Advice about holding a giveaway?

[Taxel]

Long story short, I make OOAK little jointed dolls and right now I'm switching clay brands. I'm using up all of my old brand to get rid of it but the dolls aren't sellable quality as I'm experimenting with them. They're all perfectly fine, just some minor issues here and there, but I don't feel comfortable selling them. I decided I want to do some sort of free giveaway. When I'm done with all my old brand in a few months I'll have at least 50-60+ dolls that I need to find homes for.

So far I'm thinking of running it on Facebook so I can get exposure for my not-yet-open shop. I'll probably allow people to have as many as they want, but with one catch: they have to pay for shipping (and packing materials if they want a lot). We have absolutely NO money for this and cannot afford even a single person trying to scam us out of the shipping money. Even just one person making things up and filing a case could have a big impact, like keeping us from being able to pay a bill on time. So obviously I'm very worried about the possibility.

Basically what's the best way to go about this? I'm thinking I'd just do first-come-first-served, no holds, no raffles, just you pay and I mail once the money transfers out of Paypal. Would that be okay or would I be better off selling them for $1 each or something along those lines? Or is it too risky and I shouldn't do a giveaway at all? If I have to get rid of them another way I'm not sure what I'd do... they're a little creepy so I doubt they'd go over well donated to a nursing home/shelter/hospital/etc and I don't know if people around here would like their style.

[ponygirl74]

Any pictures? Creepy might work for me, I'm making a Death Breyer pony and a Death ( more fitting with the book of Revelation ) horse. 

[banditpony]

What about giving them away with the purchase of a new item. Buy one get one bogo type of thing.

Of course, you need the new materials now for that option

[lovesbabysquirmy]

As long as you accept Paypal, there is always a way for a buyer to initiate a claim and have their money refunded.    Buyer's Protection and all...

[Loa]

Why would you not try to sell them, even for a small amount, to try and get some money back? If a refunded payment will cripple you financially, it would be silly to give product away!

[Taxel]

I don't have any clear photos of the new ones, but here's a couple photos of older ones. They're all the same style but colors and size vary. Most of the new snails don't have arms and some of them have decoration on the shell.
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I don't feel comfortable selling them because they're not sellable quality, as far as I'm concerned. They're experiments so some of them don't stand up right or have flaws I'd prefer not to sell (nothing major, but things like a not-so-pretty entry hole for a joint or limbs not being perfectly straight). I've also recently found out that the clay I was using wasn't as good as I was originally told so I'm rather embarrassed about using it for so many years. The dolls are perfectly fine and can be played with (by adults... not sure how well they'd stand up to rough kids), posed, etc and survived my carpet drop tests so far.

On top of that I don't even know if they'd sell. I don't have the funds to open an online shop and clearly this thread will not get me any business here, lol. I don't want to have to hang onto them for ages and ages on the off chance that they did end up selling. They're small but when there's so many they take up a surprising amount of room. I only have 26 made so far and my work space is getting very cramped (and counting them makes me realize I might have closer to 100 when I finish). I was going to PM someone on the Arena that I know is a fan of them but they haven't been online in a month so I'm kind of at a loss.

Some sort of BOGO deal would be great but yep, the not having the new materials (and no shop) creates a problem with that. I'd rather not have to hang onto them all winter in the hope that I can set up a shop next spring/summer, but that's definitely a good idea in case I have to!

[ponygirl74]

They look Pink Floyd The Wall ish. I'm a Pink Floyd fan, they appeal to me. What material are they made of?

[Taxel]

I never thought of that but you're right, they kind of do!

They're made of polymer clay, a mixture of Sculpey and Fimo. Fimo's alright but apparently Sculpey is the most brittle of all name brand polymer clays.

Edit: Almost forgot but they're glazed with Sculpey Gloss glaze.

[Galactica]

I think they're interesting! I like the snail one-

I'd say try to sell them for small amounts to try and recoup your material cost.

[Loona]

I think they are cute, not creepy ^^ how big are they? I like the first, greyscale-ish ones the most ^^
I agree with the Pink Floydish comment, and I also think their expressions resemble that of kodamas.

I don't know how much shipping would cost to me and I unfortunately would't be able to buy until August even if they'd be reasonable, but in case you put them up for sale and some of them will still be up by then, also depending on their size I might be interested in a few. they might even be a nice company on my office desk.

[Taxel]

They range from around 1 1/2 inches to 3-4 inches long. Bigger is a bit more common because its easier to work with. The smallest ones are almost only snails and I generally try to keep them at least 2 inches long, but scraps have to be used somehow!
Its funny you say that because they're actually called Kodama Dogs

Feel free to PM me so I don't forget and I can grab you photos of the currently available ones and get you an estimated shipping quote. I can put aside however many you want and of course the only cost would be shipping. One of the palettes I have planned is similar to that group photo so I can let you know once those are done too, if you want!

3 color palettes made 26 dolls and it looks like I have around 15 more palettes worth of clay. Based on that I'm guessing I'll have at least 115 dolls, possibly up to 130 x.x My boyfriend wants a handful, I'll probably keep a few, and some will be friends or relatives but I highly doubt I can get that total number above 30ish even if I gift to everyone I can think of.