Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Gee... you guys are great - by the way, I female!!! I too collect bears, it started out with Boyds - I have 75 at least - I have two Lonnie St. Martin bears and got my first Knickerbocker yesterday.... With my love of bears, i figured, why not make them?  Art is my passion (not drawing or painting but pottery, jewelry making and now bear making!!!)  Although my bears are not what i hope they some day will be, everyone is very excited for me and can't believe that I made them, I am well on my way!!! 

Such good advice, Paula!  Geez, soooo much to think about, I mean other than creating the little critters!

Millie - I will have to look into that!  Thanks for the info....

I cant wait to start selling them!  Right now I am just doing "test" bears but everyone that I showed them to is shocked that I made it!  It is quite exciting - I know how happy I am to get a new bear and I would love to bring that kind of happiness to others! 

:)Clare - I visited your website - gorgeous!!! I really like Sunset - If you dont mind me asking, how much did you sell it for?  Do you only sell them on Ebay???

Thank you for your advice   It is so hard to decide where to start first!

I didnt know I needed a "seller's permit"  My "brand name" for my bears kind of contain my name....  I work in a lawfirm so I probably could find out... I know that filing anything in a newspaper is ridiculously expensive though!  Only problem is that I am just starting out and don't have the money for all that yet....

I have been looking at the bears on this website and noticed that they are very very beautiful... my bears aren't near that “professional” yet.  How do I decide how much to charge for them? What do you base your prices on?

I have my name idea and ideas for hang tags and tush tags and such but I don't know where to start. 

I just started making teddy bears last weekend...  I have completed three so far and am eager to learn and make more.  I would like to start selling them (once I feel that they are good enough) on E-bay but wondered if I need to register my “brand” name for my bears…. I have thought of some names but didn’t know if I could just call them by a name or if  I needed to register or trademark… any ideas?