Would you buy it?

[Mekaisto]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine is a very accomplished artist (although I'm not terrible), and she and I were considering undergoing a business venture (to fuel our parrot addictions).

The idea behind it is this - people send us the feathers and/or egg shells from their own beloved pet parrots (or other birds) and for a fee we paint a portrait of the bird itself onto the egg/feather, and send it back with a fancy stand/display/etc.

Would you pay for such a service? If not, why not? If yes, what kind of things would you expect or like to receive from such a service?

 

[Mekaisto]

Thank you for being so helpful - I never thought about painting anything other than the bird itself (because that's what I would want), so I should think about the option of choosing other symbols or designs

I'm still checking with Customs to see whether I can accept items from overseas - being in Australia makes everything to do with animals a lot harder
But I'll let you know if it's possible

 

[Terry57]

I would also love that, and I would love it of one of my birds! I am not sure about the Australia part as well, it may be caught up in customs.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think that's a great idea, but being budget conscious, it would depend on the price for me.

I know that kind of thing could be *very* tedious, thus justly expensive, so while I love the idea, I couldn't give a definite yes/no answer. Now IF I had all the money in the world, I would love a portrait of Kiwi on one of his wing or tail feathers, and would love to get some of my parent's birds feathers and have those be painted as a gift.

 

[mtdoramike]

It would depend on whether they were good or not. But I must advice you here that if you consider this to be a business, which the mods would, then you would not be allowed to advertise your wares here unless you became a paying sponsor of the forums. So you may want to keep this in mind.

 

[Mekaisto]

Thanks everyone, I'll keep in mind not to advertise, just see if it's an idea worth exploring.

As for pricing, I was thinking of around $60-80 (depending on complexity) for a full portrait. Obviously a symbol like Jen suggested would be much cheaper, more like $30. The cost would go up if you wanted fancy stands or displays included.

 

[tab_xo]

There is a girl in america who has a feather painting business!

She paints birds on feathers for customers! They are incredible Has even done wolf paintings on them before too!

It is crazy how much detail can fit onto a feather!


I would like one with Fargo, depending on the quality and price

 

[RavensGryf]

I say yes, the idea itself is great!

Would I buy, it depends... Assuming the money was there for it, it depends whether I thought the money charged was worth it to me. Some people LOVE trinkets and keepsake stuff, so to them it would be worth it. Other people like my mother need something to be "practical" in order to pay for it, as she isn't big on decorations.

In order to be worth it for most people I think, the artwork honestly has to be REALLY GOOD in order to sell. Be honest whether the one doing the painting is "professional level" enough, and can do each with the same level of precision every time, and if there are many to do, to be able to do good work quickly enough.
Also, a good balance between making enough money to be worth it for YOU for your labor, and not being unreasonably expensive to the consumer (who has to consider shipping charge too).

I think it's a beautiful idea and to see the little piece of art on a little stand say inside a clear plastic cube to protect it would be exquisite! VERY delicate though, and to have one shipped for any length of time might be risky for damage even with lots of padding. Good luck!

 

[Sterling1113]

You think you could work with something like a conure/pionus feather?
They're kinda small haha. But I really love the idea. Just make sure you two put together a rather extensive portfolio, just to avoid people complaining/demanding refunds because they aren't 'satisfied' with the art. Sort of like how a tattoo artist/photographer makes it rather clear what the client will receive.
I could see something like this become very sentimental to people, especially if they have feathers of their previous/deceased parrots, I know I wish I had at least one of my first tiel's feathers for memory's sake. I'm excited to see how this turns out for ya'll!!

 

[Mekaisto]

Thank you all for your insight, it is very valuable for me to get the opinions of other people

We will definitely be putting together a portfolio with a range of different examples on it. I don't want to put too much up here, because it could be seen as advertising, and it would be unfair to the site if I did so without paying for advertising space.