Custom sales on eBay

If youre customizing for money, make popular characters. Make characters with boobs. Make Deadpools and Batmans.

More imporantly though, you have to make decent customs. If your stuff looks like you threw playdoh on a figure and painted it real quick, no one will want it.

I've been making Batman Beyond customs. There is roughly ZERO interest in Batman Beyond characters, I've just been making them for myself. However, I've gotten commissions because people see what I can do and want me to make another effing Deadpool for them lol.

On the flip side, make super obscure characters. If no one has ever made a character, like my recent Scorn, collectors will buy it because its a cool novelty custom.

Start your auctions like at 50 bucks, at least try to make your money back on the fodder and a little extra so you can keep your hobby funded.

Echo what Green Skin said. A lot of these guys are on Twitter, MANY Facebook groups, Instagram, etc or they have been around for many years and have a great rep of making solid customs.

Ebay is a tricky beast too. I had a Colossus on there a few years back and it didn't sell, threw it back on there a month later and it sold for $300. Same wording, same pics, everything. Just depends who is searching while you have your stuff posted I guess.

I will pass some advice on that a customer of mine gave me a last year when another customizer posted something like your original post.

1. A lot of collectors don't understand the amount of work that goes into a quality custom, thus they are not willing to spend (DCUC or MLs as an example here) over $30 for a custom, especially if it is not that far off from something they can buy in stores.

2. Custom buyers expect perfection. Any sort of paint flaw, or brush stokes, or derby eyes can kill a custom for someone to bid on it. Most buyers want crisp clean lines, no joint rub, etc and eBay on PCs have a zoom in feature so potential buyers can really zoom in and scrutinize any paint flaws. Again, they demand perfection if they are going to be paying more than $100.

3. Like Green Skin said, make what you like. If you enjoy making customs and certain characters, I guarantee you are not the only one that likes those characters. When you make characters that you like, you put more effort and love into the figure and it will show.

There are a ton of factors besides skill that determine what your custom will sell for. Popular characters will generally go for more money than obscure ones. I say generally because timing is also a factor, sometimes an obscure character auctioned at the right time can go for big bucks. Other times a popular character will go for next to nothing if you auction it at the wrong time, like right before SDCC for example. Another thing to consider is competition, there are a lot more customizers around these days so go the extra mile if you want to stand out. Their is also your name, sometimes it takes a while to make a name for yourself in the community. In my experience people that buy customs are loyal and will always buy from an artist they know rather than someone they don't.

If you're just trying to make money then keep track of trends and make those characters over and over again. I've seen people just pump out Deadpools because they sold well, not my cup of tea but to each their own. Honestly though, just make what you like. Focus on doing the best customs you can and don't worry about the money.