The Terms of Cake Topper and Action Figure Art Commissions with Michael Leavitt
This is a contract for goods, not services. The work of Intuition Kitchen Productions may be marketed as service, but it is only sold as product. The nature of contracted work-for-hire does not apply. Think of this as though you're ordering a custom meal to eat, not hiring a personal cook.
"Commissioner" or "You": the person paying for the work to be commissioned
"Figure" or "Piece": the actual figurine or sculpture to be made as a custom commission
"I": Michael Leavitt, the artist who will be sculpting the piece
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(ACTION FIGURE PRICE RANGES & TERMS ARE BELOW, AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE)
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Custom Cake Topper Commissions- non-posable, solid-piece figurines
INPUT. Any and all input is only given up-front, before any work begins. After work has begun, alterations or revisions will not be made on any piece based on external input, unless it is a prototype for production and work is billed at an hourly rate. All I need is photos and simple ideas on how the figure should look. A couple good head shots and a full body shot suffice for photos. ONLY MINOR INSTRUCTIONS are accepted for custom commissions: no more than 1 paragraph, 4 lines of text, or 6 sentences, whichever comes first at size 12 font.
IN-PROGRESS. A preliminary sketch can be done only as a courtesy, not to be used for approval or contingency to book a potential commission. No other progress reports will be otherwise communicated while the commission is being executed. If feedback or requests for progress reports must be addressed, the labor to respond and/or execute requests for additional work will be billed at $100/hour. An absolute 1-hour maximum turn around time to respond to progress reports may be negotiated by special circumstance.
PRICE RANGES. (for cake toppers, these price ranges include BOTH figures, not each figure)
3 to 5in. (7-12cm) tall: $2,500 to $3,000
5 to 7in. (12-18cm) tall: $3,000 to $4,500
8 to 12in. (18-30cm) tall: $4,500 to $6,000
PAYMENT.
A 50% non-refundable deposit is
required for any commission work to start. No work will begin without a deposit payment, including any work that is expected to be expedited.
The prices above include the glass display dome
(or hand-made plastic blister package if preferred) and labeled base. Prices
are based on the figure's size, complexity, and accessories. Once a size has been chosen, a price
will be quoted. Final payments, as any difference owed in the total cost after
deposits, will be paid in full within 2 weeks or 10 business days (whichever provides more time) of notification that the piece is finished. The final payment may be made at anytime, including after physical receipt of the finished piece, but no later than 2 weeks/10 business days of notification that it's been finished. All efforts will be made to clearly communicate the expected lead-time and date of completion in order to plan final payments conveniently. If a final payment is not made, all intellectual property rights of the piece will be relinquished. PAYMENT INSTALLMENTS can be arranged by special circumstance at $100 minimum per payment, so long as the final payment is made before delivery of the finished piece.
PayPal or standard/personal/cashier's check payments are accepted. PayPal payments are made directly to leavittmichael@gmail.com
EXPEDITED DEADLINES.
Expedited commissions will cost at least 25% to 50% more than the price ranges listed above.
This will be an extra fee added to the final cost. It may be determined after completion, depending both on the piece's complexity and the work demand at the time of the expedited deadline. An expedited commission is defined as a piece that is expected to be delivered by a certain date less than 4 weeks from the deposit payment. For projects to be expedited less than a week from the deposit payment, costs will be estimated on a case-by-case basis.
SHIPPING & DELIVERY.
The U.S.P.S. will not be used for mailing checks, or U.S. domestic shipping of any kind. DHL, UPS, or Fed Ex ONLY. Personal checks and shipments have been lost by U.S.P.S. on numerous occasions. The buyer/commissioner pays for all shipping costs. This will be added to the total commission cost at the time delivery, to
be paid as part of the final payment. All efforts will be made to reduce
shipping costs. If in the Seattle area, an arrangement can be made to deliver or pick-up the piece in person.
Based on scheduling and the piece's complexity, they can be done and delivered in 8 to 12 weeks. Exact delivery dates may be arranged by special circumstance. If delivery is expected for a specific event, the piece will be done and delivered well in advance of the event day. Requests for in-progress updates on meeting these deadlines will not be acknowledged. If less than 4 to 6 weeks lead-time is expected, a higher price may be quoted to expedite the commission (see "Expedited Deadlines" above). Once the piece is finished, it will be shipped and delivered before any images or photos are released. As soon as it's been notified that the piece has been finished, the 2 weeks/10 business days for final payment begin.
REPAIRS, MAINTENANCE, AND ALTERATIONS. Repairs, maintenance, and alterations can be done on any piece already delivered. Labor will be billed at $100/hour. The buyer/commissioner pays for all shipping costs, to and from. Buyer/commissioner assumes all responsibility for any damages in transit to deliver the piece for repairs or alterations.
EDITIONS. A multiple of any figure may be arranged, but only at full price of the original. I'm equipped to do only rudimentary plastic casting at best, basically requiring as much labor for a plastic edition as a clay edition sculpted again from scratch. I am the machine of Intuition Kitchen Productions, but I'm not a factory. Multiple editions of a singular figure will be priced according to the tedium of their labor.
REPRODUCTIONS. As commissioner of a custom artwork, you will own and be responsible for certain intellectual property. Though you will have rights and responsibilities to the likeness of any person depicted in the piece, you will not necessarily have full rights to reproductions of the piece itself. The rights to any 3-dimensional or 2-dimensional reproductions of the piece, including photos, prints, castings, or machine-manufactured multiples, may be purchased outright. A price will be negotiated depending on the reproduction's application. The additional cost of these reproduction rights will range between %25 to %50 of the final price, added to the final payment. The rights to use images of the piece as promotional, educational, and other non-commercial material will be shared permanently.
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Custom or Personalized Action Figure Commissions- posable, movable, multiple body part figures
PRICE RANGES.
3 to 7in. (7-18cm) tall: $2,500 to $3,500
8 to 10in. (18-26cm) tall: $3,500 to $5,000
11 to 12in. (26-30cm) tall: $5,000 to $10,000
12 to 48in. (30cm-1.3m) tall: $10,000 to $20,000
Except for price ranges, all action figure commission terms are the same as under "Custom Cake Topper Commissions" above-
INPUT, IN-PROGRESS, PAYMENT, EXPEDITED DEADLINES, SHIPPING, DELIVERY, REPAIRS/MAINTENANCE/ALTERATIONS, REPRODUCTIONS
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Michael Leavitt
Intuition Kitchen Productions
9319 31st Pl SW
Seattle, WA 98126
206-853-0925
intuitionkitchenproductions.com/actionfigures