[NEED ADVICE] What is the ballpark price range for getting a map designed?

[ThomasR]

The only reason why I would object to giving estimates for prices is that there may be people that charge way more, and maybe even what they are worth (in my mind that would be people like J.Edward, Sapiento, - Max -, etc, though that is just a gut feeling, and not based on actual knowledge). By giving an estimate for say $300 as reasonable, we may actually be taking down the big boys. That is something that should be considered too, I think.

And also this !

[tainotim]

Jumping in on the conversation. Read through everything but might have missed something.

I think what Daniel mentioned with a 300 USD baseline is a good point. It’s simple, it’s fair and it’s a good starting point.

However, I do think it’s important that people become better at charging and informing about usage rights as something else than the map. So often potential clients have no clue that this is something they have to pay for, which makes sense, because who wouldn’t want to drive the car they buy. But, they don’t buy the right to use the car, they buy a picture of the car, and pictures have pretty clear usage functions. Some functions have monetary revenue, some don’t. I wanted to make this point because too often when it comes to art specifically, clients often claim that they haven’t had to pay for usage rights before. And that is a culture that is pretty bad for the industry; which makes this topic so important, and I would say even more important than almost all other questions regarding how to earn money from illustrations.

That is my two cents.

Regards,
Karl

[DanielHasenbos]

Maybe simple state that the price for a map usually is somewhere in the hundreds, rather than the dozens? This way the point we're discussing here is made clear, while still allowing everyone to maintain their own rates and not undermining anyones work?

[Wired]

I'm against displaying prices, simply because of the wide range they can have and the wildly different circumstances they may stem from. Simply stating that map-making is a time-intensive business, with maps easily taking twenty-five or more hours of work, and maybe linking to one or two example of hourly rates for Illustration etc. should be more than enough.

[tainotim]

Also, regarding the topic just raised, I don’t see it as a problem for the elite. They should charge just like everyone else; based on the time they put in to making the map, and a reasonable hourly wage according to that. If you take 20 hours to make a A4 map, 100 USD per hour is too much honestly (unless you are Picasso or something). If you take three hours to make a a4 map, then perhaps 100 USD per hour is a good wage, which ofcourse is something you can only achieve with great artistic skill. And professional artistic skill, as I see it in the economy of the digital age, is those that can produce the BEST artwork in the FASTEST time. That is the way to survive.

Regards,
Karl

[bkh1914]

A number of years ago, I used an architect to design my home.

He had a two-level fee schedule (hourly rate):

• Design work - getting the client's desires and creating a layout/floor plan. This involved multiple meetings and was the fun part for him.
• CAD work - doing the construction drawings for the buildings. Again, multiple meetings to make sure he was on track.

The CAD work was time was about half the price of the design work time. (I really don't remember.)

So that's how one artistic professional did it...

Of course, this was a multi-month project and a little more expensive than a map.

[Straf]

Perhaps using analogies, rather than specific figures. For example compare eating at a restaurant and having a chef come to your home to cook something bespoke just for you. How much would you expect to pay for that? Or going to a concert to see a rock band and having the band play a private concert for you and your friends. Most cartographers here seem to have a portfolio of maps that they're happy for others to use for non-commercial purposes, e.g. to print out and use for a RPG campaign for a small group, free of charge. If a client wants a higher resolution map then they may charge an 'off-the-shelf' price. However if they want something bespoke, then that is going to cost. For the rock concert thing, then a client who wants original art and full rights can compare that to asking the band to write the songs, perform them, and give full rights to them - how much would that cost?

As each level of bespokeness increases, so do the number of zeroes added just before the decimal point. If I wanted to buy a CD I'd expect to pay $10 - $20 for it. If I went to watch a band live, depending who they were, I'd be looking at perhaps up to $200 (not considering resold tickets on the grey market) per ticket to stand with hundreds or thousands of others. If I wanted a private experience then I'd be looking at $10,000 or more, and if I wanted them to write me an album to which I had full rights to the songs I'd expect to pay $10 million. Again dependent on who they were. I mean if I were to write and record an album for someone I'd probably have to pay them to listen to it

[Voolf]

Interesting analogy Straf

bkh1914, nice you mentioned the design stage here. This is also something people need to understand takes money. I had a commission where talking and exchanging emails took about the same as drawing the map. This is a part of our work too.

Daniel by stating YOUR price (not the market) we are not taking down big guys at all. Remember that all of us has different styles and skills. Just because 3-4 people can offer a map for 300 dosen't mean all of us will. Client is not stupid either. He/she will understand why this map maker charges more than others simply by reviewing the porfolio and how fast the artist can provide the map. There are poeple like Francesca who has her prices listed down and i don't think that bother other "big guys" too much.

That being said, again i also don't think that stating prices for every single kind of map by everyone here on CG is good idea. It will be just unproductive. The thing is some clients have absolutely no idea why the price is sometimes so high and it would be nice to give them an overview paragraph there, instead of repeating ourselfs here over and over.

[kacey]

I was absolutely floored by the prices you guy's mentioned while reading through this thread, looks like I might actually be able to afford that custom Voolf or Daniel Hasenbos map to hang on my wall one day. I've seriously considered commissioning some of my favorite artists from the site to make maps for me to decorate my house with just because I'm a huge fan but never in a million years imagined paying less then 6 or 7 hundred dollars for one.

Unless you're super fast you'd be working well under the minimum wage in my country for those prices.

[Azélor]

Ô Canada, minimum wages and cost of life vary greatly.
Depends what they mean by a standard sized map. Is it for a book, A4, a poster.... ?