Is it worth it to build and sell puppets on eBay?

[Melonpool]

So -- it looks like my wife lost her job. In an attempt to think of ways that I can supplement more of our income, I was wondering if it's worth my time and effort to try to build a couple of puppets for sale on ebay. I know a lot of you do this as well.

It seems that in recent years, puppets haven't been making a whole lot in ebay sales. Is it worth the time and materials involved to do this? With the economy the way it is, and my freelance art coming in spurts, it's tough to say.

I usually take about 30 hours per puppet and use about $50 worth of materials, if that helps factor into it. I'm sure I cut down time (using a machine more and maybe using cheaper materials), but even then, I doubt I'd fetch more than $100 in this economy.

How are the rest of you getting along in this recession?

 

[Animal31]

That's rough, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm in the mortgage industry, and honestly, I haven't had peace of mind for the past few years. What kind of puppets are you talking about, originals or (dare I say it) replicas?

For now I think anything you can think of to get by is a good idea, and you never know what it will lead to. When things got slow I started selling toys at local shows (it helped that I had been a steady customer for years), and I also did stained glass windows on the side for residential and commercial.

Do they pay the bills by themselves, no, but I can't complain about the extra money it brings in. And hopefully someday it will lead to something better than a 9-5 living. How about selling patterns? It seems there are still plenty of questions left out there regarding puppetry that people may be willing to pay to get the answer.

I wish you luck..........

 

[Gerbert]

I'd pay $120!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Sorry to hear about your wife Steve. That's terrible (and all-too-common) news these days.

I haven't done build-for-hire work for many years now, but based on what friends who do have told me Ebay works best as a loss leader that leads to private commissions over the long term. They don't really make anything on their Ebay sales, but they will use auctions to drive traffic to an Ebay or Etsy Store, or so that they can do more lucrative custom orders and make money on that.

The people who do seem to make a little money develop ways of making puppets very cost-effectively so the puppets are quick, easy and cost-effective to produce.