[Superquad7]

Just to add to the mix here, a trend I've observed is that most customs don't end up having the resell value that they initially sell for. I've seen people who have bought a custom off of eBay try to resell it quite a time later without being able to get the original asking price.

I really think trebleshot is right on the money and what nickvree said above my post here has a lot to do with the value as well, as more popular characters will always be easier to resell.

Another thing to keep in mind is that customs are a niche within a niche. What I mean by that is that toy collecting is a niche hobby and custom figures are only a fraction that fraction.

If you are creating a custom to sell, consider your resources that are your cost up front: materials and time. Your paint and the figures used cost upfront (unless you're able to get those for free, which generally isn't the case with most artists). Most people don't work for $1 or $2 per hour, and creating artwork is skilled labor. Most skilled labor has a bottom of $10 per hour. That is also relative to quality of output as well. Also, while this may be the case, an artist is always going to come out ahead with the least amount of resources put into a piece, as anything more than cost is profit for the artist.