You may be leaving some things out (?). Not trying to be a know it all, because I don’t know it all but here is some stuff to consider, and its only my opinion, I have not been doing this a super long time but I have sold my share of babies.
In the beginning you lose money because you are buying all your supplies up front, usually your skill level needs building so you are selling babies at a very small profit or no profit just to be able to keep painting.
(calculated USD)
Kit: full price at BB 59.00
You can get a sale kit when sales come back but for right now that is the appx. price for a real born.
If you buy from other sites 80-115.00
Rings and plugs: 6.00
Buy your zip ties in a larger quantity so you can get a better price.
(not including shipping and you will have higher shipping)
Body 14.00 BUT BB puts 19,20, and small bodies on sale sometimes for 10 bucks. I wouldn’t sew bodies, it isn’t worth the time and money.
I would buy kits, bodies, rings, plugs, all at the highest quantity your budget will allow so you save on shipping.
Polyfill: I buy it by the box and use a coupon, I think I spend less than 20 bucks for the bigger box.
Glass Beads, if you buy them in bulk locally and pick them up you can save a whole lot of money. I buy them here for about 40.00 a 50 pound bag because I buy the pallet.
Magnets, if you buy them in bulk you can get them down to about 50 cents a magnet, check your local hobby shop.
Hair: (if you paint hair its less expensive but if you root hair you will need to buy some nice hair, this could be about 40-50 bucks depending on how thick you root and what your waste is.
Paint, thinner, oven, varnish, gloss, sponges, brushes, tweezers, scissors, wire cutters, needles, glue, combs and brushes, mohair conditioner, prism pencils, tape, labels, tissue, bubble wrap, boxes, blanket, diapers, sleeper, outfit, socks, diapers, headband, hat, business card, birth certificate, hospital bracelet.
You will also need photo props, camera or a phone.
Factor in any fees from your selling platform, fees from Paypal, taxes, and pass shipping on to the client.
You can add it all up and times it by three or you can add a per hour charge for your painting and rooting services.
You also need to factor in the time it takes you to assemble, style, photograph, edit photos, post, list, answer questions, and wrap and ship babies. The time it takes to shop for kits, clothes, and stand in line at the post office.
Remember that depending on the sculpt and your skill level you may not make money at first, once you gain a client base, develop a style and kinda nail it you can creep the price up assuming demand is creeping up.
You also need to factor scrap babies in. Some of those babies may melt, turn grey, just look a little scary, Best to donate babies that you are not proud of in my opinion, its a win-win.
You will need to be honest with yourself, look at other babies online, reborns.com is a good place because they have all different skill and price levels. You can also look at Etsy and Ebay. You are going to find a lot of “custom” artists using other peoples photos charging 900-1200 for a baby, ignore them, that is NOT a good place to measure from, mostly because we don’t know what their work really looks like.
Try to find where you fit in, some people are top tier straight outta the gate but most are not, even people who started off as artists. My dolls were totally funny looking (still are sometimes) when I started out. It just means you have room to grow, the more you practice the better they get.
If you feel really good about your skills and you are ready for prime time price your baby fairly, for you and for you clients.
Lots of people slapping on a fat price tag just to see if they can get someone to bite with hype and cool photography. If someone pays that and they are not mind blown…they will spread the word. You want repeat clients and WOM. Collectors are not always artists (mostly not artists) but they have a good eye and they can sniff out an artist with promise. Let them invest in you, make them happy, they will be loyal as you improve, they are gold, treat them well, that doesn’t mean you let them walk all over you, it just means you show them how to value you by working with integrity and they will respect you.
Off my soapbox.