Cost of Reborn Doll Explained
Many people have trouble understanding why reborn dolls are so expensive. Well, if they’ve never made one, that’s understandable, because they don’t know what the process is and what all is put into each baby. I am very choosy about my materials and take great care with that each baby look as realistic as possible and be as high of quality as possible. At the same time as keeping my quality as high as possible, I try to keep the cost down for my customers and so I don’t buy the $30 brushes (though I’ve heard wonderful things about them) or $45 thinner or high-line clothing from boutiques.So this is an example breakdown of the cost of one of my reborn dolls. For this example, I will use my current work in progress.
- $106 – Ava Raine sculpt and shipping
- $20 – body (if ordered with sculpt, no shipping)
- $30 – glass eyes and shipping
- $7 – paint. I buy big jars to save on cost, but they still run out over time and need replaced
- $3 – paint thinner
- $6 – brushes. They get worn out and need replaced fairly often to get the realistic effects. Most brushes are $5-$17 each and I use 12 main brushes on each baby, so these get worn out more quickly. Also, one brush each baby (a cheap one) gets thrown away after using it to spread glue for eyes/nose/mouth glue
- $9 – sponges. My main sponges for applying tones and shading are cosmetic wedges, but I use sea sponges for mottling effects and other sponges for special effects. These other sponges can be reused and last for several babies, but it takes 1-2 packs of cosmetic wedges for each baby
- $8 – glues and lacquers for gluing hair and glossing eyes, lips, nose, spit bubbles and/or tears
- $35 – quality kid mohair and shipping
- $10 – needles and shipping
- $6 – tiny glass beads for weighing the head, body, and limbs
- $4 – hose/fabric bags for holding the glass beads in the body and head and I also use a hose bag filled with poly pellets around the glass bead bag in the body
- $5 – poly pellets for making the baby feel cuddly
- $4 – stuffing to stuff the limbs, head, and around the poly pellet bag in the body
- $0 – I use the card stock that the hose comes with for the limb/head caps, so no cost there except glue.
- $8 – washers and magnets for the magnetic pacifier, plus the actual pacifier
- $4 – onesie
- $10 – outfit
- $3 – diapers
- $5 – blanket
$5-$15 – some sort of toy or cuddly
So that’s $35 for the minimum for what comes with them (not counting birth certificates or other paperwork).
Which brings the minimum total cost to $288 for this reborn doll, just for the supplies, and nothing added for the many many hours I put into it.
Love the new blog! We have the geestrat jobs! Can’t wait to read all your new posts!
Hi I have just started reborning and your posts have been very helpful….I was just wondering where do you get your glass beads for $6bucks!! lol I have looked and I haven’t been able to find anything cheaper that $4 dollars a pound and then you have your super exensive shipping!! Ends up being 10 pound for no cheaper than like $55-$60 somewhere around there! lol You have some gorgeous babies on here:)
Hello Lori and thank you for the lovely comment on my babies *baby hugs*
I get my glass beads from Harbor Freight (there is one about an hour from here and my friend picks them up on the way to my house every few months for me, so no shipping, but their shipping isn’t too bad either). Here’s the link http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-80-grit-glass-bead-blast-media-46426.html Hope this helps you out – $4 a pound is crazy! lol. I’d love to see some babies of yours – when you get a facebook or website up, let me know
So how much do you charge for labor. Your dolls are beautiful! I would really love to get one for myself lol. I have 5 kids and my oldest is a boy and I tried for another boy and got girls instead so I’d like a boy doll. Would you be able to make a doll of a mix of my boyfriend and I from pics of us and the 2 girls we have together?
I certainly would be able to
I would take the baby pictures of the two girls and make a boy baby that closely resembles them. It would be a portrait custom, and those prices would depend on the size and sculpt. If you take a look at the “portrait custom” page, it will give you an idea and, if you would like one, you can copy and paste the order form into an email and just email it to me at eden_52@hotmail.com