Yes and no. Time for math fun. The total cost of a “run” of toys is the combined result of complexity, size, material, packaging, and number of units. Let’s look at a run of resin figures as an example. There are “one time” costs such as sculpting, rapid-prototyping, paint masters, and shipping. The one time costs might add up to, let’s say, $3,000. If you are producing 30, your cost of production will be, at the very least, $100 per piece. Add to that the $30 for casting, clean up, painting and packaging, and the per piece total is now $130. If you decide, instead, to produce a run of 100 units, then you’ll see the per piece cost drop to a total of $60, because the baseline is $30 and the casting etc, is still $30.
The total cost to produce 30 units is $3900. The total cost to produce 100 units is $6000. As you can see, in this example, it costs less per unit to make more units, but the total out of pocket cost for the run is higher.
If you’re an indie designer you’re selling figures directly to collectors, you’ll find yourself juggling some serious variables. Do you produce 100 units, and make a larger profit for each one, but risk not selling them all? Or do you make fewer units, with less profit, but improve your ability to clear out your stock?
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