I've tried reading around the threads on the main forum, and am still having a bit of trouble finding information the best pricing schemes, releasing in shop vs. releasing in batches, etc. If someone could point me in the right direction (i.e. to another thread), much thanks, I'll lock up here.

OTHERWISE - if I wanted to release one batch at at-cost, and like three more batches in shop to make a profit, is that possible? I am prepping to release my first CW, and I have really no idea how to go about the pricing issue. What is the difference between releasing in batches, and having items purchasable in my CW storefront? If an item cost me 4000 CSC to make, I know I need to sell at 400 CSC/each for a batch of 10 to break even. I think.

Would be every so appreciative if this is broken down somewhere for easier understanding.

hm, ok so if you release in batches, it's easier to make back the sP you spent because you have buyers covering the cost of it, whereas it is cheaper to release direct to shop (1500 CSC in the case of a 4000 CSC item), but you are not guaranteed enough buyers to make back what you spent.

however, if you release in batches and you want to release more copies, you have to pay for each extra batch you release which means finding more buyers to cover the slot price, whereas releasing direct to shot you can sell as many or as few copies as you want at no further charge than what you paid initially. so batches are pretty good for making a profit, but you have to find enough buyers for each batch; releasing direct to shop, it is still very possible to make a profit, but it is not as immediate and not guaranteed.

i suppose you can fill slots on the first release of an item and then do the rest direct to shop, but i can't say i'm entirely sure how that would work as i've only ever done one or the other, not both for the same item.

- thanks, that made much more sense to me. Appreciate it!

Hey there c: So I don't know if you're going to be drawing your own items or commissioning them, but if you commission them then usually the artist likes to have a copy too. So your first batch of the item will only have 8 (or 9 if they don't want a copy, or you draw your own item) slots available. This means that you need to charge extra in order to break even, or to get as close as possible. So for a 4000 CSC item, the usual slot cost would be 500. That would be just enough to break even on your first batch.

It's extremely easy to move your item into your CW shop after the first batch (There will be a link at the top of the Create CW page that says "To order more of your CWs click here" or something like that, it brings you to a list of all the CWs you've submitted and you just click a link there to move the item. Then you can set the amount of copies you want to sell, and the price. Some people raise the price in their CW shop vs. the first batch; personally I don't but it's up to you (I've only moved a couple of items into my CW shop and I plan to move one more there, if I can fill the first batch. The others have been direct-to-CS submissions and I still charge the minimum but that's preference)

I will say that people tend to put off buying items in CW shops because they're available for whenever they get around to it, it might be different if you limit the batches, I'm not sure. It all depends on how popular the item is c: Sorry for the huge wall of text but I hope it was clear haha

Thanks for the advice, I chose not to do direct to shop! :D

I do have a quick question. I have submitted the item for approval, which probably won't happen til this upcoming. I noticed I can already assign slots (one zero one I already edited for the designer), but should I already go ahead and start taking orders for the rest of the slots before approval? Is that normal? If I have already paid the 4000 CSC, where does the rest go...? To me?

It seems like the whole selling part needs a guide thread, is there one that you know of?

No, I don't know of a guide. But yes, it's common to start taking slots before approval c: If you pay the 4k yourself upfront, you'll have to sell the copies (which sometimes proves harder, but maybe that's because I'm only dealing with batch spares on potentially unpopular items, who knows). If you already paid the 4k then it should be submitted for approval already, and you'll have to wait (well I suppose you wouldn't have to but it's not very common to submit the item into the queue yourself, then take slots before approval)

. Darn it, yeah, it's been submitted and I paid in full for the first batch. Sigh - ugh, is there any way to cancel mine and start it over?

EDIT: NVM, I cancelled and I'll figure this out in the morning. Thanks a million for your help.

You could just wait for it to be accepted and sell the first batch's copies that way; sometimes people do that but in the event that they don't sell you'll be stuck with them; that's the only reason direct-to-CS is nice, once you've gagued interest a little bit c: But thank you for the gift ;^;