The Story of Commissioning Plushies from a Factory
Hello! I'm Amagami! I make 'nuinui' (plush dolls) through both handmade methods and factory commissions!
I felt like writing about the process of commissioning plushies from a factory🏭, so I went ahead and did it!
It probably won't be very useful, but I'd be happy if you read it to kill some time.
・WeChat is scary
WeChat is the tool used for negotiating with factories. Since I was scared of this mysterious app called WeChat, I looked for factories that I could communicate with on X.
First of all, the reason I found WeChat scary wasn't because I thought it would steal my smartphone data or anything like that; it was simply that I didn't want to use an app I'd never used before, or to put it more bluntly, it was a hassle.
I still don't use WeChat today. I've been communicating on X the whole time.
・Factories that accept Japanese
I thought, 'This is perfect!!' After all, the language barrier is quite high. It's about as high as the walls in Attack on Titan. I'm not in the Survey Corps, I'm in the Military Police, so I chose a factory that accepts Japanese!
・Quotes
I got quotes via DM.
When I filled out a request sheet for Japanese speakers and asked for a quote, the reply came back in Chinese.
Okay, if that's how you want to play it, I'll play along too. I will exterminate the misunderstandings and discrepancies born from the language barrier (by making full use of translation apps)!!
From then until now, I've been using translation apps to converse in Chinese. However, even now, when I get a reply that just says '好 (meaning 'Okay' or 'Good'),' it feels like I've suddenly had feelings confessed to me, and I can't help but think, 'I love you...'... I love you... thank you for making my plushie...!
By the way, I use Claude. It's a chat AI. I didn't have any particular preference, but I was already using Claude, so I just kept using it.
Also, some people choose their factories by getting quotes from many different ones and picking the cheapest one or the one that seems easiest to communicate with. Yes, that's possible if you can use WeChat!
・Payment troubles
Paying a factory in China from Japan is probably the biggest physical and psychological hurdle. Since I don't have a bank account in China, I can't complete a transfer to the factory without using some kind of intermediary.
There are companies that handle payments on your behalf. I knew they existed, but since I have relatives in Hong Kong, I thought maybe I could try paying from Hong Kong (I thought it might work since I sometimes have them buy things for me on AliExpress), but it didn't work. Alipay from Hong Kong didn't work.
By the way, this idea also came up regarding shipping (having them ship it to my relatives' house in Hong Kong and having them bring it when they come to Japan), but that didn't work either. I had asked the factory about shipping costs from China to Hong Kong when I got the quote, but when it came time to actually ship, they said that would be difficult, so I understood.
(By the way, shipping from the factory to locations within mainland China is free)
So, I used a shopping proxy service. When I sent a message saying, 'I want to make a payment to have a plushie made at a Chinese factory,' they guided me very politely, and I was able to make the payment and arrange shipping (shipping happens after the plushie is made) just as they instructed.
The costs involved are the plushie price, the proxy service fee, the shipping cost from China to my home, and the proxy service fee.
・You need a plushie design when getting a quote, so you definitely need to have one ready!
When I asked, 'I wonder if I can make something like this... I'd like to ask a little... just a quick question... please tell me,' the factory staff just replied, 'Please send me the plushie design first.'
・It's quite fast until the digital draft or the face embroidery sample arrives.
However, once you request revisions, it feels like it takes quite a while from the revision request to the actual production.
I'm currently commissioning my fourth plushie from the same factory, and I feel like things are getting a bit lax, or maybe because I started this request before the previous one was fully completed, they're getting confused, but I sometimes feel the communication is slow. This is just a random question that popped into my head, but do they prioritize orders that are meant for mass production over one-off personal commissions? Also, there are express fees, right?
Anyway, it takes about 3 to 4 months. (In my case)
・Handmade and factory commissions both have their own different kinds of struggles.Both require different techniques.
And sometimes, handmade skills are useful for factory commissions! When I place an order, I sometimes use things I've made by hand as reference material, or I try making a prototype myself to see how it turns out. If it's a one-off (no mass production), I think, 'Well, I'll just make this part myself!' and I've started to think that being able to make a hybrid plushie is one of my strengths! With that mindset, I want to try challenging myself with even more plushies!
・Money.It costs me about 16,000 to 20,000 yen to make one. (Is that a bit high for the market price? Maybe it's because I don't negotiate prices and I keep ordering from the same factory. I don't know any others.) Plus shipping and fees.
・Design.Anyway, my final drawings are slow. It takes time... My design concepts come quickly, but my hands are slow... I still don't know how much information is needed to make a plushie, so I try to send the factory detailed images and materials for the design.
Current (This is the one I'm commissioning as of June 2026. I've revised it quite a bit from this design. It's the pretzel one.)
・I get progress reports from the factory on weekdays, so I look forward to weekdays.I never know when the report will come, so it's exciting...! When the plushie is finished and arrives in my hands, the cuteness explodes, and I end up commissioning another one right away. The adrenaline doesn't stop. Honestly, it's an addiction. 'Dopa-nui' (Dopamine plushie). This is definitely a Dopa-nui. Everyone who makes Dopa-nuisーーーーー！！！！ Thank youーーーー！！！！
・We're in the middle of a plushie boom right now, aren't we.I hate the thought that there might come a day when this plushie boom ends. I want them to keep selling plushie clothes in physical stores forever, and I want craft stores to have a big, prominent plushie-making section.
・I'm sure you've all been facing the feelings of others and your own feelings very seriously for a long time.
I feel like it helps me skillfully process the feeling of wanting to be alone but not wanting to be lonely.
I think that's about 10% of it. The other 90% is because they're cute. Because they're cute, I make them, I buy them, I take pictures of them, I get excited, and it's just the bestーーーーーーーーーーーー！！！！！
Thank you for reading.