The Commission Quote Kit

A commission quoted from your own hours: one honest rate, every stage of the job counted, revisions priced in time, card fees and a gallery's share divided out, the price rounded up last, and a deposit that covers the work before a client can walk away

ThinkSlash's Art Commission Price Calculator builds a quote from a base for one simple subject, multiplied for complexity and for each subject. But the brief, the sketch, the included revision rounds and the packing happen once per job, whatever its size: 5 of 17 hours in the worked portrait. Fed the obvious base (four hours at the $63.77 our Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator gives the blog's example studio), it quotes $765.24 for two detailed subjects, which pays $41.03 an hour after materials and a card fee. Its included rounds are priced at nothing, and its opening revision fee of $25 buys 24 minutes. The Commission Quote Kit works the whole quote in seven steps. It takes your rate apart so overhead is counted once, logs the job by stage, prices subject work and setup as separate lines (a $1,129.09 floor in the example), charges revision rounds in hours ($50 for a 45-minute round), grosses up for the fee on each payment and rounds up last ($1,175, where rounding down to $1,150 is $13.04 short), divides by a gallery's share rather than adding it ($2,275 at 50%, where adding the share leaves $282.27 behind) and quotes that one price at every door, and sets the deposit and cancellation schedule from the hours (20% by sketch approval). Every figure is computed by the same code as the site's calculators, and every rate, hour and fee is an example to replace with your own. It is not tax or legal advice and promises no income: sales tax, deposits and cancellation terms depend on where you and your client are. Included: 24 printable pages with an hours log, a quote sheet, a doors sheet and a terms sheet, two reference tables and a quickstart, plus a personalised sheet worked from the numbers in the calculator you came from.

Look inside

Two full pages from the kit, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• The One Rate Rule: your hourly rate taken apart into take-home, overhead and tax set-aside, with overhead counted once
• The Every Stage Rule: a commission logged by stage, what repeats per subject and what happens once per job
• The Setup Line Rule: subject work, setup hours and materials as separate quote lines, and the floor they add up to
• The Revision Rule: included rounds inside the floor, extra rounds priced in minutes at your rate
• The Divide, Then Round Up Rule: card fees on each payment divided out, the price rounded up last, sales tax kept apart
• The Worst Door Rule: a gallery's or agent's share divided out, and one price quoted at every door
• The Deposit Rule: a deposit that covers the sketch and a cancellation schedule that follows the hours
• Working pages: hours log, quote sheet, doors sheet, terms sheet
• Reference tables: direct price by hours and rate, and list price for a net at every share
• Quickstart, and a personalised sheet worked from your calculator figures

The kit picks up where the free Art Commission Price Calculator leaves off. The calculator multiplies every part of a quote by the number of subjects, but the brief, the sketch, the included revision rounds and the packing happen once per job; it has no materials or card-fee line; and its included rounds are priced at nothing. The kit starts from the rate the Freelance Hourly Rate Calculatorgives, logs the job by stage, prices revisions in hours, grosses the net up for card fees and for a gallery’s share the way the Gallery Commission Split Calculator works its reverse, rounds the price up last, and sets a deposit and cancellation schedule from the hours. Every rate and fee in it is an example for you to replace. It is not tax or legal advice: check sales tax with a tax professional and have your terms reviewed where you work. No price or income is promised.