What happened to the customs market?

[Colorscapesart]

Curious for your thoughts as I have been in and out over the past few years.

Not so long ago, I was able to earn a little extra pony $ with a nice re-root and paintwork pony bringing in around $30-$40.
I attended a local meet and watching ebay/Mercari. 

Now, they sit.  At $20, maybe, maybe a nice simple custom may sell. 
I love to make elaborate, sculpted, airbrushed over the top things, but I'm scared to invest the time and money in something that will be a loss.  Even breaking even on supplies would be ok for the love of the craft but losing money on each piece isn't something I'm as interested in.

I realize those artists who have cultivated a reputation have no issues in this.  But I'm astounded at the lack of customs and the few I see just sit.

Am I crazy or has something changed significantly?

[BlackCurtains]

Prices have gone up on nearly everything, so I think people aren't buying as many fun things. That and the state of the world right now, people are worried, scared, saving their money.

On the flipside, places like InstaGram and Youtube have become very popular for pony creators and I know for example, Fire Helix and Blazen Heart, don't have any issues selling. I think the places to sell have changed as well. eBay isn't a good place for customs anymore. Etsy is... okay. But most people have their own website, or sell on IG.

Also those who sell promote themselves everywhere on social media, even if it's just to show a picture, give some info and link to the main place they post.

On a personal note, you know how much I love your work I'm sad that this is keeping you from making more elaborate things but I understand. Honestly, I think if you put the time and effort to get yourself out there again, you'd have no issues selling and you'd get followers fast.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

shipping is insanely expensive. 

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I just listed a fakie custom I did on Mercari, but agree Instagram is really the main base for customizer sales from what I've seen.

[Colorscapesart]

Ooooh....good points all around.  I have the customizing itch regardless now. LOL

What are your fav instagrams for customs?  I have 0.

[Snapdragon]

I do get the sense that we're seeing a shift towards the 'personality driven' type of sales. It's not just who has the most beautiful result - it's who has the most social cachet, the 'hunt', the personality you follow for weeks and watch the ponies in progress, and hope to snag one at the final sale. And, of course, beautiful photos of the process!

It's funny how times change. I listed a ton of regular ponies near the start of the pandemic (when I realized that I wouldn't be able to take them to a con to sell en masse), and I had a friend tell me, 'it's a good thing you didn't list these in a flash sale, or I might have had to buy some.' Like, to me, a straight sale or eBay auction/BIN has always been the norm; now I'm literally being told that half of the fun is the panicked buying of a flash sale! (Meanwhile, I'm avoiding flash sales because I'm not fast enough! )

One of the big examples I've seen this shift in is Eponyart. She's a consumate artist, hugely talented, been selling since the G3 days on eBay. I'd add her customs to my watchlist, and it made me sad when I saw these beautiful works not selling, or getting relisted a few times. She joined Instagram moderately recently, and it seemed as her follower count picked up, so did her sales. (I can't speak to the truth of what she's experienced of course, this is just my view!) It seems like her ponies sell much faster, and sometimes get claimed from IG before they're even completed.

A similar artist is Lachlanavintage - she started out just making 'super glam' customs for herself, it seemed, and then people showed a lot of interest. Now, she makes a whole wave of customs in a set on a theme, and sells them all within the same few hours in a flash sale style format. She generally has a range of prices, from more basic ($45) to the more elaborate ($100+), and she's literally had to institute a randomizer process just to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance at a pony. Her customs are CRAZY sought after!

I also see a lot more custom flipping. I see some customs being sold under a year after they were bought, although those seem to be more of the 'factory style' ones I see churned out on Facebook. I haven't seen any resold customs by Eponyart or Lachlanavintage, for example, but I could just be missing them. I suspect we have folks struggling to find entertainment while a lot of the world is closed down or quarantined, but we also have folks struggling for money as the pandemic drags on and prices for everything rise while wages stagnate.

I think it's a lot of things, but I'll agree with you, it seems like the custom market is struggling in the way I've seen it up until now. I won a G3 custom on eBay a few months ago - adorable, pompom styled hair, lovely paint, you name it - and I think I paid $15 because I was the only bidder. It was awful! I felt so bad for the artist, it was clear this was a labor of love. (And here she is! The artist is Prizepuppy on Instagram!)

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 

I think the collectors are shifting to different ways of buying and selling, and it's being reflected in the way customs are bought/sold too.

I follow some really great artists on IG, and I'm sure you know some of them - Firehelix, Pandabearchan (her SN is Customsbypandabear), shadowonthemoonart! But I also recommend Lachlanavintage as I mentioned, and the lovely Eponyart! PoniesYeah is also on there now too, although she only does illustration work now, no custom ponies. But it's great to see she's still around making art, and she still draws beautiful unicorns! She's on there as Tamiserystreet, and her illustration company, CTKRStudio. If you like G4 customs, there's also the absolutely stunning works by Atomicglittery! Mylittleponyland also makes beautiful G1 customs (her latest is a series of G5-G1 translations!), and Ponylicious_customs makes a lot of really cool G1-inspired customs on HQG1C bases! There's also the official HQG1C account of course, which highlights works made on their blanks! I'm sure there's way more custom artists that I'm drawing a blank on, but these folks will give you a great start! I'd share my account, but I'm so slow at posting art, it's mostly just photos of my collection on there! But I'll give you a follow!

[Colorscapesart]

Created a new Instagram and Facebook page to start slowly filling with ponies.  Following all those great Instagram suggestions!!

I'm old so.....how does one snapchat ponies?

[Snapdragon]

Woo hoo, one of us! One of us! So when you say Snapchat… do you mean the app Snapchat? I have not yet looked for ponies on there!

[Colorscapesart]

Well don't follow my lead on anything here. I thought someone said SN for one of the media sites?

I'm a dork, it was for screen name.

I don't use snap chat I just misread the post. LOL

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Snapchat is dying! Don't use it for customs, lol.

Use hashtags! Look at populra posts for ideas of which to use

[Snapdragon]

Ohhhh yeah! SN! That was the popular vernacular when I was coming up, but it may make no sense to anyone else anymore! 🤣 The one that confuses me every time is PFP - it stands for Profile Pic. Man, profile is one word!! 🤣 Just use avatar!! /shaking her cane at the youths

[Carrehz]

The one that confuses me every time is PFP - it stands for Profile Pic. Man, profile is one word!! 🤣 Just use avatar!! /shaking her cane at the youths

That one drives me crazy too! We already have terms for that, we don't need any more! I suppose I get 'avatar' falling out of use, with Twitter's character limit everything has to be abbreviated so much now, but why not just use 'icon', it means the same and it's only one character more than PFP! Argh!!

[BlackCurtains]

I hate that too! It's avatar or just ava/avi. Screen name wasn't widely used when I got the 'net. We used handle, like we were all truck drivers or something

[sunnydaze]

Yeah I'd skip snap for sure! But maybe TikTok the process?  Funny to see so many familiar names on here replying I guess we got on with our lives and put the ponies on the shelf for awhile!

I have an almost 9 yr old son now so I haven't had much pony time available for yrs... but I'd like to actually work on a couple.

[Zapper]

I think another issue is most customizers use G3s but G3s are considered vintage now. Getting a sought after G3 might be more valuable to some than getting a G3 custom.
It also seems like people consume all sorts of collectibles nowadays and not just one. Some even collect stuff that expires, like make-up. It means less money for specific items and more erratic collecting.

Just my two cents, I wish you good luck getting the word out about your artwork again!