How Many Here Profit From Your Model Car Hobby?

[High octane]

I have enough trouble building for myself, let alone for someone else so I only build for me. Over the years I only remember building two models for others and they were gifts. While others build for profit and yet others buy and sell for profit, to me whatever works for them is okay.

[monkeyclaw]

Johnny; Nothing at all "wrong" with Making a few bucks along the way; If you are a modeler; sooner or later you will buy low & sell High. I guess the "deadset against" crowd either doesn't like money, or already have enough of it! As for me; I like money; and I enjoy making it from my "hobby"....not just the occasional buy-N-sell, or commissioned builds, or even making resin conversions; that's all just part of the "hobby" for me. To that end; I Am presently involved in the inventory and catalog of a Gigantic toy & racing memorabilia collection, that has been amassed over 50 years; by a very close friend of mine. I was asked to do so BECAUSE of my toy and model experience (HOBBY). For me the work as been amazing; and not truly "work" in that I have had the opportunity to handle some rare and very valuable toys and models while doing so; Several Thousand of them... as well as 1:1 racing stuff; and fine art as well. Again; IMHO the "hobby" is what you make it...if you are content to sit and assemble a model, then for you; That's the "hobby"....If you like going to shows; Then That's the hobby, and so on........It is what it is ..............ENJOY IT! Matt

[Dr. Cranky]

I've been enjoying the comments and I think this is an interesting, thought-provoking thread. Thank you.

I do not sell my work, but the older I get the more I realize this stuff will sit here and perhaps will disappear (hopeful my kids will not simply throw away the stuff when I'm gone--I hope not) but I just can't part with my work because I enjoy playing with and photographing my models.

Having said that, I do not mind generating a bit of money off books, after market parts and decals, etc . . . all of us know it can get to be quite an expensive hobby so every little bit that comes back to you helps keep you going.

Everyone has a right to profit from their art. Why not?

[Art Anderson]

Over the years (( started building model cars right about this time in 1952--age 8, 60 6yrs ago), I avoided taking any commissions for building model cars. About the time Monogram released their 1/72 scale B-52D (1967), while working in a local hobby shop, a middle aged couple asked me what I would charge to build up one for them (their son was piloting one out of Guam to North Vietnam then), and I told them $25, which at first they declared that was expensive, I was building stuff for fun. I had to explain to them that I built my models for me, for fun; but if I did it for someone else, the fun part went away--and they finally understood. So, $25 it was, on top of the kit, and paint. I built the thing, delivered it to their home, they were pleased, and paid me cash money.

It wasn't until late 1974 that the idea of building model cars for pay surfaced again, only this time it was AMT Corporation calling. They had learned that I had a bit of a reputation for building models of cars that had faced the green flag at Indianapolis on Race Day, "would I be interested in doing some Indy car builtups for them?". I said yes, and that started a 7-yr relationship with AMT Corporation and subsequently, Lesney-AMT, for box art, catalog, trade show display, and presentation models. That gig pulled in $2500 to perhaps $3500 a year (Dennis Doty built a lot of these models for AMT as well, until Lesney Corp filed for bankruptcy in early April 1982, owing me nearly $3000 (they paid me off in full plus interest upon settling the bankruptcy that August.)

In January 1989, I started All American Models, and the model-building for pay thing started up again, this time in earnest! What had been a hobby quickly morphed into more than a full-time job, and model building for fun ceased to exist here.

So yes, I've done model building for profit, but no longer. When I have time to build, it's just for me, and me alone.

Art

[modelmike]

I agree with the Doc.... there is nothing wrong with selling your builds.... they are art... but if you are buying kits cheap and selling them at a profit you are not a builder or "artest" if you will...... you are a middle man and should open a hobby store.... thats your calling "A great artest doesn't become great by selling his brushes and paint"

[Harry P.]

I think the original question here dealt with buying and reselling model kits for a profit, not whether you build models for a fee.

It seems to me that buying a kit (or more) and then reselling the kit to make a buck or two is sort of a "sideline" to the hobby... like some said, a way of generating some $$$ that you then put back into buying kits that you intend to build, or buying supplies, etc.

Building models for a fee, for a client, is a whole nother thing. To me, that's not a hobby, that's a job. Once you start building models to meet a customer's demands, the "hobby" aspect is gone and you've entered into a business transaction. Not that there's anything wrong with building models for clients... it's just not a hobby anymore, IMO.

Of course, there are shades of gray here. I suppose a lot of people build sometimes for themselves, sometimes for customers. Some people don't build models at all, but buy and sell kits purely as a profit-making deal. They're not builders, they're resellers.

Myself, I have never sold a kit or a built model, and don't think I ever would. It's just not how the hobby works for me.

[Dr. Cranky]

Oh, thanks for the clarification, Harry. Nah, I only buy kits to build. Of course I know have quite a collection, but most of them have gotten robbed for parts. So it goes.

[DanielG]

I own a shop, so buying and selling is what I do, it is a business. I know people that build replicas for sale, also a business, it pays their bills. I also build stuff, it is a hobby even though I sell some of it, at prices that do not any where near reflect the amount of time put into them, NOT a business. Flipping kits (or realestate or whatever) is not a hobby unless your hobby is making money. It is how some hobbies turn into businesses and if you are lucky you are doing something that makes it worth getting up in the morning AND pays the bills. We should all be so lucky, oh, wait a minute, I am!

[Johnny K]

Matt, Doc, Art, Everyone else, thanks for all the responses. Most have been quite positive, but even the negative ones have been helpful and are quite appreciated - after all, I wanted to know how you truly felt about the subject.

Harry, perhaps I was a little less than clear in the OP - I did consider just asking the question as stated in the first three paragraphs, but decided i should put my own take in there. My real question was how many made profit within the scope of the hobby, by any method - not just the buying and selling of kits. That would rather limit things, I think. I know many members here produce resin products, decals, videos, various aftermarket products, and build for others as well as buy and sell kits. That's all a part of it.

I should also perhaps clarify that I don't simply 'buy low and sell high' as perhaps it came across. Further, I don't use this as a method of making money for things outside the hobby - everything I've made has either gone back into it or is sitting aside for future use.

Again, thanks for your thoughts. They're both thought-provoking and helpful.

[VintageJDM]

Food for thought, considering iv been thinking about the fate of my finished model's [if it ever happen's] i really cant see my self cluttering my house with finished models, i get sheer enjoyment from the build alone, design process, and execution of the job. If someone wants my finished models more than me and is willing to pay enough for me to cover the kit, paint, materials used and maybe a little more cheddar, just enough to buy more kits, ill wont miss a wink of sleep.

[espo]

I have profited in a way I think many of you have. . When I've had a bad day , or week, You can lose your self and your problems and focus on something that you truly enjoy. Life is good at the plastic alter of modeling.

[Jeff Johnston]

I personally don't build to sell but once my models have gone through the show circuit and I have shown them to enough people, then I would sell them. I am very happy with the profit I make.....

That is exactly what I do. Once my shelf fills up with built ups I sell a bunch, make a handful of cash so I can buy more stuff. I have maybe a half dozen built kits that I would never part with. However, I do not get emotionally attached to anything I build and I eventually do sell it. I like to build and for a while I like to look at by builts on the shelf. But always there is a time where I sell a bunch like i did recently. I took the money and bought new tires for my Mustang