Work requires time and effort, even if you do it for a family member.

Imagine being an artist and a family member wants you to paint something for them. Would you do it for free, or would you charge them for the art project?

This man is a passionate musician and experienced luthier.

His stepbrother asked him to custom-paint a guitar for him, and they agreed on a price.

The problem is that his mother thinks he shouldn’t charge anything at all.

Is she right, or is charging his stepbrother completely reasonable?

Read the whole story below.

AITA for making my stepbrother pay a commission on my hard work

I (22M) am a musician and luthier.

I’ve been playing guitar for more than half of my life and just started building and painting guitars in the past 3 to 4 years.

Meet Tom…

My best friend/stepbrother (21M) is Tom.

He moved down to North Carolina from South Carolina when he was 3 years old.

We became stepbrothers when we were 13, because my mom married his dad.

Tom has a cheap guitar from the 70s he got from his dad.

This man agreed to custom paint Tom’s guitar for a fee.

He doesn’t really play, but he still thinks it’s cool and likes to just mess around.

He had a plain black guitar and asked if I could paint it with an American flag.

I obliged and told him it would be done in a little while. I also told him I would still charge, even though he’s like a brother.

Tom dropped off the guitar at his house, so he started the work.

For anybody who doesn’t know, doing work on guitars is expensive.

Not only am I paying for paint and sandpaper and so on and so forth, I’m also taking a lot of time out of my days to work on something for him.

Fast forward to about a week after this all happened.

The guitar has been dropped off at my house and I’m updating him along the way.

His mom got mad when she learned that he’s charging Tom for the custom paint job.

My mom finds out from my stepdad that I’m charging him.

She is furious and calls me to tell me why this is so wrong and how I shouldn’t be charging him that much or even at all.

I’m charging him $250, and he said that’s fine and reasonable.

She told everyone that he is a “greedy jerk.”

I’ve explained to her many times since. Just because he’s a family member and a close friend doesn’t mean I get to sacrifice my money to fund this. Things are fairly tight around here, and I need to save up money.

She doesn’t listen and has told my sister, biological father, and many more that I’m overcharging and that I’m a greedy jerk.

Am I in the wrong for this, or am I being reasonable?

If his step-brother doesn’t have a problem paying for the custom paint job, it isn’t a problem. His mom should mind her own business.

Let’s find out what others have to say about this on Reddit.

Another musician speaks up.

Mom needs to mind her own business, says this person.

This person makes a valid point.

People are calling out the mom.

Finally, short and straight to the point.

Being family doesn’t mean your work should come for free.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.