How to Price a Limited-Run Fan Art Print Commission

A limited-run fan art print is priced cost-plus: add per-unit printing, packaging, and postage, add your target margin, then divide by 1 minus the platform and processing fees so the fees do not eat the margin. Cap the run at a fixed, numbered edition size and state that number before anyone pays. Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.

No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. pricing

A follower asks, "Can I buy a print of that piece you posted?" or "Are you doing prints of [character] again?" Without a listed offer, that request usually turns into a DM negotiation over size, paper, price, and shipping that never quite closes. A priced, numbered print listing on the link already in your bio removes that back-and-forth: the follower sees the price, the edition size, and what's included before they pay.

What counts as a limited-run fan art print?

A limited-run print is a fixed, numbered quantity of one finished piece — for example 25 copies numbered 1/25 through 25/25, after which the edition closes permanently. It differs from an open edition, which is reprinted indefinitely on demand, and from a one-off original, where only a single physical piece exists.

Tate's glossary defines the term by the cap itself: modern artists' prints are "usually limited to a specified number, anything between 2 and 1000 or more," and editioned prints are "usually signed, numbered" (Tate — Edition). There is no standard edition size for fan art specifically; the number is the artist's declared choice, and Tate's documented 2-to-1,000 range is the practical envelope it sits inside.

Numbering is what followers are actually paying a premium for: a capped edition, not just a nicer piece of paper. Decide the total count before you list the offer, state it in the listing, and hold to it — reopening a "limited" edition after followers have bought in undercuts the reason they paid extra for a numbered copy instead of waiting for a reprint. That's a different economics problem than a one-time digital deliverable with no edition count at all, such as pricing a Live2D VTuber rig commission.

How much should you charge for a limited-run print?

Charge enough that the follower's payment covers per-unit printing, packaging, postage, the Brillay platform fee, card processing, and your target margin. Work backwards from those six inputs rather than copying another artist's sticker price, because printing quotes and postage differ by paper stock, print size, and destination zone.

Margin matters because print income is usually a supplement to other creative income. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $55,290 for craft and fine artists as of May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook) — external labor-market context, not a claim about what any individual artist or Brillay creator earns.

Small runs carry a higher per-unit fixed cost than large runs, and that is arithmetic rather than a market survey: a one-time $60 setup, scan, or proofing charge spread across 25 prints adds $2.40 per print, while the same $60 spread across 100 prints adds $0.60 per print. Put your own one-time charges into the unit cost before you apply the formula below.

What is the cost-plus formula, including Brillay's platform fee?

List price equals your unit cost, packaging, postage, and target margin, plus the fixed $0.30 processing charge, all divided by 0.891. The 0.891 divisor is 1 minus Brillay's 8% platform fee (the rate when a follower pays for work; tips and goals carry 5%) minus Stripe's 2.9% U.S. domestic card rate, so both fees are priced into the sticker instead of being absorbed out of your margin.

List price = (unit cost + packaging + postage + target margin + $0.30) ÷ 0.891

Stripe publishes 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% for currency conversion (Stripe — Pricing); that 2.9% + $0.30 figure is the U.S. card example and Stripe's rates differ by country and payment method, so substitute your own country's published rate before dividing. Brillay's pricing page lays out the same split: the follower pays only the displayed price, and creator earnings equal that payment minus the platform fee minus the processing fee.

Worked example for one 11x17" signed print listed at $40.00, using a $6.00 printer quote, $2.50 in packaging, and USPS Ground Advantage retail postage of $7.90:

• Follower pays $40.00
• Brillay platform fee, 8% on paid work like this Custom Work order → −$3.20
• Stripe U.S. domestic card fee, 2.9% + $0.30 → −$1.46
• Creator earnings after fees = $35.34
• Printing $6.00 + packaging $2.50 + postage $7.90 = −$16.40
• Margin = $18.94, or 47.4% of the $40.00 sticker price

Running the formula in reverse confirms the sticker: ($16.40 costs + $18.94 margin + $0.30) ÷ 0.891 = $40.00. If your target margin is $25.00 instead of $18.94, the same costs give ($16.40 + $25.00 + $0.30) ÷ 0.891 = $46.80, so you would list the print at $47.

Every dollar figure in the table below is produced by that formula, not by a survey of what other artists charge. Substitute your own printer quote, packaging cost, and live postage rate; only the 8% platform fee on a Custom Work order and the 2.9% + $0.30 U.S. Stripe rate are fixed inputs.

USPS lists USPS Ground Advantage at "From $7.90 at the Post Office" and "From $6.93 for Commercial Pricing" (USPS — Business Prices), which is where the postage column comes from; international destinations and heavier tubes cost more, so quote them separately.

Is it legal to sell a print of an existing, copyrighted character?

Selling a print of a character you did not create carries copyright risk that a print of your own original character does not. Section 106(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act reserves the right to prepare derivative works — including printed reproductions of an existing character — to the copyright owner alone (U.S. Copyright Office — Title 17 §106). The same copyright question applies whether you're selling a reproduced print or a one-off drawing — see how to price a fan art commission of an existing character for the one-off version of this pricing logic.

U.S. guidance states that copyright owners hold the right to prepare or permit a new version of their work, and their consent is required for someone else to claim copyright in a changed version. Copyright Office (Fair Use FAQ)

The U.S. Copyright Office's guide to registering derivative works covers the same underlying rule in more detail. Some franchises publish an explicit fan-art policy and others publish nothing at all, and a paid, numbered print run is a commercial use regardless of which. This page is general information, not legal advice; check the specific rights holder's published policy or ask an attorney before selling a run of someone else's character.

Should a print be a custom request or a Goal?

Sell one numbered print as a priced custom request: a follower pays a set price for one specific item you then ship. Use Goals only when you are raising money toward a goal such as funding the print batch, with no individual item owed to any individual follower. Contributions to a Goal remain yours even if the target is not reached, with no deadline unless you set one.

Choose between them by what is owed after payment: if a specific follower is paying for a specific numbered print they will receive, that is a custom request sale; if you are covering the printer, paper stock, and packaging before a single copy sells, that is a goal (how it works).

Who prints, packages, and ships the physical print?

Brillay processes the payment; you handle printing, packaging, numbering, and shipping off-platform. Print at home, use a local shop, or work with a print-on-demand partner and mail the package yourself.

Print-on-demand partners publish their economics as a base fee plus a variable, which is the shape your own unit cost should take. Amazon KDP charges $1.00 USD per book plus $0.012 USD per page for a black-ink paperback in the 110-828 page range on Amazon.com (Amazon KDP — Printing Cost), rather than one flat number.

Postage is the cost input most likely to move under you. USPS raised USPS Ground Advantage prices by an average of 7.8% effective Jan. 18, 2026 (USPS Newsroom — new competitive prices for 2026), so re-quote postage before opening a new edition rather than reusing last year's number.

What should a limited-run print listing include?

A complete listing names the artwork, the edition size, the print size and paper stock, the delivery time, the shipping regions, and what is excluded — all before the follower pays. For Custom Work, the delivery time is yours to set, and shipping time should be stated separately.

In Custom Work, you set the delivery time in whole values of 1-24 hours or 1-5 days, with up to 5 days as the longest window. For every listing, you also define what's included and the price alongside that delivery time. A multi-piece job like environment concept art runs into that same 5-day ceiling faster than a single print does, since more individual pieces simply take longer to finish.

Define, at minimum:

• The piece: which specific artwork, with a reference image.
• Edition size: the total number of prints in the run (e.g., "25, numbered and closed").
• Specs: print size, paper stock, and whether it's signed and numbered by hand.
• Delivery time: the delivery promise you set, up to Brillay's 5-day maximum — plus your realistic shipping time, stated separately.
• Shipping: regions you'll ship to and who covers the postage.
• What's excluded: framing, express shipping, or a replacement if a print is lost or damaged in the mail, unless you're explicitly including it.

How does this differ from a crossover or custom fan art commission?

A limited-run print is a physical reproduction of one already-finished artwork sold to many followers at a repeatable price. A custom commission is new artwork made to order for a single buyer, which takes longer per piece and prices higher. Keep the two as separate listings so buyers know what they are ordering.

If a follower wants art of two or more existing characters combined rather than a print of something already drawn, that is a different offer with its own pricing logic — see crossover fan art commission pricing. The same principle holds if you're invited to contribute a piece to someone else's webcomic instead of reproducing your own — that's priced as a guest art commission, not a print run. Bundling prints and custom commissions into one vague "art commissions" listing makes it harder for either buyer to know what they are actually getting, and it makes the cost-plus formula unusable, because a commission has no per-unit printing cost to divide.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about limited-run fan art prints cover edition size, who handles fulfillment, copyright on borrowed characters, which Brillay offer type applies, and the total fees deducted from a sale. Short answers follow, each with its primary source named inline.

How many prints should I put in a limited run?

There is no universal number. Tate documents that modern print editions commonly range from as few as 2 up to 1,000 or more. Smaller runs of 15-50 are practical for individual creators because a hand-numbered, hand-packed edition of that size stays fulfillable in one sitting — a workflow judgment, not a market benchmark.

Does Brillay print and ship the artwork for me?

No. Brillay processes the payment for the print order; printing, packaging, numbering, and shipping are handled entirely by the creator, off-platform. Build your shipping timeline into the delivery time you list, and remember USPS raised USPS Ground Advantage prices an average of 7.8% effective Jan. 18, 2026 (USPS Newsroom).

Can I sell prints of a character I don't own?

Section 106(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act gives only the copyright owner the right to prepare derivative works, which includes a printed reproduction of their character, no matter how much the style has changed (U.S. Copyright Office). Some franchises publish fan-art tolerance policies and others publish none; check before selling a paid, numbered run, and treat this as general information rather than legal advice.

Should I use a custom request or a Goal for prints?

Use a custom request when a specific follower is buying a specific numbered print that you will ship. Use Goals only when raising funds toward the cost of running the print batch itself, with no individual item owed to any individual follower.

What does Brillay charge to sell a print?

A print sold as a custom request counts as work, so Brillay's platform fee for work applies when the follower pays, with no monthly fee on top; card processing is a separate charge from Stripe, not part of that platform fee. Stripe publishes 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, plus 1.5% for international cards; that is the U.S. example, and Stripe's rates vary by country and payment method.

How long can the delivery time on a print listing be?

In Custom Work, you set a delivery time of 1-24 hours or 1-5 days, with up to 5 days as the maximum. Physical shipping time sits outside that window, so state the mailing estimate separately in the listing rather than folding it into the delivery promise.

Create your free Brillay page and turn "can I buy a print of that?" into a priced, numbered offer.