Why do people charge so much?

I doubt that anyone in our community selling doll clothes feels that way.
I think most people get into it as a hobby and when enough people tell them how cool their creations are they decide to try selling. Then realized how much materials and their time cost and suddenly it gets expensive.

I can sew ok and have even made a few outfits and I know if I actually sold them I'd have to ask more than the market would bear simply because of the time and effort involved in each piece. Hence I make for myself or as a gift and stay happy.

 

Well, the design, the cost of time, they are both include the price.

 

well, sometimes i just think that , you do what you enjoy, you ask for the price you think you deserve, if some people doesnt agree with that price, so then just dont buy it if you think that face-up/clothes/acc. do not worth what they've been put for. some other people think they do deserve the price so that's why they're paying for it. This is just the matter of personnal opinion, you cant really judge whats TOO expensive cos sometime the artist really did spend a lot of time and effort doing it and they think that they deserve that amount of money and that's fine, its just what they think and what some people might think so.

some people do what they love and they enjoy and they didnt really care if they really get paid a lot or whatever, but some people prefer to get more since they've been putting effort. I feel that 'EFFORT' or stress you've been putting through your work cant be judge by the amount of money anyway so its just what you think how much you'd be happy to get from it.

sometime yes, you do what you like but it could also be stressful to have customers that you cant satisfy them and some people just didnt really like it that way.

really, this is just a matter of different points of view...

 

When I make clothes for dolls, the first thing I do is figure out the actual cost of materials (including wear and tear on the machine, needles, thread, electricity). For a pair of pajamas, for example, it costs about $2 to make. I charge about $20 for the pair, though, 'cause it takes me over two hours for one pair of jammies, not including the time it takes me to figure out a pattern, draw it up, transfer it onto pattern-ease, lay it out on the fabric and cut it out.

A lot of the cost is in the development of patterns, and then the actual sewing doesn't take as long.

However, I also sell the patterns I make for $2 each. That way if someone wants to make their own, they can just use my pattern and know it will work.

Are you going to kakkoicon in the Twin Cities? I can show you how I do it if you want to meet up there.

 

Like littleblackbow says, the cost is in development more than materials. Consider each clothing maker to be a design label. For each article of clothing in each size, there must be a design, a pattern drafted, mockups made and fitted, and, finally, a prototype. That's quite a lot of work and time when you really think about it. After that, you figure out the material cost per piece, factor in time, and (well, if you're a famous designer ) put your name on the tag and charge for that.
As for faceups, it's just commissioning an artist that's like the love child of a makeup artist, a painter, and a sculptor.
When you think about it, you're probably not paying them minimum wage, or just over.

Just to put it out there, I couldn't justify trying to find something that sort of suited what I wanted then spending a bunch of money on it. Not when I had most of the resources to do my own faceups and the ability to make clothes. All I can justify at this point are shoes and eyes, since I have yet to figure out how to make them on my own.

 

After making my first two doll gowns (both elaborate rococo gowns sewn by hand from a pattern that had to be almost completely redrafted), I can completely understand the cost.

They took forever to make. It was hard and frustrating as well as rewarding.

So, after that, while they are expensive, I don't find them overpriced at all. Mass produced clothes are different, though.

 

I think we're used to paying for things made by a factory full of underpaid workers. Our dolly items are made by someone who created something using her/his own skill and money, so we should expect to pay more..

Isn't it funny? I can't remember the last time I paid more than $60 for an item of clothing for myself..but my dolls?

 

After my first attempt at sewing Rem an outfit I can totally understand the costs, and respect them. It isn't easy when you're a beginner like me, either. XD

Now, if everyone were to sew and sell their own clothes, prices would go down. But since it's a few people making clothes for a large group of doll owners, prices will stay high.

 

I think it's the quality of the clothes made, the time and effort to put the wonderful clothes together and also the material used, makes these items rather expensive. I wouldn't mind paying for one suit for my future doll, which cost around USD 100. If I can see the quality and the details upon the clothes are amazing, I think the price is definitely fair.

Like say for instance, as for me, even if I do have a great skill of sewing, you still need to place effort and time, like measuring the doll, getting the right materials, and then cutting to get the perfect measurement. And worse would be if you hand-sew and don't have a sewing machine (Like me for instance. I don't even know how use one, so I hand-sew). Worse is that, you prick your finegrs a few times and swear here and there, and then adding the small details. I think it's not overcharging to pay such fine clothes.

And how about wigs? I can imagine how much time people would do to just do one wig.. And a small wig in fact. The material of the wig is important, as well as wefting the wig together.. Gosh, it may take hours or maybe weeks, if it was for me. And perhaps if you dye the wig to a bright, vibrant colour. Of course you start by dying the material for the wig first. But I can't imagine myself wefting the hair in, and I always wondered about how people can be so patient doing this.

As for face-up artists, I think it depends on how confident you are wih their expertise. Since, after all, you'll be sending your precious doll's head to them and you'll have to wait until they are done. I never did tried a face-up yet but from some pictures I ahve seen on DoA, I can say that most face-up artists don't overcharge at all. I feel that face-ups is another type of art. Because face-up usually bring out the personality of the doll. Imagine you are the face-up artist, and you have to portray what your customer wants in their doll and you have to be perfect.

So in this industry, people have to understand.. It's not easy at all to make quality and good clothes, wigs and even great face-ups that you feel it's damn perfect. So people who wish for discounts, or saying people are ripping you off, or even dare to complain of overcharge, I have to say, you are either very stingy, close-minded or do not understand the effort people put onto their creations.

I'm an art student, so I understand how time-consuming these things could be. I apologize if I offend anyone anyways.

 

People put a lot of time into those small elaborate outfits you see.. they could've spent hours or even days working on it. A lot of the cost is because of the time and love and effort that went into making it. Some if it is also because of expensive materials.. if you've ever tried to buy material for people clothes or even for doll clothes, it can become very expensive, especially if you're going for extremely high quality clothing!

Clothing for dolls is made in a different way than mass-produced human clothes, and if you go to the marketplace, for instance, the clothes are of course going to be more expensive, because they're handmade!

 

Same reason as for everything else, MONEY. If you want to save money, make the clothes yourself. However, most people who are interested in this hobby usually don't have money as an issue.

 

I don't think this is true. Most of the people I see here are in the process of saving for a doll, rather than buying whatever they like, whenever they like, so money is an issue for a lot of people in this hobby.

When you buy items from Dollmore, you're buying something well made, yes, but it's also mass-produced. When you make things on a large scale you can afford to adjust the cost to make the finished garment a low price. Conveyor-belt style fashion can be cheap because there is so much made the creator will get their money back quickly.

With a one-off, handmade garment you're paying for skill and for time. Someone's personal expertise is being worked into the garment as well as initial costs of material, tools and patterns, and if I worked my hardest and longest to produce a scaled down item of clothing, I'd want to be rewarded too.

I wouldn't consider a mark-up to be scalping unless the mark-up was over and beyond the time taken to make the item and the item wasn't a quality standard item.

 

Like other people said, when I pay a great amount, I also believe I'm paying for the time and stress it took for them to design and develop the item(s) I'm interested in, as well as customer service. I am more than happy to support seamstresses (or the male equivalent) who not only provide absolutely flawless goods, but strive for excellent communication and service. Their time and devotion to the customer's happiness is worth that extra money, no question about it.

 

sometimes it is about the cost of the materials and the time to make it that can make the cost seem high, but if the quality is there, it should be worth it.

 

depends really, there alot of things i'm not really making money on, for example people expect you to guestimate prices, alot of the time you'll look at an item and say thats not that hard or other such things.

but when it comes down to sewing and buying materials i'm lucky if i make any profit.

a first time around pattern can take up to 40 hours of work, or more, and a dress with multiple colours or materials ends up costing a lot because you cant buy a tiny patch a material for the most part ( i mean yes there are scraps and junk you can get for a couple dollars but often they arent the ones youre lookin for) so materials tend to be bought by the half a meter.. and some places dont even allow that..

so when everythign is said and done.. it's materials + time > money

youre getting your moneys worth if its hand made, that and it's yours and original.

 

I've planned for $250-$300 to go towards face-up/moding for the doll I want. There is absolutely no way on this earth I'd do my own face-up. I can barely put make-up on my own face that I'm satisfied with. There are talented people who can and will do that for you for a price. That's a price I'm willing to pay for a well done job.

As for the clothes issues, I intend to sew/knit my own. I've been sewing and knitting for 30 years so I figure I have the basics down. I'm counting on having to do a good deal of hand sewing, which is fine by me and I admit to some trepidation at working with 2mm needles to knit as I've never had reason to use ones that small before, but I'm game to try.

Just from experience though, I know that a good portion of time is taken up with figuring out your pattern (or modifying one you have) never mind the actual stitching/knitting. I've made sweaters for friends at their request and charged them $100 for it (not including the cost of the yarn) and they still felt they were getting a deal because of the quality and uniqueness of the garment. I'd say it wouldn't be that much different with things for a doll.

 

This point has been made lots of times, I know, but here it is again. It doesn't take me any less time or imagination or hard work to make something for Coppelia (daughter's doll) than it does for myself. Less in materials - yes (sometimes). Less in output - no. In the case of face-up artists -you're dealing with talent + experience. That doesn't come cheap.

 

I don't think it's necessarily that most doll clothes cost too much- it's that the clothes we buy otherwise cost too little, so our values to make comparisons are thrown off-kilter.

The price of most clothes commercially available do not reflect the real cost to the environment, nor the cost of providing a living wage to the person who sewed the item. Yet we've gotten so used to cheap manufactured goods as the baseline price for things that when something costs what it really should, it looks expensive.

Sure, there are outfits out there that are stupidly marked up. Not denying that. But I see it all the time in costuming comissions. Someone will quote the price to make an outfit and the buyer will respond back with "Are you kidding? I could buy it for fifty dollars from the store!"

Yes, but the store was able to bargain wholesale prices and pay their labor a dollar a day. The lone person you're trying to buy from in the US or Japan? Not so much, if they don't want to go bankrupt.

 

Well, I do have some insight clothing wise. I've been trying to make clothes for my dolls because I felt it would be cheaper (and a fun hobby to undertake) than buying doll clothes online. Oi....did you know that lace per yard can be anywhere between 45 cents to over a dollar? And these are the simple laces mind you. And a typical doll dress tends to have in excess of five yards (yes, I've measured it) for even a simply garnished outfit. Even good fabric is over the dollar mark per yard, even at a discount fabric store place, because if it is the really cheap kind of cloth, it starts to rip apart easily.

In regards to esthetics, it depends. I have a friend that is doing face-ups for free and it's really a costly endeavor. There's sooo much materials involved, and for the first stage of doing the face-up, it takes several hours to a day to do a really good one properly. Especially if you have a fulltime job to contend with.

So, if you want quality for an item, yes it is worth the price you pay sometimes. I just think be savy in what you are thinking about purchasing or doing. If a face-up artist charges $100, but has amateurish results as opposed someone who does it for free, no it's not a good deal. But people like SDink and such that command a high price, but consistently make something so beautiful that people are willing to pay more than retail price for, yeah it's worth it. Likewise, with clothing. With Volks and Dollheart, you are getting quality that can survive a washing machine (though they don't recommend to do it), and you can see the wonderful detailing and effort they do in creating these things.

But to put it into more real life perspective, yeah I rather shop at Walmart than in Beverly Hills. But, if my fiance were to get me an engagement ring, I rather it be from Simon G than from Walmart. Ha-ha. And they you go.

 

The same place you find a pair of eyes for $160. Welcome to the hobby.