"cost of castings..not the mould only castings" Topic

Hello
i'm in the slow process to revamp my very old line ITALWARS..28mm, 20mm and probably few 54mm subjects…i had some offers from a pair of casters..i made my idea about cost an organising of moulds..still some doubts about how much should i pay , more or less, each single casting once mould had been done and paid…which is, in your opinion, the % of the miniature..considering his final price to the public..that could be invested in paying the caster?.my actual caster that already made some moulds for me..seem to don't have definitive ideas on the matter..please your precious and well appreciated opinions both for 20mm, 28mm and, if avaialble, also in 54mm
well..also good offers of work from outside Italy woud be appreciated

A bit off topic, but have you you considered a Kickstarter to raise funds? It would still make sense to go with the best offer for your caster, but it would be likely to give you more choices.

price of metal per lb./# of figures per lb.

you cant begin negotiating til you know this amount.

Thanks Ravenscraft….the declared cost of metal from the caster source (he made the job) was 20€ per Kg…of course his experience, word done, power cost ecc..have to be taken into account…the cost of a small mould..the one he used.about 40€..which is OK for me…the problem for me is how to negotiate withour hurting him but above all without killing the possibility to earn for me money after all my costs (designer ecc..)had been calculated..i thought that the bill that i received 0,25 per 20mm mini and.. 0,35 up to 0,50 (depending on weight) for a 28mm mini..seem really too much…almost seem a killer if i must be true

As regards Kickstarter..thanks for your suggestion Optional Field..i already have considered it..but i'm studying it when i will have finish the project to add..to my already existing masters..something very amusing and interesting..to offer together with my figures as a kickstarter bonus..

Sorry mistake…cost of the mould 60€ !

To be fair the prices you have quoted seem very reasonable pay around £30.00 GBP a kilo which makes the cost of the figure 0.40-0.45p and that's at the cheaper end of the supply line.
Moulds around £50.00 GBP-£60 per mould

Look at what others are charging and therefore presumably what the market will stand and see if you can turn a profit if you sell as a similar price.

If I were selling a line of miniatures I think I would choose to use very good mould makers and casters like Griffin. I've spent too much of my time cleaning up badly cast figures that I've paid good money for and selling badly cast models ultimately only damages your brand. I don't think it's a get rich industry. There are those who have made a lot of money, like the Perrys, but they are probably an exception because of their ability to sculpt.

You will have to amortize the mold and sculpting cost over the life of the mold. Determine the following:

1. How soon do you need to make back your investment?
2. How much is that?
3. How much will it cost you for "having stock on hand to sell"? (Take into consideration the caster's costs (he has to make a profit, too), the metal, transportation to get them to you, your packaging method costs, bins to store product in, advertising, then add 5%.
4. Take cost per figure (from item 4 aabove) and double it.That is what you need to charge for them. Any less cuts into your profits and ability to add to your range thus taking longer to complete ranges.

That should keep you busy for a few days just nailing down costs. Every minute in honest research- doing your homework- will literally pay dividends later.

If you are in the UK, I cannot recommend Griffin too much! Thier work is simply outstanding and is fast becoming a selling point for figures ." Molds made and cast by Griffin" should be worth more sales for the smaller makers because more folks will have confidence in buying from you- they have an idea of the quality of the casting they will be getting.

It takes money to make money. Nobody really gets rich with historical minis. It's more a labor of love! Starting out, if you can turn a small profit within the first year, you are doing well. Plan for staying the long haul before you begin. (Less disappointment that way.) Don't expect many people to flock to buy your figs unless they are nuts about them too!

One last tip: Watch the kickstarters. See how much they need to have before their product gets released. Keep in mind a lot of that required is possibly profit to pay accumulated bills with by releasing a range they would have anyway, but much later. My point being that it's overkill to need to have $5 USDK in advanced sales before they "unlock" the 12 (or more or less) 3 items in the range. If just for the release, probably less than $500.00 USD might possibly cover the expenses if they knew what they were doing.

Good luck. Hope this helps a bit. Been there- done that.

v/r
Tom

Those prices semm very reaonable, certainly not expensive. We contract cast 28mm's for a few companies and per figure it works out around 30p normally, sometimes a bit more for bulky figures that require more metal.

thanks to everybody….very good suggestions…Dy4, Leon Pendraken, Cran Tara..thanks for sharing with me your precious experience and commercial skill ..i appeciated it
in fact wen, decades ago, i put on market my lines..it was a pioneristic affair..that, in any case, worked well…but many things have changed..caster, taxes..customers tastes and way of proposing your products (scale, subject's choice, number and variety of minis in each set..and above all internet)..so i have to make lot of calculations/thinking..for the moment my good assets are..skilled designer,ideas, good sources of research, and quite a few masters majority of them still to be commercially exploited…