Hi everyone! Yes I’m still not dead. I have moved, again, this time into a house. While I’m setting up my new and improved workshop, I would like to introduce you to this video by Kamui Cosplay. She is one of my heroes of the profession and today she’s talking to us about prices.
If you are commissioning a custom blade from me, please expect at least 800-1000 euros. That’s practically giving the item to you because I don’t get to keep anything but a tiny faction of that.
I’m able to do these prices because my wife works a good full-time job and I should probably respect myself properly and ask for more … but it’s heartbreaking when a customer simply stops responding to me when I tell them the price even though I’m offering it as cheaply as I can without actually losing money. 😦
How can we overcome this together my friends? I want to give you the pretty artworks but the materials are so expensive and I really can’t spend every day all day working for free. This is a fun job but it’s still a job you know?
I’m not going to stop doing commissions and I’m working all the time on new methods of crafting to make things more affordable. But the reality of the situation means that I’m going to have to offer you all some standard merchandise that nobody requested from me personally, but which a larger variety of people could use to complete their costume.
I’m talking about more “plain” styles that you could use for either a Seraph Blade or an elf mage in your LARP. Maybe a selection like this, for example. Things like custom runes or different shapes of blade would be more expensive, of course, because I would have to make the prototype for you individually instead of making a bunch of the same item over and over again. This way, more people will be able to have something cool and not have to pay the price of the sculpture work or the making of the mould. (Remember, silicone is ghastly expensive!)
This doesn’t mean that my work is about to get boring. I’m still going to make cool, stylish, unique stuff for you to buy. You can have a greater chance of me creating an item that looks like what you want if you engage with my blog, or <a href="http://<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKamuiCos%2Fvideos%2F1157911764676146%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true">my facebook page, or, yes, my Youtube Channel (which isn’t set up yet because my freaking tripod broke and I still have to unpack my microphone from the moving boxes haha! have patience!).
Why? Well if 20 people say “Hey Ethan you should make the Herondale blades next!” then I have a good idea of what people want. I might get five or ten of those 20 people buy those swords right away and that would allow me to get back the cost of the prototypes I made. That way I don’t get stuck with a bunch of swords nobody wants to buy and you don’t have to pay for the mould and the sculpting work. Everybody wins!
You might think that your voice has no importance but that isn’t true. If I put up a poll asking people which sword model to make next and you’re the only one who responds … guess who gets to pick my next project? You do! So don’t hesitate to tell me your suggestions, even if you’re shy. 🙂
Alright, now I have to go unpack some more boxes. Wish me luck!
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