The average custom Mesh creation fees in year 2019

[MeshPromo]

Few people asked from me for some custom mesh builds and then I searched in the forum and found very old threads of individual creators of their custom mesh creation fees. Those are higher as L$100,000 for some serious work but I'm not going to mention those threads here as its not ethical. And those are no longer relevant for current time as now more people into 3d modeling. Therefore I will try to make a fees calculation method.

 

Condition 1: Every mesh MUST include textures using UV mapping, baked shadows, specular map, normals map, LOD upload from files, physics (if needed)

Condition 2: If its a cloth, that can be able to use without using alphas of the avatar. That is the standard way to say its a good rigging. Also the cloth meshes must be deformed into good edge floor, not triangles generated by MD.

Condition 3: While keeping its high quality, the mesh must be optimized for second life to reduce the lag, including optimum polygons, minimum land impact, minimum texture maps, minimum VRAM usage.

Condition 4: Scripts are not included as for that should be calculated separately as its another filed.

Condition 5: Buyer should pay only after examine the item inworld. Seller rez the item and set the price so buyer pay it and take it. If the buyer doesn't like to buy then the seller has right to sell that item in their SL marketplace under this agreement.

 

keep in mind the above five conditions, lets see how to scientifically calculate the mesh creator fees. We agree or not the Second Life is a world wide marketplace and buyers more like to go for the minimum price if the quality is same. As 3d modeling is not that hard compared with the animating, its not fair to say European 3d artists are better than Asians. According to this "cost of living index for country 2019" https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp  the least is Pakistan (rank 119), but I select India (rank 117) because from that country a lot online freelancers are working worldwide even more than USA. In India the hourly rate for 3d artist is Rs 600 or US$8.47. https://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=3d_Artist/Salary.

 

Based on the above calculation of hourly rate USD 8.47 while fulfilling the above mentioned all five conditions, here are "my fees" for copy and modify enabled custom meshes that asked for personal usage.

 

For small props such as custom dining set or a tiny shack ,  that take around 3 hours of work = L$ 6000

For medium complex props such as custom vehicle with an interior or custom cloth, that take around 6 hours of work = L$ 13000

For large props such as buildings and other large scene creations, that take around 12 hours of work = L$ 25000

* The above rates are for general understanding only. The time taken is depend on the details the customer needed. Sometimes a detailed cloth take over 2 days of work while low poly building can be finished within 3 hours.

 

Custom Mesh Heads and custom mesh bodies : Due to the bento heads and bodies, there is no need to make custom mesh heads or bodies any more. It can be easily adjusted based on front and side photos of their reference look within an hour.

 

Custom meshes as full perm: Some people asking that way but I don't see any reason to buy or sell custom meshes as full perm. Because buyers can't able to recover that custom full perm cost by selling what they going to build and mesh creator can earn more money by directly selling in marketplace.

 

You are welcome to add your own opinions. As I mentioned above, it would be more useful for everyone if your calculation also based on some scientific method. Please excuse for my Grammar mistakes as English is not my first language.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by MeshPromo

[Ethan Paslong]

6 hours ago, MeshPromo said:

You are welcome to add your own opinions.

As I mentioned above, it would be more useful for everyone if your calculation also based on some scientific method.

This is a free world, some create for fun, some for their inworld living, and some try for their RL.
Telling others what to do isn't going to work well here.

If a customer thinks it's worth to pay you 25k for a item it's great for you, but if your customer finds a creator that takes two days more but only asks 5k you'll be out of the market soon, because guess once who will get the good references.

Your post is great for comparing, i'm pretty sure many will go under your rates now.

[Gabriele Graves]

Assuming the current 10min L$ buy rate of L$260/USD 1.00, L$25000 = USD 96.16 for 12 hours work.
That pegs this at just over USD 8.01 per hour.

Here in NZ the minimum wage is NZD 17.70 which is about USD 11.63 currently so that is much lower.
It is also lower than minimum wage in a good number of states in the US and can go as high as USD 13.25 (Washington DC) according to:

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx#Table
 

[Ethan Paslong]

1 hour ago, Gabriele Graves said:

Assuming the current 10min L$ buy rate of L$260/USD 1.00, L$25000 = USD 96.16 for 12 hours work.
That pegs this at just over USD 8.01 per hour.

Here in NZ the minimum wage is NZD 17.70 which is about USD 11.63 currently so that is much lower.
It is also lower than minimum wage in a good number of states in the US and can go as high as USD 13.25 (Washington DC) according to:

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx#Table
 

i assume those minimum wages are mentioned pre tax ( at least thats how it's done in europe .. in the Netherlands  40hour week = $10.59 a hour, tax rate 36.65% ( lowest scale) has to be deducted from that ..so net wage per hour is about 6 dollars and 70 cts ..and we don't have to do anything for that... it's taken off every month automaticly by the employer when payments are done )

So in my opinion, and nothing wrong you do it that way, but it wouldn't be the place where i look for a custom build. You'r clearly a full commercial builder.

For me even less reason to use such calculation as "advice" to most SL builders.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Ethan Paslong

[Kweopi]

9 hours ago, MeshPromo said:

Custom meshes as full perm: Some people asking that way but I don't see any reason to buy or sell custom meshes as full perm. Because buyers can't able to recover that custom full perm cost by selling what they going to build and mesh creator can earn more money by directly selling in marketplace.

 

Sadly, the hole point is here. there is no reason for someone in secondlife to pay a job like in real life except when they think it will generate an extra income by selling those items.

i like my secondlife doll to be dressed as well as my RL , but i will never pay for a mesh cloth the same amount like a real cloth.At least when are so many good items around at few hundred lindens.

Same for furniture, yeah custom work might sound nice, and possible unique ( not sure here if a bed or dinner table will be unique, more sure there will be in SL some items that look similar and way more low priced) but you know how many diners, beds, chairs are in second life?

Like every other job here, Second life have his own unique system and prices are really low. Imagine a dj or a dancer or host in a club. in RL they can make hundred of dollars / night. Here, they are happy with few hundred of linden dollars / set. sometimes even less. You work hard as a mesh modeler, they work hard entertaining people. Do you think someone who make 1-2 USD / hour will pay a 8-10 USD /hour work, even is custom?

I don't want to sound bad and make you quit creating. There are money to be made in sl, but is just harder than rl.

But there is hope.I took a fast look on your market items. they look nice and well made. My advice, make a lot of them  , wait for the customers and see how that work (it my help if you ad a note-card inside with thanks and la little quiz - are you interested in some custom work and how much you will pay for it)

Edited February 26, 2019 by Kweopi

[Chic Aeon]

Very few creators (even successful ones) make the amount of money in Second Life that the could make in the real world for the same time spent. Most have reasons WHY they work in SL and most of them are doing it for enjoyment.

I have said this a few times and it is completely true.   I used to make $90 an hour in real life (custom multi-media websites) and now I make 90 cents an hour. Still very happy I made that change. 

[iamyourneighbour]

Never compare SL to RL. 

[MeshPromo]

For 3d artists, programmers and graphic designers, there is no much difference between RL or SL.

 

Don't need to believe me, just see the rates of Second Life mesh freelancers.

https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/browse/?q=second-life-mesh

 

This is why I mentioned earlier that its better to discuss using some "scientific method", not just using emotions and opinions.

[MeshPromo]

20 hours ago, Ethan Paslong said:

Your post is great for comparing, i'm pretty sure many will go under your rates now. 

I'm pretty sure the customers are not just looking for the cheap rates, but the quality of the work. You might do their projects using prim builds for 100L$ but thats not what most of them wants. I'm pretty sure some of the customers even go for these guys who even charge 50 USD per hour (or even more) if their portfolio is a lot better than me. https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/browse/?q=second-life-mesh

Edited February 27, 2019 by MeshPromo

[PhoebeDesmons]

As a rule of thumb. If someone is not going to pay me 8-10$ an hour for my work it's not worth my time. I can easily spend that time doing the same work and getting more money long term due to selling it publicly to everyone on second life. 

I do understand that we all start from somewhere, but we shouldn't confuse "our internship period" where we are growing and taking what we can get.. with having mastered and become proficient in skills.

Personally if someone wants a project done they'll work with me and be flexible in the case they don't have a lot of money. Or I reference them to someone else I may know who is in their "internship period".. otherwise I turn down most of the requests I get. Or I throw the ball back in their court to contact me in a few days after I've gotten other work done and they don't bother to contact me. 

So if you are skilled enough to do all the work and sell it yourself there's no reason to eat into the "internship market" where you'll probably be underpaid and fighting with non-serious customers who are trying to get a project done for cheap. 

As I told another creator friend the other day. If someone expected a whole completed avatar for under $500... Then they can go take the time themselves to go and say LEARN how to make it themselves. Because if they think that $80 of effort is what it takes. Then why are we even being asked in the first place? 

Edited March 5, 2019 by PhoebeDesmons

[Reid Parkin]

9 hours ago, PhoebeDesmons said:

If someone is not going to pay me 8-10$ an hour for my work it's not worth my time. I can easily spend that time doing the same work and getting more money long term due to selling it publicly to everyone on second life. 

This makes sense. With exclusive work you only get paid once.

[Kyrah Abattoir]

The way I see it is that you should be paid by the hour.

A lot of commissions involve back and forth between the creator and the customer, explaining precisely what you want is key, and miscommunications take valuable time, if you aren't satisfied and need things changed, the time was still spent regardless, and as a result, will be part of your final bill.

There is a difference between being generous and "skipping" some hours out of the bill to be nice. And there is being taken advantage of.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

Here's the question, if your time is so valuable, why are you selling FP mesh for less than your hourly rate? A heart shaped box with a bow for one USD?  Surely your time is worth more than that?

You have only been in SL for a month, have zero clothing in your store, 15 different items and you are talking about people paying you hundreds of USD? Perhaps if you had more of a variety of items, maybe some clothing, full buildings, landscapes? Not gonna lie here, most people wont go to someone as new as you for custom work. They want someone with a presence in SL, commitment, and a stake in things. 

[Luna Bliss]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 5:52 PM, MeshPromo said:

Custom meshes as full perm: Some people asking that way but I don't see any reason to buy or sell custom meshes as full perm. Because buyers can't able to recover that custom full perm cost by selling what they going to build and mesh creator can earn more money by directly selling in marketplace.

There is a market for selling full-perm meshes. Merchants use full-perm in their larger builds to resell. The license in these full-perm meshes always states they cannot be sold individually and must be part of a larger build.

I'm not sure how large this market is presently, but it might be worth checking out with a few items to see if it's worth your effort.

[Kweopi]

considering the most expensive item on marketplace is no less than 1,000,000,000 who knows 🤑

[Harley Miklos]

On 2/26/2019 at 9:17 PM, MeshPromo said:

For 3d artists, programmers and graphic designers, there is no much difference between RL or SL.

 

Don't need to believe me, just see the rates of Second Life mesh freelancers.

https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/browse/?q=second-life-mesh

 

This is why I mentioned earlier that its better to discuss using some "scientific method", not just using emotions and opinions.

this was very helpful - thank you!