Insanity: Overvaluation and Undervaluation:

"Teach a parrot the terms 'supply and demand' and you've got an economist." - Thomas Carlyle

"Supply always comes on the heels of demand." - Robert Collier

In any market, be it retail, fine art, literary or other, there is an amount of demand that is produced by the consumers, namely, patrons of the market that support it by their choice of purchases. This is especially true for the art world, as mass production until recently was much more expensive than mass production of a product for sale, and the original always being worth more than copies regardless. In centuries past, especially around the Italian Renaissance, this happened far more frequently as a direct result of a patron paying in advance of a work being completed, but it had largely dropped off the accessibility of those getting into the market itself.  Kickstarter, Patreon and other forms of crowd funding have made it easier now for some, but the vast majority of amateurs trying to break into the field are doing so through freelancing and applying to larger collectives such as publishers who can aid their careers greatly.  However, there is some manner of issue many amateurs have with is the problem of their pricing.

Overvaluation happens when someone or a group of individuals examines their product or service looks at how much time, money and resources go into their end result, and think that it is worth a huge margin, or think that the demand is high enough to justify the supply they intend to produce.  Undervaluation is the opposite, of course, when the individuals underestimate the margin of profit that they can readily justify, or underestimate the amount of demand.  It takes an expert to determine if something is correctly priced, but usually an overvaluation or undervaluation is not hard to readily recognize.  Looking at any freelance illustrator or writer, etc, and then viewing their portfolio, one can easily compare it to that of others in the same industry.  Additionally, that may not be enough as one might misunderstand the supply and demand, but such data is readily available to those willing to look at the research for each market they are interested in.

So why is this post listed under insanity rather than ignorance?  Because unfortunately a lack of knowledge is usually not the problem with an overvaluation or undervaluation in and of itself.  It usually ties to the individual or group of individuals looking at their work and not objectively looking at the market, but looking into their own ego.  Those that have an overvaluation tend to feel good about their work, denying any stain upon it and thinking it needs no polishing, no additional finesse to make it even more marketable, or to make their pricing justified on freelance work.  Those that have an undervaluation tend to have the opposite problem, being so depressed, nervous and ashamed as to miss opportunities that will not just stroke their ego, but show them the reality of their work's marketability.  So why is it so hard to deal with that I consider it insanity?  Simply put, because those that choose to set their pricing beyond reasonable limits and either ask too much or too little are less willing to listen to anything others say with regard to it, and continue wondering why they can't become more successful.  If they over-evaluate, then they are less likely to get paid.  If they under-evaluate, they are more likely to be paid, but not enough to necessarily be worth the effort, furthering their stress and deteriorating their work quality.  Two sides of the same coin, carried throughout history by the inventive, the creative, the marketable and of course, the insane.