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What to charge when selling a dollhouse


CindyLee

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Does anyone have a general way to price a dollhouse when selling it? I am building one and will include all the furniture, there are no lights in it. What would I charge for it? I bought it partially built already, so it was a shell, just painted on the outside and I'm doing the rest.

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When I build a kit for a customer I quote them double the cost of the kit.

I think that is a good general rule; however, I am thinking it would probably depend on the house and how much time, effort, and detail it would require. Also, I think it would be like a real home where every extra would cost more. A "move in ready" home would cost more than a fixer-upper. That is why this question is hard to answer.

The bottom line is if you are selling to the "right" person, meaning someone who is looking for exactly what you have and knows dollhouse costs and comparisons, you will get a higher selling price than if you are selling to someone looking for a bargain or a side project.

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I was told by the owner of a dollhouse store that she is lucky to recover her costs for the kit and materials. She sold a $50,000 house once and figured she only made 10 cents per hour in labor. "You do it cause you love it", is what she said.

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It might be wiser to advertise houses on specialist sites - collector-type ones. There are many. One UK site charges £9.50 for detailed ad space. Since it is frequented by serious miniaturists houses seem to sell well - the prices are high, the workmanship excellent, and where there is doubt the seller simply says, 'please make an offer'.

There may well be dozens of US and Canadian websites dedicated to doll's house fans! eBay is fantastic but most of us go there in hopes of finding bargains.

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I think another factor is how complicated the house is because of the buyer's demands (not sure how to quantify it, but if the person is really difficult and picky, I think you need to charge more for the stress). I had a friend who used to do window treatments and she told me that she could afford to be picky - if she did not really want the job, she priced it very high. Since she was in an affluent area, if the person really wanted her to do it, they paid $$$$$$.

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You could charge for the assembly depending on what's being done to the house. We all know people are only willing to pay so much though and it also depends on various things. I remember years ago, this was the scale someone told me.

Basic assembly kit cost x 2

Basic kit plus exterior kit cost + materials cost x 3

Basic/exterior plus interior, kit cost, materials cost x 3 or 4

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I once called HBS, several years ago, because I had an opportunity to make a roombox for someone and didn't have the foggiest idea of how to charge. Don't remember who I talked to but she said rule-of-thumb is three times the cost of the materials. Forget your labor - you'll never get paid for that.

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I think it depends on what house you have and how well it is put together and decorated.

I always think put together houses are the hardest houses to sell, because they're so hard to ship. Even shipping kits is expensive these days. But beyond that, you need to look at your style of house.

DuraCraft farmhouses, for instance, aren't big sellers simply because there's a million of them around. However, the updated DC Farmhouse is not so common and is lots prettier. Definitely a better investment. So you have to know which houses are uncommon and which are not, and which people are are actively looking for.

Then there's the finishing part. I think most people can finish the outside of a house fairly competently. But on the inside, interior design counts. A lot of people just throw some furniture in and call it furnished. But take a Greenleaf kit, for example. You can just slap them together quickly if that's what you want to do, but there may be cracks where the floors and walls meet, and rough edges and so forth. Sanding, spackle, and priming make the difference between a rough looking house and one that just sparkles. Match your wallpaper to the wood floors, molding, baseboard, and furniture. Don't just throw a kitchen set into your house and expect it to look finished. Add a continuous countertop over all the tops of the lower cabinets. Run some crown molding across the tops of the upper cabinets. Make sure corners are mitered nicely - they stand out like a sore thumb if they aren't. Trim underneath the staircase where it meets the wall. Add some extra style to your floors and don't forget about ceilings!

Try to have some nice furniture in the house. There is cheap and super cheap looking (note I said 'looking' - brand name sometimes doesn't have a thing to do with how a piece looks), and then some nice furniture and of course, the high end stuff. I'd at least try to stay with the fairly good stuff, because it will make the house look classy. Bathrooms are the worst for looking childish. It's hard to find realistic bathrooms. Splurge on accessories. They will make the house. Pile the beds, put a quilt on a quilt rack, bottles on the vanity, shoes in the closet, food in the kitchen. People like to relate their real lives to what they see in miniature. A jar of Skippy peanut butter and a loaf of Wonder bread will have them oohing and ahing. Do all this even if you aren't going to sell the house with furniture. Get as professional pictures as you can manage, front, back, each room, and closeups, if possible. And don't forget to photo floors and ceilings.

Basically, you're selling a miniature house like you would a real house - you want people to see the house in the best light possible. You stage it just like a real house. You give it a welcoming atmosphere and make people want to move right in - and they will want to if you've done it right! If your house is decorated like this, with lights and all, you can ask a lot more for it than you could if you just set it up on a table, snap a few pics with some furniture in it, and post it on Craig's List.

Gee, I sure do yak and ya, don't I? Sorry to come off like lecturer. I'll leave this post up for now and then if someone thinks it's too much, I have no problem taking it down. I don't mean to come off like a know it all.

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I enjoyed what you wrote,Kelly-lots of good advice,whether one is selling a house or even just wants it completed to a level where they can be proud of what they have accomplished! I'm making notes! :)

CJ, I also like what you said about forgetting about the labor-because no one will ever really get paid what they are or think they are worth-just a hard fact of life in any field. I know others will disagree,and that's fine-I wish we could always get what we are worth. :)

That doesn't mean you should cheat yourself,of course,I just don't think people should ask unrealistic prices like we see so often on Ebay and Craigslist. If one does do it because they love it, I hope they charge prices that more people who love dollhouses can afford to pay. Just my late night 2 cents worth...

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You added a great deal of good thoughts to this whole process. I especially like your line of putting our mindset into that of staging and selling a RL house. That makes good common sense and everything else will fall into place.

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Kelly I think that might be how my husband feels (like he's trapped in an elevator) when I start talking about my dollhouses and other peoples dollhouses and various dollhouse businesses and dollhouse artists and dollhouse photography lol ;)

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I just had lunch with a friend at the DCOTA Design Center of the Americas in Ft Lauderdale. It's one of those very highend design centers for the trades only and not open to the public. As I was drooling through this massive center, I said to my friend, "what this place needs is a very high end dollhouse showroom for highend clients. You can guess the look she gave me.

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Thanks, Kat and Selkie and Karin. I really appreciate what your remarks. I've inserted my foot into my mouth so often I removed a couple molars so it could be carried there permanently. Saves time. LOL Sans sox.

Actually, Sable, that's not a bad idea. There are people who are professional model makers who generally just put together the outside of a building for architects so they can show buyers what their buildings will look like when finished. At the time I took the model making class (which had nothing to dowith miniatures the way we know it), there were supposedly only three schools in the US that taught the art of model making, and students were in high demand. This was in the early 80s before computers. I imagine if soumeone could put together half inch houses that could be seen from the inside as well, that would be a huge plus for sellers.

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I just had lunch with a friend at the DCOTA Design Center of the Americas in Ft Lauderdale. It's one of those very highend design centers for the trades only and not open to the public. As I was drooling through this massive center, I said to my friend, "what this place needs is a very high end dollhouse showroom for highend clients. You can guess the look she gave me.

Next time refer your "friend" to Mark Turpin's site: http://www.markturpin.com/

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The price depends on the type of kit. A tab and slot dollhouse can sell, finished and assembled, for up to 300% - 500% the retail price of the kit because of the time consuming and labor intensive process of the assembly. Your best bet though is to charge 200% of the kits retail price. This will be more manageable for potential buyers and where I have capped the prices on my dollhouse store as well. This works best for individual builders.

The good news is that it is hard to find someone who is willing to assemble and finish these kits. Most builders will only finish the exteriors. The bad news is that it's still expensive, shipping is extremely costly and if the house is already finished, the customer does not get to choose how they wanted it. This will make finding a buyer harder as they will have to really like the dollhouse as it is. You will not make a profit or even get full refund on your furniture though. That you will have to loose money on. Furniture is too readily available and the customer did not have a say in the style. I don't know what you can sell it at since furniture is not something I sell. I've learned a lot since I opened my dollhouse store just to continue with my hobby.

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I volunteer to be trapped in an elevator with any of the miniaturists here! Maybe we could have refreshments, too, because it will take a lot of time (and maybe beds - I know - a sleepover!).

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The only time I've sold dollhouses it was to local buyers and we consulted on what they wanted, and the houses were not furnished, just built & decorated to their specs. I build for myself primarily, and if someone begs nicely I'll sell, but usually not furnished (except the Coventry Cottage, since the furniture in it either came with the kit or was customized to fit; and the general store, since it had all the store fittings & stock).

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