PRO BUILDS

[Zen]

I am amazed at the price this kit "sold" for on ebay. Did it actually sell? Do people actually spend this kind of money for a built kit? Seller also has a wagon listed that's in the 2K range.

1975 Buick Electra Pro Built promo 3D print resin | eBay

1972 Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon Marquis Pro Built promo 3D print resin | eBay

Edited 13 hours ago by Zen
more info

[Can-Con]

22 minutes ago, Zen said:

I am amazed at the price this kit "sold" for on ebay. Did it actually sell? Do people actually spend this kind of money for a built kit? Seller also has a wagon listed that's in the 2K range.

1975 Buick Electra Pro Built promo 3D print resin | eBay

1972 Mercury Colony Park Station Wagon Marquis Pro Built promo 3D print resin | eBay

Yes, Paul Hettick does actually get that kind of money for his builds. IIRC, one or two went over the 10K mark.

And if you look at the auction, yes the Buick did sell for that price. BTW, bidding on both models started at $6.98

Edited 12 hours ago by Can-Con

[StevenGuthmiller]

Paul Hettick has a following and his models are one of a kind.

If I were able to get those kinds of prices for my builds, I’d sell everything I had! 😁

 

 

Steve

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Paul Hettick has a following and his models are one of a kind.

If I were able to get those kinds of prices for my builds, I’d sell everything I had! 😁

 

 

Steve

Paul is a good builder but, Steve, your builds are also " one of a kind" and lightyears beyond what Paul builds.

There are a few other people here who would also easily beat Paul in a judged contest but he's built up a loyal customer base over the years so he's getting the big bucks for his stuff. 

I'm sure if you had a similar selling history you would easily have a similar customer base and also getting those prices.

Edited 11 hours ago by Can-Con

[StevenGuthmiller]

9 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Paul is a good builder but, Steve, your builds are also " one of a kind" and lightyears beyond what Paul builds.

There are a few other people here who would also easily beat Paul in a judged contest but he's built up a loyal customer base over the years so he's getting the big bucks for his stuff. 

I'm sure if you had a similar selling history you would easily have a similar customer base and also getting those prices.

I appreciate that Steve.

The difference being that many of Paul’s builds are entirely unique, meaning that a good number of his projects are masters that he has created himself, and are either not available to the public, or available on a very limited basis.

He does exceptional work on his builds, although possibly not to the extreme level of of detailing that I have a tendency to do in some cases. 😁

But you’re correct that his success in getting top dollar for his builds comes more from his customer base than anything else, as well as the extreme uniqueness of his subject matter.

I can only dream that I might be able to get that sort of money for some of my projects at some point, but in the end, I suppose it’s never really been my objective in the hobby.

When the day comes that I decide to “thin the heard” as it were, I’ll just be happy to get reasonable prices for my stuff.

Something tells me though that thousands of dollars for a single model is likely not in the cards! 😉

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

...Something tells me though that thousands of dollars for a single model is likely not in the cards!

You never know.

There might be someone who'd rather have a beautifully built Guthmiller for a few thousand $ than a rotten banana taped to a wall for a hundred K +.

Just get a critic somewhere to convince the world that what you do is Greate Arte. 

[Can-Con]

39 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I appreciate that Steve.

The difference being that many of Paul’s builds are entirely unique, meaning that a good number of his projects are masters that he has created himself, and are either not available to the public, or available on a very limited basis.

He does exceptional work on his builds, although possibly not to the extreme level of of detailing that I have a tendency to do in some cases. 😁

But you’re correct that his success in getting top dollar for his builds comes more from his customer base than anything else, as well as the extreme uniqueness of his subject matter.

I can only dream that I might be able to get that sort of money for some of my projects at some point, but in the end, I suppose it’s never really been my objective in the hobby.

When the day comes that I decide to “thin the heard” as it were, I’ll just be happy to get reasonable prices for my stuff.

Something tells me though that thousands of dollars for a single model is likely not in the cards! 😉

 

 

Steve

True on all points, but that Buick isn't unique, it's one of Robert Burns' 3D prints. 

[Zen]

Didn't realize it was built by Mr. Hettick, had thought some "bidders" were just jacking up the price.

'

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, Can-Con said:

True on all points, but that Buick isn't unique, it's one of Robert Burns' 3D prints. 

Didn’t know that.

In any case, I suppose to a discerning customer, a very well done original vintage plastic kit could possibly be more valuable than a resin or 3-D printed model depending on the quality.

I was offered $950.00 for my Johan ‘68 442 build some months ago, but I declined.

I couldn’t convince myself to part with such a rarity for that price, considering the value of the model itself, along with the work that was put into it.

I don’t think it would be difficult to convince me to let it go for 3 or 4 thousand though! 😁

 

 

Steve

Edited 4 hours ago by StevenGuthmiller

[StevenGuthmiller]

6 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

You never know.

There might be someone who'd rather have a beautifully built Guthmiller for a few thousand $ than a rotten banana taped to a wall for a hundred K +.

Just get a critic somewhere to convince the world that what you do is Greate Arte. 

I nominate you to be my spokesman! 😉😁

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I nominate you to be my spokesman! 😉😁

I would if I could, but I don't have access to the kind of people who can throw away a hundred grand on a spoiled banana, or anyone with enough sense to pay what one of your models is actually worth in applied talent and skill.

Some things in life just defy logic. People pay what some "expert" with a good line of gab tells them to pay.  

[Russell C]

10 hours ago, Zen said:

.... Do people actually spend this kind of money for a built kit? .....

Aficionado car guy buyers with lots of cash do. But regarding the big bucks and why either a seller would demand that or a buyer would pay it, the elemental concept of supply and demand rules the day on both ends of the deal. Pretty much all of us build particular models that are strikingly unique enough that a car guy who doesn't have the patience or skills to do build such models might approach us and ask, "how much would you accept for your model?" Pretty much all of us build particular models entirely for ourselves, and put enough effort into them that we would not readily give them up .... unless the potential buyer starts offering really big money. Me, I can safely say that I've developed some name recognition over the years for my unique builds (Backbug / Slant 7 Red Baron / the 911 woody wagon in my avatar), but if some Jay Leno-type guy approaches me and says he'll pay any price to have one of those builds, I'd still say they are flat out not for sale, period.

However ... I could be persuaded to duplicate the one the wealthy car guy really wants. And I could probably do a better job the second time around (the paint job on my backwards Beetle was a lousy rush job, I'll admit). But what would I charge per hour to do this?? Certainly not minimum wage. What's a craftsman wage these days? $50 per hour? $75 per hour? I vaguely remember putting 100 hours into my 911 wagon (didn't track hours for those other two), and if we do the easy math of $50 per hour, you're already looking at a $5 grand model. But then there's the other costs - what if the buyer asks you to take time off where you're employed to get it done, how much do you need to charge above your lost wages to make it worthwhile? Or what cost do you apply to whatever tasks at home you wanted to get done first, but now need to put those aside in order to do this duplication commission work?

When a real buyer knows the value you put into your work and absolutely trusts what you can do, and has unlimited cash, that's where super limited supply meets high dollar demand.

[Bills72sj]

9 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

When the day comes that I decide to “thin the heard” as it were, I’ll just be happy to get reasonable prices for my stuff.

Something tells me though that thousands of dollars for a single model is likely not in the cards! 😉

Steve

If you ever get to the point of thinning the herd. I would certainly like to know.

[Sledsel]

Out of his recent auctions this is my favorite. If it had a dark green interior it would look like the one in my garage. Ironically, the model sold for more than I paid for my car..... 20 years ago!