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Hi! Thanks for the comment! All I can say is that the reason I don't charge more is it'd just be lining my pockets since the artists set their prices at a pret

Hi! Thanks for the comment! All I can say is that the reason I don't charge more is it'd just be lining my pockets since the artists set their prices at a pretty consistent rate. I don't get lower rates from the artists than my competitors, so I just undercut them in final retail price instead.

qwrusz 10y ago
> the reason I don't charge more is it'd just be lining my pockets What's wrong with lining your pockets? This is a business no?
- rhizome 10y ago
  I read it to mean that it would be excessively exploitative. "The artists set their prices at a pretty consistent rate" says to me that the artists generally hold to a price point, so OP milking the margins by raising prices on the retail end would benefit only OP and not the artist.
- b2600 10y ago
  That's not how business works. Unless you want transitory success.
  - qwrusz 10y ago
    That is how business works. It's the definition of business. He is not running a charity. It is a for profit business. Also, the intent of my question wasn't greedy-capitalism-gouge-the-customer...I meant if a business can charge more for their service and have better margins without pricing out would-be customers or losing them to lower priced competition (neither were his reasons) then why not charge more? That extra money can be reinvested in this business or another business or used to retire early or go on vacation. The guy runs a business, make a profit when you can. Every success is transitory here.
    - totalZero 10y ago
      We're discussing how low his prices are, which is PHENOMENAL press for him. Taking a lower profit margin on a larger revenue stream is another way to get rich.
    - vacri 10y ago
      "I don't get lower rates from the artists than my competitors, so I just undercut them in final retail price instead."
  - abrookewood 10y ago
    I don't think this deserves the down votes - in some markets he is correct. If you gouge on price, you encourage competitors to enter the market. If you keep your profits low, it can act as a barrier to entry. I'm not saying that you should always price low, but the OPs point is worth considering.
hilop 10y ago
Can you pay the artists more?
- chrischen 10y ago
  That is one strategy, but i have chosen to undercut the competition instead since I don't think paying them more would increase quality.
  - biot 10y ago
    Unless you tie it into their feedback ratings. Presumably your system drops or deprioritizes artists with fewer than 2.5 out of 5 stars, for example. So you could set something like: 3+ stars as the default 1.0 multiplier, 4+ stars gets a 1.1 multiplier, and 4.75+ stars gets a 1.2 multiplier. This may create an incentive for the artist to put in more time and produce better quality, unless the artists are already putting in their absolute best effort rather than cranking out paintings as quickly as possible.
    - chrischen 10y ago
      At the moment we mainly offer photorealistic replicas. At a certain point you. An't get more detailed or faithful to the original picture. As we get into a more expanded marketplace with more varying products then wuality and pricing will be more of a varying point.
paulsutter 10y ago
Why not charge more and pass it along to the artist? Maybe let the artists set the prices?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

qwrusz 10y ago

> the reason I don't charge more is it'd just be lining my pockets What's wrong with lining your pockets? This is a business no?

rhizome 10y ago
I read it to mean that it would be excessively exploitative. "The artists set their prices at a pretty consistent rate" says to me that the artists generally hold to a price point, so OP milking the margins by raising prices on the retail end would benefit only OP and not the artist.
b2600 10y ago
That's not how business works. Unless you want transitory success.
- qwrusz 10y ago
  That is how business works. It's the definition of business. He is not running a charity. It is a for profit business. Also, the intent of my question wasn't greedy-capitalism-gouge-the-customer...I meant if a business can charge more for their service and have better margins without pricing out would-be customers or losing them to lower priced competition (neither were his reasons) then why not charge more? That extra money can be reinvested in this business or another business or used to retire early or go on vacation. The guy runs a business, make a profit when you can. Every success is transitory here.
  - totalZero 10y ago
    We're discussing how low his prices are, which is PHENOMENAL press for him. Taking a lower profit margin on a larger revenue stream is another way to get rich.
  - vacri 10y ago
    "I don't get lower rates from the artists than my competitors, so I just undercut them in final retail price instead."
- abrookewood 10y ago
  I don't think this deserves the down votes - in some markets he is correct. If you gouge on price, you encourage competitors to enter the market. If you keep your profits low, it can act as a barrier to entry. I'm not saying that you should always price low, but the OPs point is worth considering.

hilop 10y ago

Can you pay the artists more?

chrischen 10y ago
That is one strategy, but i have chosen to undercut the competition instead since I don't think paying them more would increase quality.
- biot 10y ago
  Unless you tie it into their feedback ratings. Presumably your system drops or deprioritizes artists with fewer than 2.5 out of 5 stars, for example. So you could set something like: 3+ stars as the default 1.0 multiplier, 4+ stars gets a 1.1 multiplier, and 4.75+ stars gets a 1.2 multiplier. This may create an incentive for the artist to put in more time and produce better quality, unless the artists are already putting in their absolute best effort rather than cranking out paintings as quickly as possible.
  - chrischen 10y ago
    At the moment we mainly offer photorealistic replicas. At a certain point you. An't get more detailed or faithful to the original picture. As we get into a more expanded marketplace with more varying products then wuality and pricing will be more of a varying point.

paulsutter 10y ago

Why not charge more and pass it along to the artist? Maybe let the artists set the prices?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]