Discount offert a obligation or a gift?

[nio kasgami]

so like the title speak this about us people who offert service ....to our customer...

did we are forced to offert discount to our customer or this simply a gift example they are really great client or such? 

for myself I don't think discount should be a obligation because already my prices are really low 

(for a simple bust + color with no extra expression )

10 + 5 = 15$ 

this not really high and I had in the past some people who asked me discount for...like only 3 bust? (who equal 15 * 3 = 45$ ) 

and when I refused this discount this guy said I was greedy and abuse of him.

and I said I only offert discount to casual client or people I  have a high consideration for them

did this make us greedy person to refuse discount to someone ? 

we work hard on the commissions and almost for nothing.

I really want to know your opinion on this because this kinda hard to get say you are a greedy guy just because you want money on the table for eat :/ 

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

You will always find both sides of the fence IMO.  I personally think there's nothing wrong with a little price raise. Especially yours. You're already pretty well known (which does help), and it's not like you just throw squiggles on a document. You're an EXCELLENT artist, so don't kid yourself.

Now, that being said, you WILL find both extremes.  Some people might eventually say "BOO THATS 2 EXPENSIVE LOWER YOUR PRICES TO $5 :333 "
And these people are the ones who don't know how much work we as artists put into what we do; oftentimes many hours, much blood sweat and even tears go into a commission.

Some might say "no that's 2 cheap people will think u suk!"  And they mightbe right, in this "You get what you pay for" kinda world.  But since the average joe or jane here doesn't have a huge budget it is nice to find a happy medium.

I personally say go for it! You're not a greedy fellow and yeah.  A dude's gotta eat.


And if people are trying to force you to offer them a discount, you can always refuse them, or if they're already a customer, you could say "I'm not giving business to you anymore."


(.... I hope I answered the thread OK.  My Nionese is a bit rusty!)

 

[Shaz]

You should NEVER feel obligated to offer a discount to anybody, if you believe your prices are fair. People will always try to get stuff for less than it's worth. IMO getting you to do 3 busts is not enough to deserve a discount. 10 maybe, but it's your decision, not theirs.


They have no right or reason to become abusive. You set the prices, you are entitled to say no. If it's not good enough for them, let them go and find someone cheaper (and maybe not as good).

 

[nio kasgami]

yeah that's what I answered to the guy "go find someone cheaper and less quality" in someway most of time I don't give discount when  I don't feel to 

just this one hitted me and I felt like whoaa... I am a greedy guy this was my first client who doing that  D: 

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

Rock on. Stay strong and refuse to budge. (Unless they ask nicely AND you somehow feel led to of course)

 

[Kes]

I do not think you are obliged to offer a discount.  For the sake of argument let us say that it takes 10 hours to do a bust.  When you do 3 busts you are charging for 30 hours.  Does doing more busts mean that each one is quicker?  No,probably not.  If you were doing a lot of busts (say, 10) so that there was no down time (i.e. time when you were waiting for commissions to come in) then you might be able to justify to yourself offering a discount, but the client has no right to demand one.  Sure, as a client I would like to pay less, who wouldn't? But I cannot demand one as a right.

Edit

And asking nicely doesn't get me an entitlement either.

 

[Shaz]

Hopefully he'll be one of very few. We can all do without people like that.


I give discounts on my scripts, too, but only when I have a really good relationship with the person (in that case I'll usually do it for free) or if I don't feel I've spent enough time to be worth the agreed/offered amount. But it's always my decision, never theirs. And no-one has ever actually asked me for a lower price than I've stated either.

 

[Matseb2611]

Yeah, discount is not an obligation, unless you've messed someone's request really badly, then it's normally a good thing to give as compensation.

But most times it's treated as a gift. I'd say it really depends on a lot of things. At times I give discounts to people who do a bulk request or if they let the work I do for them to be released publicly. All these things are just a good business practice. You don't have to give them a discount, but if they're being a good and loyal client, then why not. It shows you value their custom and a will to work with the budget they have.

 

[mlogan]

Discounts are solely your discretion and it is rude to ask for one. Stay firm and have confidence in your prices Nio.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I learned my lesson quiet awhile ago. Discounts are only for friends and people I've worked with many times. They're for people you highly trust.The only other time I'd consider a discount is if the order is huge or if the piece desired is extremely simple.

Don't let anyone devalue your work. Truth is that the majority of creative types here charge well below industry standard but there are people out there who still would rather pay you nothing at all, or close to it. 

Unless there are special circumstances about their order; when someone flatly asks for a discount, to me that's a red flag. And if you oblige it often turns into a story of "if you give a mouse a cookie." And I'm not kidding. I once gave someone a very generous discount and they asked to pay me even less toward the end.That kind of behavior shows what someone really thinks about the value of my work, and those are honestly the types I want to avoid working with.

You're not the greedy one.

 

[Kvich]

Discounts are solely your discretion and it is rude to ask for one. Stay firm and have confidence in your prices Nio.

I personally have to disagree a bit mate.

Last time I bought a computer, I got 25% discount, because I asked, and the computer had been a display model, and whatnot.

I personally don't think it's wrong or rude to ask politely for a discount, nor would I think it's rude to refuse a discount.

Years of service as a bartender have taught me that it's not the current beer you're selling that's the problem, it's selling the next beer.

1 random guy ordering 3 beers for his mates and him, and ask for a discount because it's 3 beers, and according to his statement they will buy more if they get the discount...

I, unless I knew him, would say no, but we could look at it, if they ordered a couple of more times.

Most often they had already decided if they were going to stay, or move on after the drink, so the discount wouldn't have meant anything.

I think this is mostly the same issue, if you believe your artist skills are worth the asking price, most people are willing to pay, even when asking for a discount.

Of course there will be jerks among them, but usually they are far between.

Unless you're well known.

 

[Sharm]

In my experience the people who disrespect your pricing choices are the least respectful, the most likely to bail on you when it comes time to pay, and tend to ask for the most redraws while still being unsatisfied.   What's really amazing is that this holds true regardless of how close they are to you or how nice they are in other aspects.  It's a good thing to refuse, I'd personally refuse to work for that customer at all.

 

[Matseb2611]

I don't find it rude of people to ask for a discount nicely. Just that they shouldn't persist if you said no. Let's not forget that most people here on the forums are either small time indie devs or just make games as a hobby, and vast majority of them will have very small budgets to work with, so it's only right that we charge affordable prices (at least that's the way I see it).

 

[Silver Wishes]

From my experience with my normal job, I’d say to never ever offer a discount to a single person only (unless said person is close to you and that with no one else knowing)

I did just that and word got around and then everyone was asking for a discount with the argument of why can you do it for “that guy” and not for me…

And when I actually had enough and put things in place… well you can guess how well that went.

I don’t think this will ever happen in the forum, but I wouldn’t risk it.

So I would advise you against such a thing, unless you really know the other person, or well, what everyone else before me said...

 

[nio kasgami]

I agree with all the point of people said here 

Kvich point thought make me doubt 

so in simple I should offert at least discount....even this not please me D: ?

for myself I think for the discount  we should never discount someone in the first "buy" and I think this normal because we don't know the client or such but if we see the client is a good one I think we can after offert a discount for the second time he will ask resources no ? 

well this how I see that haha...

 

[Matseb2611]

Normally, if you do offer a discount, you can make it so that it works for you as well. For example you could ask for half of the payment to be paid once you've done half of the requests from that person. That way, the other person pays a discounted price, and you still get a nice, steady flow of money. Win on both sides.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

If you don't want to, Nio, then don't. As other people have stated, it's your decision and definitely not an obligation.

 

[nio kasgami]

Normally, if you do offer a discount, you can make it so that it works for you as well. For example you could ask for half of the payment to be paid once you've done half of the requests from that person. That way, the other person pays a discounted price, and you still get a nice, steady flow of money. Win on both sides.

on that you mark a really good point ! but I hate to take this method because I am know to be the type to get lazy really fast I hate to admit this but let's be honest I prefer to not ask half of the payment c: ! I better finish the work in first!

 

[Matseb2611]

Oh, it's not an upfront payment. The payment still happens after the work is done, just that you get half of it once you've done half the requests and the rest of it once you've done the second half, rather than all at the end. I personally do not like the idea of an upfront payment and will never ask my clients for that. Not exactly fair to ask for payment for the work that hasn't been done yet. In the end it all depends on what works best for you personally.

 

[Wavelength]

Charge whatever you feel you're worth.  Just be sure that you and your customer agree on the price before you get too far in.