How much does a custom figurine cost? What sets the price

In reality, the price depends on what goes on the base and how the piece is made. At FIGU, it’s shown with every choice you make: style, size, number of people and pets, options. You watch it change as you go, before paying anything, and your preview stays free.

That price is the final price. Delivery is free everywhere, and there’s no express option to add. What you see when you confirm is exactly what’s charged, whether the parcel is heading to Leeds, Cork or Aberdeen.

To compare two offers properly, three questions are enough:

• is delivery included in the price shown, or added at checkout?
• do you see the result before you pay, or only when you open the box?
• is the figurine sculpted and painted by hand, printed, or sent to you to paint?

An offer that looks cheaper on paper can turn out to be the most expensive once you know those three answers. The other way round, a higher price makes sense if it spares you a nasty surprise on the day: a figurine nobody recognises, or a parcel that turns up after the party.

The style

Big Head starts at 12 cm, Classic at 18 cm. Classic’s starting price is therefore a little higher, simply because its smallest piece is bigger. On Big Head, the bobblehead option, a head mounted on a spring, adds a supplement shown before you order; it’s available from 15 cm. To see whether this playful style suits the person, read our guide to the custom bobblehead.

The size and the number of people

The taller the figurine, the more there is to sculpt and paint, and the price follows. Before going up a size on principle, ask yourself where it will stand. Our size comparison puts every height side by side, so you don’t pay for centimetres you don’t need.

Every extra person on the base means more sculpting, and so an extra charge. But that charge is fixed, set by the height, and well below the price of the first person: the more of you there are, the less each one costs. A big family or a whole office team is better off together on one figurine, from a photo where everyone is in the picture, than on several small ones. One base holds up to 13 people, and pets, up to four, count in the total too.

Under the name custom figurine, you’ll find at least three very different objects. Their prices can’t be compared directly.

The paint-it-yourself kit is the cheapest: a generic figure, sometimes with a head that looks vaguely similar, which you paint yourself. The result depends on your brushwork, and the likeness often stays distant. It’s more of a rainy afternoon activity than a portrait, which can suit a creative child perfectly well.

3D printing starts from a digital model built from the photo, then printed in resin or plastic, sometimes in colour straight away. It produces small, precise pieces, partly made by the machine, which keeps the price down. The colours depend on the printer, or on paint added afterwards.

A figurine sculpted and painted by hand takes an artisan’s time. At our partner workshop in China, the artisan shapes the face, the hair and each piece of clothing over a metal frame, then paints everything with a brush. Nothing is mass-produced, nothing sits in stock. That human time is why handmade figurines cost more than a printed object of the same size.

No method is best in every case: it depends on what you want to give, and to whom. A child who loves crafts will be delighted with the kit. A grandmother who wants to recognise her grandchildren on the mantelpiece will choose handwork.

The real cost isn’t always written on the product page. Here are the amounts that can appear at checkout:

• delivery charged separately, sometimes more expensive when the shop is in another country;
• an express option, sold as insurance against delays;
• gift wrapping at an extra charge;
• changes billed one by one after the first draft.

At FIGU, delivery is free everywhere and there’s no express option, because the wait is the same for everyone: usually 10 to 14 days from order to delivery, as our page on custom figurine delivery time explains. Your edits to the preview cost nothing either: up to 5 per creation, each in one sentence, the first without an account and the next ones with a free account. And the gift box is free with orders of €120 or more.

The real options are visible before you order: the bobblehead option, and the gift box below that threshold. Nothing is added unless you’ve chosen it.

You can pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and your card details never pass through our servers. You pay once, at checkout, and the amount charged is the one you saw while building your figurine.

Sharing the gift is often the best answer for an ambitious piece. A few typical situations:

• for a colleague’s leaving do, the team has a whip-round and one person places the order, with a photo from the last office drinks;
• for the parents’ ruby wedding anniversary, the brothers and sisters share one Classic figurine of the couple rather than a gift each;
• for a wedding, the best man and the bridesmaids club together to give the newlyweds a custom couple figurine, from the engagement photo.

If you’re organising a collection, one practical tip: decide straight away who gets the photo and who places the order, and set the deadline for contributions at least three weeks before the party. More ideas for a send-off are in our guide to the leaving gift for a colleague.

Another option: a second, identical FIGU is €20 off. One for the newlyweds, one for the parents who organised the day; or simply one to give and one to keep. And if you’re hesitating over adding someone to a family figurine, remember that after the first person, each one costs much less.

The cost of a custom figurine comes down to three levers, style, size and number of people, plus one question people too often forget: is the price really final? At FIGU, it starts from €69.99, is shown with every choice, and includes delivery. You see your preview for free before you pay, with no account needed for your first two previews, and splitting the cost among several people is simple.

The surest way to know the exact price of your project is to put it together: upload your photo, make your choices and watch the total appear, with no commitment. Create my FIGU