5 Pricing Mistakes Calligraphers Make (How To Price Your Calligraphy For Beginners)

Today, let’s talk about pricing! This is a very highly requested topic so I’m finally talking about it on my blog and YouTube channel! 

IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THE ABOVE VIDEO: For point 1, I'd like to clarify that you should take into consideration the value that the customer is getting if they are using your calligraphy for doing business (for profit purposes) vs for personal use. I take back my example of the birthday vs anniversary gift as it's sometimes hard to determine what a customer values a project at if it's for personal use.

Pricing is a very complex topic. There are a TON of things to consider, so I totally understand if you’re feeling confused or overwhelmed. It seems like everyone’s saying a lot of different things, so I thought I would narrow things down for you. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing the top pricing mistakes calligraphers make when working with customers.

1. Not charging based on the value/intention/purpose of the project.

The first pricing mistake I see calligraphers make is not charging based on the value, intention, or purpose on the project. Today, I want to explain the difference between value based pricing and cost-based pricing.

Cost-Based Pricing

You might hear people telling you to take your hourly rate and add the cost of your supplies. 

Value-Based Pricing

On the other hand, with value-based pricing, you adjust your price according to the value your customer will get.

For example, you may have a customer come to you and ask for you to write a one-word sign for a friend's birthday. Another customer asks you to write a one-word sign to hang up in their store to attract new customers to their business.

Both pieces are the same size, but as you can probably see, the sign for business use has a much higher value than the birthday gift because the business owner is using your sign to increase their income. 

This is especially important when it comes to personal vs business use, so take that into consideration!

2. Not up-selling

Let’s say a customer comes up to you and asks for you to create their menus and signage for their wedding. You say, “Great, I’ll do that!” However, you're missing out on the opportunity to see if your customer needs anything else. If your customer is asking you for one thing, think about whether or not there’s another related thing you can suggest on top of what the customer asked you to do for them.

If your customer needs menus and signage, do you think it’s possible that they may need place cards, wedding invitations, or envelope addressing? Maybe your customer isn’t even aware that you can offer these things or that they would like to have these things at their wedding! 

When you are discussing a project with a customer, make sure you think ahead and see if there’s anything else you can add to their requests and up-sell.

3. Considering market prices but NOT considering anything else.

The third mistake I see calligraphers making is only considering market prices but not considering anything else. What you have to realize is that there are many factors you have to consider when it comes to pricing. Some of these factors include your personal brand and experience.

Maybe one calligrapher is charging for their first wedding sign, while another calligrapher is charging a customer for the 20th wedding sign they’re creating. I would say that it’s important to keep your experience and reputation in mind when coming up with your prices for your calligraphy services.

Generally, you should niche down because the more you specialize, the more you can command higher prices. By the way, if you want to learn how to find your ideal niche and client, check out this YouTube video I made on this topic!

Side Note:

I’m not saying that as a beginner you should charge LESS. Actually, if your skill level is the same as other calligraphers and if you can produce a product at the same quality, then charge a fair price, BUT NOT LESS.

Earlier, I highlighted that when you SPECIALIZE, you can charge higher because that is your go-to service and you are *FAMOUS* for that service.

The other problem with setting your calligraphy at the market rate is that you’re not sure what other calligraphers’ systems and processes are for working on a project. If a calligrapher is charging $2000 for custom wedding invitations, you don’t necessarily know how many revisions and hours of consultations with the customer they include. You should also keep in mind that these are just two of the factors you should take into consideration. 

For more pricing support, watch my free 40 minute training “How to Price Your Commissioned Calligraphy Work” in my free Facebook group.

4. Charging too low

This mistake may seem obvious, but I still wanted to include it in this post because I can’t stress this enough. If you want to become more confident in charging people for your services, make sure to check out this video I posted on my YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago.

Charging low is bad for several reasons. First, you’re not getting paid at a reasonable rate and secondly, if a lot of calligraphers are charging low, it dampens the market. Thirdly, your customer will see you as a budget service and may be confused when you increase your prices. Fourthly, your customer’s perception of your product’s value will be lower.

For all these reasons, make sure that you are not charging too low of a price.

5. Offering too many discounts and sales

The last mistake I see calligraphers make in their pricing is offering a lot of discounts and sales all the time. The problem with having so many sales or deals is that customers will see your discounted prices as your base or regular prices.

In the future, when they consider buying from you, they will wait for the sale and not purchase from you at regular price. If you want to do something special for your customers, don’t offer discounts or reduce your prices right away. Instead, you can bundle things up and sell them in packages.

If you package things in a bundle, you are giving more value to your customer and you get to make a bit more money as you have more things they can purchase. You can also add limited-time bonuses to increase value without decreasing your prices.

If you’re looking for more guidance on how to start a calligraphy business, check out my 6,000+ word article How To Build a Calligraphy Business from Scratch, or my other blog post that outlines 6 Easy Ways to Start Making Money with Calligraphy.

If you found this helpful, you’re going to find a lot more resources in my free Facebook group for calligraphers, where I’ve done more than 15 trainings on topics related to growing a calligraphy business. Join today and get these 15 free in-depth trainings!

I’d love to hear what you thought about this blog post in the comments! Was it helpful? Do you have any questions?