Issue on Pricing Custom Builds

People seem to be torn on this subject. This is about coming up with a price for a custom build allowing full perms. On one hand people believe you should be paid for the amount of work done in a realistic manner because its still work. And some people pay very generously and are happy to because they don't want to underpay you.

On the other hand some people believe that since this is a "game" that real wages should not be applied. And then there are some who think they should not have to pay more than store price for a custom build.

What are your opinions? What pricing do you think is fair?
I'll use my recent work as an example. A woman wanted me to create a custom sculpted boar, fully textured. I offered at what i thought was a fair price (L$3,000) and she said she could not afford it and offered L$1,500. Since i don't get many animal requests and i love doing it i did the work for her. Full perms too. She loved it and bought it. But people torn on the subject will say i sold myself short while others would say i overcharged. I'm curious what the majority thinks.

What I've found is that there is no hard and fast rule about pricing for custom work. It is always a series of variables that are different for every situation.

*Who is the customer, do you know them? If full perms items, do you trust them?
*How much work is involved?
*What is the resale potential?
*Speaking of resale, is your full perms item going out as part of a larger piece or is this person now going into competition with you using your own work?
*How many other components are involved? Textures? Scripts? Animations?
*How tight are the deadlines for delivery?
*How tight is your schedule?
*Do you really want to do the work in the first place?

All of these things factor in to your pricing and can make the project either very expensive for the customer or very cheap for them. I do custom stuff all the time and if I think the item has good resale prospects, it can be very affordable for the customer.

However, it sounds from your post that you think you might have allowed yourself to get negotiated down a little too far, and that I think I'd agree with. Custom sculpted and textured, plus full perm -- your customer should have been grateful they found someone who would do that in the first place and not tried to negotiate you down. I can't recall anyone ever wanting to negotiate with me over custom work.

If you're doing it as a real or hobby business ask a price based on a hourly rate that reflects your expectations for real or hobby business work, or one that you think you can get away with (what you think the market will bear), whichever is the greater

If you're doing it for the pure joy of it, ask a price that makes your customer feel that they're paying a fair price for a fair day's work, and makes them feel good about the whole deal.

Comparing store prices of mass produced stuff with those of custom made things seems a bit pointless.

In my case:

L$ 3000 / 270 = 11.11 US$ = 7.26 euros (current paypal rates)
Take off taxes (35%) = 4.72 euros

If it would take me 2 hours to make (low estimate): 2.36 euros per hour
Which would be a cup of coffee...

That's how i calculate, and that's why I only do custom work if I can either resell the work, if it's for a volunteer/good cause, or if it's fun to do and not used commercially by client.

In all other cases, my fees are MUCH higher.

My custom fees depend on a lot of factors but for the most part if the item is to be a once off (that is I cannot re sell it) then my minimum is L$1350 an hour (around $5 US), this price can increase considerably if they want it within a quick turn around or the item is likely to be complex and may involve me learnign a new technique on top of making the item or buying a component liks a sculpt.

If the item is to be full perm and a once off then my miniimum pricings jump to around $15 US an hour. This is because anything which i do full perm has the ability to compete with my in world store and a fully created full perm clothing item is a very easy way for someone else to make money. I am happy to do it of course but i want to be coompensated for my time.

If the item is not required to be a once off nor full perm AND i believe it couldhave re sale potential i will do this at a much reduced cost(usually around L$1000 with a custom once of colour version o the item which wont ever be sold in that colour). This allows them to get something unique and allows me to edit it slightly and re sell.

If it is an idea i love and want to mke for the store then i will often do it at no cost other than the cost the item will cost in store, unless they want a unique colour version then refer to above.


Although for memy store is a business and i do work towards making a profit. I do not apologise for that. I love what I do but custom work is dan hard and can be very annoying. I much prefer to make stuff to my own ideas instead of someone elses

Here is the animal i created. I sold it full perm for L$1500 and i am not reselling it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27418405@N07/4159333998/

I am interested in what price you would have chosen to create this for.

btw, one reason i did it at a low price is cause i don't get enough custom animal work so i actually will work for cheap if anyone wants work done.

He's very cute- can a boar be cute? Hmm - my first reaction was it is way cheap...but not being a sculptor am not sure of what it entails- ZBrush has beaten the pants off of me so not sure how hard u really needed to work at it. But u did include the texture too so ... I can tell you that i paid 900 for a custom flower with one texture if that helps you.

Now me... I would have animated the thing and charged double..

As a general rule, the programmers, modelers, and graphic artists who create content for games are paid real wages. No reason SL should be different.

Fun little tidbit: We had a temp at my work once who was a game designer/artist on the side. Her resume actually included "Created the seventh level of hell."

If you wish to compare prices, I pay around the same price you charged for sculps that are not bespoke.

Is your customer wishing to sell the boar? Have you agreed to not resell it to others after?

I think with these things you need to base it on if you wish to sell it generally after, if you don't ... then charge a decent amount. I think it was rather off for your customer to offer you half the price considering the work and I would have accepted the original quote.

I will keep you in mind should I require something in future

If it's a pleasurable hobby to you, accept low fees. It's just a fun hobby.

If a job to you (not a proper job, but a job just the same), charge for your RL time at RL rates. After all, it *is* your RL time.

Then there's the question of your rights in the finished product. If it is to be exclusive to the buyer, then you really should get a lot more for it than if it isn't exclusive and you can market/sell it yourself.

if it's truly custom, not for (your) resale, then I say real wages definitely apply..... even moreso if the customer wants full perms and/or source materials.

that's not saying you can't discount it however you feel like, or freebie gifts to friends.

now personally if I intend to resell I'll charge them the mass produced price I might set, or sometimes gift it to them if it's a unique idea (essentially they get a free product and I get a free idea that I'll make money off of)

but it's all down to personal preference.

I will say though, that if it's an issue for you, then stick to your guns... you may lose a few low end clients, but you'll also free up time for paying clients, which generally works out better in the end if it's a business for you.

Thanks for all of your advice, this has really helped me

I think the main motivation for me allowing it to be at such low price is because i don't get much work as far as custom textured sculpties go :/

If there is anyone that knows where i can find more work please let me know
I'm unemployed irl, thats why i'm trying to earn some in SL. Its the only place where i have the skills.

Someone also mentioned putting a script in the boar, i'd like to add that she already had someone to script it for her and is going to give this boar to someone as a gift.

make friends with scripters and builders... you'll never be out of work if they know you do sculpts (there were so many times I wish I had someone that was better at it than me.... I finally had to break down and learn enough to get by myself with basic stuff)

Making my list right now.

I expect others are too!

I can only answer for myself.

Pay should take the following things in consideration:

Intent (purpose of the sim/build) Is it a shop or non profit? Are they established or starting out? This has to do with

Finances Can they truly not pay more? Or are they just haggling?

Relationships Do you know them or are they some stranger who IM'd you? If you ask your SL partner for 10k Lindens for a build they might be steamed.

Trustworthiness If you are giving the person a full perm object, can they be trusted with it? Are you sure? If not perhaps a bit of insurance pay is needed. This can be difficult to gauge.

Intent - yours. What is your purpose in Second Life? What do you want to do here? Do you want to help others? Do you want to teach? Do you want to profit financially? Do you need to profit financially? Can you afford to treat it as a Utopia in which you help others without profit? Or do you need to deal with nitty gritty of tier, and other bills, regardless?

Reputation What is your building reputation? Can you be trusted? Are you a good builder? Are you the best? Are you better than most? Are you still learning? Are you a quick builder or do you take weeks longer than promised? Do you forget details?

Timeliness How busy are you? Can you deliver when they want?

Communication Do you know what they want? Can you deliver it? Are you sure, or are you hoping? Do you listen well? Do you say what you are thinking or keep it locked inside?

*Oh and reading someone else's, I forgot one:
Uniqueness Is it custom or can you sell copies?

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Hope that helped.