Custom Work / Private Lesson Pricing?

[Frawmusl]

So I'm looking to get more involved in the SL world and get my name out there, but theres a few problems I am running into.. I really don't know what to price things at! So here are a few of my ideas, and let me know if you recommend something else/another way to go about it.

The first and foremost is that I want to teach private mesh lessons, beginner level for the most part since thats where the most important influence is. If I can get beginners to learn to make it low poly and a awesome way to do it then they'll be happy and have awesome products to sell.

Private Mesh Lessons : 700L/30minutes 1400L/1 Hour

The lesson will be in voice via an alternative program to share screens with the student, allowing them an enhanced and non-static setting to learn. Will go at the students pace. In which anything created during the class will have full rights given to the student. The student is allowed to ask questions for 7 days after the lesson.

Secondly I've got a realy powerful computer and moderate skill in photography and photoshop so why not also offer photography sessions?

500L/30minutes + 2 (Fairly) edited photos*
1000L/1 Hour +4(Fairly) edited photos
+100L per extra (Fairly) edited photo
+500L for extremely edited photo**

*Fixing basic avatar and photo deformations

** Custom overlays, Designs, color modifications, diffusions etc etc to enhance your photo

 

Sounds and Gestures

I own a (Legal) copy of FL Studio and a studio quality microphone able to put out high quality sounds and modificatios to those sounds.

200L+100L each additiona/Gesture (Up to 10 seconds)

500L custom track (IE guns, springs, quick tunes)

1000L+(Depending on length and difficulty) Long track (60seconds + seamless)

 

One thing I have been unable to really decide a price on is custom mesh work, does anyone have a sort of template for that? There is just so many factors its kind of hard to determain whats fair for what kind of an object

 

So that is what I plan as of right now, Any suggestions or different ideas? I am tempted to offer normal map work for in-world builders later on when materials come out.

Yes I am quite serious about this and plan to keep myself QUITE busy if possible.

[Sassy Romano]

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Frawmusl wrote:

... does anyone have a sort of template for that? There is just so many factors its kind of hard to determain whats fair for what kind of an object

 

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The price is correct when the customer winces but still pays.

Price in SL is very contentious as you've got those doing it for a hobby and giving away their time for nothing versus those who are doing it for a living and desperately trying to charge a sensible price.

 

[Frawmusl]

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Frawmusl wrote:

... does anyone have a sort of template for that? There is just so many factors its kind of hard to determain whats fair for what kind of an object

 

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The price is correct when the customer winces but still pays.

Price in SL is very contentious as you've got those doing it for a hobby and giving away their time for nothing versus those who are doing it for a living and desperately trying to charge a sensible price.

 

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Well I will definitely be doing it for a hobby, I charge $20/30minutes for Double Bass lessons, Seems small compared to around $5/hour for mesh lessons. I just like to teach, but I also have to not -totally- get ripped by giving my time for free and teaching someone to make products and not even bother to tip me haha :3

same with photography and sounds, Cheap, but I understand that not everyone has a great pc to work with and I can let you use my time for a small amount.. Im much cheaper online

[Madeline Blackbart]

I think your prices for lessons up there are ridiculously cheap. I paid 1000L on a mesh head once and for that I could make a bunch of them for myself. lolz Will you be teaching only modeling or also UVing?

 

I think for custom meshes it's probably a deal of just asking what the customer is willing to pay and what you'd be willing to deal with. Since it would very from project to project. But considering that non custom mesh and templates cost around 500L I'd probably say no less then 1000L for a custom job unless it was like a two second thing. but these are geusses on my part as I don't mesh (i can't UV properly.lolz) I only texture really.

[Frawmusl]

Mesh lessons would be a full fledge course, We would start where you are and help you learn each aspect and go back to things you might not have mastered IE UV unwrapping or Texturing tricks and tips. I know they are ridiculously cheap, but many people in SL probably wouldn't want to pay much for them.. 1000L/30minutes? Thats a bit more fair to me, and still pretty fair to the user

[beanster Potato]

The average price for lets say a custom rigged and uv unwrapped clothing piece lays around 80k L$ (1000L$, i'd wish lol). That price should include full rights meaning the buyer receives the object/dae files and may do with them as they wish like selling them as a full perm templates for example and/or just offer them without full perm in their shop. Offering the models on 3D model sites is seldom allowed which makes sense. Those are the most common rules that custom mesh creators have that i know of. There may also be people who are looking for a custom product for their own personal use only without transfer rights, the rates for that will probably be cheaper although it's the same amount of work for the creator. 

As for private lessons/courses.. i would'nt know! But the rates you have in mind do sound ridiculously cheap.. would raise that or people might not take you seriously Recently purchased a video course that teaches how to model, uv's and rig clothing which costed less than 40k L$ which is definately not too expensive in my opinion. 

[Frawmusl]

Ah thanks Beanster that gives me a little more perspective! I understand the prices are really cheap, but most people in SL aren't super wealthy and don't want to pay the "serious" cost for classes. I kind of want to reach out and give my time while working for a little above minimum wage for the lessons. I'll keep looking at the prices of everything and see what people find fair or not and so on. I do think private lessons are a little better than training discs because of the interactive and fine tuned learning experience. You can't really ask a disc to try and explain it in a different way

[Syle Devin]

L$ 1,400 is only around $5.50 usd, that's a bit more than half minimum wage. To create a custom mesh I charge around 12-15$ ( L$ 3,000 to $3750) an hour for customer meshes and it works. Real life prices can go up to anywhere from my prices to $50 and $100 dollars an hour for high quality professional work.

Honesty people tend to under price themself. Is this just a hobby or are you trying to make some money off of this? Even so charging lower prices hurts the market because people who are doing it for a living can't afford to charge lower prices. So for the sake of that sell yourself and you could charge a bit more and get some serious mesh builds. If you charge a price that anyone can afford your going to be gettinga anyone and might get a bit overwork for your prices.

[Frawmusl]

Well that pricing is for half an hour of a lesson? Its not me doing professional work but rather teaching basic meshing to new users who are interested in it. I haven't decided what to charge for custom work, I still don't exactly have a "Set" price for anything and I really need to look into what people my "order" from me before I decide how long it will take and what the average prices will be for each. 12~15 an hour sound pretty fair, but Im not sure if each project will be completed as quickly as I'd like. So would you charge before you work or upon completion? If  its upon completion the customer might end up not paying at all due to its price :\?

[Tomos Halsey]

No offence but when you say mesh lessons I instantly think you have no idea what you are talking about because thats like saying "how to picture lessons". The term is modeling lessons and as a customer if I'm going to pay you I would expect the proper terminology to be used by the actual teacher

[Pamela Galli]

In SL, "Mesh" includes more than just modeling. Much, much more.  I think "mesh lessons" conveys more accurately what the OP is trying to communicate. 

[Deja Letov]

Not only that but if you already know the term, you may not need "mesh lessons". If he's aiming at noobs looking to get started, that's exactly how I would word it.

[Madeliefste Oh]

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Tomos Halsey wrote:

No offence but when you say mesh lessons I instantly think you have no idea what you are talking about because thats like saying "how to picture lessons". The term is modeling lessons and as a customer if I'm going to pay you I would expect the proper terminology to be used by the actual teacher

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The term 'modeling lessons' is used in SL for lessons that teach people how to become a fashion model.

I think 'mesh lessons' is not such a bad term at all. It covers all thing that have to do with mesh in SL, not only modeling. It can be for example about UV mapping, or about 'how to work with the SL uploader' or about animating mesh. 'Modeling' does not cover the whole range that people can have questions about.