in with what you want and they say no, then you're already taking a hit against what you wanted and you won't be as happy in the long run. Now, the fact that you would do this for free makes it all the more difficult.

I agree about having progress shots and/or a timeline to show them how on schedule you are. And I would also agree with having a payment scale to coincide with the progress perhaps. Too many times people get paid up front and crap out or it gets delayed until well after you finished.

Contracts are the most important thing. Even if it is something simple, get it in writing and have everyone sign off on it.

[eurotrash]

The commission is for about a half-dozen separate models to be used in a commercial

Don't underestimate the size of their Advertising budgets! If it's for a TV spot, or a high end magazine/billboard sequence the budget could easily run into six figures - so find out what it is and don't price yourself too low.

[CP5670]

I've heard that a rule of thumb for consulting work in general is to charge at least double what you actually want as your take-home wage. You take on a variety of overhead costs for such work that you don't have when working a regular job.