@@bruh438 Did you buy a pattern? I'm trying to make a mando cos, but I suck at patterning, so usually i buy them, but for mando, i couldn't find anything :(
Svetlana also forgot to mention the people who don't want to pay your wages, want to hagge down the price, sometimes even below the material cost, and then refuse to accept when you don't want to take their commission. 🙃
@@tzxazrael People who say that are just rude. My response to something like that would be "I didn't lose a customer, I know my worth and stuck to that."
I had a CS professor that has had customers that question his man-hood because he wouldn't do additional work for them without an official amendment to the contract that takes into account the extra time that work would take.
The admission that her prices aren’t affordable for most people is so refreshing! Artists need to have the guts to admit that their art is out of the reach of some people.
@@graytcorina If you aren't known well enough for the wealthy people to know about you, setting your prizes so only wealthy people can afford it will result in zero customers.
@@ViggoSkath There is no "setting your prices so only wealthy people can afford you" here, it's simple math. You need X dollars a month to live and you can work X hours a day and in a day you can complete X% of a costume so a costume must cost X dollars or you will go bankrupt. If you set your prices below what you need to survive, you won't survive. The discussion is a bit moot anyway I think, because regular people don't spend 1k on a costume, let alone 40k. What you need as a professional costume maker is good contacts in the movie and theatre world, where they have budgets to spend on costumes because they will earn it back in ticket sales.
The artists' need to pay their bills is out of reach of some people, and that's at minimum wage prices. If people refuse to see an artists' worth, they also don't care about the artists' bills.
Some people just don't have time or actually FUN crafting, so why shouldn't they support other people in the community and get a commissioned costume if they can afford it?
As a seamstress and cake decorator, I can confirm that people literally expect me to make LESS than minimum wage for my work. You explained the pricing very well!
Thanks for sharing this! People often tell me, “you should sell those!” and I just shake my head and laugh lol I remember when I realized I had only made $0.30 an hour on a commission. Never again! 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤣😂🤣
When I started taking commissions my mom was often like "15€ for a simple lolita bow?! Are you out of your mind?!!" And now she keeps praising on how I shouldn't sell myself under value, lol :'D
People tell me I should sell my stuff, and I'm like, would you pay $3000 for a costume? Because I'd have to charge at least that to make it worth it for most costumes. People ignore the cost of materials, but then also background and upkeep costs. I invested in tools for this. When you take a car to the mechanic, part of what you're paying for, in addition to their expertise and skill, is their specialized tools which you can't afford or wouldn't want to buy for very limited use. I really think the whole prototype is the thing people overlook, too. I'm glad she brought that up. I can't just buy a pattern for whatever niche costume you want in your size. I have to design it. I just spent 3 weeks and 200 plus pieces of paper mocking, tweaking, drafting, and redrafting patterns for my son's Alphonse Elric armor. And that was with a decent pepakura file. Then I still get pieces assembled in foam and they don't work and I have to tweak and do it again.
This is what I tell my coworkers when they say I should build full time. People who want the costumes either want to build them themselves or they can’t afford me.
So true. My wife's an artiist. She has multiple qualifications in art and design and is super talented (not only in her husband's biased opinion 😉). She basically works minimum wage on commissions, earning in a day what a plumber charges for a couple of hours. Creative work is seriously under valued.
I know your comment is a year old but I'm gonna say it anyways: that's horseshit. Tell your wife to look at tattoo artist pricing. They charge by the hour for their services, and in my area that's 120-150 an hour for the work with a 60-80 dollar deposit that they take off the top at the end of the work. No artist should work below minimum wage for their hard work and creativity and tattoo artists are my go to for this justification.
I am a cosplayer I do commissions and yes this is overpriced. well it depends. If you want to sell something to a regular person, this amount it too much.. about 1700€ too much xD When you start selling things on etsy reality hits you hard and you see that no one will so much for a prop. But if you are selling yourself to a huge company and you are popular like she is.. then its ok I guess xD
@@LonelyWolfJ Well, if you don't want to be paid for your work, fine with you. In Germany, there is a minimum living wage, and she is right to apply it and take an extra
@@anaiscardot6674 In fact I do want to get payed thats exactly what I am saying. Its a higher chance if your price is not skyrocketing you have a higher chance of getting commission and more commissions at that. I am not saying that she doesen't have right to give higher price I am just saying that on sites like etsy or any other shop without high reputation there is no way you are even close to selling it for that price.
This is so important to talk about! And it also applies to requests from friends. Asking for a lot of money from a friend can be awkward, but remember that if they ask you to make something for them, they ARE commissioning you and should pay you for your time and effort. And most importantly, you ALWAYS have the right to refuse a commission or request!
Just start with a friendly "You can't afford me." If after that they continue you can bid as normal then factor in their discount, if any. Speaking as a 15 yrs as independent contractor.
As a plush maker who makes highly detailed plushies people don't realize how many hours go into making high quality crafts. Your cosplay outfits and props are SO worth the price!
I sooo feel you here too. I also love to create highly detailed plushes, but tjey're one of a kind for myself ir rarely as a gift for a dear friend instead of comissions, because I also feel, that this can't be paid with money.
Sounds like the how to earn money as an artist opinion. While true it is technically more about selling things to many people than selling one of a kind things in generall. Though there is a luxus cake shop that seems to be thriving by making designer cakes starting at 500 Dollar. So if you found an audience willing to pay huge premiums for very exclusive products you can also make a lot of money.
This is mostly important for buyers to temper expectations. Some can get down right nasty, because when you quote $5k they assume you're gouging them (they might offer something laughable, like $200). In reality, that $5k is a bargain for something that took 2 months to craft. I've gotten threats.
I have already scared some people away with my custom 3d print making service prices. Especially fellow prop makers and 3d print designers who want to add stuff to their store at competitive prices.
@@TheHateSpeechChannel Well, he didn’t say what it was about: It was about why it costs so much if you want a commission. Also, it really IS useful for people wanting to work through commissions, as it can be really hard to explain to customers. So, a very useful video to know what to say. But yes, its not about soup.
@@wesleytarr6302 Same here, although I've also been surprised by how much people are willing to pay for custom prints. It's quite reassuring when you put so much time into something, that people are willing to pay for it.
this applies to anything custom made. Most people dont understand the time and effort necessary to make a custom unique item. They see something similar in the supermarket and go off of that price point. For anyone interested in having something made custom, assume the price will have an extra 0 or two at the end from what you might think it will cost.
Also, keep in mind how high quality Kamui Cosplays stuff is! Of course this hammer costs a fortune because it has a ton of details. Without electronics and a much simpler paint job it may be actually to make a comission out of it. But not every artist wants to dull down their skill to sell you something cheap
I’ve attended enough Cons to know that most costumes take 5 to 8 months to build some are longer some are shorter in duration to make. People are constantly surprised at how long it takes to make and the costs involved. An acquaintance makes weapons props from TV, games and movies for sale and depending on how intricate or big it is they sell from between $100 to well over $9000 per piece and there is a minimum 2 month wait time depending on the piece.
I’ve seen full costumes go for the price of a car but those prices are often well worth it due to the amount of detail, the quality of the material, and even technology used
Here's the thing that anyone in the cosplay community or anyone interested in getting into the community should know - it's basically haute couture and high fashion but for geeks. Now if you know how the economy works in that kind of industry, then you know; you have no right to complain about pricing. There's some real money out here that needs to rightfully circulate to the cosplay makers' way because the work that these cosplay makers do is straight up artisan work, a sort of new school set of "métiers d'art" that, thru the borrowing and incorporating of some traditional techniques (again, from high fashion and haute couture) is more than capable of creating entirely different strains of savoir-faire that may even be more difficult than actual haute couture and high fashion. So yeah, be thankful that some makers are ok with setting up price points that are, as we should know by now thanks to this vid, considerably cheap. Stop being gripy about makers indicating actual costs to creating these art pieces.
tis made me realise that i need to start charging more for my stuff, despite the fact that i like being cheap to people because then its affordable but i don't think thats gonna work out anymore
There is also a pervasive issue of underpaid labor that deeply affects the way we perceive cost. As a professional stitcher and garment maker, this is a painful truth to keep coming up against. I experienced all of your bullet points first hand as a small business owner, and it very quickly became impossible to sustain.
Not only commission work. A cosplay usually takes way more thought, design, work, material cost, etc. than u might think! Keep that in mind :D Sometimes I feel underestimated while wearing a cosplay
AND there COULD be legal problems! For example if you build a costume patterened after a character in a video game or video, someone else owns that and if you make $$$ from it there could be copyright problems OR if you build something and it breaks and injures the buyer OR the buyer uses something to hurt someone else, you might be held responcible!
When I build something for someone else I do NOT add labor, just the cost of the materal BUT then I do all as a hobby and in my spare time for the LOVE of making things!
As someone that estimates labor for a living I can confirm this to me 100% accurate. Even after years of doing my job I'm still surprised at how much time it takes people to do a certain task.
Oh my gosh YES Im so glad you put in the numbers!! People have no idea how much TIME, EFFORT and SKILL it takes to make a costume!! Thank you so much! Will definitely share this woo!
Awww, thank you very much! I think people are very scared to mention any numbers, so I wanted to do some proper math here! Hope it will be eye opening for some commissioners but also potential customers! :)
Even just stating the hours and putting it up against minimum wage is eye-opening for people who don't think like that. They think "I want X cosplay for X event, and I'm willing to pay X dollars for it" not accounting for the hours put in, leaving aside the materials cost. This is SO valuable!
Why is it that so few people understand this. I used to do commision figurine painting but i was always working at a rate that was below minimum wage. It gave me experience at painting in ways i would not have chosen myself but it also took the passion and enjoyment out of what was my hobby before. I stopped commisions and no longer paint for pleasure. The pressure of timelines killed it for me. Once a hobby became a stressfull job i gave it all up. And no longer paint. Think long and hard before turning a pleasure into a profession. All the best .
This might be super random, but I so relate to this from working in pastry. People always guffaw at the "high" prices for cakes and sweets and so forth. They want the best ingredients and designs but they have no idea what is actually involved.
I just love the fact that everytime she posts a video she keeps her excitement waaaaay up there and keeps pulling me into her videos. She keeps me inspiring me to keep doing my cosplays. So you GO Kamuicosplay!!!!!!!!
As an Artist & a Cosplayer I loved everything about this Video!! I hope it was eye-opening for a lot of People who have no idea how much work, time, blood, sweat & tears to into a costume like yours! Plus your energy is always so motivating - please keep inspiring us!
This video is so perfect that from now on I'm going to rub it in the face of anyone who complains that commissions are too expensive or that "it's just a piece of cloth, it should be cheap" Thank You ❤️
Sehr gut erklärt! 👍🏻 Ich habe früher Anfertigungen gemacht und fast jedes mal über Preise diskutieren müssen. Handarbeit wird oft zu sehr unterschätzt.
I'm a cosplay crafter and I'm glad they're making that much from commissions. I've seen a lot of professional cosplay crafters yet their work are the cleanest and best crafts I've ever seen
Would love to see a video showing a typical day in the Kamui Cosplay house! Such as how your time is split between making costumes for yourself vs commissions vs the boring, boring admin!
I'm most envious of your teamwork. Talent, skill, passion and professionalism are so important. But doing what you love with someone you love must be amazing! All the best to you, both!
Having worked as a media designer in the past. I totally feel this... to many people have no idea what goes into creative work and are offended if you don't do it for almost free :/ stay awesome :)
BUY HER BOOKS and support the art that goes into this kind of perfection! Being a guy who does cosplay on the side and gets requests, people don't understand what kind of work and detail goes into putting this kind of stuff together. I have a feeling, like me, these two are perfectionists and probably take more time than they are even admitting on a costume!
We need to understand that all this creative work is priceless, I mean, without your creativity or that of other artists, sometimes we would have nothing! LOL! And yes, of course materials ARE expensive, but the value of a genius' mind is very difficult to determine, so we have to base ourselves on the "hourly price", and honestly sometimes that price is not fair. Thank you very much for the video!
It's refreshing to see somebody who gets it. I do custom mask builds mostly. Horror stuff usually, and I always have people saying stuff like "I can buy a mask like that for £20 online" they don't realise that they're being scammed usually or buying a mass produced item. They don't seem to think about the materials, time and talent that goes into it
Oh man, this was so bold, thank you for being crystal clear!! Also, because I can't afford your props or costumes but want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge, I choose to support you by buying all of your books. They're gold and I have used them multiple times. ^_^
"Yes hello, can you make me an entire metal armor cosplay for 50 bucks please?" are the same type of people who go to an artist asking "Oh you want me to pay for my commission? but the reward is EXPOSURE!"
I'm 54 year's old and just found this channel. I'm not into Cosplay, but I admire other people's skill sets, and these two are fantastic. I've restoring cars as a second income. People are always asking for a discount, and I get it. But why do they keep pestering you after you tell them no! It was very hard for me to stand up for myself and my work. I finally realized that the ones who will still come and pay is enough to sustain me. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
Well done. Artists deserve to be paid and paid well. Good for you for putting this message out there. Nobody would expect their dentist or plumber to work just " for the love of it" or for "the exposure".
I truly know what you mean. I recently took on making a Murphy bed (actually it's a Jesse Bed) for myself. It's taken me over 3 months to create. The main reason is I used different materials than most people did to make the bed. My wife found a metal tube bed frame behind some building and I drove to pick it up. I used oak paneling to cover the bottom of the bed but little did I know how many complications it created instead of making one out of wood but it was so much lighter. The metal frame had many protrusions though, like hinges and bolts so I had to make many notches in the paneling. My favorite part was using pillow blocks for the bed swiveling device instead of a boat chair swivel that many people use cause it was much smaller, much sturdier, and easier to remove the bed frame if I needed to make any adjustments to the entire project. My favorite part was adding a window portal from a boat to access the side cabinet without getting out of my bed and seeing my clock or getting something to drink, and I was able to customize the inside of the portal with space pics. "Scotty I need more power." (yeah I'm also a Trekkie) It is actually an experimental model only one of it's kind, and I did do things that didn't work but overall it was a grand success. I don't think anyone would pay what I want to create another one but it takes a lot of time and also wait time for materials to dry, recover from welding in the sun and working in the over 97 degree heat without a workshop or an air conditioner. Yes you read that right. I had to do it all in my 10" x 10" bedroom and had to sleep on an air mattress in another room for quite a while. But the finished product is amazing. Thanks for all you do I love watching your channel no matter what you put up. You've inspired me to do things I wouldn't ordinarily do...
I just want to mention that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours till be considered a professional, which I'm sure they blew past ages ago. So, if anyone wants to argue that they aren't professionals and shouldn't charge so much, yes they are and yes they should.
You confused two concepts. Amateur= not getting paid, professional= getting paid. The 10.000 hours is often used to say you mastered something. You can be a professional without being a master and vice versa. Ofc agree with charging for skilled work which should be more than minimum wage.
Amen to explaining commissioners want to earn their hourly wage! I've had people come to me explaining they're not willing to pay 100 euros for a kigurumi onesie saying "fleece can't be that expensive" Yeah of course it's not expensive, but I also work on it for about 10 hours that I want to get paid for :( It's surprisingly often that people just don't understand you have to pay a working wage to an artist instead of just materials, we put time into costumes too!
I’m personally glad you guys focus on the tutorial side of cosplay because I loooove making my own things as well, it’s seriously the best hobby ever 😍 Your videos are by far my most important resource! 💕
I got into cosplay because of Svetlana's videos, and boy did it make me appreciate and marvel at her and Benny's work EVEN MORE. Just recently I tried to sew a bodice pattern 7 times before I got it right. And that was just with test fabric. And I can't imaging how much footage and work is cut out of the final videos.
Im so happy that you are talking about this subject! So many cosplayers struggle with clients who dont understand the worth of materials, time, research put into each commission... ;_; This video is so informative and i it hope will reach many people, thank you for that!
Thanks so much! I found quite a few articles and videos about commission work, but not many really mentioned any numbers. So I really hope this will be eye opening for some commissioners but also potential customers! :)
@@scottalynch I tried paying my phone bill with "exposure". I went down to the bank and started to "expose" myself. All that happened was I got arrested and I still owe the phone company. You are correct, you can't pay bills with "exposure"
U can also sell props depending on level of detail so high detail is expensive & low is cheaper, i’d personally prefer to simplify things bc detail takes too long & i wanna help ppl get cheaper but still high quality armor
I've commissioned a cosplay from someone in the past, and it was of better quality than your average regular outfit. It was originally going to cost around $375 USD but was bumped down to $300 because it was delayed. It was absolutely well worth the money and then some, and I got a lot of mileage out of that cosplay. Meanwhile, I'm an artist and have been taking illustration commissions for 10 years. I've changed my prices many times over the years but it's still nowhere near industry standards, and absolutely does not match up to the local minimum wage given the time it takes. Still, I lowball myself due to 1) low self-confidence, 2) how much time it takes for me to actually get around to working on it due to mental health issues, and 3) higher prices would likely scare off potential clients even if I hardly get any in the first place. Know your worth. Take the time and materials into consideration, not to mention how much time it took you to *get* to your skill level. Don't undercut yourself!
I plan to do illustration, animation and graphic design commissions in the future. I'm still not sure about the price range yet but I want it to be where it can be reasonable
I’m not an artist and don’t have a lot of experience in the field, but I’ve worked with a lot of self-employed people and what I’ve seen time and again is that skilled people don’t really lose clients when’s they raise prices - as long as they’re still reasonable, of course. In fact, I’ve often seen them gain new clients, because they enter a new, slightly more exclusive market segment that is better suited to their talents and skills. Someone who’s looking for a certain quality - including service, professionalism, etc - isn’t ever going to be comfortable hiring someone asking below minimum wage. there are always entitled assholes, but most people know very well that others have bills to pay too, and pretending you don’t can actually scare off quality customers. While I obviously can’t promise you customers, I do want to encourage you to just give it a shot. Double your prices, put yourself out there and promote the shit out of your stuff, and see what happens. Getting a few good clients who’ll gladly pay you your actual worth is the best confidence booster there is.
This is a super helpfull and great explained video about commission work. As a fulltime-commissioner based in the same country (Germany) I can easily admit all of this is true, however I still enjoy my business a lot and if you find a way for yourself how to handle customers, requests, prices and everything else, you CAN charge more or less fair prices (there's no upper end since you're a artist & specialist in this case, as Svetlana mentioned), and therefore even produce full costumes. I'd say the most important part here is that a commission (similiar to the Nergigante costume f.e.) priced for 3500€ f.e. just needs to be squeezed in balance with the working hours etc. and the quality of the costume, so you need to find the right balance to make it possible without charging 10k or work unpaid/underpaid for the customer and therefore time's limited and it couldn't be a 1:1 copy of Kamui's masterpieces, for example. STILL every commissioner gives their best to create the best-possible commission result within their limits, same goes for me. :) Keep up the great work, guys!
I am happy, that you tackle this topic. I talked with some freelancing friends about commision work, and most agreed it's not as easy as one thinks (especially the mailwork). Hearing your oppinion on this confirms that. Thank you a lot! :)
Thank you for this Kamui!!! I am constantly told by family and friends that I should "make costumes to sell" or that I should do commissions, and I keep having to explain this very thing to them over and over. Cosplays take me months to make and most people can't afford to pay months worth of full time wages for one costume. It just wouldn't be sustainable.
The only thing that works even CLOSE as a business model is people who make what they want at the typical pace of art, and then auction off each piece after completion. I've seen sculptors doing something very similar to cosplay, but at a much smaller scale, making 'art dolls' out of faux fur and craft foam and wire and whatnot until you have a perfectly realistic 11-inch-high dragon or something, and after each one is complete and photographed, it gets sold.. just as an individual art piece. heartbreaking really, imagine letting go of stuff like that.
Both of my middle-schoolers are in the arts and super into cosplay and anime. I turned them onto your channel both for the artistic creativity AND for the business sense. I will make sure they watch this. Very inspiring!!!
15min video just to tell us why we NEED TO BUY THE BOOKS to do it on our own. 😂 Seems like many people underestimate the work, despite you already showing mishaps and redo-cycles in your videos and your skill level being so high, paying minimum wage would be just offending.
I make tabletop miniatures for my D&D games, and people always remark how I should try doing it as a job since I enjoy it so much. No. Just no. It takes me about a weekend (12-20 hours of work) to make a miniature start-to-finish. So for it to be worth my time financially, I'd have to charge around 200€ for a 1-2 inch miniature. Which I understand is not a reasonable price when services like Hero Forge can 3-d print custom minis for $20. There just isn't a price point that is reasonable for both me and the customer.
Great video! Consumer prices & the throwaway culture completely destroys perceptions of how much an individual person's labour and time should be worth. Big business exploits new employees' naivety to pay them minimum wage, and so the cycle continues. It's not until you become self-employed that it becomes clear how much you have to charge to not only pay the routine bills but make enough profits to cover emergencies, quiet periods with very little work, maintenance of equipment & premises, accidents and a retirement, etc, that you realise.
Keep in mind businesses also have insane expenses for each person they hire, as the government requires them to pay more and more and more to care for their every need.
This is why cosplayers do their stuff themselves. Paying others to do so is waaaaay too expensive 😭 but also, people who get mad at the high prices... it's really insulting. Like you are not a volunteer or a slave, it's normal for things made by artists to be expensive. And you are an artist!!
I just received the book I ordered from you! How special that you signed it! It was very encouraging and I want to express my gratitude. Also- thanks for the corgi sticker and other cards!
Having built several elaborate Halloween props on commission, I can confirm that everything Svetlana says is 100% true. I continue to make custom sock monkeys on commission because I love seeing the joy on people's faces. I've done the math and I make about $3 per hour. In other words, one-quarter of the minimum wage here in California. CORGI!! (Buy her books!) 🙂🇩🇪🇺🇸❤️
I appreciate you making this video. People don't understand how much time and materials it makes for commissions. Just because you don't understand a process doesn't mean someone is overcharging.
Just calculated the cost of my last (almost finished) cosplay. If I was paid like a german electrician, my cosplay would cost 150325$ Well ... it's 30 times more than my annual income. Too bad I can't sell it for this price.
@@jellyandcream9471 Yeah... spent 2300 hours on it. And it's not even close to the top-tier costumes with lights, smoke, and moving parts. Just armor, staff, sword, book, and sewn parts with embroidery.
Its so good to see someone make a video like this to explains how much effort and cost goes into the the creation of any object, costume. darn good video.
Thank you for making this video. I got this many times when I sell my props on etsy and it's very frustrating when customers don't get why it is so expensive. Also with the time you spend on each prop like you said, the bigger or detailed the project, the more time it takes.
Great idea for a video. It is truly amazing how cheap people think they should get props for. People have lost perspective between something mass produced and something hand-crafted. Great video as always.
Ich bewundere deine Kostüme schon eine halbe ewigkeit. Cool das ihr das mittlerweile hauptberuflich machen könnt 👍👍 weiterhin viel Erfolg und ich bin schon auf die nächsten Kostüme gespannt 😊
About German minimum wage: A lot of employers pay less than that. They get fined for doing that but the fines are too low for them to care about getting caught.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! People don't understand that they aren't just paying for the materials but also your time and your knowledge.
i mean... are you making a sensible profit, when you consider the time and effort you put in to it? there's nothing wrong with doing it for cheap, if it's also cheap to do... or if you don't have other expenses in your life. but if you're trying to (or need to) make a living off it... you need to be realistic about what the time costs you.
First thing first, Corgi and finally, a video to help everyone who is doing commission work how to calculate how much to charge for their work. And buy the book, the knowledge inside of them are priceless and Svetlana and Benny are kind enough to share them with us.
I really appreciate you took the time to explain the complexities of why commission work costs so much. Most commisioners are not creators and could not see the difference between let's say a cheap material and a good quality, time resistant one. Or the ammount of details in a prop. So they'll assume this ones they find on Aliexpress are as good as those you do. And thanks for explaining the issue with time, it is not just a resource, it's THE resource.
Svetlana, as a wargame figurine painter, I can confirm that people expect a lot less than the real price. I ended up no longer painting for commission, and started painting up an army that I wanted to use and then sell that army to whoever wanted to buy it... at least i got a few games in with it before selling. That would be impossible with a costume, but possible with a thing like a hammer etc. People are often clueless as to how many hours are required to do things. I wish you the very best with your ventures. You and Bennie are always making fantastic stuff and I love your energy. Keep up the good work.
I commissioned my friend to make the fabric parts of the shirt for Bennett in Genshin impact and did the rest myself because I couldn't get my head around it! Worth it
As a long time cosplayer who have won masquerades and hall cosplay awards, I am so glad you made this video. A lot of people who have never made their own costume have no idea how long something takes to make. They watch youtube videos that are 15 minutes long and somehow think the costume or prop takes a few hours to make.
My partner bought a custom Galaxy Quest costume. Just the old version of the crew uniform, all material so just sewing. It was $1200. The costume designer had to design the pattern, buy the material, recreate all the little details on that uniform, put the thing together, fit the thing, and then finally post it to us. In materials alone, it was a few hundred dollars. It was many hours of work and she was NOT charging enough. So it's no surprise that technical builds like this cost a huge amount of money. Craftspeople deserve to be paid for their work.
I completly agree with you, commisions are way too expensive for a normal person used to seeing low e-shop prices. A few years ago I was a member of a reenactment group and we needed a lot of nice historical costumes for our public performance. Newer members couldn't understand, that a handmade garment with all the patternwork and appropriate fabric can be easily several hundred € and the sky is the limit. I stopped doing any commisions and now I have sewing only as a hobby and I am doing garments only for my self. We as a rich society are spoiled by fast fashion and cheap disposable stuff and we can no longer percieve the true value of someone else's work and time and effort invested in manufacturing anything.
I once commissioned someone to sew me a jacket and pants which I couldn't do myself (neither the skill nor the equipment) I never questioned the price I paid and I also never complained how long it took. (I paid 300€ for a the pants, belt and a jacket fully made of different faux leather variations+ some details, absolutely satisfied and worth every cent)
oh man ich fühle das :I ich hab mal 3 Monate an einem riesen Monster Hunter Kuscheltier gearbeitet und danach trudelten auch massig Anfragen rein, ob ich denen so eines nähen könnte. Die Vorstellung der Käufer waren so bei 200€ ...
As a casual cosplayer, can confirm it takes forever to make anything.
Also, buy her books.
BUY HER BOOKS 🤣
It's the first thing I will do, if I ever plan to do something cosplay/costume-like. I PROMISE! XD
it took me 1 month just to make a mando helmet plus many mistakes 💀
OK you're just everywhere at this point man
@@bruh438 Did you buy a pattern?
I'm trying to make a mando cos, but I suck at patterning, so usually i buy them, but for mando, i couldn't find anything :(
@@yashil1215 haha I have lots of hobbies, cosplay being a big one for me.
Svetlana also forgot to mention the people who don't want to pay your wages, want to hagge down the price, sometimes even below the material cost, and then refuse to accept when you don't want to take their commission. 🙃
"you just lost a customer!!!"
..."no a customer is someone who spends money...."
@@tzxazrael People who say that are just rude. My response to something like that would be "I didn't lose a customer, I know my worth and stuck to that."
I had a CS professor that has had customers that question his man-hood because he wouldn't do additional work for them without an official amendment to the contract that takes into account the extra time that work would take.
It's too heartbreaking to part with something you spent that many hours making too...
@@LarkSilverlight nah, if you made it to sell it... if you don't sell it, that's defeating its purpose.
The admission that her prices aren’t affordable for most people is so refreshing! Artists need to have the guts to admit that their art is out of the reach of some people.
only popular artist can do that
@@Alloniya why do you say that?
@@graytcorina If you aren't known well enough for the wealthy people to know about you, setting your prizes so only wealthy people can afford it will result in zero customers.
@@ViggoSkath There is no "setting your prices so only wealthy people can afford you" here, it's simple math. You need X dollars a month to live and you can work X hours a day and in a day you can complete X% of a costume so a costume must cost X dollars or you will go bankrupt.
If you set your prices below what you need to survive, you won't survive.
The discussion is a bit moot anyway I think, because regular people don't spend 1k on a costume, let alone 40k. What you need as a professional costume maker is good contacts in the movie and theatre world, where they have budgets to spend on costumes because they will earn it back in ticket sales.
The artists' need to pay their bills is out of reach of some people, and that's at minimum wage prices. If people refuse to see an artists' worth, they also don't care about the artists' bills.
Buy her books, then do it yourself. She and Bennie literally shared all their secrets with you.
Will do
The problem is that it also takes time to get good and most people are too impatient to do it themselves.
I plan on doing that but some people don't have the time or the fine motor skills
Some people just don't have time or actually FUN crafting, so why shouldn't they support other people in the community and get a commissioned costume if they can afford it?
it will be still very expensive, and time consuming. SO not sure if it worth it
I’m an artist and I totally understand this. people want you to do it for almost free lmao :)
do it "for exposure"
This is why I gave up and got a job I just only tolerate, but pays decent. :')
same for it-development lmao
its called exposure. lol
As a seamstress and cake decorator, I can confirm that people literally expect me to make LESS than minimum wage for my work. You explained the pricing very well!
Thanks for sharing this! People often tell me, “you should sell those!” and I just shake my head and laugh lol I remember when I realized I had only made $0.30 an hour on a commission. Never again! 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤣😂🤣
When I started taking commissions my mom was often like "15€ for a simple lolita bow?! Are you out of your mind?!!" And now she keeps praising on how I shouldn't sell myself under value, lol :'D
People tell me I should sell my stuff, and I'm like, would you pay $3000 for a costume? Because I'd have to charge at least that to make it worth it for most costumes. People ignore the cost of materials, but then also background and upkeep costs. I invested in tools for this. When you take a car to the mechanic, part of what you're paying for, in addition to their expertise and skill, is their specialized tools which you can't afford or wouldn't want to buy for very limited use.
I really think the whole prototype is the thing people overlook, too. I'm glad she brought that up. I can't just buy a pattern for whatever niche costume you want in your size. I have to design it. I just spent 3 weeks and 200 plus pieces of paper mocking, tweaking, drafting, and redrafting patterns for my son's Alphonse Elric armor. And that was with a decent pepakura file. Then I still get pieces assembled in foam and they don't work and I have to tweak and do it again.
.30 AN HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WERE OVER CHARING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
30 cents an hour! You should open a lemonade stand. You'd make more money.
I can soooo identify with that.
Making or miniature painting......."Hey! You could sell that!"
This is what I tell my coworkers when they say I should build full time. People who want the costumes either want to build them themselves or they can’t afford me.
So true. My wife's an artiist. She has multiple qualifications in art and design and is super talented (not only in her husband's biased opinion 😉). She basically works minimum wage on commissions, earning in a day what a plumber charges for a couple of hours. Creative work is seriously under valued.
I know your comment is a year old but I'm gonna say it anyways: that's horseshit. Tell your wife to look at tattoo artist pricing. They charge by the hour for their services, and in my area that's 120-150 an hour for the work with a 60-80 dollar deposit that they take off the top at the end of the work.
No artist should work below minimum wage for their hard work and creativity and tattoo artists are my go to for this justification.
C O R G I
FOR THE ALGORITHM!!
how does this have NO REPLIES? first :)
I wish those idiots who claim that commisioners are overpricing a “piece of plastic with some paint of it” would get this
If those people think it's that easy, they should be doing it themselves 😂
@@LegenD41RY indeed , or if they think it’s too expensive just order it from china lol
I am a cosplayer I do commissions and yes this is overpriced. well it depends. If you want to sell something to a regular person, this amount it too much.. about 1700€ too much xD When you start selling things on etsy reality hits you hard and you see that no one will so much for a prop. But if you are selling yourself to a huge company and you are popular like she is.. then its ok I guess xD
@@LonelyWolfJ Well, if you don't want to be paid for your work, fine with you. In Germany, there is a minimum living wage, and she is right to apply it and take an extra
@@anaiscardot6674 In fact I do want to get payed thats exactly what I am saying. Its a higher chance if your price is not skyrocketing you have a higher chance of getting commission and more commissions at that. I am not saying that she doesen't have right to give higher price I am just saying that on sites like etsy or any other shop without high reputation there is no way you are even close to selling it for that price.
This is so important to talk about! And it also applies to requests from friends. Asking for a lot of money from a friend can be awkward, but remember that if they ask you to make something for them, they ARE commissioning you and should pay you for your time and effort. And most importantly, you ALWAYS have the right to refuse a commission or request!
Just start with a friendly "You can't afford me." If after that they continue you can bid as normal then factor in their discount, if any. Speaking as a 15 yrs as independent contractor.
Yeahhhh... I’ve made cosplays for friends before and I always end up way underselling it bc I feel bad asking for a lot of money😅😬
As a plush maker who makes highly detailed plushies people don't realize how many hours go into making high quality crafts. Your cosplay outfits and props are SO worth the price!
I sooo feel you here too. I also love to create highly detailed plushes, but tjey're one of a kind for myself ir rarely as a gift for a dear friend instead of comissions, because I also feel, that this can't be paid with money.
Thats why there's more money in teaching others to do this stuff, rather than making stuff for others.
Sounds like the how to earn money as an artist opinion. While true it is technically more about selling things to many people than selling one of a kind things in generall.
Though there is a luxus cake shop that seems to be thriving by making designer cakes starting at 500 Dollar. So if you found an audience willing to pay huge premiums for very exclusive products you can also make a lot of money.
This is important info for those who want to make money through commission work.Thank you kamui.
Thanks for explaining what the video is about. I thought it was about making soup.
This is mostly important for buyers to temper expectations. Some can get down right nasty, because when you quote $5k they assume you're gouging them (they might offer something laughable, like $200). In reality, that $5k is a bargain for something that took 2 months to craft. I've gotten threats.
I have already scared some people away with my custom 3d print making service prices. Especially fellow prop makers and 3d print designers who want to add stuff to their store at competitive prices.
@@TheHateSpeechChannel Well, he didn’t say what it was about: It was about why it costs so much if you want a commission.
Also, it really IS useful for people wanting to work through commissions, as it can be really hard to explain to customers. So, a very useful video to know what to say. But yes, its not about soup.
@@wesleytarr6302 Same here, although I've also been surprised by how much people are willing to pay for custom prints. It's quite reassuring when you put so much time into something, that people are willing to pay for it.
this applies to anything custom made. Most people dont understand the time and effort necessary to make a custom unique item. They see something similar in the supermarket and go off of that price point.
For anyone interested in having something made custom, assume the price will have an extra 0 or two at the end from what you might think it will cost.
Also, keep in mind how high quality Kamui Cosplays stuff is! Of course this hammer costs a fortune because it has a ton of details. Without electronics and a much simpler paint job it may be actually to make a comission out of it. But not every artist wants to dull down their skill to sell you something cheap
I’ve attended enough Cons to know that most costumes take 5 to 8 months to build some are longer some are shorter in duration to make. People are constantly surprised at how long it takes to make and the costs involved. An acquaintance makes weapons props from TV, games and movies for sale and depending on how intricate or big it is they sell from between $100 to well over $9000 per piece and there is a minimum 2 month wait time depending on the piece.
Even just for the painted tights costumes. You don't get the body that'll make that look attractive over night.
IT`S OVER 9000!!!!!
I’ve seen full costumes go for the price of a car but those prices are often well worth it due to the amount of detail, the quality of the material, and even technology used
Here's the thing that anyone in the cosplay community or anyone interested in getting into the community should know - it's basically haute couture and high fashion but for geeks. Now if you know how the economy works in that kind of industry, then you know; you have no right to complain about pricing. There's some real money out here that needs to rightfully circulate to the cosplay makers' way because the work that these cosplay makers do is straight up artisan work, a sort of new school set of "métiers d'art" that, thru the borrowing and incorporating of some traditional techniques (again, from high fashion and haute couture) is more than capable of creating entirely different strains of savoir-faire that may even be more difficult than actual haute couture and high fashion.
So yeah, be thankful that some makers are ok with setting up price points that are, as we should know by now thanks to this vid, considerably cheap. Stop being gripy about makers indicating actual costs to creating these art pieces.
tis made me realise that i need to start charging more for my stuff, despite the fact that i like being cheap to people because then its affordable but i don't think thats gonna work out anymore
There is also a pervasive issue of underpaid labor that deeply affects the way we perceive cost. As a professional stitcher and garment maker, this is a painful truth to keep coming up against. I experienced all of your bullet points first hand as a small business owner, and it very quickly became impossible to sustain.
Not only commission work. A cosplay usually takes way more thought, design, work, material cost, etc. than u might think! Keep that in mind :D Sometimes I feel underestimated while wearing a cosplay
Same
AND there COULD be legal problems! For example if you build a costume patterened after a character in a video game or video, someone else owns that and if you make $$$ from it there could be copyright problems OR if you build something and it breaks and injures the buyer OR the buyer uses something to hurt someone else, you might be held responcible!
@@Capohanf1 I never thought about that.😶 wow.
Yeah, I am designing 3d printable Automail right now and it Took Forever to learn how the design around the 16 joints in the human hand.
@@wesleytarr6302 that sounds awesome!
People always underestimate the cost of labor.
When I build something for someone else I do NOT add labor, just the cost of the materal BUT then I do all as a hobby and in my spare time for the LOVE of making things!
As someone that estimates labor for a living I can confirm this to me 100% accurate. Even after years of doing my job I'm still surprised at how much time it takes people to do a certain task.
And they still try to pay you in exposure
@@pagathorne2415 I tried paying a resturant bill with exposure once. All that happened was they asked me to put my pants back on.
Oh my gosh YES Im so glad you put in the numbers!! People have no idea how much TIME, EFFORT and SKILL it takes to make a costume!! Thank you so much! Will definitely share this woo!
Awww, thank you very much! I think people are very scared to mention any numbers, so I wanted to do some proper math here! Hope it will be eye opening for some commissioners but also potential customers! :)
Even just stating the hours and putting it up against minimum wage is eye-opening for people who don't think like that. They think "I want X cosplay for X event, and I'm willing to pay X dollars for it" not accounting for the hours put in, leaving aside the materials cost. This is SO valuable!
“I hope the commission requests stop” hahaha hahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH baha haha - oh Svetlana, you’re so funny
with this pricing they will)
Why is it that so few people understand this. I used to do commision figurine painting but i was always working at a rate that was below minimum wage. It gave me experience at painting in ways i would not have chosen myself but it also took the passion and enjoyment out of what was my hobby before. I stopped commisions and no longer paint for pleasure. The pressure of timelines killed it for me. Once a hobby became a stressfull job i gave it all up. And no longer paint. Think long and hard before turning a pleasure into a profession. All the best .
The nicest and most informative way of saying “stop bothering us!”
Absolutely brilliant vid, well said.
This might be super random, but I so relate to this from working in pastry. People always guffaw at the "high" prices for cakes and sweets and so forth. They want the best ingredients and designs but they have no idea what is actually involved.
I just love the fact that everytime she posts a video she keeps her excitement waaaaay up there and keeps pulling me into her videos. She keeps me inspiring me to keep doing my cosplays. So you GO Kamuicosplay!!!!!!!!
As an Artist & a Cosplayer I loved everything about this Video!! I hope it was eye-opening for a lot of People who have no idea how much work, time, blood, sweat & tears to into a costume like yours!
Plus your energy is always so motivating - please keep inspiring us!
This video is so perfect that from now on I'm going to rub it in the face of anyone who complains that commissions are too expensive or that "it's just a piece of cloth, it should be cheap"
Thank You ❤️
Yah this is the story of every illustrator and graphic designer, PREACH!
Sehr gut erklärt! 👍🏻 Ich habe früher Anfertigungen gemacht und fast jedes mal über Preise diskutieren müssen. Handarbeit wird oft zu sehr unterschätzt.
I'm a cosplay crafter and I'm glad they're making that much from commissions. I've seen a lot of professional cosplay crafters yet their work are the cleanest and best crafts I've ever seen
Would love to see a video showing a typical day in the Kamui Cosplay house! Such as how your time is split between making costumes for yourself vs commissions vs the boring, boring admin!
I work with comissions here in Brazil, and OMG THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO 😭 tired of getting people thinking that I make things overpriced
I'm most envious of your teamwork. Talent, skill, passion and professionalism are so important. But doing what you love with someone you love must be amazing! All the best to you, both!
This is so important for every Cosplayer and artist alike! Thank you so much for this Svetlana and Benni!
Having worked as a media designer in the past. I totally feel this... to many people have no idea what goes into creative work and are offended if you don't do it for almost free :/ stay awesome :)
BUY HER BOOKS and support the art that goes into this kind of perfection! Being a guy who does cosplay on the side and gets requests, people don't understand what kind of work and detail goes into putting this kind of stuff together. I have a feeling, like me, these two are perfectionists and probably take more time than they are even admitting on a costume!
We need to understand that all this creative work is priceless, I mean, without your creativity or that of other artists, sometimes we would have nothing! LOL! And yes, of course materials ARE expensive, but the value of a genius' mind is very difficult to determine, so we have to base ourselves on the "hourly price", and honestly sometimes that price is not fair. Thank you very much for the video!
It's refreshing to see somebody who gets it. I do custom mask builds mostly. Horror stuff usually, and I always have people saying stuff like "I can buy a mask like that for £20 online" they don't realise that they're being scammed usually or buying a mass produced item. They don't seem to think about the materials, time and talent that goes into it
I love that this video is "stop clogging up our inbox, you cannot afford it, let's not waste each other's time"
Oh man, this was so bold, thank you for being crystal clear!! Also, because I can't afford your props or costumes but want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge, I choose to support you by buying all of your books. They're gold and I have used them multiple times. ^_^
Awwe thank you so much! ❤️
"Yes hello, can you make me an entire metal armor cosplay for 50 bucks please?" are the same type of people who go to an artist asking "Oh you want me to pay for my commission? but the reward is EXPOSURE!"
I'm 54 year's old and just found this channel. I'm not into Cosplay, but I admire other people's skill sets, and these two are fantastic. I've restoring cars as a second income. People are always asking for a discount, and I get it. But why do they keep pestering you after you tell them no! It was very hard for me to stand up for myself and my work. I finally realized that the ones who will still come and pay is enough to sustain me. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
Well done. Artists deserve to be paid and paid well. Good for you for putting this message out there. Nobody would expect their dentist or plumber to work just " for the love of it" or for "the exposure".
I truly know what you mean. I recently took on making a Murphy bed (actually it's a Jesse Bed) for myself. It's taken me over 3 months to create. The main reason is I used different materials than most people did to make the bed.
My wife found a metal tube bed frame behind some building and I drove to pick it up. I used oak paneling to cover the bottom of the bed but little did I know how many complications it created instead of making one out of wood but it was so much lighter. The metal frame had many protrusions though, like hinges and bolts so I had to make many notches in the paneling. My favorite part was using pillow blocks for the bed swiveling device instead of a boat chair swivel that many people use cause it was much smaller, much sturdier, and easier to remove the bed frame if I needed to make any adjustments to the entire project. My favorite part was adding a window portal from a boat to access the side cabinet without getting out of my bed and seeing my clock or getting something to drink, and I was able to customize the inside of the portal with space pics. "Scotty I need more power." (yeah I'm also a Trekkie)
It is actually an experimental model only one of it's kind, and I did do things that didn't work but overall it was a grand success. I don't think anyone would pay what I want to create another one but it takes a lot of time and also wait time for materials to dry, recover from welding in the sun and working in the over 97 degree heat without a workshop or an air conditioner. Yes you read that right. I had to do it all in my 10" x 10" bedroom and had to sleep on an air mattress in another room for quite a while. But the finished product is amazing.
Thanks for all you do I love watching your channel no matter what you put up. You've inspired me to do things I wouldn't ordinarily do...
I just want to mention that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours till be considered a professional, which I'm sure they blew past ages ago. So, if anyone wants to argue that they aren't professionals and shouldn't charge so much, yes they are and yes they should.
You confused two concepts. Amateur= not getting paid, professional= getting paid. The 10.000 hours is often used to say you mastered something. You can be a professional without being a master and vice versa.
Ofc agree with charging for skilled work which should be more than minimum wage.
Amen to explaining commissioners want to earn their hourly wage! I've had people come to me explaining they're not willing to pay 100 euros for a kigurumi onesie saying "fleece can't be that expensive"
Yeah of course it's not expensive, but I also work on it for about 10 hours that I want to get paid for :(
It's surprisingly often that people just don't understand you have to pay a working wage to an artist instead of just materials, we put time into costumes too!
So interesting! Glad you don’t under value yourselves and charge what your work is clearly worth!!
As a casual cosplayer. I’ve been working on my Odogaron armour for three years now. It takes time to make a full armour set.. so yes.. Buy her Books
I’m personally glad you guys focus on the tutorial side of cosplay because I loooove making my own things as well, it’s seriously the best hobby ever 😍
Your videos are by far my most important resource! 💕
I got into cosplay because of Svetlana's videos, and boy did it make me appreciate and marvel at her and Benny's work EVEN MORE. Just recently I tried to sew a bodice pattern 7 times before I got it right. And that was just with test fabric. And I can't imaging how much footage and work is cut out of the final videos.
Im so happy that you are talking about this subject! So many cosplayers struggle with clients who dont understand the worth of materials, time, research put into each commission... ;_; This video is so informative and i it hope will reach many people, thank you for that!
Thanks so much! I found quite a few articles and videos about commission work, but not many really mentioned any numbers. So I really hope this will be eye opening for some commissioners but also potential customers! :)
Full respect to all the cosplayers out there. The time and energy that goes into your costumes, the level of craftsmanship... respect to you ❤️
the 7 people who've disliked this so far are probably the ones who ask for free shit and say "do it for the exposure!"
Exactly! I can’t pay my bills with “exposure”
@@scottalynch I tried paying my phone bill with "exposure". I went down to the bank and started to "expose" myself. All that happened was I got arrested and I still owe the phone company. You are correct, you can't pay bills with "exposure"
The video that all of comission makers waited...
U can also sell props depending on level of detail so high detail is expensive & low is cheaper, i’d personally prefer to simplify things bc detail takes too long & i wanna help ppl get cheaper but still high quality armor
As a miniature painter, I completely get this. Art takes time and no one should value their time too low, then you have surcharges in material etc.
I've commissioned a cosplay from someone in the past, and it was of better quality than your average regular outfit. It was originally going to cost around $375 USD but was bumped down to $300 because it was delayed. It was absolutely well worth the money and then some, and I got a lot of mileage out of that cosplay.
Meanwhile, I'm an artist and have been taking illustration commissions for 10 years. I've changed my prices many times over the years but it's still nowhere near industry standards, and absolutely does not match up to the local minimum wage given the time it takes. Still, I lowball myself due to 1) low self-confidence, 2) how much time it takes for me to actually get around to working on it due to mental health issues, and 3) higher prices would likely scare off potential clients even if I hardly get any in the first place.
Know your worth. Take the time and materials into consideration, not to mention how much time it took you to *get* to your skill level. Don't undercut yourself!
I plan to do illustration, animation and graphic design commissions in the future. I'm still not sure about the price range yet but I want it to be where it can be reasonable
I’m not an artist and don’t have a lot of experience in the field, but I’ve worked with a lot of self-employed people and what I’ve seen time and again is that skilled people don’t really lose clients when’s they raise prices - as long as they’re still reasonable, of course. In fact, I’ve often seen them gain new clients, because they enter a new, slightly more exclusive market segment that is better suited to their talents and skills. Someone who’s looking for a certain quality - including service, professionalism, etc - isn’t ever going to be comfortable hiring someone asking below minimum wage. there are always entitled assholes, but most people know very well that others have bills to pay too, and pretending you don’t can actually scare off quality customers.
While I obviously can’t promise you customers, I do want to encourage you to just give it a shot. Double your prices, put yourself out there and promote the shit out of your stuff, and see what happens. Getting a few good clients who’ll gladly pay you your actual worth is the best confidence booster there is.
This is a super helpfull and great explained video about commission work. As a fulltime-commissioner based in the same country (Germany) I can easily admit all of this is true, however I still enjoy my business a lot and if you find a way for yourself how to handle customers, requests, prices and everything else, you CAN charge more or less fair prices (there's no upper end since you're a artist & specialist in this case, as Svetlana mentioned), and therefore even produce full costumes.
I'd say the most important part here is that a commission (similiar to the Nergigante costume f.e.) priced for 3500€ f.e. just needs to be squeezed in balance with the working hours etc. and the quality of the costume, so you need to find the right balance to make it possible without charging 10k or work unpaid/underpaid for the customer and therefore time's limited and it couldn't be a 1:1 copy of Kamui's masterpieces, for example.
STILL every commissioner gives their best to create the best-possible commission result within their limits, same goes for me. :) Keep up the great work, guys!
When buying a commission, it's the same as buying a work of art. Think about that. :)
The sad part is many people think that art is non-essential and so it has to be cheap.
I am happy, that you tackle this topic. I talked with some freelancing friends about commision work, and most agreed it's not as easy as one thinks (especially the mailwork).
Hearing your oppinion on this confirms that. Thank you a lot! :)
Thank you for this Kamui!!! I am constantly told by family and friends that I should "make costumes to sell" or that I should do commissions, and I keep having to explain this very thing to them over and over. Cosplays take me months to make and most people can't afford to pay months worth of full time wages for one costume. It just wouldn't be sustainable.
The only thing that works even CLOSE as a business model is people who make what they want at the typical pace of art, and then auction off each piece after completion. I've seen sculptors doing something very similar to cosplay, but at a much smaller scale, making 'art dolls' out of faux fur and craft foam and wire and whatnot until you have a perfectly realistic 11-inch-high dragon or something, and after each one is complete and photographed, it gets sold.. just as an individual art piece. heartbreaking really, imagine letting go of stuff like that.
i love the energy in this video, buy her books!
So the short answer to "do you do commission?" Is: - Yes but for company only not private persons. :)
Both of my middle-schoolers are in the arts and super into cosplay and anime. I turned them onto your channel both for the artistic creativity AND for the business sense. I will make sure they watch this. Very inspiring!!!
15min video just to tell us why we NEED TO BUY THE BOOKS to do it on our own. 😂
Seems like many people underestimate the work, despite you already showing mishaps and redo-cycles in your videos and your skill level being so high, paying minimum wage would be just offending.
I make tabletop miniatures for my D&D games, and people always remark how I should try doing it as a job since I enjoy it so much.
No. Just no. It takes me about a weekend (12-20 hours of work) to make a miniature start-to-finish. So for it to be worth my time financially, I'd have to charge around 200€ for a 1-2 inch miniature. Which I understand is not a reasonable price when services like Hero Forge can 3-d print custom minis for $20.
There just isn't a price point that is reasonable for both me and the customer.
Great video! Consumer prices & the throwaway culture completely destroys perceptions of how much an individual person's labour and time should be worth. Big business exploits new employees' naivety to pay them minimum wage, and so the cycle continues. It's not until you become self-employed that it becomes clear how much you have to charge to not only pay the routine bills but make enough profits to cover emergencies, quiet periods with very little work, maintenance of equipment & premises, accidents and a retirement, etc, that you realise.
Keep in mind businesses also have insane expenses for each person they hire, as the government requires them to pay more and more and more to care for their every need.
This is why cosplayers do their stuff themselves. Paying others to do so is waaaaay too expensive 😭 but also, people who get mad at the high prices... it's really insulting. Like you are not a volunteer or a slave, it's normal for things made by artists to be expensive. And you are an artist!!
Yeah, it's so hard to find the balance with commission work, I considered doing it but decided against it since the pricing gets pretty crazy 🙃
I just received the book I ordered from you! How special that you signed it! It was very encouraging and I want to express my gratitude.
Also- thanks for the corgi sticker and other cards!
I‘m glad you enjoyed it! ❤️
Having built several elaborate Halloween props on commission, I can confirm that everything Svetlana says is 100% true.
I continue to make custom sock monkeys on commission because I love seeing the joy on people's faces. I've done the math and I make about $3 per hour. In other words, one-quarter of the minimum wage here in California.
CORGI!! (Buy her books!) 🙂🇩🇪🇺🇸❤️
I thought about doing commissions until I realized I'd make about a tenth of my current yearly salary at work. I'm good with it just being a hobby.
I appreciate you making this video. People don't understand how much time and materials it makes for commissions. Just because you don't understand a process doesn't mean someone is overcharging.
Just calculated the cost of my last (almost finished) cosplay. If I was paid like a german electrician, my cosplay would cost 150325$ Well ... it's 30 times more than my annual income. Too bad I can't sell it for this price.
Oh gosh
@@jellyandcream9471 Yeah... spent 2300 hours on it. And it's not even close to the top-tier costumes with lights, smoke, and moving parts. Just armor, staff, sword, book, and sewn parts with embroidery.
Makes one consider the true value of one's time, Eh? Love
Its so good to see someone make a video like this to explains how much effort and cost goes into the the creation of any object, costume. darn good video.
Thank you for making this video. I got this many times when I sell my props on etsy and it's very frustrating when customers don't get why it is so expensive. Also with the time you spend on each prop like you said, the bigger or detailed the project, the more time it takes.
Great idea for a video. It is truly amazing how cheap people think they should get props for. People have lost perspective between something mass produced and something hand-crafted. Great video as always.
You should mention at the end of each project how long the whole project took.
Ich bewundere deine Kostüme schon eine halbe ewigkeit. Cool das ihr das mittlerweile hauptberuflich machen könnt 👍👍 weiterhin viel Erfolg und ich bin schon auf die nächsten Kostüme gespannt 😊
About German minimum wage: A lot of employers pay less than that. They get fined for doing that but the fines are too low for them to care about getting caught.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! People don't understand that they aren't just paying for the materials but also your time and your knowledge.
"How to make a small fortune... start with a bigger one!"
This was a very insightful video! It makes sense why certain cosplay commissions can cost so much after watching those pricing calculations 😅
Now i feel embarrassed by the fact that I do custom genshin costumes for 120$ with materials QwQ
i mean... are you making a sensible profit, when you consider the time and effort you put in to it? there's nothing wrong with doing it for cheap, if it's also cheap to do... or if you don't have other expenses in your life. but if you're trying to (or need to) make a living off it... you need to be realistic about what the time costs you.
2x your price tomorrow.
First thing first,
Corgi
and finally, a video to help everyone who is doing commission work how to calculate how much to charge for their work.
And buy the book, the knowledge inside of them are priceless and Svetlana and Benny are kind enough to share them with us.
As a composer, I absolutely love this video. The sooner audiences truly understand and respect the expertise professional creatives have, the better.
So awesome. I love the honest pricing! Artists and creators should never feel bad or be shamed for charging an honest price! Keep up the great work!
and I don't understand why you guys don't have 1 million subscribers?!? you deserve it!!
I really appreciate you took the time to explain the complexities of why commission work costs so much. Most commisioners are not creators and could not see the difference between let's say a cheap material and a good quality, time resistant one. Or the ammount of details in a prop. So they'll assume this ones they find on Aliexpress are as good as those you do.
And thanks for explaining the issue with time, it is not just a resource, it's THE resource.
I like how you included actual numbers. That helps us remember your message
Svetlana, as a wargame figurine painter, I can confirm that people expect a lot less than the real price. I ended up no longer painting for commission, and started painting up an army that I wanted to use and then sell that army to whoever wanted to buy it... at least i got a few games in with it before selling. That would be impossible with a costume, but possible with a thing like a hammer etc.
People are often clueless as to how many hours are required to do things.
I wish you the very best with your ventures. You and Bennie are always making fantastic stuff and I love your energy. Keep up the good work.
I commissioned my friend to make the fabric parts of the shirt for Bennett in Genshin impact and did the rest myself because I couldn't get my head around it! Worth it
As a long time cosplayer who have won masquerades and hall cosplay awards, I am so glad you made this video. A lot of people who have never made their own costume have no idea how long something takes to make. They watch youtube videos that are 15 minutes long and somehow think the costume or prop takes a few hours to make.
My partner bought a custom Galaxy Quest costume. Just the old version of the crew uniform, all material so just sewing. It was $1200. The costume designer had to design the pattern, buy the material, recreate all the little details on that uniform, put the thing together, fit the thing, and then finally post it to us. In materials alone, it was a few hundred dollars. It was many hours of work and she was NOT charging enough. So it's no surprise that technical builds like this cost a huge amount of money. Craftspeople deserve to be paid for their work.
I completly agree with you, commisions are way too expensive for a normal person used to seeing low e-shop prices. A few years ago I was a member of a reenactment group and we needed a lot of nice historical costumes for our public performance. Newer members couldn't understand, that a handmade garment with all the patternwork and appropriate fabric can be easily several hundred € and the sky is the limit. I stopped doing any commisions and now I have sewing only as a hobby and I am doing garments only for my self. We as a rich society are spoiled by fast fashion and cheap disposable stuff and we can no longer percieve the true value of someone else's work and time and effort invested in manufacturing anything.
I once commissioned someone to sew me a jacket and pants which I couldn't do myself (neither the skill nor the equipment) I never questioned the price I paid and I also never complained how long it took. (I paid 300€ for a the pants, belt and a jacket fully made of different faux leather variations+ some details, absolutely satisfied and worth every cent)
oh man ich fühle das :I ich hab mal 3 Monate an einem riesen Monster Hunter Kuscheltier gearbeitet und danach trudelten auch massig Anfragen rein, ob ich denen so eines nähen könnte. Die Vorstellung der Käufer waren so bei 200€ ...