How to price your puppets

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi everyone,

A made this up after the subject of pricing things came up in a thread at Puppets & Stuff...it's an excel spreadsheet that provides a method for pricing your work. Pricing is really tricky - as I'm sure most of the people who sell puppets here know - and a lot of artists don't know how to price properly. There's a number of factors to consider, including:


The cost of your product or service
Your sales volume
Your competitor’s prices
Your company’s competitive/creative advantage

The spreadsheet will work best for someone who's making and selling puppets on a regular basis and either it is their primary source of income or they want it to be, but it can be applied to pricing in almost any type of business. Here's the instructions for using it:


Step #1 - Calculate Your Fixed Expenses

Fixed expenses are expenses you pay no matter how much you sell. Examples would be:


Telephone/cell phone (if it's for business only)
Office supplies
Web Hosting fees
Insurance
Anything else I've missed

You should also include in your fixed expenses a salary for yourself - what you pay yourself should not come from your profit (more on that below). You should determine a realistic salary that you would like to earn every month.

Once you add up your fixed expenses next you have to figure out how many products (puppets, workshops, or whatever) you can realistically do in a month. Then divide your total fixed expenses by the number of products you can produce in a month. The result is your fixed expense per puppet sold.


Step #2 - Determine Your Variable Expenses

Variable expenses include anything you pay per puppet you sell (foam, eyes, etc.). Don't include shipping costs because they should be added on top of your selling price. Add up your variable expenses for one puppet and add them to the fixed expense per item sold. The sum is your True Cost.

*Once you calculate your true cost, you can't sell your puppets for any less than this amount...otherwise you loose money every time you sell something!


Step #3 - Determine Your Selling Price

Once you know how much each item you sell costs (your True Cost), you can determine your actual selling price. Basically, you have to decide how much of a profit margin you want. For example, in the spreadsheet the true cost of each puppet is about $585. If I wanted a profit margin of 10% then my selling price for each puppet would be about $645 and I'd make about $58.50 in pure profit after every puppet sold. That doesn't sound like a lot, but remember I've already calculated a monthly salary for myself as part of my monthly expenses.

The puppet price in the spreadsheet varies according to the profit margin you enter.

Calculating your profit margin is more art than science and it usually takes some time and experimenting to decide what will work for you. The really important thing financially is that your profit either goes in the bank to be saved or gets re-invested in the business, make your salary one of your expenses!

The spreadsheet is for excel and compressed in a .zip file. Thanks to Shawn over at Puppets and Stuff for hosting it! Please let me know if anyone has any questions.

http://www.puppetbuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/puppetpricingcalculator.zip

[wes]

Bravo Thank you Buck for The Price Calculator, I think you just helped alot of people out inclueding myself. If they were Giving away award for the Best Puppeteer of the Year I think you would get it!!:)

thanks again!!

[Melonpool]

Yeah -- it's very good info. I'll be sure to use it in the future in both puppet building and art.

[Fozzie Bear]

Buck, you're always a genius. Thanks for that info!

[Buck-Beaver]

Glad you guys like it.

Foz, I accidently posted to two threads about this. :o Maybe you can merge this one with the other one (http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=26409) if you get a chance?

[puppetmancan]

or you can put it on ebay. very helpful though

[gfarkwort]

There's not enough money in ebay....plus it isn't really a place for an artist to sell several pieces of custom art.......at least I don't think so.....

[puppetmancan]

it gets your face and work out there to be seen. I've made so many contacts that way, works awesome. look hiw many have seen my kermit, over 500. The money does vary, but if your stuff is beyond same old same old, the money does go up. you just have to work for it.

[ravagefrackle]

true , people may see your stuff on Ebay , but you cant very well be selling knock off muppets as a pure source of income since the Lawyers for the company that owns them will eventually track you down, and put a stop to it,

and Ebay is were people go to find things for less.your really only going to get a bidding war on something that is rare and in high demand., building custom stuff for individuals (or selling your own line of originals) is going to be more in line with what Bucks spread sheet is dealing with,

[puppetmancan]

well somebody is as agressive as his puppets pic.

[gfarkwort]

ravage quick put Bear as your icon!;) ......j/k

Anyway, Thank you Buck for putting this up, I like it, I REALLY like how you broke it down into a true price step thing.....very organized and well thought out.

[ravagefrackle]

i hardly think giving my opinion(no matter how frank ly i may say it ) is being aggressive, maybe im a bit blunt , but its better than being dishonest

[Kevin the Frog]

As a dumb suggestion, it does help to browse a forum for a while and get a feel for the people in the community. That was an expected response from ravagefrackle, which had some truth regarding ebay, and I have no problem with it - from getting to know him through his posts.
puppetmanca: you have great skills. I love the muppet replicas on ebay, and I wish I could afford everyone. However, a lot of people here don't feel the same way. The constant reminders of your muppet puppets are going to warrant comments from those who don't agree. Just some thoughts . . .

[puppetmancan]

thnak you . And my point with ebay everyone just proved. i would of never got my face, name and puppets out internationally in just a few days if i had put one of my puppets, which is a contriversial ( i think thats how you spell it) replica, on ebay. as far as the money can earned, we'll have to wait and see in a couple days. But like in the master card commercails the muppets did, Muppet puppet on ebay, $100. the attention, and world wide display of my talent and characters priceless.

[Buck-Beaver]

Just a note to everyone downloading the spreadsheet, there are a couple of minor errors in two of the cells that I didn't catch before they were uploaded.

If you've downloaded the spreadsheet, make sure that the formula in cell C14 reads "=SUM(C3:C13)*0.1" and the formula in cell C16 reads "=SUM(C3:C14)" otherwise the math will be slightly off (remove the quotes if you have to correct the forumlas).

I'll upload a corrected version of the spreadsheet at PuppetsandStuff later today.

Sorry about that!!

EDIT: I've updated the excel spreadsheet now, the new URL is http://puppetsandstuff.com/community/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=846.0;attach=261

[Ventrilotwist]

I'm getting an error saying I don't have access when trying to download this file. I registered with the site and still can't get it.

[Buck-Beaver]

How odd...send me an email through the board and I'll send you the latest version of the spreadsheet.

[Ventrilotwist]

I would still like this, I'll try sending you another message.

[Buck-Beaver]

Here's another great resource for how to price art like puppet building - How To Charge (http://www.1099.com/c/ar/ta/HowToCharge_t042.html).

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi again everyone,

I got a few messages because for some reason the Puppets and Stuff links stopped working awhile ago so the Puppet Pricing Calculator will now be permanently hosted at http://www.puppetbuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/puppetpricingcalculator.zip

[RubbeRoomStudio]

i finally got a chance to check this out... this is awesome...
Thanks Buck

[dkmontgomery]

There's not enough money in ebay....plus it isn't really a place for an artist to sell several pieces of custom art.......at least I don't think so.....

Where would you say the best place is to sell custom made puppets? :)

[dkmontgomery]

Hi again everyone,

I got a few messages because for some reason the Puppets and Stuff links stopped working awhile ago so the Puppet Pricing Calculator will now be permanently hosted at http://www.puppetbuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/puppetpricingcalculator.zip

Hey, I just checked this out, it is very helpful! :cool:

[gfarkwort]

Where would you say the best place is to sell custom made puppets? :)


I'm just saying that if you want to make money building custom puppets and you rely on ebay....it isn't the best choice.

However, I do think it is a good place to build a reputation as a quality builder to a larger community an example being Jarrod Butcher.

[dkmontgomery]

I'm just saying that if you want to make money building custum puppets and you rely on ebay....it isn't the best choice.

However, I do think it is a good place to build a reputation as a quality builder to a larger community an example being Jarrod Butcher.

Totally understand. I was just curious about other avenues for selling puppets. Thanks!:D

[kafkathedog]

Great post Buck - caught it on puppetvision blog.

How about a pricing guide for puppeteering, how much do people charge? who are members of equity? should rates be variable depending on whether performance is being recorded?

[Puppettown]

Thanks! Really helped a lot!

[IgorPonweed]

Thanks! I am planning to sell some puppets soon. I will post some pictures soon.

[TravelTravel]

Last year I got into a bidding war on ebay for a character that looked great and was unique. The seller was happy and surprised to see his puppet sell for a good price. Several things worked in his favor: he avoided flooding the market (only listed one puppet at a time), he used multiple photos to show how expressive the puppet can be, and he simply built a good looking puppet.

So ... while it's true that ebay is often the hunting ground of people looking for bargains, I have been willing to spend above average dollars for a good item.

[Nick]

i do think eBay is a good place to start... and it surely makes the cookie cutter puppets look like garbage. Especially if you have the skills. Take several recent auctions that have just ended... They went for some big bucks. I do warn you, bid on a puppet that is actually completed... There is a person on eBay who continually lists puppets in the $300 to $1000 range and says will be built in the next 3-4 months. (If you are on this forum, then I apologize to you in advance... I see people knock out pro style puppets in a weekend, so 3-4 months is a bit ridiculous!)

I know that this is not the thread for this, but I was responding to the post above. (by gfartwort) If i had tons of money and skill... I would certainly use eBay as a way to sell my puppets and get my name out there... the only problem I have, is that once I complete one... it would be like selling a child! :)

[wes]

I know that this is not the thread for this, but I was responding to the post above. (by gfartwort) If i had tons of money and skill... I would certainly use eBay as a way to sell my puppets and get my name out there... the only problem I have, is that once I complete one... it would be like selling a child! :)

I understand but I try make sure that they are going to a good home.

[Nick]

well the 4 I have made... so far... will remain in my permanent collection!
Than any others I may sell... when the time comes.... sigh

[biblebetty]

hi everyone! I tried the links and I keep getting an error.

[Onath]

Woot, Just sold my first puppet! Thanks to this thread.

[Buck-Beaver]

hi everyone! I tried the links and I keep getting an error.
I already posted this link awhile back, but in case anybody missed it the URL you can download the calculator from is http://www.puppetbuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/puppetpricingcalculator.zip

The original page it was linked to from was lost with the old version of the site.

[Fozzie Bear]

I put this current link into the first post of this thread to hopefully continue with no further confusion.

[Da Dogster]

I will be posting in Ebay one of my puppets that I will sell.
I will also post a pic in the room on what the puppet looks like as well as how big it is.

It is not a muppet, all though it has a big mouth and done in muppet style.
She is an original plus. The plus is that if anything happends to it i will repair it for no extra cost execpt for postage and handleing that is all I will expect.

The problem is how much to sell this original puppet for?

As soon as I can I will post a pic in here and then you can all see what it looks like.

[Buck-Beaver]

Pricing is a tough issue, have you looked at the calculator that's mentioned in this thread? It's not perfect and isn't applicable to every situation, but it can be helpful (I hope!) in figuring out pricing when you are building puppets.

[staceyrebecca]

The link doesn't seem to be working anymore....

[Buck-Beaver]

PuppetBuilding.com got hacked awhile ago and I had to take it offline. I haven't had time to put it back up yet, but I'll email you a copy of the calculator when I get home this evening.

If anybody else needs it just email me privately at puppetvision {at} gmail.com.

[staceyrebecca]

Thanks buck! No rush. (Sorry to hear about the hacking, I knew it was down but didn't know why)

[CB Boy]

Thanks buck! No rush. (Sorry to hear about the hacking, I knew it was down but didn't know why)

When is PuppetBuilding.com going back up?

[rypopets]

This is a great information, very useful for some one like me that sells puppets for less than $80, you can see some of the puppets i sell here

Monster 3 (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6dXU9owDRxs/SRrnugWKVCI/AAAAAAAAABI/uoTljewaKqA/s1600-h/rosa.jpg)

Monster 2 (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6dXU9owDRxs/SRr7NrYBoVI/AAAAAAAAABQ/02cbT5vWFHY/s1600-h/sipi.jpg)

I think Im going to raise the price a little bit. lol :)

[Buck-Beaver]

Just an FYI, PuppetBuilding.com (http://www.puppetbuilding.com) is back online. You can now download the Puppet Pricing Calculator and find instructions at http://www.puppetbuilding.com/puppet-pricing-calculator.html

[rypopets]

Great tool to give us an idea!

Thanks :o