Help, looking for ideas/pricing

[Anubis]

It doesn't look like there's a lot of people alive on here, but I was wondering if it'd be possible to get some feedback on what kinds of things sell well, and what kinds of prices work.
I was going to apply for a booth for the first time this year, and was hoping to sell small clay charms/figurines. Here's an example of my style:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk182/arnikitty/Pengu.jpg
Is there any way to find out what shows/games/things people like?
I've got a few ideas, but I'm still trying to figure out what to make.
Would you guys be able to help?

[toadstoolssecretluvchild]

I would say keep doing these survey things and pay attention to the world around you. Also, watch what the other folk are selling their goods for is a good way of seeing what's happening as well ^^
As for price - There's really no "Set Price" for these things. You gotta figure how much you believe it should be based on the work you put in on it. Also a good question is how much would YOU pay for it yourself

Good luck with the booth yo!

Popularity - It keeps changing, but right now MLP is popular for some reason, you still got the basic Bleach, Naruto, Inuyasha. SoulEater is still good, Panty Stocking and Garterbelt is cool. Just keep paying attention to your geeks and you'll do fine.

[Katie]

I think those are cute! The last time I saw someone sell something like that I think she charged $2 to $3 bucks for each one. If you get a booth and are willing to take commissions I'd gladly buy quite a few from you. I've been looking for someone to make me some little Interstella 5555 characters.

I'd say Sailor Moon is always popular too.

[Freya1991]

Oh My God! It's 3 and 1!~ I love Mawaru Penguindrum~

Anime Anonymous at CU Boulder is watching Mawaru Penguindrum~

Everything that Katie-san and Toad-san mentioned is good. Maybe you could think about Durarara!!~

[The Ronin]

Small classic video game characters are a good idea as well. I'd love to see little Octorocs or Dekus from Legend of Zelda. Goombas/Koopas from Mario Brothers. Thanks to 8 Bit Theater, Final Fantasy character classes are fairly popular (Black Mage, Fighter, Thief, Red Mage...)

Oh, and PRINNY. I would buy a Prinny.

Size and time will be your biggest determining factors on pricing.

[Genidoxian]

Anubis' IRL friend here.

We're probably looking at an average price of about $10-$15 for each one, mostly dependent on the time required, and therefore the amount of detail.  It's not very apparent from the picture (the lighting is terrible ><) but the amount of detail on the penguins took well over an hour for each one.  $2-3 would probably get something like a rose or paopu fruit, $5-7 would probably get a simple Pokemon like Voltorb. $10-$15 would be a standard penguin-sized charm (most figures will be in this price bracket), and $20+ would get you something ridiculously detailed like a 2-3 inch tall Groudon.  (I'll see if we can get pictures posted of him; he's really cool!)

We're shying away from chibi charms due to the overwhelming amount of detail for such a small size, but if there's a high enough demand, they're entirely possible.  If we do, just know that chibis will lean towards the more expensive side, and the uncommissioned selection size will likely be smallish.

Commissions would be difficult unless we manage to get a portable oven (clay needs to be baked at high temperature) that we can bring to convention, or do mail orders//delivery after con.  Anubis is refraining from doing mail orders for larger figurines due to the possibility of things breaking.  The best bet for commissions would probably be to place orders ahead of time and allow you to pick them up at convention.  Any other ideas?

But yeah, don't quote me on all of this yet because con is still quite a ways away and Anubis wouldn't like me putting words in her mouth.  

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!

[Anubis]

Ooo. Thank you guys very much for the input. This is very helpful. =D And oo, Prinnies are doable. xD
But yeah, I'mma confirm everything Genidoxian said.

Been trying to figure out what a good price to effort ratio is. The material costs are pretty much negligible, so price is all blood and sweat based. I think I might be able to cut down the time, but I've been trying to think in real world terms since this is effectively my only job at the moment. So better than minimum wage would be amazing, and I'm going to try to work on efficiency so the time commitment is smaller w/o loss of effort.

I do want to try to lower those prices a touch. orz I feel bad charging more than about 10 for the medium sized charms. Though I think I'd probably pay it if I saw it. I'm not sure.

I'm going to look into some kind of easy-bake oven or some such contraption. The clay needs to bake at a consistant 275 degrees for between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on what clay I use and how big they are. So I need something that can do that to be able to complete commissions at con.
But there's definitely the possibility for people to commission stuff before con so I can bring it. I'd probably run those from a new thread on here. Would you guys be interested in that if I manage to get a booth?

[The Ronin]

What about getting a little toaster oven? You might need to check with DarkShardYuki about bringing something like that though since it does present a potential burn hazard.

[Katie]

Sorry I didn't clarify all that well I guess. I meant that If you did take commissions that I'd email ahead of time for info on charms so that they could be done before the con, not at the con. About how big are the charms, 1-2"? Just for reference you could take the picture with a penny or quarter in it so people can see size.

I did some digging and found the thread where I got the prices I quoted earlier. The ones I got were about 1" tall, and they were $3, not $2 like I thought. Now that I'm looking back at them that seems like an incredible bargin for what I got considering all the detail work she put in. http://ndkdenver.org/forum/index.php/topic,4988.msg156737.html#msg156737

[Jalakins]

I have to say - I love buying things like this! Trinkets and fun clay figures were some of my favorite things to find at the last few years in Artist Alley. n_n I wish you the best of luck! I think you'll do well.

[The Enigma]

There's a lot of good input in this thread that should help you. The one troublesome thing is that even when you research your market, there's really no knowing what people will actually buy at the convention. I'd echo the biggies that people have already said though. There's usually someone who wants to buy Naruto, Bleach, or oldschool Nintendo stuff. That said, make sure you produce some items that you really like too. Chances are someone else will like them a lot too, and even if no one buys them, you won't feel horrible having to hang on to them.

For myself, I'm a sucker for generic Kingdom Hearts merchandise--Heartless and Keyblades rather than spiky-haired kids--as well as the mascots for some series, such as Mokona for Magic Knight Rayearth/Tsubasa or Appa for The Last Airbender.

For pricing, do what you think is fair. It's a good idea to be prepared to be flexible at the convention though. If, say, by halfway through the weekend you've hardly sold something of a certain price, you might want to have a red marker ready to mark down the price. Anyway, always remember it's better to lower the price mid-convention than to raise it!

[darkshardsyuki]

Genidoxian, Anubis, your charms are cute and there is no problem taking commissions but unfortunately you will not be allowed to bring any kind of oven to bake your charms in.

Easy bake ovens are not made to cook for long periods of time and get burning hot very quickly, toaster ovens are similar. We cant allow them in AA because they present a major risk both to you and to those at tables around you, it would be all to easy for someone to trip burn themselves on one, there is also the burning smell they create when in use, artists and attendees would be subjected to it and the hotel staff would get mad. We don't allow woodburning tools for the same reason.

If you wish to take commissions you will have to mail them out after the convention or bake them at home at night if you're not staying at the hotel.

[Genidoxian]

No problem, thanks for clarifying AA's policy on the subject.  Would the same rules apply regarding a toaster oven or the like in a hotel room?  I poked around Marriott's site and couldn't seem to find a list of hotel policies.

[darkshardsyuki]

I looked up the policy for the local hotel, you will not be able to bake anything in your hotel room. The hotel has a smoke free policy and the burning smell from the ovens will linger in the room, you could end up paying Major fees because of this and get in trouble with the hotel.

If you want to start on your commissions while in aa that's fine, just bring a container to keep them safe in until you can get home to bake them, those bubble mail envelopes work well for shipping and you could wrap the charms for extra protection. You could even set a minimum price limit for charm commissions to help cover shipping costs.