So I was just wondering how did everyone make there first sale? I have almost 500 likes on my Facebook page but nobody comments or likes anything. I tried listing on reborns before but that ended up being a waste of money cause it did no good. I have had a couple people from groups message me but it never went anywhere. And none of my family or friends are really interested. I just ordered Chase Brown and I need to sell him so I can continue painting. Any advice would be great! Thanks! 
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I listed my first on Kijiji for super cheap, and she sold within a week or two. Even after a few years and some price & skill increases, I had pretty decent luck on Kijiji. There are some time wasters (I can give you a name or two to avoid if you do sell there), but for the most part I had a good amount of sales there. Most coming from out of province, so the dolls were shipped, but a few local sales as well.
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I always did Christmas craft sales for my knitting and quilts so I just started bringing my babies. When I first started selling I sold very cheap, just broke even probably even lost money. I didn’t really care about making money at the time because I just wanted to make babies. Every year I put my price up about $25. Word spread around my city and soon I had so many orders I had a long waiting list of people. So many people were waiting that I just painted whatever kit I wanted however I wanted and let the next person on the list know I had one ready and they came to pick it up, no one was fussy at all about what baby they got. When my price got a little higher things started to slow down here so I decided to give Reborns a try, it was just before Christmas a few years ago and that’s where I’ve been selling ever since. I’ve had a few people here still contact me for babies from word of mouth, but since they aren’t collectors or don’t really even know about reborns no one here will pay my prices around here.
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Are you able to make a few babies over the next months to have them ready to start selling for Christmas? That’s probably when you will make the most sales
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My advise to you would be ‘Don’t listen to your family’. I remember your post when you said that you are posting baby on Reborns for sale and you ask family how to price it. If I remember correctly, forum tried to tell you gently that the price was too high. Also, always remember that forum praises often too deceiving as people trying to be kind and supportive, as very often instead of helping artist to grow they just afraid to mention area for improvements.
I would also recommend to have a few babies ready for sale and then post them on Reborns in November for Xmas sales. And of course prize them according your skills as it’s a tough competition there at that time, but also much more buyers.
Good luck to you!
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My first sales came from reborns.com.
I just had to go back and find a pic because I remember being so proud of this doll at the time… now I can clearly see why he sold for $250. 
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Yeah my first babies I sold i sold for 200. I stayed in the 300 range a long time. I’m just now in the 400-500 range
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What @RosieCait added is important too. You might start low and stay on the lower end for a while. It really takes time.
After selling my first doll for $250, my prices started inching towards $300, then there I was stuck for a while. Years in that $325-$350 range. It’s only pretty recently that I’ve crossed over into a higher price point.
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Yup! It isn’t as quickly progressing as you think. This October I’ll be reborning 2 years and I’ve only sold 3 dolls for over 600 and it’s because they were larger dolls. Most of my babies sell in the 450-550 range but still I have some that go for lower anyway.
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I sold my first on reborns.com but struggled to sell on there after that, I think it’s because I’m based in the UK and most collectors that use that site are US based, I now sell on my Facebook and Instagram pages, I don’t get a huge amount of interaction on either of those when I post an image however that doesn’t affect my sales, I list them in Facebook groups and that helps a lot, especially to just get your name and work out there, my first doll sold for £200 a year ago and I’m now selling at £500-£600.
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I think you need to keep working on adding depth to your painting. More layers of mottling, like 4-5 layers at least. Continue to build up crease color. Add more shading. If you use flesh color for skintone, maybe try more of a primary method adding thin layers of red yellow and blue. Pay attention to details like the nails and get them a little more cleaned up. Try to get more of a flow with hair. Follow pics of a real baby and have your hair bend and curve, making sure your hair strands are not intersecting like X’s. I think you tend to stop too soon when painting and then they don’t look as realistic. Even if making a pale baby it should have lots of color because the skin is more translucent. You would still see a lot of blues, purples and pinks. Hope that helps 
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Bring them with you when you go to stores. I have sold some like that.
Facebook took me a while to get seen, and I don’t sell there (too much scam).
Etsy is a possibility, but Reborns is the best way for me. It takes time and patience.
I think because we are in Canada it gives us less possibilities toward US buyers (the majority). I try to gives fair shipping prices international. Canadian are just beginning to discover them, mostly via YouTube.
Sell your first few low. Continue to improve. It took me 2 years selling around 200-350$.
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Great and extremely helpful advise!
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I sold my first on Etsy. I sold on reborns for a year or 2, but after a non-resolvable issue with Dave I went back to Etsy last year. I sell all my babies there now. Sales are slow right now, but I do sell at least a baby a month and get a lot of interest, messages, etc…
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Quick question (asking here so I don’t need a whole new post) is it okay to post photos of babies in clothing that won’t come with them? Like I want to do photos of this next kit as a girl and a boy because with the last one I tried to list, I only did girl. But I don’t want to go and buy both gender clothes. I was thinking I can put her in sleepers from my personal collection and buy the box opening clothes once someone buys her and tells me the gender. Is this okay to do?
I don’t post babies in clothes that aren’t going home with them because people don’t read. 
You have a good reason for doing this, so definitely put this in the listing… I would actually list it as something fun and positive, like hey I’m shopping for baby after he/she is adopted, so send me your color requests and I’ll see what I can do.
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Oh good idea!! Thank you!
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I always add to my listing that some outfits are for photography purposes only and might not be sent with baby, not had an issue with anyone expecting a certain outfit x
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I always take photos in both boy and girl clothing, after getting tired of messages saying “I love this baby, but really wanted a girl, can you make me a baby just like this one but a girl?”… That being said in my description I clearly state does not include props, etc… And will come home in clothing of my choosing, which may not be clothing shown in photos. I also have several photography type outfits that I use in a lot of my listings, so it covers my butt, making sure they aren’t expecting the baby to come in what they see.
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