Commission questions

[ThatADHDad]

Since posting my suit, I have had a ton of people ask me if I could make stuff for them. For things such as a fully painted helmet, just raw printed suit, as well as a fully painted, sanded, and padded suit.

My question for those that do commissions, how do you know how much to charge? Or what are some good rates for a helmet, raw helmet, raw full master chief suit, and painted suit?

 

[BlazingForge]

Since posting my suit, I have had a ton of people ask me if I could make stuff for them. For things such as a fully painted helmet, just raw printed suit, as well as a fully painted, sanded, and padded suit.

My question for those that do commissions, how do you know how much to charge? Or what are some good rates for a helmet, raw helmet, raw full master chief suit, and painted suit?

Creating things for profit is a rocky area with this especially if you use someone else's files. If you do not have the permission from the file owner do not sell their files. No matter if its commissions raw prints exc. you would need a commercial license from the creator. I'd say if you get that on top of it you need to factor in material cost, time, labor, and electricity for everything you create. but the main point is that you NEED permission from the file creator. however if you created the files yourself then your all set. Ik typically people tend to use other people's files to sell but again it's all about consent from the file creator.

 

[ThatADHDad]

Creating things for profit is a rocky area with this especially if you use someone else's files. If you do not have the permission from the file owner do not sell their files. No matter if its commissions raw prints exc. you would need a commercial license from the creator. I'd say if you get that on top of it you need to factor in material cost, time, labor, and electricity for everything you create. but the main point is that you NEED permission from the file creator. however if you created the files yourself then your all set. Ik typically people tend to use other people's files to sell but again it's all about consent from the file creator.

Yeah, I meant to put that in the original post. I would get permissions I need first. Most the files I’ve printed are as easy as subbing to their patreon. So I’ve got that part covered!

 

[BlazingForge]

Yeah, I meant to put that in the original post. I would get permissions I need first. Most the files I’ve printed are as easy as subbing to their patreon. So I’ve got that part covered!

yeah overall i think it depends on how big of a scale your going what quality you can provide and covering all your costs and whatever you think its worth. Make sure you absolutely have them pay half up front. don't want someone backing out on a commission and scamming ya.

 

[ThatADHDad]

yeah overall i think it depends on how big of a scale your going what quality you can provide and covering all your costs and whatever you think its worth. Make sure you absolutely have them pay half up front. don't want someone backing out on a commission and scamming ya.

Yeah, I like that idea a lot. I appreciate it

 

[SgtSaint]

> My question for those that do commissions, how do you know how much to charge? Or what are some good rates for a helmet, raw helmet, raw full master chief suit, and painted suit?

Forget for a moment that its cosplay - A business is a business.
There's

• Cost of goods/materials
• Cost of overhead which includes power, aircon, etc. So not only the cost of the power to the machines but at least something for the power used by the aircon due to the added heat the printers are causing.
• Overhead also include space: Let's say you live in a 3 bedroom and one entire room is just for business. That means your shop is using about 1/4 of your rent (because it doesn't get a share of the living room kitchen etc.) - so that's at least $200/month out of a $800 mortgage/rent that belongs to your business because otherwise that would be your personal space or just a smaller/cheaper place to live.
• And depreciation of the machines like printers, sanders, air compressor, air brush and so on.
• Enough profit margin to account for your failure rate and not go broke
• Consumables ranging from tape and masking film, paint, brushes, respirator filters
• Shipping materials like boxes, tape, bubble wrap
• The added insurance to cover your $10k in machines and inventoried materials that might not be covered on your standard home owner / renters policy since they are not your typical "personal goods"
• Infrastructure like benches and paint booth that you wouldn't have if it weren't for the business
  Then of course labor. If the kid at McDonalds is making $20/hr your time doing something skilled is worth more than that, right? I mean you're not running a charity. So... what? $30/hr?
  *ALL* of your labor. Anything a paid employee would expect to get paid for which can include scraping the internet looking for work... all that time spent sizing/scaling/slicing... driving to/from the post office for deliveries... that's all employee labor even if you're the employee.

I'd urge you to drop by either a community college and look at classes on starting a business or maybe the local better business bureau which often have free programs to match up business mentors with people just starting out.

 

[JP120800]

Id say depends on the scale, if its a helmet or something then thats do-able. youll also be suprised how much people will pay for a custom piece. Id compare to places like galactic armoury and see how much they charge for standard helmets. Shipping costs is also a biggie. i havnt done a halo commission but i have done one for a apple smart speaker custom cover/stand for a guy in California. From UK to USA was something like £40.

 

[ThatADHDad]

> My question for those that do commissions, how do you know how much to charge? Or what are some good rates for a helmet, raw helmet, raw full master chief suit, and painted suit?

Forget for a moment that its cosplay - A business is a business.
There's

• Cost of goods/materials
• Cost of overhead which includes power, aircon, etc. So not only the cost of the power to the machines but at least something for the power used by the aircon due to the added heat the printers are causing.
• Overhead also include space: Let's say you live in a 3 bedroom and one entire room is just for business. That means your shop is using about 1/4 of your rent (because it doesn't get a share of the living room kitchen etc.) - so that's at least $200/month out of a $800 mortgage/rent that belongs to your business because otherwise that would be your personal space or just a smaller/cheaper place to live.
• And depreciation of the machines like printers, sanders, air compressor, air brush and so on.
• Enough profit margin to account for your failure rate and not go broke
• Consumables ranging from tape and masking film, paint, brushes, respirator filters
• Shipping materials like boxes, tape, bubble wrap
• The added insurance to cover your $10k in machines and inventoried materials that might not be covered on your standard home owner / renters policy since they are not your typical "personal goods"
• Infrastructure like benches and paint booth that you wouldn't have if it weren't for the business
  Then of course labor. If the kid at McDonalds is making $20/hr your time doing something skilled is worth more than that, right? I mean you're not running a charity. So... what? $30/hr?
  *ALL* of your labor. Anything a paid employee would expect to get paid for which can include scraping the internet looking for work... all that time spent sizing/scaling/slicing... driving to/from the post office for deliveries... that's all employee labor even if you're the employee.

I'd urge you to drop by either a community college and look at classes on starting a business or maybe the local better business bureau which often have free programs to match up business mentors with people just starting out.

I get all that. I own 2 businesses. I just need to know where to get started with this as far as costs so I’m not undercutting everyone else or overcharging.

 

[ThatADHDad]

Id say depends on the scale, if its a helmet or something then thats do-able. youll also be suprised how much people will pay for a custom piece. Id compare to places like galactic armoury and see how much they charge for standard helmets. Shipping costs is also a biggie. i havnt done a halo commission but i have done one for a apple smart speaker custom cover/stand for a guy in California. From UK to USA was something like £40.

That’s smart. One guys wants an entire raw suit and it’ll have to be shipped which is one of the main reasons I’m posting in here. I want good advice from people that have done it so I’m not undercutting anyone or overcharging and messing with my potential future.

 

[JP120800]

That’s smart. One guys wants an entire raw suit and it’ll have to be shipped which is one of the main reasons I’m posting in here. I want good advice from people that have done it so I’m not undercutting anyone or overcharging and messing with my potential future.

I mean you can buy whole suits already out there because ive seen them on ebay/etsy. Theyre probably trying to use you to get it cheaper, so be careful with it.

 

[ThatADHDad]

I mean you can buy whole suits already out there because ive seen them on ebay/etsy. Theyre probably trying to use you to get it cheaper, so be careful with it.

Im okay with that. I’ll make a profit no matter how much I end up charging. I’m just trying to ask for numbers so I don’t overcharge and screw myself or undercharge and screw everyone else.

 

[JP120800]

Im okay with that. I’ll make a profit no matter how much I end up charging. I’m just trying to ask for numbers so I don’t overcharge and screw myself or undercharge and screw everyone else.

Fair enough, you could see how much fillament you'll use for each part and weigh it up with the price per KG, as well as other materials and then labour times with electricity costs etc.

 

[ThatADHDad]

Fair enough, you could see how much fillament you'll use for each part and weigh it up with the price per KG, as well as other materials and then labour times with electricity costs etc.

I like that, thank you!

 

[rickrtickr]

There are quite a few people here who have done (and still do) commissions/sales of props or armor. Etsy is always an easy place to funnel people that are only wanting a prop.

If you are talking about helmets the lead guy to me is Justin Branfur. The man has made a very lucrative career out of making and selling prop helmets and visors. and his quality is second to none, and you will be paying for that quality and his work. on average his stuff ranges from the $300-600 range, (or more) depending on completion level.

Others have made commissions of armor but I don't believe that they do anymore. but Evacura Armor used to do commissions and the last I checked (5+ years ago. a full suit of just "hard" parts with no undersuit ran in the $2,500+ range.) and it is better to get a friend in on the hobby than try to make and build something custom as commission. because you run some serious risks that if the suit doesn't fit properly they will demand their money back and there is no fault of your own.

and for guns, grenades, or misc props they are all over the place. I did commissions through college because it was a hobby to hone my craft. and I will say the prices I had barely made back material cost. I charged in the $50 range for magnums and the $150-250 range for the various rifles. But I was putting 20-40 hours into some of those projects, so I never really made money. and my props were all hand-carved out of foam, so the time investment on my part was pretty high.

And as many here have pointed out already, if you are 3D printing for sale you need to have explicit permission from the creator to sell those results. most of the old hands ran through older pepakura files and the end results ended up so wildly different from the file that permission expectations varied. but always always have permission.

Lastly, Halo and all of its models, characters, guns, props, and names are owned by Microsoft and 343 'Halo' studios. be very careful about how you go about selling anything, I have dealt with 'Cease and desist' simply because a description contained a trademarked/copyrighted name or Character. For the most part, the 405th has had a very good relationship with Microsoft because what we do isn't profiting off of and detracting from their IP.

It is always, in my opinion, better to try and get people close to you involved in the hobby over just making them something that you will invest countless hours into, or sell to nameless and faceless people who only want something if they can get it on the cheap cheap.