Being that spinnerbaits have mechanical & moving parts an upgrade is possible by replacing and tuning those parts. So Donald's point is right on. In the case of a hard plastic lure the game changes in that there are no moving parts other than possibly hooks and internal weights. I've learned over time that knockoff lures tend to vary from reseller to reseller...some are better made than others. And the process of finishing (clearcoating) can drastically alter the action of a lure as can hook and split ring choices. The same applies to a factory lure that's getting repainted. Point being...in my opinion KO's done right are just as apt to catch fish as a factory lure...all things being equal. Major differences occur when a new factory lure is designed to produce a specific action, sound, etc. KO's are a few years behind relative to those design features.

A grand in one day ain't...chicken feed...congrats . It seems that 8-11 price range is the average sales price for a custom painted lure.

Its difficult to justify the costs of a custom painted KO against a factory lure unless the buyer understands what they're getting. Because of the sometimes poor quality of KO lure blanks lots of folks are biased against them. Combine that with the low cost "offshore" lures being sold at many retail stores, BP & Academy to name two, and its a difficult proposition to sell for much more than the average price...if that. One possible solution is to resale only the best quality KO lure blanks available. Lake testing each lure before selling them is another possible value adding option...time consuming but, maybe worth the extra effort...ever get a BP lure that leaks or an Academy lure that runs goofy...I have. Anyway, I fish KO lures and spinnerbaits almost exclusively. Ones that I've painted in patterns that catch fish on the lakes I fish regularly...and I catch fish regularly...skunked once last season. To be fair...I catch most of my fish on hard plastics and spinnerbaits but, I use soft plastics and jigs whenever the situation requires that kind of presentation. Point being I know the lakes I fish and KO's catch just as many fish as factory lures of equal design and quality. Not sure how those 20-30 dollar "make you say d@mn, if you lose one" lures perform. For 30 bucks I'm gonna think and say its magic even if it ain't.

From my searches on the Internet I came up with around $12-15 per bait. I was thinking $10-12 would be a decent price. It does add up if you only paint small batches. When you order bulk hooks, baits, and hardware is when you can bring cost down a little.

I think all are valid points stated above, I do my squares and mid divers for 8 I'm doing enough of them at a time that I'm not wasting much material wise I'm keeping my average sales number higher by keeping the cost lower so my profit is still decent. I can knock out most of my patterns about 20 in 2-3 hours now. I'm not making much off one bait, but off of 20 I'm making more than some others are in the same amount of time painting 1-3 baits. My baits are not highly detailed like some of the other works of art that are posted here and other places online for me to make it worth my time to do though I can't spend 2 hours on 1 baits and make a profit.

Everyone does it a little differently and I'm not saying my way is better or worse than others just how I do it.

My sales were not as good today probably sold 60-70 baits today. I ran out of a couple patterns that were selling really well. I have taken a few solid orders from the show to. It's really fun interacting with all the customers that have bought from me in the past and they are reordering.

Enlightening reply here. On one side lures viewed as artwork on the other side lures viewed as a tool. One side focused on artistic expression the other focused on purpose. Interesting distinction. Can artwork can be a useful tool...not sure a tool can be viewed as art . As for myself I started custom painting lures with the intent to develop patterns that worked where I fished...a better tool. Later on, as I got better at painting, the focus was on painting a pattern that looked like the things bass feed on. And then came the realization that those forage species look a little, or a lot, different from lake to lake. Requires a little artistic talent when trying to mimic the look of a specific baitfish on a specific lake...the tools became more like art. Interesting thoughts from Blue Moon on the subject of custom lures and prices.

There are so many factors that go into painting and building custom baits that it becomes SCARY to me. The two biggest ones that I am dealing with are:
- Keeping it as a Hobby or expanding your work into a business.

HOBBY:
This is the route I have chosen because of the commitments and lack of help. You would think this would be a good place to start and then expand into a business at a later date. After 6 years of building and hundreds of different lures later you are still not sure of the direction that you should have taken. Here are some TFF factors that have helped and some that have really hurt.
- As a hobby, I build baits that I have used and been successful with for over 50 years.
- As a hobby, there is a story behind every lure; but there is only so many times that you can tell those stories.
- As a hobby, I only sell on the TFF.
- As a hobby, there is no Website or easy way to order; just by check or money order which has hurt.
- As a hobby, there are only so many people that you can help on the TFF.
- As a hobby, you have to rely on someone to say something good and post pictures of success to sell more product. This just doesn't happen very often. You get PM's and emails all the time about big fish and large stringers caught; but they failed to make pictures or make a post to help you out.
- As a hobby, you fear the day when all customers are depleted on the TFF and that day will soon come.
- As a hobby, you are afraid to fill the bends with parts to build hundreds of lures. This really adds to the cost of a build when you do not buy in bulk.
- As a hobby, I have failed to find time to build for the shows like F-N-S and this has hurt. Maybe next time around I will get there and see what happens.

Donald sums it up pretty well. Can't add to, or take away from, anything he says here. Whether it's best to keep it as "just a hobby" or create a business and accept the problems that go along with any business venture, that is the question??

according to the dictionary, a hobby is "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure". whereas a business is "the activity of making, buying, or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money".
seems to me that the instant you sell something you've made you're in business...like it or not, for better or worse...and with that comes all the issues don has mentioned above. the only real question is to what level you want to take that business. do you want it to be an annoying little headache that generates just enough money to fund your hobby/business or do you want it to be a full blown migraine.
i can only speak for myself but my migraine days are over. i paint lures for my own satisfaction and enjoyment. it's a creative outlet. if anybody thinks my work is worthy of ownership i will happily sell it and enjoy the fact that what i created might help somebody have a great day of fishing.
so before this gets too philosophical and sappy,,, [censored] it already did. oh well! happy painting everybody and i hope your hobby or business is everything you hoped it would be!

Hey Bo..... Yea, I'm still alive. I have owned my own business, taken micro & macro economics and marketing. Just mentioned that to say I am not just pulling this out of the air. Here is the bottom line. It is same for anything, and I mean anything that is bought and sold. The magic is supply vs demand. That sounds simple but is actually very complex. It has absolutely nothing to do with what an item costs to make. That would relate only to profit margin (which by the way can be positive or negative, with negative being not so good) According to all business models, the correct price for any product is the price where the number of items sold corresponds to the number of items produced. At one time, I sold consumer and commercial cooking equipment. I started off with 10% profit margin on everything. I sold out of my product way before I had the opportunity to present it to the maximum number of buyers. I continued to increase the price on each item according to how fast that item sold until magically "Supply = Demand". Some items still had a 10% markup while others carried a hefty 600% markup. The amount I sold matched the amount I ordered with small increases in order size to keep up. If sales began to go down, price cuts would follow to increase demand. Sorry for the long lecture but the short answer to your question is this. How many units do you want to sell? I will be easier to sell 10 units for $10 than it is to sell 100 units for $10 or even a 1000 units for $10. Basically, all that I am saying is, let the market tell you what your custom baits are worth. You do outstanding work, which will separate you from "OTHER" custom baits like out on ebay. People like to pay more for better. But the bottom line is, you will only be able to get what the market is willing to pay at any particular time. Sorry guys, just wanted to add a little different perspective to this. $5 per bait would sell like crazy but you would lose your rear, $20 per bait and you might sell a couple. Try a price, any price that you are comfortable with and the market will let you know if you did good. I hope great success to all of you because you deserve it.
CW

Wise words CW. Interesting point, about supply and demand. Anyone wanting to get serious about selling their stuff would do well to consider what you've posted.

@boisarc.....This is the same thing i told you and you decided to throw me under the bus. Now you say "wise words"....SMH!

Again Carlos??? Don't you have anything constructive to say....ever, or is trolling TFF posts just what you do in your spare time? How about a post on how to build something or maybe some observations about the sales price vs. cost of building custom lures? Jeez

I am not sure there is not a true defined amount that works across the board. That being said as a wise man in the tackle industry told me....you better value your work or no one else will. Point being don't try and undercut and cheap out on your hard work. It has value to you so don't be afraid to ask a premium for it.

Good point Mark, maybe I should raise my prices

Honestly I think my product is priced correctly for the amount of time it takes me to complete and then comparing to comparable store bought items. If I was doing more detailed patterns that had scales, stencils, 6-10 colors and took 4 hours to do 2 of them I would sure have to charge more or just paint them for myself.

Bois, I'm not really sure wha you price your baits at and it honestly isn't my place to price them. The gills and crappie patterns you do are very detailed and works of art imo. I think the price of those baits should be in the 12-15 dollar range. Again this is just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.