Why are Custom Commissioned Props so Expensive? The Answer is Below....

[TheSt.LouisKid]

I have stuff posted on youtube. I get messages from people wanting me to make custom stuff. One guy wanted a custom sci-fi gun replica but was on a budget. I quoted 40 hours to scratch build it and he said that was fine. I made a point to tell him up front the amount of time and I didn't quote a dollar amount. So he knew the time that needed to be invested. I then asked what he had budgeted. He said $35(thirtyfive dollars-written out so you know there is no typo or omitted zeros). It's mind boggling that he thought $35 was going to pay for 40 hours of work to make something that didn't exist. I invariably refer people who contact me to Toys 'R' Us and suggest they buy a toy gun and chop it/repaint etc. The term "shoestring budget" comes up 90% of the time. I am told mass produced super soaker water guns can cost $25 to $35 and this nimnut expected me to make a one off for $35.

There was a guy who wanted me to draw a solidworks file for a thermal detonator and have it 3D printed because he didn't want to pay about $250(apparently the price of a TD at the time) for a MR Thermal Detonator. ...and he thought having me draw a file and have it 3D printed would be cheaper!

It's not the first time I have gotten such a request and I am sure it's not the last.

Wish people would think because they sound like are incapable of doing so when they offer squat. People need to consider how much they get paid at their job and consider if they would accept the same amount for the work that they do.

It's an expensive hobby.

 

[ranallace]

Should the home hobbyist charge a premium price tag just on principle?

is the home hobbyist allowed to try and re-coup his investment, by charging a FAIR PRICE for a nice art piece ??

 

[tubachris85x]

It's the same kind of argument I've gotten by plenty of people who criticize me for "wasting money" on this hobby, citing "I can build it better and cheaper." They never follow through, but instead go straight to a strip club and blow $600+ in one night.

I don't like to talk to people outside the hobby ABOUT the hobby because of this mentality

 

[ranallace]

??? 600 in a strip club is crazy .....i pitch quarters , and ask for my senior discount on my coffee ,LOL

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

is the home hobbyist allowed to try and re-coup his investment, by charging a FAIR PRICE for a nice art piece ??

I'm in no way saying she or he can not charge whatever they feel their time and talent is worth.

My comment is more questioning what factors decide how much something /should/ be worth, regardless of whether a "brand name" or hobbyist built it.

 

[ranallace]

so if i feel my agonizers are worth 100 bucks, but the guy's who have been buying them off ebay for under 20 bucks - ( smaller , inacurate and most certianly recast ones)- im sure they are gonna be like " what ? your crazy man , what a rip off . i can buy them all day long on ebay for under 20 bucks ".......but they dont know, or care about how many hours it took me to make it , carve it , adjust it , over and over again , but i DO CARE ...I went thru 3 prototypes, 2 sets of molds and alot of cash to bring my larger version to life , and im not selling one for 20 bucks, not happening , but i would sincerely like to thank the board member who emailed me that offer , but my response was the same then as it is now - no thank you

as far as the ebay ones go - which would you rather have ?

* the common ebay/convention type on right - mine on left

in this shot you can see mines more acurate in size compared to the other items

** yes that p-1 is huge ,it's to the right of the agonizer and it is a con phaSER from back in the day

 

[TheSt.LouisKid]

... im not selling one for 20 bucks, not happening , but i would sincerely like to thank the board member who emailed me that offer , but my response was the same then as it is now - no thank you

Just wait until someone ONLY offers you what equates to the reimbursement of your resin then calls you a crook because you won't accept it. :lol
I had a guy do that to me and then harassed me across 4 sites about it.

 

[ranallace]

Just wait until someone ONLY offers you what equates to the reimbursement of your resin then calls you a crook because you won't accept it. :lol
I had a guy do that to me and then harassed me across 4 sites about it.

that is so sad . truly it is .... someone must have no life to stalk you like that .....

guys - im not a professional anything - im a regular working stiff ,a 20 year maintenence worker at a local university, and former part time police officer , and army vet - who loves costuming and props from my childhood , and has inherited some talent from his artist mother, who has works in major galleries and my , mostly absent , rock star father ...up to this point in my life ive not used that talent , ive just gotten by, GETTING MY FIX by buying stuff from others that never really fit my vision of what i wanted , so now that ive got this first project under my belt ,and have some confidence in my abilities here , im gonna make my own stuff to fit that vision ....and if someone wants a copy , fine , but im not giving them away for cost , no way .

*** AND IF I NEVER SELL ONE ---- THEN THATS FINE TOO-- I DIDNT MAKE THEM ORIGINALLY TO SELL , I MADE THEM FOR ME AND MY BROTHER , THEN SOMEONE SAID HEY YOU SHOULD SELL THESE - WHICH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A GOOD IDEA TO LISTEN TO THEM , LOL ***

 

[Beer_Money_Props]

so if i feel my agonizers are worth 100 bucks,

Using this as a gauge, how would you feel if you found out a "big name" prop builder was getting $110 for these all day long? Should you arbitrarily up your pricing just because they get more than you for the same level of quality? Do you think they would feel slighted because it looks like you're undercutting them on price? Who's pricing is right for something of similar quality? I think the answer is always "What the customer is willing to pay for it".

I'm sure something like this wouldn't happen with your particular situation, but it is a pretty common occurrence. Especially with prop weapons.

 

[ranallace]

Using this as a gauge, how would you feel if you found out a "big name" prop builder was getting $110 for these all day long? Should you arbitrarily up your pricing just because they get more than you for the same level of quality? s.

honestly dude - id say good for him , he made a sale and provided a nice prop to someone who will cherish it... and i wouldny raise my price just because someone elses is higher , no ..... and that 100 was an example , not any actual price i had considered for these

im not here to compete with anyone , this isnt a race , as i said if i never sell one its no skin off me - they aint eatin' nothin'

 

[Shades]

Using this as a gauge, how would you feel if you found out a "big name" prop builder was getting $110 for these all day long? Should you arbitrarily up your pricing just because they get more than you for the same level of quality? Do you think they would feel slighted because it looks like you're undercutting them on price? Who's pricing is right for something of similar quality? I think the answer is always "What the customer is willing to pay for it".

I'm sure something like this wouldn't happen with your particular situation, but it is a pretty common occurrence. Especially with prop weapons.

Having a great reputation is worth somthing too and I think that allows brand name guys to charge more. This board is filled plenty of people that made a great item, took cash, and skipped out. Personally I'll pay extra for the insurance of knowing I got a guy who will deliver.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[bookface]

Beyond factors like what a customer is willing to pay for it, is the question of what it is worth to you as the maker. To someone who does it for fun, and has a job to pay the bills, their 'hobby' time may well be worth less to them than a pro. As such, they may well be happy to sell something at half what someone who makes props for a living would. Does this mean that it took less skill to make it, or mean it's an inferior product? Absolutely not.

However, it does mean that their production may be somewhat limited. If it takes 40 hours to build something, then while a pro could conceivably make that in a week, assuming no other jobs or commissions at the time, your chances of getting it from someone who has a full time job doing something else in that same timeframe are almost nil. Probably more like a month at least. So there's always a trade off.

This is one thing that I think some people have missed, which is that you are charging primarily for your time spent making something, not the product itself, though of course some items will command a premium based simply on scarcity. I don't generally believe in taking into account time spent researching a product and getting it right for market when setting your price, at least not to a significant degree. To use a motoring example, Bugatti (or VW) loses money on every single Veyron they sell, because the R&D costs were astronomical. While they make a profit on each car in terms of time to build it and materials used, they are unlikely to ever recoup the costs of developing it. They did it to show off.

If you want to spend months working on a small, popular prop then go for it, but you should still figure more about how much time it will take you to make copies of it when pricing, rather than how long you spent developing it.

So to try and sum up, it all depends.

 

[ranallace]

So to try and sum up, it all depends.

epic sir - just epic :lol

- - - Updated - - -

Having a great reputation is worth somthing too and I think that allows brand name guys to charge more. This board is filled plenty of people that made a great item, took cash, and skipped out. Personally I'll pay extra for the insurance of knowing I got a guy who will deliver.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

i havent got any reputation to stand on - other than being a founding member of my 501st garrison, LOL
btw - nice stuff on u facebook page , awesome gear bro

 

[jamesmcintoshjr]

That's why it's great to be able to sell resin kits to make back the initial investment. Guys like harrison, bill and whoever is running folkenstal.

One could, in theory have a structure that looks like this-

· Person commissions builder for prop
· Builder agrees, says it costs $XXXX.xx
· Person flips out, because they had no clue
· Builder and person negotiates a lower price, but the builder is able to sell resin kits of said prop. A percentage of sales (maybe like 10%) goes back to the original person that funded the build, until their initial investment is covered.
· Builder then keeps any and all profits from these limited runs going forward.

I play with this scenario in my head, mainly because I've done a lot of freelance design work but never the type of work that can sorta be packaged and resold. Certainly the worst way to go about things is to do one-offs, unless your able to charge a high enough commission to make that work, but best case that's a challenging scenario for both the builder and buyer.

 

[joberg]

What's a fair price? Yes, someone here said: "whatever the customer is willing to pay". But , trying to please everybody in this business is impossible.
You're dealing with people who are a few curlers short of a full perm:facepalm They simply have no idea of the cost, time and complexity of making things from scratch. All they bought was Wall-Mart stuff and they think you can make one "just like in the movie" for the same cost. I want to yell when I hear that crap!! If they would educate themselves first before spewing that nonsense, our lives, as artists, would be much better.

That's why I love that program on TV that explains how things are actually made...the complexities of this world are astonishing:eek

 

[Yodajammies]

You should never sell your prototype! Number one mistake for anyone who hand builds a prop!!!

Oh boy don't I know this one. :/

 

[DtailedREPLICAS]

Didn't think that video would get this kind of a response!
Its great though. The reason I put it up was to see what people's reactions were and to hopefully educate those that, in others' words, 'have no idea about the cost'.

I pose this question:

If I were to recieve a commission for a piece with the agreement that I never produce another (therefore its completely unique for that buyer) do I have the right to charge more for this privellage? Could I conceivably offer a discount if he/she agrees to let me sell copies?

 

[jamesmcintoshjr]

I pose this question:

If I were to recieve a commission for a piece with the agreement that I never produce another (therefore its completely unique for that buyer) do I have the right to charge more for this privellage? Could I conceivably offer a discount if he/she agrees to let me sell copies?

I would say yes, they pay for exclusivity. When I purchase stock music for video work I do, there's usually an option to buy out exclusive rights to the track, which is exponentially more expensive (from $200 for normal use to $2500 to license it exclusively, and then usually only for a period of a year or two)

Your second question I tried to outline a scenario for that a few posts back, but basically why not let the person who finances the prototype basically partner with you to get it made, and like an investor has a chance to make some money back depending on how well it sells.

 

[DtailedREPLICAS]

I agree with what youre saying about the first half of my hypothetical, however, whats to stop me making, from scratch, another replica piece like the first. As its scratch made, it is technically different from the first scratch build? Also What if I adjust the design to produce a new, similar piece from the original blueprints? How different must it be?

And yes, I did see your thoughts on the second half of my question. I like the premise of your idea. I intend on doing basically that with one of my current builds. I simply have permission to distribute copies of the concept work by providing the buyer with a royalty from the purchase. The difference being that the number of royalties he recieves is only limited by the sales of the piece.
The only problem with this system is that it relies on people being interested in the piece. If its a custom concept work there may not be a real market for it and as the builder, you may end up losing out when all is said and done, and the buyer walks away with an underpriced replica.

 

[DtailedREPLICAS]

As for the main point at hand:

Many have asked 'why should someone established or 'famous' have the right to charge more on a prop of equal or lesser value than some else'.

Well simple. Its the world of today.

Thats why you pay more for Billabong, than you do for K-mart T-shirts. The media centred world of today is what drives literally everything. Back in the day, you'd buy a Stihl (or Husqvarna) chainsaw and pay twice as much as anything else because it was actually twice as good. Now Stihl is made in china like everything else and yet their price tag is still (no pun intended) high.
Ask yourself, if you saw a Volpin Props N7 and an arbitrary RPF member's N7 for sale, regarless of price, youd automatically want the Volpin even if the pieces looked identical. You might still buy the RPF members becasue its cheaper, but you'd want the Volpin. Its just image. Its what the world revolves around.

Its not that (necessarily) Volpin deserves to charge more, its that he CAN charge more. Because people will pay it. Plain and simle. If you want to change the way props are priced via some crazy media hirearchy (the most famous gets to sell for the highest), unfortunately you have to change the world. Good luck with that.

That being said, that example is when two pieces are of a similar quality. The second reson why Volpin and Bill can charge what they like is because you are buying quality. Quality in design, manufacture, finish, research and planning. You pay extra for the extra effort and skill. And thats fair.

Everyday that someone builds a prop they learn a bit more.
As an example, look at Joe the handy man. He charges $50 an hour to take out your Airconditioner. Then Dave the Electrician, who studied for 4 years in an apprentiship gets paid $80 to put one in. He works for Mike who owns the company and started as an electrician himself 10 years ago and he makes $100 an hour for his business. Of course Hung Sang Pi who designed the aircon in America makes $200 an hour because he went to uni for 5 years and worked his way into the head of R and D for the last 20. The amount youd get paid is directly related to your time learning (in most cases). In general, a professional prop maker has spent more time making props that Peter (etc) on RPF. He deserves your money. Hes earned it.

But thats straying a little from the point. Why is custom so expensive? Well, it takes at least as long, if not longer to make than a regular replica and in general, less (if any) copies will be sold. Time is money. Skill deserves money. Doesnt that make it very clear?