Commission worries...
So, Vans just came out with a canvas high top line that is PERFECT for shoe painting. The reason I gave all my friends who were pushing me into doing custom shoes as a side business was that I couldn't find a suitable replacement for the discontinued shoes I originally used (I don't like Converse for several reasons).
But desperate times...I've decided to try and get into the commission business due to my increasingly dire financial situation (student loan payments are coming up soon), but thinking about it just kinda freaks me out. I can freely admit I am totally not the entreprenuerial type, and taking on that much responsibility all by myself is scary. I really suck at logistics, where do I even start? Is there even a demand? When I originally posted my shoes on tumblr a couple people asked me if I would be willing to make more, but who knows if they're still interested after ME3. Another big thing is pricing, I have no clue what people are willing to pay. I would really, REALLY, prefer not to do another crazy ass pair like the ones I originally painted, 16 characters is just toooo many. Right now I'm considering charging on a sliding scale depending on the complexity of the design and tacking that on to the cost of the shoe. Maybe something like $20-30 per character, so people could pick and choose which characters they wanted and potentially keep the cost affordable? Aaaah I dunno.
I talked my former roomie into buying a pair of the Vans so I can paint them (Adventure Time themed) for her as a test/sample and actually time how long the whole process takes me. Then I'd also have at least have one example of non-ME work to drum up interest. I feel like I can't really open up an Etsy shop because right now I literally have only one product with a limited fanbase. Ugh I'm scared to even make a Tumblr post about it before I paint up a new pair of shoes for fear of being ignored as old news. Why do I have so much self doubt when it comes to these things??
=(
But desperate times...I've decided to try and get into the commission business due to my increasingly dire financial situation (student loan payments are coming up soon), but thinking about it just kinda freaks me out. I can freely admit I am totally not the entreprenuerial type, and taking on that much responsibility all by myself is scary. I really suck at logistics, where do I even start? Is there even a demand? When I originally posted my shoes on tumblr a couple people asked me if I would be willing to make more, but who knows if they're still interested after ME3. Another big thing is pricing, I have no clue what people are willing to pay. I would really, REALLY, prefer not to do another crazy ass pair like the ones I originally painted, 16 characters is just toooo many. Right now I'm considering charging on a sliding scale depending on the complexity of the design and tacking that on to the cost of the shoe. Maybe something like $20-30 per character, so people could pick and choose which characters they wanted and potentially keep the cost affordable? Aaaah I dunno.
I talked my former roomie into buying a pair of the Vans so I can paint them (Adventure Time themed) for her as a test/sample and actually time how long the whole process takes me. Then I'd also have at least have one example of non-ME work to drum up interest. I feel like I can't really open up an Etsy shop because right now I literally have only one product with a limited fanbase. Ugh I'm scared to even make a Tumblr post about it before I paint up a new pair of shoes for fear of being ignored as old news. Why do I have so much self doubt when it comes to these things??
=(