I've been encouraged to launch a kickstarter to fund post-production for a shortfilm that I'm currently shooting with puppets. I've made the puppets myself and anyone that sees them keeps asking me if I can make one for them! So I had an idea for a funding goal - 'Hand made puppet head in your likeness'.

How much hurt am I setting myself up for? Each puppet head took me roughly 4 hours to make and cost around £30. Based on this, what would be you consider to be a fair price to charge for this goal?

Thanks,

At the very least, double.  But I would recommend 100-120 to make it a less common goal (but nice when chosen) as it does take 4 hours of your time and money. 

Can we see a glimpse at your upcoming film? Set photos? puppets? Always love seeing new projects!

Can we see a glimpse at your upcoming film? Set photos? puppets?

Absolutely you can... soon! :P At the moment we're still in the pre-shoot phase, puppets are complete (minus hair) but within the next few weeks I'll likely make a post with some more current pics. I'm not sure how tolerated self-promotion is in these forums, but I will likely post my kick starter here too, so you lucky devils can buy (for the low low price of £10!) a fantastically designed, one-of-a-kind, funky puppet tshirt, at the same time as supporting a fellow puppeteer! :P

/self-promotion-over

I agree with Tygermin that you need to make the custom puppet a reward for a higher donation. Remember your goal is not to sell puppet but to fund your post production.

We are pretty tolerant of self promotion as long as you are active in the community and not just a hit and run.

£30 seems very low. My husband & I used to sell small puppets for $40 that were not custom, and even that was too much time/materials for too little money. Unless you can cut down the time it takes you, maybe simplifying the puppet, I'd recommend a higher price.


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The most picked perk on Kickstarter is US$25 (about £16.5) and the average backers spend is US$70 (£46). [Source]

I would expect a customized reward to fall above the average in any Kickstarter project which would mean an absolute minimum of £50 (but I would definitely go higher than that). Treat it like you're outsourcing it to yourself, make sure you pay for materials, your wage, postage and then add a profit that goes straight to your shortfilm. If you like you can also add some value by adding a shirt, DVD and/or something in other rewards to it to beef it up a bit more (of course making sure you add those prices for the extras to the reward).

On top of that I would limit the reward to 10 or less backers. 10 backers would be a weeks worth of work making puppets, which is a week of not working on your short film.

Remember that everyone doesn't need to be able to afford the custom puppets... That's why you have shirts.

Wow making puppets takes so long. I'm gonna post a few progress pics here just because I'm not posting them anywhere else and its nice to share.

Next steps are wigs and clothing. Hoping to be filming in Oct.

Looking good! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Trying to keep them simple so I can put lots of accessories on down the line. Can anyone give constructive criticism?