Ever wonder what goes into the cost of a cosplay commission? Why do these custom creations have a large price tag? Today, let dive into a few of these key costs and understand what you are paying for when you order a commissioned piece.
1. Materials
This one is the most obvious. It's the fabric for your costume or plastic/resin/EVA foam for your armor and props.
Fabric usage is often underestimated. If the costume has a lining, the fabric usage will be doubled. If the commissioner needs to drape to make a pattern, a lot of muslin might be used before the final fabric.
Costs of certain fabrics can be quite high, such as leather/vegan leather, silk velvet or other premium prints.
2. Labor
One of the biggest components of commissioning cost will be labor. Depending on the complicity of the costume, commissioners spend many hours hand painting, beading, or embroidering.
Does your cosplay involve any of the following? If so, there's a high chance that your costume will be quite costly given the labor hours required.
- Tough to work with materials (leather)
- Intricate details (beading, embroidery, hand painting)
- Layers (several coats of paint, several layers of fabric)
Lastly, don't forget the time it takes your commissioner to communicate, send you updates, and accommodate requests. Your commissioner should be sending you periodic updates so you can see the progress and asking for your input if certain things are not clear. But do keep in mind that this is time that they are spending on your project and the more frequently you request updates or modifications, the more time it will take to complete your project.
3. Research and Design
A less obvious component of the commissioning cost is the time it takes to do research and design, especially if your commissioner hasn't made something similar to your commission before.
Translating a 2D picture into 3D is a lot of work and requires research and imagination. After receiving your reference photos, the commissioner will often research your character online, look at video clips, and try to find past cosplays. One way to help your commissioner (and save some time/$$ for yourself) is to provide as clear of a picture as you can in terms of the cosplay that you want and share all your research with the commissioners.
After the commissioner has a good understanding of your costume from various angles, they will need time to plan, drape, and pattern before they can start working with the final fabric. If they have worked on similar costumes before, they can leverage a pattern they have made or used previously and adjust the sizing. Otherwise, creating a pattern from scratch can be time consuming and may require a few iterations before it achieves the final effect that you or your commissioner want.
4. Notions
Notions refer to all the little components that are needed to finish your costume.
Special buttons, trims, invisible zippers and anything is purchased for your costume will fall into this category.
Threads, glue, sequins or anything that is not purchased specifically for your costume but was used in the process will also fall into this category and be included in the final price.
5. Equipment wear and tear
Equipment maintenance and equipment purchase is another cost that goes into the commission.
Similar to the thread or glue example from earlier, if a machine will last the commissioner 5 years and the commissioner made 100 costumes per year, then the cost of the machine should be spread out among these 500 costumes.
In reality, it's hard to estimate the exact years the machine will be used for or estimate the total commissions during that time, so the commissioners will often estimate this cost by adding a percentage to the total costs.
6. Travel
If any travel is done to acquire materials, have in person meetings, then travel may be a component as well.
Your commission will often pick up fabric or materials for several projects and will generally not apply the entire trip to your project alone. It can show up as a small percentage like the equipment fee from above, or it can be the actual cost divided by the number of projects that trip served.
7. Other business costs
Don't forget that your commissioner is operating a business.
Any costs associated with business operations like filing for taxes, renting studio space to complete projects, or marketing costs will also be spread out among the total number of commissions in a year.
Very often, travel, equipment, and other business costs will show up all together in a cost called "overhead", which is a percentage of the total costs. E.g. if material and labor together is $500 and overhead is 20%, your total commissioning cost (excluding shipping), will be $500 + $100 = $600 dollars
Want to learn more about commissions? Check out our other Commissions 101 posts!
