As a casual cosplayer, can confirm it takes forever to make anything. Also, buy her books.

Svetlana also forgot to mention the people who don't want to pay your wages, want to hagge down the price, sometimes even below the material cost, and then refuse to accept when you don't want to take their commission. 🙃

Buy her books, then do it yourself. She and Bennie literally shared all their secrets with you.

The admission that her prices aren’t affordable for most people is so refreshing! Artists need to have the guts to admit that their art is out of the reach of some people.

I’m an artist and I totally understand this. people want you to do it for almost free lmao :)

This is what I tell my coworkers when they say I should build full time. People who want the costumes either want to build them themselves or they can’t afford me.

As a seamstress and cake decorator, I can confirm that people literally expect me to make LESS than minimum wage for my work. You explained the pricing very well!

Thanks for sharing this! People often tell me, “you should sell those!” and I just shake my head and laugh lol I remember when I realized I had only made $0.30 an hour on a commission. Never again! 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤣😂🤣

I wish those idiots who claim that commisioners are overpricing a “piece of plastic with some paint of it” would get this

So true. My wife's an artiist. She has multiple qualifications in art and design and is super talented (not only in her husband's biased opinion 😉). She basically works minimum wage on commissions, earning in a day what a plumber charges for a couple of hours. Creative work is seriously under valued.

Here's the thing that anyone in the cosplay community or anyone interested in getting into the community should know - it's basically haute couture and high fashion but for geeks. Now if you know how the economy works in that kind of industry, then you know; you have no right to complain about pricing. There's some real money out here that needs to rightfully circulate to the cosplay makers' way because the work that these cosplay makers do is straight up artisan work, a sort of new school set of "métiers d'art" that, thru the borrowing and incorporating of some traditional techniques (again, from high fashion and haute couture) is more than capable of creating entirely different strains of savoir-faire that may even be more difficult than actual haute couture and high fashion. So yeah, be thankful that some makers are ok with setting up price points that are, as we should know by now thanks to this vid, considerably cheap. Stop being gripy about makers indicating actual costs to creating these art pieces.

As a plush maker who makes highly detailed plushies people don't realize how many hours go into making high quality crafts. Your cosplay outfits and props are SO worth the price!

Thats why there's more money in teaching others to do this stuff, rather than making stuff for others.

This is so important to talk about! And it also applies to requests from friends. Asking for a lot of money from a friend can be awkward, but remember that if they ask you to make something for them, they ARE commissioning you and should pay you for your time and effort. And most importantly, you ALWAYS have the right to refuse a commission or request!

tis made me realise that i need to start charging more for my stuff, despite the fact that i like being cheap to people because then its affordable but i don't think thats gonna work out anymore

Also, keep in mind how high quality Kamui Cosplays stuff is! Of course this hammer costs a fortune because it has a ton of details. Without electronics and a much simpler paint job it may be actually to make a comission out of it. But not every artist wants to dull down their skill to sell you something cheap

There is also a pervasive issue of underpaid labor that deeply affects the way we perceive cost. As a professional stitcher and garment maker, this is a painful truth to keep coming up against. I experienced all of your bullet points first hand as a small business owner, and it very quickly became impossible to sustain.

“I hope the commission requests stop” hahaha hahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH baha haha - oh Svetlana, you’re so funny

this applies to anything custom made. Most people dont understand the time and effort necessary to make a custom unique item. They see something similar in the supermarket and go off of that price point. For anyone interested in having something made custom, assume the price will have an extra 0 or two at the end from what you might think it will cost.

People always underestimate the cost of labor.

This is important info for those who want to make money through commission work.Thank you kamui.

I’ve attended enough Cons to know that most costumes take 5 to 8 months to build some are longer some are shorter in duration to make. People are constantly surprised at how long it takes to make and the costs involved. An acquaintance makes weapons props from TV, games and movies for sale and depending on how intricate or big it is they sell from between $100 to well over $9000 per piece and there is a minimum 2 month wait time depending on the piece.

C O R G I FOR THE ALGORITHM!!

Would love to see a video showing a typical day in the Kamui Cosplay house! Such as how your time is split between making costumes for yourself vs commissions vs the boring, boring admin!

Not only commission work. A cosplay usually takes way more thought, design, work, material cost, etc. than u might think! Keep that in mind :D Sometimes I feel underestimated while wearing a cosplay

Why is it that so few people understand this. I used to do commision figurine painting but i was always working at a rate that was below minimum wage. It gave me experience at painting in ways i would not have chosen myself but it also took the passion and enjoyment out of what was my hobby before. I stopped commisions and no longer paint for pleasure. The pressure of timelines killed it for me. Once a hobby became a stressfull job i gave it all up. And no longer paint. Think long and hard before turning a pleasure into a profession. All the best .

Oh my gosh YES Im so glad you put in the numbers!! People have no idea how much TIME, EFFORT and SKILL it takes to make a costume!! Thank you so much! Will definitely share this woo!

The nicest and most informative way of saying “stop bothering us!” Absolutely brilliant vid, well said.

I'm a cosplay crafter and I'm glad they're making that much from commissions. I've seen a lot of professional cosplay crafters yet their work are the cleanest and best crafts I've ever seen

This video is so perfect that from now on I'm going to rub it in the face of anyone who complains that commissions are too expensive or that "it's just a piece of cloth, it should be cheap" Thank You ❤️

Yah this is the story of every illustrator and graphic designer, PREACH!

This might be super random, but I so relate to this from working in pastry. People always guffaw at the "high" prices for cakes and sweets and so forth. They want the best ingredients and designs but they have no idea what is actually involved.

As an Artist & a Cosplayer I loved everything about this Video!! I hope it was eye-opening for a lot of People who have no idea how much work, time, blood, sweat & tears to into a costume like yours! Plus your energy is always so motivating - please keep inspiring us!

I love that this video is "stop clogging up our inbox, you cannot afford it, let's not waste each other's time"

Sehr gut erklärt! 👍🏻 Ich habe früher Anfertigungen gemacht und fast jedes mal über Preise diskutieren müssen. Handarbeit wird oft zu sehr unterschätzt.

I work with comissions here in Brazil, and OMG THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO 😭 tired of getting people thinking that I make things overpriced

I just love the fact that everytime she posts a video she keeps her excitement waaaaay up there and keeps pulling me into her videos. She keeps me inspiring me to keep doing my cosplays. So you GO Kamuicosplay!!!!!!!!

Amen to explaining commissioners want to earn their hourly wage! I've had people come to me explaining they're not willing to pay 100 euros for a kigurumi onesie saying "fleece can't be that expensive" Yeah of course it's not expensive, but I also work on it for about 10 hours that I want to get paid for :( It's surprisingly often that people just don't understand you have to pay a working wage to an artist instead of just materials, we put time into costumes too!

As a casual cosplayer. I’ve been working on my Odogaron armour for three years now. It takes time to make a full armour set.. so yes.. Buy her Books

We need to understand that all this creative work is priceless, I mean, without your creativity or that of other artists, sometimes we would have nothing! LOL! And yes, of course materials ARE expensive, but the value of a genius' mind is very difficult to determine, so we have to base ourselves on the "hourly price", and honestly sometimes that price is not fair. Thank you very much for the video!

BUY HER BOOKS and support the art that goes into this kind of perfection! Being a guy who does cosplay on the side and gets requests, people don't understand what kind of work and detail goes into putting this kind of stuff together. I have a feeling, like me, these two are perfectionists and probably take more time than they are even admitting on a costume!

Well done. Artists deserve to be paid and paid well. Good for you for putting this message out there. Nobody would expect their dentist or plumber to work just " for the love of it" or for "the exposure".

Having worked as a media designer in the past. I totally feel this... to many people have no idea what goes into creative work and are offended if you don't do it for almost free :/ stay awesome :)

It's refreshing to see somebody who gets it. I do custom mask builds mostly. Horror stuff usually, and I always have people saying stuff like "I can buy a mask like that for £20 online" they don't realise that they're being scammed usually or buying a mass produced item. They don't seem to think about the materials, time and talent that goes into it

Oh man, this was so bold, thank you for being crystal clear!! Also, because I can't afford your props or costumes but want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge, I choose to support you by buying all of your books. They're gold and I have used them multiple times. ^_^

This is so important for every Cosplayer and artist alike! Thank you so much for this Svetlana and Benni!

I'm 54 year's old and just found this channel. I'm not into Cosplay, but I admire other people's skill sets, and these two are fantastic. I've restoring cars as a second income. People are always asking for a discount, and I get it. But why do they keep pestering you after you tell them no! It was very hard for me to stand up for myself and my work. I finally realized that the ones who will still come and pay is enough to sustain me. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

"Yes hello, can you make me an entire metal armor cosplay for 50 bucks please?" are the same type of people who go to an artist asking "Oh you want me to pay for my commission? but the reward is EXPOSURE!"

I just want to mention that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours till be considered a professional, which I'm sure they blew past ages ago. So, if anyone wants to argue that they aren't professionals and shouldn't charge so much, yes they are and yes they should.

I'm most envious of your teamwork. Talent, skill, passion and professionalism are so important. But doing what you love with someone you love must be amazing! All the best to you, both!

Full respect to all the cosplayers out there. The time and energy that goes into your costumes, the level of craftsmanship... respect to you ❤️

As a miniature painter, I completely get this. Art takes time and no one should value their time too low, then you have surcharges in material etc.

So interesting! Glad you don’t under value yourselves and charge what your work is clearly worth!!

I truly know what you mean. I recently took on making a Murphy bed (actually it's a Jesse Bed) for myself. It's taken me over 3 months to create. The main reason is I used different materials than most people did to make the bed. My wife found a metal tube bed frame behind some building and I drove to pick it up. I used oak paneling to cover the bottom of the bed but little did I know how many complications it created instead of making one out of wood but it was so much lighter. The metal frame had many protrusions though, like hinges and bolts so I had to make many notches in the paneling. My favorite part was using pillow blocks for the bed swiveling device instead of a boat chair swivel that many people use cause it was much smaller, much sturdier, and easier to remove the bed frame if I needed to make any adjustments to the entire project. My favorite part was adding a window portal from a boat to access the side cabinet without getting out of my bed and seeing my clock or getting something to drink, and I was able to customize the inside of the portal with space pics. "Scotty I need more power." (yeah I'm also a Trekkie) It is actually an experimental model only one of it's kind, and I did do things that didn't work but overall it was a grand success. I don't think anyone would pay what I want to create another one but it takes a lot of time and also wait time for materials to dry, recover from welding in the sun and working in the over 97 degree heat without a workshop or an air conditioner. Yes you read that right. I had to do it all in my 10" x 10" bedroom and had to sleep on an air mattress in another room for quite a while. But the finished product is amazing. Thanks for all you do I love watching your channel no matter what you put up. You've inspired me to do things I wouldn't ordinarily do...

This is why cosplayers do their stuff themselves. Paying others to do so is waaaaay too expensive 😭 but also, people who get mad at the high prices... it's really insulting. Like you are not a volunteer or a slave, it's normal for things made by artists to be expensive. And you are an artist!!

The video that all of comission makers waited...

So the short answer to "do you do commission?" Is: - Yes but for company only not private persons. :)

Im so happy that you are talking about this subject! So many cosplayers struggle with clients who dont understand the worth of materials, time, research put into each commission... ;_; This video is so informative and i it hope will reach many people, thank you for that!

This is a super helpfull and great explained video about commission work. As a fulltime-commissioner based in the same country (Germany) I can easily admit all of this is true, however I still enjoy my business a lot and if you find a way for yourself how to handle customers, requests, prices and everything else, you CAN charge more or less fair prices (there's no upper end since you're a artist & specialist in this case, as Svetlana mentioned), and therefore even produce full costumes. I'd say the most important part here is that a commission (similiar to the Nergigante costume f.e.) priced for 3500€ f.e. just needs to be squeezed in balance with the working hours etc. and the quality of the costume, so you need to find the right balance to make it possible without charging 10k or work unpaid/underpaid for the customer and therefore time's limited and it couldn't be a 1:1 copy of Kamui's masterpieces, for example. STILL every commissioner gives their best to create the best-possible commission result within their limits, same goes for me. :) Keep up the great work, guys!

As a composer, I absolutely love this video. The sooner audiences truly understand and respect the expertise professional creatives have, the better.

I’m personally glad you guys focus on the tutorial side of cosplay because I loooove making my own things as well, it’s seriously the best hobby ever 😍 Your videos are by far my most important resource! 💕

When buying a commission, it's the same as buying a work of art. Think about that. :)

U can also sell props depending on level of detail so high detail is expensive & low is cheaper, i’d personally prefer to simplify things bc detail takes too long & i wanna help ppl get cheaper but still high quality armor

Just got my books and I'm super excited can't wait to get started!

the 7 people who've disliked this so far are probably the ones who ask for free shit and say "do it for the exposure!"

i love the energy in this video, buy her books!

This is such a great video for not just costume builds. All custom work such as furniture always seems a surprise to people. Thank you.

Its so good to see someone make a video like this to explains how much effort and cost goes into the the creation of any object, costume. darn good video.

Thank you for this Kamui!!! I am constantly told by family and friends that I should "make costumes to sell" or that I should do commissions, and I keep having to explain this very thing to them over and over. Cosplays take me months to make and most people can't afford to pay months worth of full time wages for one costume. It just wouldn't be sustainable.

I've commissioned a cosplay from someone in the past, and it was of better quality than your average regular outfit. It was originally going to cost around $375 USD but was bumped down to $300 because it was delayed. It was absolutely well worth the money and then some, and I got a lot of mileage out of that cosplay. Meanwhile, I'm an artist and have been taking illustration commissions for 10 years. I've changed my prices many times over the years but it's still nowhere near industry standards, and absolutely does not match up to the local minimum wage given the time it takes. Still, I lowball myself due to 1) low self-confidence, 2) how much time it takes for me to actually get around to working on it due to mental health issues, and 3) higher prices would likely scare off potential clients even if I hardly get any in the first place. Know your worth. Take the time and materials into consideration, not to mention how much time it took you to *get* to your skill level. Don't undercut yourself!

I got into cosplay because of Svetlana's videos, and boy did it make me appreciate and marvel at her and Benny's work EVEN MORE. Just recently I tried to sew a bodice pattern 7 times before I got it right. And that was just with test fabric. And I can't imaging how much footage and work is cut out of the final videos.

You always find the perfect way of explaining things! I hope people receive this message loud and clear lol!

15min video just to tell us why we NEED TO BUY THE BOOKS to do it on our own. 😂 Seems like many people underestimate the work, despite you already showing mishaps and redo-cycles in your videos and your skill level being so high, paying minimum wage would be just offending.

Great video! Consumer prices & the throwaway culture completely destroys perceptions of how much an individual person's labour and time should be worth. Big business exploits new employees' naivety to pay them minimum wage, and so the cycle continues. It's not until you become self-employed that it becomes clear how much you have to charge to not only pay the routine bills but make enough profits to cover emergencies, quiet periods with very little work, maintenance of equipment & premises, accidents and a retirement, etc, that you realise.

That video is so important!! I hope it gets the view and shares it deserves because it's probably going to save a lot of artists a lot of time, thank you!

I am happy, that you tackle this topic. I talked with some freelancing friends about commision work, and most agreed it's not as easy as one thinks (especially the mailwork). Hearing your oppinion on this confirms that. Thank you a lot! :)

Yeah, it's so hard to find the balance with commission work, I considered doing it but decided against it since the pricing gets pretty crazy 🙃

Just calculated the cost of my last (almost finished) cosplay. If I was paid like a german electrician, my cosplay would cost 150325$ Well ... it's 30 times more than my annual income. Too bad I can't sell it for this price.

Beautiful to see a couple sharing their passion and work together to turn their ideas into reality.

Thank you so much for everything you have made so far ! I definitly learned a lot thanks to your books ^^ You absolutly deserve all the good going your way!

Thank you for making this video. I got this many times when I sell my props on etsy and it's very frustrating when customers don't get why it is so expensive. Also with the time you spend on each prop like you said, the bigger or detailed the project, the more time it takes.

Having built several elaborate Halloween props on commission, I can confirm that everything Svetlana says is 100% true. I continue to make custom sock monkeys on commission because I love seeing the joy on people's faces. I've done the math and I make about $3 per hour. In other words, one-quarter of the minimum wage here in California. CORGI!! (Buy her books!) 🙂🇩🇪🇺🇸❤️

Both of my middle-schoolers are in the arts and super into cosplay and anime. I turned them onto your channel both for the artistic creativity AND for the business sense. I will make sure they watch this. Very inspiring!!!

I just received the book I ordered from you! How special that you signed it! It was very encouraging and I want to express my gratitude. Also- thanks for the corgi sticker and other cards!

You should mention at the end of each project how long the whole project took.

"How to make a small fortune... start with a bigger one!"

Ich bewundere deine Kostüme schon eine halbe ewigkeit. Cool das ihr das mittlerweile hauptberuflich machen könnt 👍👍 weiterhin viel Erfolg und ich bin schon auf die nächsten Kostüme gespannt 😊

Creative artistic types know all to well how much time and effort it takes to create a one of a kind work of art. It’s a hobby and passion project. I would expect it to cost a significant amount based on the time and effort it takes to make an original piece of art for someone else. You make great tutorials. People should be inspired to try it themselves, it’s very rewarding!

About German minimum wage: A lot of employers pay less than that. They get fined for doing that but the fines are too low for them to care about getting caught.

Now i feel embarrassed by the fact that I do custom genshin costumes for 120$ with materials QwQ

Thanks for this video! I'm a puppet builder for TV and this was very helpful for addressing commission work in my field where prototyping happens with many builds.

This is exactly what I try to explain with my 3D printing business. There are so many other expenses than just the plastic. I love how honest/open you are :D

Ohaaa ich wusste gar nicht das du Deutsch bist, du bist eins meiner größten Vorbilder, ich finde es so krass wie detailliert, hochwertig und wunderschön deine Arbeit ist! Ich arbeite auch daran, irgendwann vielleicht ein 20% so gutes Cosplay zu machen. Du motivierst mich echt weiter zu machen, obwohl meine Cosplays im Vergleich zu deinen echt gar nichts sind, dankeeee❤️❤️❤️✨✨✨✨

I make tabletop miniatures for my D&D games, and people always remark how I should try doing it as a job since I enjoy it so much. No. Just no. It takes me about a weekend (12-20 hours of work) to make a miniature start-to-finish. So for it to be worth my time financially, I'd have to charge around 200€ for a 1-2 inch miniature. Which I understand is not a reasonable price when services like Hero Forge can 3-d print custom minis for $20. There just isn't a price point that is reasonable for both me and the customer.

This was awesome! I admire how you finish a huge overwhelming project!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! People don't understand that they aren't just paying for the materials but also your time and your knowledge.

So awesome. I love the honest pricing! Artists and creators should never feel bad or be shamed for charging an honest price! Keep up the great work!

Great video, you explained everything really well. We're so used to pricing from mass production, most people don't realize the cost to make ONE, ORIGINAL thing.

Such a great explanation of all that goes into commissions. As an artist I found your explanation very affirming.

This was a very insightful video! It makes sense why certain cosplay commissions can cost so much after watching those pricing calculations 😅