Seeking advice on whether to buy this expensive plush.

[Ed Lyons 105]

'worth' is a wide variable. if you buy a $2000 plushie that's tiny, if you like it like a $2000 plushie, then it's well worth it. it really depends on personal worth to determine value.

[Jaxsie (Inactive) 1,343]

Hell naw to the naw! -- to the naw naw naw! (If you got that reference, I love you, lol.) But seriously, no, I wouldn't feel comfortable paying that much for a plushy. There are simply too many things of more importance that I want. So spending that amount on a plushy would feel like a waste of resources to me.

[Concerned Bystander 2,903]

Personally, I wouldn't spend that much on something that doesn't have wi-fi.  Plus, I have no idea how big it is.  It is an awesome looking plushie to be sure, but unless it's life size then it seems a bit much to me.

[Leave a Whisper 703]

No. Whoever pays that much is getting screwed over. Not when there are cuter, more affordable options out there.

[Luminance 2,186]

If I were to buy that Applejack plush in which if I had $400, I'm pretty sure it's a high quality example but I'm afraid that something like that will just sit in my closet and not truly be played with. It's a real shame if you can't truly enjoy it because you'll be totally afraid to even touch it.

[Casbyness 48]

If that's a padded cell and Applejack is big enough to ride then sure, I wouldn't live there until once again medically fit

Edited April 25, 2016 by Casbyness

[Scootalove 10,689]

I would definitely buy that Applejack plushie for a cheaper price though, not saying that $400 is a little absurd.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

@@Core

 

Just letting you know that I edited the title of your thread to better reflect the question.

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

I'm a guy who collects stuffed animals. I mean I have almost 50 of the damned things. I have a ton of different plushes, and even one of my OC which cost around $250, and honestly... As much as I like it... I don't feel it was worth $250. The problem with the plush making community is there is a lot of highway robbery. They charge you for the "work" involved in making it, but when you look up the material costs... They never spend more than $50. So a $200 profit for something that took her 4 hours to assemble according to her, is over $50 an hour. I get that it's a "craft" and is worth more than minimum wage, but $50 an hour is more than most people with 4 year degrees make at professional jobs.

 

Honestly if the materials cost you $50, I'd say $150 is a more reasonable price.

 

That all being said, I would say no: it's not worth it because fan made stuff is inherently worthless the moment you buy it. It will have no value after the show's popularity subsides, and if you lose interest in it, you're not going to make a fraction back of that. I buy a lot of plushies, but I avoid fan ones like the plague due to the fact that they are worthless and overpriced. I have 2 fan made Lunas that I LITERALLY bought for $13 a piece and when I got them I got a box of 10... I turned around and sold 8 of them for over $120 a piece... They are virtually worthless though.

 

My vintage seal plushes are worth way more than all of my pony ones combined. I would advise heavily against it unless the price was far lower.

[JesseJack 37]

Oh no, never.  That is a gorgeous plush tho 

[Luna 831 466]

400 dollars is to much money to spend on it.

[Merion 783]

They charge you for the "work" involved in making it, but when you look up the material costs... They never spend more than $50. 

 

Whoa, whoa. Stop right there.

When you look up the material costs.. do you actually consider ALL the materials and tools used for making a plush? Let me break this down to you because, as cliché as it may sound, a handmade plushie is more than what you see on the surface.

 

So yeah, the fabrics are important. Everybody loves minky, but most fabric stores don't even have it in stock. And if they do, they only offer you a couple of colours to choose from. The plushie needs to match the commissioned character's colour palette and that forces plushie makers to buy their fabrics online (shipping costs!)

 

What's inside your plush? It could be polyester fiber stuffing or polyester pellets... Or a mix of these two. Whatever it is, it does cost money.

 

Does your plushie have machine-embroidered details? They sure look great, but keep in mind that embroidery machines are REALLY expensive (I'm talking $300 - $500 for a good one that will last for years.) Then, the machine needs special software that digitalizes your designs. Sure, you can use a free app, but let's be honest here. Artists highly recommend the non-free ones.

And let's not forget the threads your machine uses. Those glittery and glow-in-the-dark ones sure are expensive. 

 

So... considering the fabrics the plushie is made of, the filling, the threads, the shipping costs if the artist buys their supplies online, the sewing and embroidery machines and the electricity bills... Making a plushie is far more expensive than it may seem. 

 

 

 

So a $200 profit for something that took her 4 hours to assemble according to her, is over $50 an hour. I get that it's a "craft" and is worth more than minimum wage, but $50 an hour is more than most people with 4 year degrees make at professional jobs.

 

Consider how many years it took your artist to master their sewing skill and the amount of materials they wasted in the process.

[Guest]

 

 

Whoa, whoa. Stop right there. When you look up the material costs.. do you actually consider ALL the materials and tools used for making a plush? Let me break this down to you because, as cliché as it may sound, a handmade plushie is more than what you see on the surface.   So yeah, the fabrics are important. Everybody loves minky, but most fabric stores don't even have it in stock. And if they do, they only offer you a couple of colours to choose from. The plushie needs to match the commissioned character's colour palette and that forces plushie makers to buy their fabrics online (shipping costs!)   What's inside your plush? It could be polyester fiber stuffing or polyester pellets... Or a mix of these two. Whatever it is, it does cost money.   Does your plushie have machine-embroidered details? They sure look great, but keep in mind that embroidery machines are REALLY expensive (I'm talking $300 - $500 for a good one that will last for years.) Then, the machine needs special software that digitalizes your designs. Sure, you can use a free app, but let's be honest here. Artists highly recommend the non-free ones. And let's not forget the threads your machine uses. Those glittery and glow-in-the-dark ones sure are expensive.  So... considering the fabrics the plushie is made of, the filling, the threads, the shipping costs if the artist buys their supplies online, the sewing and embroidery machines and the electricity bills... Making a plushie is far more expensive than it may seem.   

 

When you open a factory you don't jack up the price of the product 10 times over to cover the cost of the factory, you churn out more business to make up for it, not make 10 products and just charge top dollar for those ten. I actually dated someone who made said plushies and they don't spend as much as you think they do. Just because the equipment is expensive doesn't mean they should charge an insane amount. I need a lot of expensive tools to fix PCs, but I don't charge someone $120 for a diagnostic.

 

You do decent work for a modest price for a period of time to make up the cost of the equipment. Not just charge every customer top dollar. If you don't like it: open a shop.

 

 

 

Consider how many years it took your artist to master their sewing skill and the amount of materials they wasted in the process.

 

Do they have a degree or a company that regulates how much they are paid? 9/10, no they don't. How do you have ANY way of knowing they are being properly compensated for their time given that they can work on it "whenever" and no one is watching them. They could claim something took 10 hours to make that only took 4. That and many of us have skills that we had to pay for expensive degrees for,  it doesn't instantly entitle us to $50 an hour.

 

That's all I have to say on the matter.

[Merion 783]

Let me clear some things. I'm talking about artists who do crafts for a living. People, to whom plushie making is a profession, not a hobby or a way to make some extra money.

 

When you open a factory you don't jack up the price of the product 10 times over to cover the cost of the factory, you churn out more business to make up for it, not make 10 products and just charge top dollar for those ten. 

 

Well, there's no comparison between factory mass production and hand crafting.

 

There's a very limited amount of hand-crafted goods you can make each month. If you're only capable of making 10 plushies per month, then the profit you make off them should cover all of your monthly expenses and still leave you with some extra money. Let's not forget that this is still pretty much freelancing. One month you get your 10 commissions, but the other month you only get commissioned 5 times. Pricing is tricky and no wonder artists prefer to be on the safe side and overprice their creations a little. But still, they need to keep in mind that going too far with their pricing could discourage potential customers from commissioning them. It's really, really hard to balance.

 

I need a lot of expensive tools to fix PCs, but I don't charge someone $120 for a diagnostic.

 

But you don't use your expensive tools for a disgnostic, do you?

 

See, that's why some plushie artists have so complex pricing guides. If you want a plushie with machine embroided eyes, then be prepared to pay for the embroidery expenses. You can choose between minky and fleece, but a pluhie made out of minky is gonna be more expensive than a plushie made out of cheap fleece. Small plushies are cheaper than the big ones. And so on and so on...

Most artists (and keep in mind I'm talking about professionals here) cautiously calculate their prices. They don't charge you for things that are not involved in making of your plushie.

 

 

They could claim something took 10 hours to make that only took 4.

 

Well, an office worker could be browsing facebook or picking their nose while at work and still get their daily wage.

[Concerned Bystander 2,903]

But you don't use your expensive tools for a disgnostic, do you?

 

Depending on the exact diagnostic process being carried out you need to use a computer, and that computer needs to be protected from whatever may be on the diagnostics subject computer, so you need Anti-malware software, good anti-malware, AVG Free isn't exactly going to cut it.

 

And then you need the actual diagnostic software as well, and the good stuff costs money, remember when you said this;

 

Then, the machine needs special software that digitalizes your designs. Sure, you can use a free app, but let's be honest here. Artists highly recommend the non-free ones.

 

The exact same principle applies.

 

If you want to do something for a living, then you need to have the correct equipment to do it properly, but you need to balance that against being able to offer your goods or services at a competitive price, or your prospective customers will go elsewhere.

 

Ultimately, if you can't offer your goods or services at a price point that will engage customers, and still be able to make a living, then you need to find another way to make that living.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Concerned Bystander

[Flutterbattyyy 331]

Let me clear some things. I'm talking about artists who do crafts for a living. People, to whom plushie making is a profession, not a hobby or a way to make some extra money.

 

 

Well, there's no comparison between factory mass production and hand crafting.

 

There's a very limited amount of hand-crafted goods you can make each month. If you're only capable of making 10 plushies per month, then the profit you make off them should cover all of your monthly expenses and still leave you with some extra money. Let's not forget that this is still pretty much freelancing. One month you get your 10 commissions, but the other month you only get commissioned 5 times. Pricing is tricky and no wonder artists prefer to be on the safe side and overprice their creations a little. But still, they need to keep in mind that going too far with their pricing could discourage potential customers from commissioning them. It's really, really hard to balance.

 

 

But you don't use your expensive tools for a disgnostic, do you?

 

See, that's why some plushie artists have so complex pricing guides. If you want a plushie with machine embroided eyes, then be prepared to pay for the embroidery expenses. You can choose between minky and fleece, but a pluhie made out of minky is gonna be more expensive than a plushie made out of cheap fleece. Small plushies are cheaper than the big ones. And so on and so on...

Most artists (and keep in mind I'm talking about professionals here) cautiously calculate their prices. They don't charge you for things that are not involved in making of your plushie.

 

 

Well, an office worker could be browsing facebook or picking their nose while at work and still get their daily wage.

 

Hey, can I ask you something? (Since you seem knowledgeable about plushie making as an insider from the biz.) 

 

Would a 40" hoof-to-hoof laying Fluttershy plushie made of shannon minky fabric, faux fur hair, embroidered eyes and cutie mark, hand stitches sowed over twice for extra durability, lightly stuffed for extra cuddliness, and bean bags for extra weight on the hooves be worth it for $725, plus $65 (tops) for shipping domestically?

 

Here is the plush I'm super interested in:

 

http://qtpony.deviantart.com/art/34-inch-laying-Fluttershy-627384032

 

 

 

My "reasoning" for getting this particular one is for her:

• Amazingly show accurate body form and face (like seriously, that face is soooo accurate!) 
• High durability. He makes them double stitched in the hand stitched areas and stuffs them rather lightly for super soft cuddles.
• Extra weights in hooves for added "realism" when she is in your lap, etc.
• Faux fur mane and tail. I've never had one with that kind of hair before.
• Durability to take her around the house and such. My Agatrix-made plush amazing, but is more of a display type plush, as she is tightly stuffed and not super soft. Harder to carry around places.

Are those good reasons? Or am I making excuses for myself to get her, haha. 

 

 

 

I have a $4,700 budget. I need to split it between all these:

 

• Phantom 3 Pro drone ($900)
• 2015 iMac for video editing/photography ($2,700)
• Ultralight sleeping bag for backpacking ($300)
• iPhone video stabilizer ($39)
• 64gb micro sd card for drone ($15)
• And of course a plushie. I have $700 left over for a plushie, but not sure if it is worth it for this particular one. 

 

 

 

 

The guy who makes them has his pricing and commission details page here: http://qtpony.deviantart.com/journal/Commission-info-and-prices-565276134

 

I might also note that I perviously commissioned a life size, 45" Fluttershy plushie by Agatrix last winter for $570 + $50 shipping. Here is the one I have currently:

 

 

Edited October 22, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[Yeah ok 80]

The maximum I've spent on a plushie is £10 (probably like 15-20 dollars) and they're fine. Personally I wouldn't spend that much on a plush but ultimately it's your money.