I thought about pricing correctly

Baby Talk
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I crochet to dress art dolls. I crochet for love… love of the art. I think of the ladies who created the heirloom pieces of the past, who did it for love… for their children and grandchildren.

I price my creations based on materials (crochet thread, vintage trims and silk ribbon etc,) and then price my time according to stitch difficulty (usually 0.25 to 0.50 cents per hour). Then I add on sellers fees.

My work is heirloom quality and the art of thread crochet is vanishing, so people who buy my work are getting a bargain…and if you do thread crochet, you know what I mean.

My pricing is reasonable and not meant to diminish others who crochet, but to make it affordable for those who love it too. If I charged for my time, no one could afford it.

I have great self esteem and elevating my prices would not add to it, but passing on the beauty and artistry of an almost lost art certainly does.

There are many factors that go into pricing our work. But one thing is a given… you will not always get a monetary return for your effort. Your reward must be the fulfillment of the artist, creating something unique to you. Selling that creation is just icing on the cake.

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First. Crochet is amazing. My aunt does it and I am always blown away. So cool.

That said. If there is zero profit it can become impossible to continue. The supplies for this cost too much to just give them away.

Its also rather crappy of people to expect a doll with 300$ worth of materials for 150$

I refuse to play that game. Pay. Or go away. Lol

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100% agreed. I was quite surprised when I first saw this.

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You definitely do create heirloom pieces @Debdi. I was quite happy when you decided to join the forum so that I could admire your work more often. Hope to purchase an outfit one of these days. :blush:

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What a beautiful post. I also would live to own some of your pieces :heart: I need to check Etsy way more often!

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I love your perspective on this. As a relative newbie (in skill level, not amount of time) I am nervous enough to post a baby for sale on a site like reborns because of all of the chargeback horror stories I read. Seeing absolutely beautifully painted babies going for less than I would sell one of my own for only adds to that sense of dread.

I would love for my life/health to let me paint a baby a month. I’m sure that long breaks in between painting does nothing for my skill level OR the babies I paint.

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She was originally £300 and is in the condition I bought her in plus she will have a big box packing with 4 or more outfits, a magnetic pacifier, a toy and more! She only came with one outfit, a toy and a paci when I got her.

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I love this and the way you crochet! It is obvious that you are doing something that you love. I bought one of your outfits recently and it is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing these treasures along with a little piece of your heart. :heart:

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If people want cheap dolls, than they must buy factory made dolls. Reborns are not cheap, people need to understand that. Yes some are less expensive, like second hand.
I really like Porche, but I can’t afford one, so I buy a Toyota. I like Monet but can’t afford one, so I just look at his painting.
I still believe that cheap and reborn don’t go together.

Your doll is beautiful!

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Thank you so much! I know what you mean. I am selling my doll cheaply in reborn terms but 200 or 225 pounds is still a lot of money. I am hoping to get another doll which is why I am selling her.

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http://discourse.bountifulbaby.com/t/selling-completed-doll/89384/4

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Underselling is a huge problem in self-employment, small business, etc. I was a photographer and in the beginning I thought it was perfectly cool to charge $7 for an 8x10. Twice my cost, plus “a little” more.

Doh!

The competition was selling 8x10s for $50! I thought, “how crazy is that?!? Why would anyone go there when our looks are comparable, and I’m sooooo much cheaper?”

Well, Dingbat! (Me!) She wants to have a sustainable business and actually be valued for her time and talent!

I learned super quick that I was basically paying them to take my time and photos off my hands. Oof.

As I’ve watched babies sell, with huge box openings included, I’ve wondered how on earth artists aren’t actually losing a ton of money.

A mom came to me wanting a baby for her daughter and hit the roof when I gave her some pricing estimates. She was looking for a baby under $60. She asked where she could buy a kit herself and then have me paint it…thinking I must be charging some huge markup on kits. I sent her a few links. Never heard back!

It’s soooo important for artists to value their own time and talents and get paid for them. If you are selling something (anything) then your compensation needs to make it worth doing. Even if you enjoy it and feel like, “well, I’m doing it anyway, whatever I make is just a bonus.” That may be okay if what you do is a hobby you aren’t dropping tons of money into, but let’s face it, reborning is expensive!! If you are wanting to sell and not go in the hole, double those material costs and don’t forget to PAY yourself!! :raised_hands:

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Totally agree with all that !
Just look at the time and money invested in just learning how to reborn, like the time and money you invested just to learn photography, and developing skills…
It’s worth something ! Not just the material and time, but expertise also !

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Exactly why I got rid of my Facebook page. Too many people admire these dolls but aren’t collectors who want one “for the grand baby” or their daughter, and are shocked at even the lower end price. From now on I’ll just be listing them for sale on reborns. I sold many last year around Christmas for hardly anything, that got old fast :confused: I have since upped my prices.

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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.

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I have made a Excel sheet with all the details of my supplies. I forgot about photos, thanks !
Hard to find glass beads locally and not able to buy them in bulk anywhere in line (they don’t ship) and that’s kill me.
I do sew my bodies, I have and Etsy shop where I sell them, so for me it’s like my bread and butter…
I use air dry , less expensive.

Always put the full price on kits. If you get it on sale, that’s just more in your pocket. You never know if you will be able to get another one on sale, it’s particularly important if doing custom.

You made very good points with the skill level, it’s the hardest thing to do, but really important.

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How do you factor in PayPal fees when they just take a percentage of the total?

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Perfect G!!!

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What is your Etsy shop name?

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BellybuttonReborn
I am on vacation until next week so I don’t think you can see it.

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