She Gave Her Cousin A Family Discount For A Commissioned Art Piece, But Her Cousin Expected Her To Do The Work For Next To Nothing

This woman is a freelance artist and illustrator, so she is very passionate about art. However, it’s not always easy to make ends meet when relying on a passion for income.
That’s why she recently encountered some family drama after her cousin asked for a commissioned piece of artwork.
Apparently, her cousin asked for a custom illustration to be placed in a kid’s nursery. She was glad to complete this project for her cousin, too.
“We discussed the idea, worked on sketches, and I ultimately delivered a piece of art that my cousin absolutely loved,” she recalled.
But, making custom art requires a lot of effort, time, and costly supplies. And being that she is a freelancer, every piece of work that she completes helps her pay her bills.
So, once it was time to discuss the price for the commissioned work, she still expected her cousin to pay– though she did offer her cousin a family discount.
“Which is already a fraction of what I would charge a regular client,” she explained.
“However, I didn’t make it free or cut corners on the quality. It’s still a professionally crafted piece.”
Still, her cousin wasn’t satisfied and was actually taken aback that she was charging that much. Apparently, her cousin believed that she should’ve just given the artwork away for free, or at least next to nothing compared to what she typically charges clients.

Krakenimages.com – stock.adobe.com- illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Her cousin also argued that since they are family, she should have been more understanding and lenient with the price.
Regardless, she pointed out how creating commissioned artwork like that was literally her livelihood. Plus, she put the same amount of time and effort into her cousin’s project as she would for any other paying client.
“And I offered the discount as a courtesy, but it’s still my work and my time,” she vented.
Her cousin just didn’t get that, though, and seemed pretty upset. Her cousin has also been acting distant ever since.
So now, she has been left wondering whether charging her cousin the same price she would charge any other client for her artwork was really a jerky thing to do or not.
Do you think it would have been best for her to discuss pricing with her cousin prior to completing the piece? Regardless, should freelancers be expected to just not charge their family anything for their work? How would you have done in this situation?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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