I am completely stumped on my 2D art business. This is the first time I'll be selling products. I don't even know how much a 2D artist makes by the hour (I remember hearing $15/hour on average, but after reading the forums, I'm a bit confused that it might be WAY higher than this.)

Regardless, I don't want to charge by the hour. I want to charge based on the quality of my graphics.

So I will just ask...

I am doing video game graphics for a 2D Browser MMORPG. This is a serious company, about to release their game, and they want me to redo all of their graphics. I discussed a price, and for every building, I asked for $45.
We have yet to discuss tile set pricing. But there are over 600 tiles to redo, from Grass, Desert, Lava, Swamps, etc.

Here is one building of mine:



And here are some mountains and grass tiles.




What should I charge for over 600 tiles of different terrain, roads, water, desert, mountains, etc?

Is the $45 per building (see above) a fair price?

I want to be honest, but I feel like I am going to ask for a price significantly lower than what is normal.

What do people normally pay for tile sets?

Grass + Grass Mountains + Hills, Desert + Desert Mountains + Dunes, Road System, Snow + Snow Mountains, Trees (for all terrain types), Lava, Cave Rock, Rocky Mountain, Buildings, Ocean Tiles + Islands, Tiles that blend all the above, etc.

Over 600 individual tiles. And it is taking me a lot longer than I had originally planned.

Price =
- your hourly profit
- training
- software
- transportation
- materials
- communication
- 40% overhead adjustment
- taxes

So if you want to have $15/hour in average per-hour profit, the price will be around 80-150.

Overhead adjustment is compensation for periods without work and unexpected costs, renegotiation and similar. This is very important since just looking at hourly rate means nothing - it's about adjusted yearly revenue vs. expenses, averaged over total number of hours actually worked vs. number of work hours in a year.

Unless you choose to work without receipts, without company or similar, then you can go way lower. But if doing it legally, take whatever you charge and assume you will take home one third to one quarter of that.

Quote: Is the $45 per building (see above) a fair price?

How long does it take to make? If one week, then probably not. If 2 minutes, then definitely.

Quote: I want to be honest, but I feel like I am going to ask for a price significantly lower than what is normal.

That doesn't matter. Business is not about improving social order and bettering the society - it is first about establishing positive cashflow for you.

You cannot compete with bottom line - artists (or anyone else) can be had for $200 a month for 250 hours of work.

Quote: And it is taking me a lot longer than I had originally planned.

Yes, it always takes longer.

This is why companies love freelancers - they'll underbid and overwork. They are 2-3 times cheaper that way.

You may want to ask in the art forums. I'm not sure how many GAs make it out here to the lounge.

I'm moving this thread to the Visual Arts forum and deleting your cross post.

I think Antheus is a bit overboard on what goes into what a contractor should charge, but there is a point to be observed. How long does it take you to make a building tile like that? How much do you want to make per hour? How much rework does your contract allow for? My general recommendation is to take the number of tiles that need to be done, multiply by number of hours it takes to create one, and multiple by how much you want to make each hour. Then add 40% to your total. The 40% is for factoring in that your estimates are most likely going to be off AND that there is probably going to be some rework involved.