# How do I price and handle needlefelting commissions?



## bara_kawamori (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi all!  I've been trying to find a community/forum where I can talk about this, and this seems to be the closest I can get to my question.

I do needlefelted art, and I've been trying for a while to get commissions for my needlefelts without much success.  I have been perusing the threads on "how to price art" and "how do I get commissions?", but my issue is that those have mostly applied to drawn art. I have gotten some good advice from them, like the free art thing - I do enjoy doing art trades, it's quite fun! 

But, pricing is where I get really iffy. See, there's some artists out there that can draw a ton of really quick sketches and sell them for $5-$10 apiece. A lot of people think $50 for a lineart is extremely pricey. So, for drawn art, I get what a decent price range would be. But, I think a needlefelt involves a bit more time.  There really isn't a "quick-and-dirty" way to do one, at least for me.  I want my pieces to be really high quality, and I will often dye my wool myself. (At least I've cut costs in that direction, I buy HUGE bags of wool in bulk from a seller, and I prepare and dye it all myself, and it ends up being cheaper than buying lots of little bags of wool roving at the store.) 

And honestly, I don't get why more furries are all over them!  They're fuzzy and more poseable than a plushie.  They can serve as a quick 3D reference of your fursona - the poseability is only slightly less than that of a wooden manikin. And you'd think that those with a micro/macro fetish would have a ball too, with it being a tiny furry and all. XD I think it's because most people aren't familiar with needlefelting, and it does need a bit more exposure. 

I've done my best and did as much research as I could by looking on Etsy and eBay and seeing how people price their needlefelts.  I noticed that a lot were in the $60-$100 range.  So, I figured to be competitive I'd price mine in the $30-$50 range. But, looking in this fandom everybody seems to want art in the $5-$15 range. I've been trying to figure out ways to do smaller, cheaper commissions too, but I've been at kind of a loss.

What do you think?  How do I price these things?  How do I get myself more out there?


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## FireFeathers (Feb 21, 2011)

Pricing is tricky/annoying in the way that if you price too low, people think you'll half-ass the project.  And Pricing too high limits the amount of people that have the opportunity to buy. So you have to find that butter zone in between where you get fairly compensated for your work at a comfortable level. That's ideally how the regular mindset works. 

FA, while subscribing to that mindset more or less, also goes for the deals as well.  But in pricing lower you're balancing that crowd that wants more for less, but want quality work. Starting out, I had a lot harder time getting commissions at a lower rate, offering deals and all that didn't help out at all. But when I raised my prices more people took notice and I got more commissions that way. 

Basically, work at a rate that you're happy with and just keep going. Put out good examples and people will come to you and buy.  Honestly I think that 3d art does better because it appeals to everyone. Artwork doesn't appeal to me because I can make my own, but needlefelting is something I can't do, so i'm more interested. *nods*  Good luck.


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## bara_kawamori (Feb 21, 2011)

> Pricing is tricky/annoying in the way that if you price too low, people  think you'll half-ass the project.  And Pricing too high limits the  amount of people that have the opportunity to buy. So you have to find  that butter zone in between where you get fairly compensated for your  work at a comfortable level.


Thank you so much, BTW.  And yeah, this is my exact problem right here, it's trying to find this sweet spot.  At first I thought maybe I did find it, since it seemed like people were willing to pay in that price range for, say, other kinds of merchandise that take a similar effort (like detailed ears and tails and plushies).  But then I got scared, because it seemed like people charging in that price range for art sounded like stuck-up hot shots to others.  And granted, I've only been needlefelting for about four years now.  I have improved A LOT in that time, but I still have things I want to improve on, such as I tend to make my torsos slightly too long, and there are so many kinds of characters I've never done before.   

I do have other ideas I want to work on though, and other ways I can tweak things.  I know a good plushie maker that has a wide range of different prices for plushies, ranging from small plushies to about $150 for larger, more detailed ones.  (I honestly want to try plushie making too, that's how I got into needlefelting in the first place actually XD) That's what I should do, try to offer more of a range and see what people go for.


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## heartstreasure (Feb 21, 2011)

As a fellow artist,I understand your need to get the priceing right..especially with furries as your main customer base.
For my jewelry,normally I price cost of materials x4 but for the furries,I try to keep it at materials cost x3 because I understand most are low income/no income.It has seemed to work very well for me..I know needle felting is very different from jewelry and I have no idea about the process involved so I cant truly help you out here..all I can do is hope this advice might have some useful info for you.
Cheers,
Tsubasa aka HeartsTreasure


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## Aden (Feb 21, 2011)

Estimate how long it'll take you, and charge by the hour. Don't undersell yourself.


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## bara_kawamori (Feb 21, 2011)

Cost of materials times 3... I really like that actually!  Thank you! That makes MUCH more sense, especially since my materials are actually not that expensive to begin with.  I'm going to have to sit down and calculate that one of these days, as I have to figure out what portion of a bag my needlefelts take.  Thank you, that was a big help!


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## bara_kawamori (Feb 21, 2011)

I have heard this little bit of advice many times, and I thank you for that.  It's very good advice.  However, I'm afraid that a lot of my needlefelts tend to take quite a bit of time, and I think that pricing by the hour is going to be more than most are willing to pay.  Plus, I like being able to work at my own pace, since I have a job and school and other responsibilities to take care of.  That's why I find this so tricky, because I don't want to charge /too/ much.  The more I do it, the better/faster I get though, so who knows, maybe someday I'll be able to reasonably price by the hour.  But thank you though!


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## FireFeathers (Feb 25, 2011)

Happy to give advice; but seriously, if you price at a rate that's fair, it seems counter-intuitive but you get more business that way. It's not snotty-stuck up pricing, it's just fair. At least work at a minimum wage rate, if nothing else.


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## lostfoxeh (Feb 26, 2011)

The owner of a game store takes the price he paid for something and doubles it. So doubling your materials cost might be a good starting point. 

Also depends on why you are selling your stuff. If you just want a self paying hobby you just need to worry about covering material cost or what you think it is worth, easy enough (convention cost also, if you plan to sell at cons).

Edit: If you mean this as a serious source of income, then you should consider how much you will sell per month and how much money you need per month coming from sales to meet your living standards and calculate accordingly. This might take a few trial and errors. There wouldn't be a whole job field on how to figure what to charge for things if it was easy.

As for people saying charge at least minimum wage. Ehh, I partly agree with that. If this is also your hobby and relax time then you might not be making minimum wage. You might get more accuracy by looking how much product you make and what you need to make to be satisfied from sales per month. Which could be several times more or less than minimum wage. If you are making enough money and happy with your situation, why does it matter what the wage is.


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## PleccyTheDragon (Feb 28, 2011)

Depending on the size and quality or style, I daresay $30-$50 is a decent range of prices. Comparing that to the price for lineart is inaccurate, just because the finished project is so much more different and all the more unique. Step beyond that price range, though, and I don't think you'll get enough of a following. Any less, and you're ripping yourself off, assuming you're any good. I don't mean that harshly, I mean it honestly. Without seeing any of your projects, it's hard to say. Just as with any other art medium, I've seen some that were definitely worth the $90 the artist wanted, and some that aren't worth a buck. It really comes down to your personal mastery of the craft.

Perhaps make a few generic pieces, like a fox or wolf, and post pics. _Then_ ask how much people think they'd be willing to pay for items like them. That can probably get you a much more accurate response.


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