Require tips and info on Commissions

[Sarithus]

Hello Guild.

I've only ever done one commission of a map. I know there are some of you here who make a living out of making maps and I am wondering if there are any tips you could provide. My main questions at the moment are pricing and the process.

I know pricing depends on style and detail and people pay more for popular artists. I've had requests for commissions, but I don't pretend to be yet at the level where people will pay lots. Is there a figure someone could give me that I should be aiming to charge? I don't want to ask for a price that will be over the top but I'm not sure it's a good idea to ask the client how much they'd be willing to pay. How much did you get/ask for when you first started offering commissions? My commission was £40 as that was what the client was willing to pay and it was two rather small maps.

If you send work in progress images so things can be changed, (which I imagine you do, I did so for my one completed commission), do you watermark them?

I have written up a guide on my website for anyone requesting a map and I'd be very grateful if someone could take a look at it and see if anything could be added or that needs to be changed. http://www.sarithus.com/contact-me/