Selling your builds?

[Dragfreak]

Besides the lack of room for them, the main reason I'm trying to sell some of them is I need some money, during the summer I work full time but during the school year I really struggle to get by. Between being 16 and having a 8 second drag car and daily driving a gas guzzling truck with only a part time job working whenever I can, it's not easy getting by, having a little cash in my pocket would really help out right now.

I want to say thank you for all of the replies to my questions. There were several great points given, if I do decide to list on Ebay, I'll take your advice for shipping. For the value, I understand the sentimental attachment from all of the hours put into it, and I think its absolutely true that I shouldn't consider the hours spent in determining the value. I appreciate the responses, I'll probably leave them on craigslist and spread the word of what I do and what I'm asking for them. Schools out June 9th so I don't have much longer till I start working full time at $11.75 an hour. for being in high school and not working at a fast food joint, that's pretty dang good!

Edited April 15, 2015 by Dragfreak

[1930fordpickup]

Jason I see your point about the cash flow. If you do not sell any you can not build more models. If you do sell them just wrap as people have mentioned above.

Just start the bidding for the price of the kit and add a few dollars for ebays cut.

[1930fordpickup]

That is the big issue,usually the way it is found out is someone recognizes a build they have seen online (Take the Under The Glass section for example) and then does a little digging to see where that build should be location wise and who built it. What we should have paid attention to was each of this individuals entries had a slightly different building technique, some were built by the same builder and blended right in whereas one would have a few imperfections that the others wouldn't have. Another give away is if that individual can not tell you how he built the kit or about the kit then chances are good it's fake. Sadly when you only have five judges and you have to judge 200+ cars in a four hour window you don't have time to dissect every single build. What disgusted me the most was one individual in attendance actually sold a build to the entrant (A long time before the show) and mentioned nothing of it until after the show was over.

As a Judge or the head of a show you can only ask when the cars are entered if they build them. Do not let them ruin your day, you did nothing wrong. Also there is nothing wrong with showing someone elses work as long as you do not try to win a prize. I have seen many cars with a do not judge sign on the paper work. They are still nice to look at.

[Pete J.]

Yea, we've had that happen before too, but the builder brought it up before judging. We chose not to call the "owner" out on it and just didn't give it any awards. No reason to embarrass anyone. Makes you mad, but creating a scene does no good either.

As to selling built models, the real trick is to find someone who want what you are selling and honestly, there isn't a huge market for that. I have sold my share of models, but they have always been commissions where the buyer and I agree on a price before hand.

If you build something with the hope of selling it latter, that is speculating and like anything you are speculating that you will be able to make a profit on it. With models, that is probably just not the case. The guy(or gal) who offers money at show is probably use to buying die cast or prebuilt and would probably choke on what you might ask.

What we do is art and only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Fall in love with it, high prices. Like it and the price drops. Unfortunately, quality of build only sells to a select few people who understand what goes into one of these models and those people are our fellow builders and not inclined to buy a built model.

That's my 2 cents.

[kustomclassics]

I sold this one recently for $50 I was hoping to get more but as they say it's worth what any person or persons are willing to pay. I wrapped it with TP and double boxed it and wrapped that in bubble wrap the buyer said it arrived in good shape.

[southpier]

..... I understand the sentimental attachment from all of the hours put into it, and I think its absolutely true that I shouldn't consider the hours spent in determining the value...

the true value is the knowledge and experience you're gaining by building. i understand it's nice to have something tangible to show for it.

sounds like you're taking on a great deal of responsibility and appreciate the meaning of money. and have things in perspective.

good for you!

[Jantrix]

Well I guess the elephant in the room is the question, "Is your work good enough that people would pay for it?"

If it is, you might make a few bucks.

If it isn't, then no matter how much money you have in the build, it's just a used model kit.

[Pete J.]

Well I guess the elephant in the room is the question, "Is your work good enough that people would pay for it?"

If it is, you might make a few bucks.

If it isn't, then no matter how much money you have in the build, it's just a used model kit.

I kind of think you have to be at one end or the other. There are guys out here who pay good money for glue bombs to disassemble and rebuild.

[Jantrix]

I kind of think you have to be at one end or the other. There are guys out here who pay good money for glue bombs to disassemble and rebuild.

True, but only for old kits that have gone the way of the Dodo.

[thatz4u]

Some guys sell builds a model swapmeets, I've seen them offered from $20 up to $ 120, the buyer can see them in person makeup his mind in realtime...

Edited April 15, 2015 by thatz4u

[Tom Geiger]

I have never sold a model I have built. They are too close to being family for me! Best I've done was to give my wife's sister the replica I built of her Chevette. I actually built it for my shelf, but when I showed it to her she was so happy it was easy to let it go.

Packing - I've heard the method mentioned of the TP wrap was best. It pretty much makes a mummy out of it.

As far as selling models. I think Craig's List is a poor forum since few people look there for models. And those who do are looking for bargains. There are people who get good money for their builds on eBay. I know people who pay good money on eBay. Hundreds of dollars. Not enough to make me build to sell, but if you have overflowing models, it's an option. In that position, forget about the time and money invested, it's about recouping some money and making space. Almost like selling a 1:1 hobby car!

The key to selling on eBay is presentation. I've seen good models sell for nothing because there are two bad cell phone photos and a few lines of misspellings for description. You can't tell if the engine is wired or not, or the quality of the work at all.

If you want to sell and get a decent dollar, take MANY photos that show all the details. Then write a good description including all the details. If the brakes are plumbed tell that! Explain what work was done, what paints used etc. There are people who do appreciate a nicely built model and will pay for it

[Skip]

I've sold a couple of my models a few years ago, like nearly ten when the economy was booming (it will again). I got $100 and $250 respectively. They were both nice models of kits which were not available right then, IMC VW Bug built as an early Cal Look Bug, Meyers Manx built as a Drag Race Buggy, used the AMT 36 hp Chrome Engine in both as they were the best engine to build a detailed VW Motor at the time. No doubt about it I never made a dime on either one considering time, paint, parts to kit bash with and materials.

I really have no desire to get rid of models that way, what brings me a huge smile every time I've done it is just flat out giving the model as a gift. Right now I am working on an Ed Roth Mr. gasser for my Brother whose first car was a '57 Chevy Hardtop, the next "Give Away" will be an AWB '65 GTO to a friend who had a '65 GTO as his High School Hot Rod, I'll be using a Speed City Resins AWB Frame under it, 421 Pontiac... From the recent models I've given away the priceless smiles were worth every hour spent on the bench!