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Ok all, I wanted to question the community regarding your thoughts on my basing material business, McDougall Designs. My main thread in N&R is linked below

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/725077.page

I run sales

I've added new textures and expanded my line of products to grab bags of scatter and the beginning of some terrain via road sections

I offer custom sizing options for bases

I offer group rates for wargames clubs looking to buy texture as a group.

To date, I have not received even a query for a quote from any of the forums I posted on, but have gotten sales elsewhere.

What can I do to cater to you, my fellow forumites?

While I wouldn't say there isn't a niche for what you're trying to do, I just think that your average forum going hobbyist is going to be fairly seriously into their modeling, and much less likely to be looking for a budget option over a premium alternative, and also much more likely to be comfortable doing what you're doing for themselves, which will ultimately be cheaper.

A serious hobbyist who lacks the time to make their own bases or the money to buy some of the quality bases while simultaneously finding value in your product over simply gluing some scatter or using some textured paint directly onto the plastic base is going to be a very specific individual, one that likely doesn't exist.

Much more likely to attract a casual gamer who wants something beyond sand stuck down with PVA but doesn't have the time, interest or knowledge to replicate what you offer. But you don't really find them in forums.

They look like some nice stuff, and from what I can see of the detail, the bases look like styles I haven't really seen elsewhere. Your pictures are, well, they're pretty bad, to be honest. I'm not saying that would make the difference, but it wouldn't hurt. They're cheap enough, but you can put one together from an old cardboard box, duct tape, white fabric, and a thin piece of posterboard. That would probably help the pictures more than anything even if your camera isn't the best.

 daedalus wrote:
They look like some nice stuff, and from what I can see of the detail, the bases look like styles I haven't really seen elsewhere. Your pictures are, well, they're pretty bad, to be honest. I'm not saying that would make the difference, but it wouldn't hurt. They're cheap enough, but you can put one together from an old cardboard box, duct tape, white fabric, and a thin piece of posterboard. That would probably help the pictures more than anything even if your camera isn't the best.

i can definitely work on photos

 lord marcus wrote:
Ok all, I wanted to question the community regarding your thoughts on my basing material business, McDougall Designs. My main thread in N&R is linked below

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/725077.page

I run sales

I've added new textures and expanded my line of products to grab bags of scatter and the beginning of some terrain via road sections

I offer custom sizing options for bases

I offer group rates for wargames clubs looking to buy texture as a group.

To date, I have not received even a query for a quote from any of the forums I posted on, but have gotten sales elsewhere.

What can I do to cater to you, my fellow forumites?

I remember seeing your thread's first post and thinking "more resin bases. Okay." And then forgetting you existed. In order to give you feedback, I looked at the thread again, at least until the big pic/tiny text issue overpowered me. I'm still not sure what you are selling.

What are your bases made of? How much do they cost for how many? (I clicked a link and saw a listing for $0.50, but it was unclear how many bases that covered. One?). Are there bulk discounts? Do you have a site that isn't etsy?

If you are selling bulk textured bases at a reasonable rate (compared to Proxie, Mantic, Reaper or Renedra's bases), I would be interested.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 lord marcus wrote:
Ok all, I wanted to question the community regarding your thoughts on my basing material business, McDougall Designs. My main thread in N&R is linked below

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/725077.page

I run sales

I've added new textures and expanded my line of products to grab bags of scatter and the beginning of some terrain via road sections

I offer custom sizing options for bases

I offer group rates for wargames clubs looking to buy texture as a group.

To date, I have not received even a query for a quote from any of the forums I posted on, but have gotten sales elsewhere.

What can I do to cater to you, my fellow forumites?

I remember seeing your thread's first post and thinking "more resin bases. Okay." And then forgetting you existed. In order to give you feedback, I looked at the thread again, at least until the big pic/tiny text issue overpowered me. I'm still not sure what you are selling.

What are your bases made of? How much do they cost for how many? (I clicked a link and saw a listing for $0.50, but it was unclear how many bases that covered. One?). Are there bulk discounts? Do you have a site that isn't etsy?

If you are selling bulk textured bases at a reasonable rate (compared to Proxie, Mantic, Reaper or Renedra's bases), I would be interested.

My bases are artist grade polymer clay textured and then cut to fit laser-cut MDF base blanks, then fired and attatched.

base price varies by size. Your standard 28/32mm infantry rounds or 20/25mm infantry squares cost 50 cents each. the largest base i have made was a 150mm x 200mm chariot horde base for kings of war, which worked out to $5 or there abouts. I have noted that most standard base sizes are between these two figures (50 cents to $5, most on the lower end) however i can pretty much do any size or shape base you would need.

I generally will take inquiries so as to properly quote. The etsy store is so if someone just wants to buy a few of whatever kind of base they need.

Other then bases, i also sell grab bags of texture pieces that are left after I've cut out the bases for an order and supplemented by fresh pieces cut into random sizes and shapes. I do standard plastic baggies filled for $4/8/10 for snack, sandwich and quart sizes respectively. your choice of any one of my textures or a random mix, per bag. these have been popular in other avenues, such as reddit.

Yes I can do bulk rates. this would be worked out on a case by case basis with a quote, as I'd need to do calculations on materials used and what-not. From experience I have had a few small wargaming clubs order and take advantage.

As also stated earlier, I do run sales and deals. For example, right now I'm running a promotion where if you buy 3 quart bags of texture you get a sandwich bag free.

Does this clarify things Bob? feel free to ask more questions if you have them. I am most happy to help.

Photos look bad (yes, I read they're from a customer), and the bases don't look better than what I can make with a texture stamp. I think the hardcore modellers will go with resin bases, such as Secret Weapon Miniatures, while others will make their own from stamps or the usual flock and sand.

Have you thought of making specialized dungeon tiles compatible with Dwarven Forge? Or stone walls and other terrain for armies? How about bling for various boardgames? I think these markets are less competitive than bases, and boardgamers can be a far greater market than wargamers.

ced1106 wrote:
Photos look bad (yes, I read they're from a customer), and the bases don't look better than what I can make with a texture stamp. I think the hardcore modellers will go with resin bases, such as Secret Weapon Miniatures, while others will make their own from stamps or the usual flock and sand.

Have you thought of making specialized dungeon tiles compatible with Dwarven Forge? Or stone walls and other terrain for armies? How about bling for various boardgames? I think these markets are less competitive than bases, and boardgamers can be a far greater market than wargamers.

I'm planning on it, yes. I'm stuck in the catch 22 of needing capital gained as revenue from sales.

 lord marcus wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 lord marcus wrote:
Ok all, I wanted to question the community regarding your thoughts on my basing material business, McDougall Designs. My main thread in N&R is linked below

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/725077.page

I run sales

I've added new textures and expanded my line of products to grab bags of scatter and the beginning of some terrain via road sections

I offer custom sizing options for bases

I offer group rates for wargames clubs looking to buy texture as a group.

To date, I have not received even a query for a quote from any of the forums I posted on, but have gotten sales elsewhere.

What can I do to cater to you, my fellow forumites?

I remember seeing your thread's first post and thinking "more resin bases. Okay." And then forgetting you existed. In order to give you feedback, I looked at the thread again, at least until the big pic/tiny text issue overpowered me. I'm still not sure what you are selling.

What are your bases made of? How much do they cost for how many? (I clicked a link and saw a listing for $0.50, but it was unclear how many bases that covered. One?). Are there bulk discounts? Do you have a site that isn't etsy?

If you are selling bulk textured bases at a reasonable rate (compared to Proxie, Mantic, Reaper or Renedra's bases), I would be interested.

My bases are artist grade polymer clay textured and then cut to fit laser-cut MDF base blanks, then fired and attatched.

base price varies by size. Your standard 28/32mm infantry rounds or 20/25mm infantry squares cost 50 cents each. the largest base i have made was a 150mm x 200mm chariot horde base for kings of war, which worked out to $5 or there abouts. I have noted that most standard base sizes are between these two figures (50 cents to $5, most on the lower end) however i can pretty much do any size or shape base you would need.

I generally will take inquiries so as to properly quote. The etsy store is so if someone just wants to buy a few of whatever kind of base they need.

Other then bases, i also sell grab bags of texture pieces that are left after I've cut out the bases for an order and supplemented by fresh pieces cut into random sizes and shapes. I do standard plastic baggies filled for $4/8/10 for snack, sandwich and quart sizes respectively. your choice of any one of my textures or a random mix, per bag. these have been popular in other avenues, such as reddit.

Yes I can do bulk rates. this would be worked out on a case by case basis with a quote, as I'd need to do calculations on materials used and what-not. From experience I have had a few small wargaming clubs order and take advantage.

As also stated earlier, I do run sales and deals. For example, right now I'm running a promotion where if you buy 3 quart bags of texture you get a sandwich bag free.

Does this clarify things Bob? feel free to ask more questions if you have them. I am most happy to help.

I think the point of Bob's post wasn't that he specifically wanted to know this, it's more that this info should be readily available to anyone looking at your stuff. Telling him here is all well and good but it misses the point a bit. I had a similar reaction to him when I went to check out the linked thread. The pictures are really bad, which immediately puts me off the product, and as I looked a bit deeper I also became confused as to exactly what it was you were selling, particularly in the case of the grab bags. I think others here have hit the nail on the head: I don't think your bases are that attractive to the sort of people likely to be using this forum. They're not really anything most people couldn't do themselves, and in a lot of case are already doing.

Few things I noticed -

Pay someone to take photos of your product. I need to do this as well.

Greenstuffworld okay'd this? They didn't when I asked about selling resin bases using pieces created from their brick molds. Hirst Arts has a similar legal clause with only being able to sell $XXXX amount of their casted product before it became a legal issue.

Check out squarespace or a similar service to build a site with a webstore for you after you start moving product to move away from Etsy. Do you take visa/mastercard or only paypal?

What type of resin are you using and what did you make the base masters out of? Do you have a production mold or all of these? One part or two part mold? Will they be uneven when flat? I'm looking at https://www.smooth-on.com/products/smooth-cast-60d/ with a vac chamber.

I'm looking into starting a small side company to cast resin terrain/bases/conversion pieces in the next few months. One of the product ideas I had is to offer prepainted and preflocked/customizable resin bases. I'll follow your progress.

 Stevefamine wrote:
Few things I noticed -

Pay someone to take photos of your product. I need to do this as well.

Greenstuffworld okay'd this? They didn't when I asked about selling resin bases using pieces created from their brick molds. Hirst Arts has a similar legal clause with only being able to sell $XXXX amount of their casted product before it became a legal issue.

Check out squarespace or a similar service to build a site with a webstore for you after you start moving product to move away from Etsy. Do you take visa/mastercard or only paypal?

What type of resin are you using and what did you make the base masters out of? Do you have a production mold or all of these? One part or two part mold? Will they be uneven when flat? I'm looking at https://www.smooth-on.com/products/smooth-cast-60d/ with a vac chamber.

I'm looking into starting a small side company to cast resin terrain/bases/conversion pieces in the next few months. One of the product ideas I had is to offer prepainted and preflocked/customizable resin bases. I'll follow your progress.

I can take visa/MasterCard by swipe only, otherwise Paypal.

Yes they ok'd it. Specifically with the words "no problem"

These are clay toppers on mdf base blanks. Not resin. No mold, rolled out and cut, fitted, attached, trimmed and cleaned by hand.

You make unique bases for each client? That could work

Who is your source for mdf bases? Is this cheaper than casting for you?

I'll have to email them again - that would be great if I could use a few of their products.

Looks good! Thanks for responding

 Stevefamine wrote:
You make unique bases for each client? That could work

Who is your source for mdf bases? Is this cheaper than casting for you?

I'll have to email them again - that would be great if I could use a few of their products.

Looks good! Thanks for responding

I mean whatever floats your boat. We would be making close to the same product just in different mediums.

Yes it's cheaper, and my source is a close friend who owns a laser cutter