Great episode, I'm glad someone is OK with talking about this globally taboo subject.
I had a situation a little while ago when I was contacted by an agent looking for an artworker on behalf a client. They saw some drawings of animals I created for an online portfolio/gallery and praised my ability, saying that I was perfect for what they were looking for. The client was a butchers business looking for images of animals, in a style matching their branding, to be reproduced in large format to apply to their delivery vans. I was very excited to have been picked out and contacted, the job was right up my street and I very much wanted to do it.
I offered a flat rate for the whole job, including region and period usage, with consideration for myself being an inexperienced artist. I figured having my artwork so publicly accessible was a bonus too. I was thrilled at the prospect of this opportunity.
I proposed £500 ($663 at that time) open to negotiation and the contact kept me waiting for 3 weeks (ignoring my follow up communications). They finally responded saying they accepted an offer from another artist due to budget constraints. I undervalued myself and my cheap offer was rejected for an even cheaper one. So hard to swallow!!
I later realised that it's important to keep going and keep trying, regardless of the missed opportunities and step backs.
Thanks for reading.