Shadow puppetry has not caught on here like other forms of puppetry. I have seen it appearing more at workshops/conferences I have attended. I think people tend to think they can make their own patterns (coloring books, etc.). Once they start, they will find out how difficult it will be.
I agree. Predominantly my patterns sell to an American audience, but I'm not too worried about that. From my own stats, I know that just as many people want to download shadow puppet patterns as those who want muppet patterns. (I get maybe 100 hits per day for shadow puppet patterns) But again, this comes back to pricing - I suspect people are just looking for, as Shawn points out, the basic outline. Partly to do with most people assuming that shadow puppets are only done in Victorian silhouette I guess. Because of this, I'm willing to bet that 9/10 people aren't willing to part with their money just for an outline of a shape.
I do not do shadow puppetry, but I often find that people see some of the stuff I do, try to do it on their own, then contact me for patterns, instructions, etc.
I had one person buy a whole bunch of my shadow puppets only to return them. Why? She was a teacher and assumed she could teach a class by reverse engineering what I had made. Suffice to say they are way too complicated for that.
This is also why I wonder whether or not selling actual shadow puppets is a waste of time. If the majority of people who are interested in shadow puppets are only interested in the patterns, then why bother making the puppets themselves? It's easier with muppets, you can sell either the puppet or the pattern no problems. Shadow puppets on the other hand are a much harder sell.
Reversing the issue, if most people are interested in the patterns and I only sell the actual puppets, are people going to be more willing to buy the puppet (ignoring the problem explained above) just because they want that particular design?
Let me put it another way: would you be more interested in learning how to make this mermaid below, or would you much rather buy it fully made from me?
http://www.puppetsinmelbourne.com.au/shop.php/mermaid-shadow-puppet
Or, going further, is it simply the puppets that I sell are too small, or are people worried about the complexity of using them... etc etc.
I really need a survey: one that tells me what stops people from buying shadow puppets/patterns. There's just too much guesswork here.
Eventually I know the main issue is that I need to get more offline selling happening, but after some experiences of local markets here I'm really unwilling to start down that route. I also believe I'd be ten times more likely to get interest in my puppets if I was a performer too; then I'd have a product to show people directly.
... Blech. Today I just feel like giving up the whole thing entirely.
Don't worry tomorrow things well look better.