Buildings and Structures; Built-Up VS. Kits?

[Trucklover]

When Galen (Ocaliecreek) was living here in So Cal and a member of the Orange County Modular club, he built up an Atlas interlocking tower kit he had sitting on his shelf. He no longer needed the tower for anything he was currently planning to model, but he built it, painted and weathered it, an listed it on E-bay to see what it would do. I think he ended up selling it for 3 to 4 times the price of the kit! As a business, it probably does not make economic sense. You should expect to at least paint and weather any model you build to get the maximum return on investment, and even if you get $30.00 for a built up kit that cost you less than $10.00 to buy, you will probably find when you do the math that you worked for less than $5.00 per hour! On the other hand, if you enjoy building kits or even kitbashing, but don't have space on a layout for all of the models that you would like to build, it can be a fun way to pick up a few bucks "on the side." I think the key to not losing money on the deal is to know what shipping is going to cost before you list the item, and disclose it in the ad from the start. I think you will also do better by building the cheap Atlas type kits or small DPM that are also small (less expensive to ship). If you develop a few customers who like your work, and want some custom designs, then you can negotiate specific prices for a specific design for them.

Hi Russ,

You are right, i would not be trying to make a business out of this. If i wanted to do that, man i would have to charge prolly nearly 4 or 5 times the retail of a kit to make decent money. I just dont see that happening, unless, like has been mentioned, you get a guy who just does not have time, has lots of money, and likes what you do....

This would strictly be somthing i could do and enjoy doing, especially right now without a job, the days can get very long and boring when my girlfriend is at school lol.

like i said, i think ill try and get some of the more popular Walthers kits, build some stock, see how those do, and build some of them bashed together, both with the same kits, and combining other buildings kits into one building for something out of the ordinary....

Shipping will ultimately be my biggest problem in the end. I also have to take into account the money that is needed for packing materials (packing peanuts and large boxes, which i can get for half off from the local industrial supply warehouse). Its about $22 for a bag of packing peanuts (its a very large bag, its taller then me and about 2' in diameter lol) and for 4 large 20x20x20" boxes. This is half off retail. Of coarse, i will have to spread this cost out for the buildings that i have to ship with these materials, so on average, thats about $5.00 per structure that needs to be charged, plus the shipping.....

In the end, i always leave it up to the buyer. I let them choose which shipping method (USPS Express Mail, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Parcel Post or UPS Ground), if they would like insurance (which i always recommend but dont require, i also state that im not responsible for damage in shipping), and what size box they would like me to ship it in. I make sure that they understand, in order to ship and ensure the safest travel, it needs to be shipped in a larger box, which will cost a bit more, but if they insist on shipping in a smaller box to save money on shipping, then that is what i will do. I always pack extremely carefully and put packing peanuts around the building on all sides, below and above....

In the end, it all just depends on how far away the buyer is from me. The farther away, the more the shipping will be, and this sometimes poses a real problem, because people dont wanna pay for a building thats going to be $80 and then pay another $50 to ship it to them if there in New York and im in CA..... So far though, i have not had a problem with shipping any of my buildings that i have sold, all the buyers have paid the full shipping (what it costs me) and have had no complaints with my packing and shipping, which i guess is a good thing lol

[MountainMan]

The biggest problem I encounter with kit structures is that they aren't unique to the locale and they aren't mine.

Structures evolve or are designed to fit a unique location and purpose, but kits are essentially a one-size-fits-all approach. I understand that constructing a steel mill or complex factory from scratch is daunting, and probably impossible for many, including me, but what you end up with isn't a structure that would have been built in that locale in quite that way. At the very least, bashing tweaking are a must.

[MadModeler]

The biggest problem I encounter with kit structures is that they aren't unique to the locale and they aren't mine.

Structures evolve or are designed to fit a unique location and purpose, but kits are essentially a one-size-fits-all approach. I understand that constructing a steel mill or complex factory from scratch is daunting, and probably impossible for many, including me, but what you end up with isn't a structure that would have been built in that locale in quite that way. At the very least, bashing tweaking are a must.

And that's where the fun begins. I will be scratch building most of my stuff as my budget is very limited. Also, this would be a great challenge for those who have the patience.

[MountainMan]

I'm going to be building my own structures, too. In fact, I'm working on one right now. In my case there isn't much of any other option, given the approach I am taking.