I agree with this topic. I also believe that a lot of the time it's not because an artists doubts quality or time, it's simply that they get bullied into lower prices and are made to feel guilty about what is a more than reasonable price to charge for their art. This is as far as I'm concerned is a good example of what a lot of these artists probably run into:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1713009/
All this because I made a mistake with my posting and was asking for clarification, suddenly I was a selfish jerk and should just assume everyone is broke. By all means, bending your prices for those in a tough situation is a great thing. I do it quite frequently myself. However, artists just assuming that is the case with everyone and making themselves unhappy with income from their art for an assumption that should be a case by case thing, is unreasonable.
I fear too many artists are put in this situation and made to feel bad about their pricing. I agree with TheKyleIsHere that it's far more worth it to do a couple higher priced commissions, save yourself some time and effort then doing a ton and get just as much or less money. The problem is it's legitimately hard for the artists to see it that way when they are goaded by desperation and attacked for their prices. I mean for a lot of people having people question your prices is discouraging enough, but when they outright attack you for it's a lot harder on you. It makes you feel like there is no worth to your work, and in very few, if any situations that this has ever happened to an artist, have I ever seen that to be even remotely true.
I agree with a previous user regarding using low prices because they are doing it for fun, not money. I really don't think that drastically effects the market for artists. I mean, you have to stop and think, how many artists are there on this site who do it strictly for fun? Not enough to make the market take a dive. Also people in this community generally like variety with artists, so the few doing it for fun is not going to stop that fact that a buyer might go elsewhere for a different style.
Though because of the want for variety, many artists with low prices will affect things overall. People want to get a lot of art for low prices usually. And with artists in fierce competition as stated many times before (sorry, don't mean to be a broken record) they all undercut each other to get more commissions. I completely understand why this is done. It doesn't paint a pretty picture in the long run, but you honestly can't blame artists for taking this approach.
With the variety of reasons people are selling and buying art on here I feel it's better to just work on a case by case basis. That way you as the artist don't get screwed, but for those who are in a bad financial situation they aren't feeling left out on art or putting up money that they can't afford at the time. This is why (in addition to the fact the list of things I made just got too long to be easily looked through) I never really listed base prices until now. I find it's better to have your own price in your head and work with the person depending on the situation. If something would normally be $50, but because of their situation you don't mind taking $30, then go for it. You shouldn't feel obligated to, but honestly if you have the time, money, whatever, why not? On the other hand if someone says their range is $60 for that item, don't be a jerk and take more than you would normally charge. The cliche do unto others thing comes into play.
I dunno. That'a just how I see it. I don't know if any of that made any sense. LOL