do you make money with your models?

[John Griffin]

I'll tell you how much money I make... I give all the proceeds from my models (four designs so far) to my 11 year old son (my avatar)! He thinks it's alot of money, but in the real world one couldn't live on it! I suppose that if I was comfortably retired I could use it as pizza money. There is not a chance I would give up my day job for the illusion that I could replace the income by selling my models... unless I had maybe 50 designs.
I find the real reward of designing comes from hearing from people on this forum who actually enjoy building them.

[WonderWheeler]

I was considering creating and selling some models of local buildings (I am an architect with an interest in history) at the local museum. A limited market but a fairly sure one. If the cost is kept low enough the local school kids might by some with pocket money. And the local museum shop makes some money and the local landmarks get a little publicity and are less likely to get bulldozed.

[paper warrior]

Kindof, I design a little for PTA, but I let Cliff have all the money. He did offer me 2.00$ for each purchase. You can sell your models off hobbby central like Ramatoto or Roman.

[Amazyah]

Originally Posted by WonderWheeler

I was considering creating and selling some models of local buildings (I am an architect with an interest in history) at the local museum. A limited market but a fairly sure one. If the cost is kept low enough the local school kids might by some with pocket money. And the local museum shop makes some money and the local landmarks get a little publicity and are less likely to get bulldozed.

I am definitely always in the market for a nice building so you can count me in as a potential customer.
Architecture has always been a big interest with me also, so I would love to see what you come up with.

Russell

[Lex]

==Passing by==

--And I'm pretty sure I'll stick to the "my models should be free but free but free" rule for the next 5 years or so...

[maltedfalcon]

I have two websites for selling paper models Micromodels USA and Matt's Card Models
I use godaddy for hosting one and .mac for hosting the other.
Paypal has a shopping cart system that lets me take credit cards and such...
it's painless, virtually idiot proof and if you price your models reasonably, its profitable. --
as for it not being a hobby anymore... I pick the models I want to make,
and my wife likes the hobby cause it brings in cash. as a matter of fact she's the one who's always going "what model are you working on now"
I found a great local print shop who gives me a great discount for being a regular customer. and the can print at up to 1200dpi color.
Getting paid is good, it validates your work and your paypal account is a great way of keeping score...
and ++++ when I want to buy a model there is always cash in my paypal account.
so 1 go to godaddy and get a domain (domain w/webhosting about $60/yr
2 get some good pictures of your models
3 get a paypal account (free)
4 setup your paypal shopping cart (free)
5 get software like frontpage or iweb and create a website,
(my Matt’s Card Models website took about 2 hours to create - start to finish) (and Im not a website guru in any way)
6 shamelessly advertise your site on boards, groups, etc.
7 print your models, mail them to happy customers
8 transfer $$ from your paypal acct to your bank acct (free but takes about 3 days)
9 take your wife out to dinner and let her know paper models paid for it...

[maltedfalcon]

oh a couple other things. If you have any questions about how I sell models ask here or email me.
and once a model is released as free, its pretty hard to get the genii back in the bottle. It's very tough to justify why someone should pay for a model some else got free. so if your going to sell models make sure they are new. I knew a guy who had released a bunch of models as "free" and then pulled them but then couldnt figure out why he couldnt sell them when they were so popular before...

[gippolot]

Great advice Malted'....

But for me, hmmmm, of the large number of people who've followed my model/design, ( possibly 100+ per post), I've had a massive total of approximately 3 people on this website ask me if I will release my design. If I put a price on my model, it would litterally be cents/per hour. Oh, that is if 300 people paid for it.

I guess you either release something brilliant, and a few pay a large sum, (the Michelangelo model), or you release very many, and everyone pays a small amount, but it needs to be desirable or clever. (perhaps that could be called the McDonalds model!)

Just my thoughts wandering.

Gippo

[Lex]

I agree, if the model is not good enough then there's no point selling it... Besides there are plenty of good quality freebies on the net, and if people can get those for free, why would they pay for the commercial ones?



--That's why I'm not selling mine for money until I can do better than the best free models on the internet... (I mean Currell Concorde / DN Dreadnought / the 40-page Hindenburg etc.........) Still a long way to go

[Claudio]

Yes, there are many free models out there. The only way to sell something is to produce what you really don't find otherwise. Something unique, special, dedicated to a new genre, or with a special feature that you don't find in free models.

I don't have the magic recipe, but there is a market for each of us.

I also renew my invite to host your sales in my shop.

Claudio

[CJTK1701]

Originally Posted by Elliott

Ain't it the truth, brother. Preach on!!

I am a disabled vet and it is encouraging and gratifying to see that you have found something that you enjoy and have been creative in coming up with a legal and ethical way to help support yourself and your family. Not only that but to help others as well. Your post has given me a real boost. Thanks!!

Elliott

I too am a disabled Vet and appreciate your sentiments. You're right it is good to see someone get into something that both pleases themself and helps another.

I also noted in many of these posts that many want to sell their designs and others seem more adept at running a site.

Why not work together to help each other out? Some have marketing skills, some have website skills and others are more skilled st designing, It just seems that if people worked together and did what they did best it might pay off for all in the long run.

If someone of you were willing to put a site together. I'd be happy to volunteer some time doing graphics.

[maltedfalcon]

Originally Posted by gippolot

Great advice Malted'....
approximately 3 people on this website ask me if I will release my design. If I put a price on my model, it would litterally be cents/per hour. Oh, that is if 300 people paid for it.

Gippo

Well Hmmmm, I dont believe I've ever had anybody ask me to sell a model... so yours definitely have a desire factor built in...
Never said it would make you rich or even pay for your time. originally I went at it as a way to defray the cost of ink and cardstock.

so by selling your model you state you will only make pennies per hour you invested in making the model.
So currently you make 0$/ model (oh wait, you are probably paying something for a place to host your model, you are paying for internet access, you did pay for disk space that that model is taking up on your computer. so even though you dont sell it, you pay for it, so that free model of yours has a negative value actually.

So lets think about this... Go grab the PMI catalog The most expensive model I saw was $75.00 (for a huge battleship)the least $1.75 for an simple HO gauge house. now these are printed models not downloads. The average printed model looks to run between $6 and $20. So lets say you print a model and sell it for 10$

Figure 4 pages of color printed parts, 2 pages of instructions and a cover
My printer will charge me 34 cents/color cardstock 11c per sheet Bw
and 26cents color regular paper. on a laser printer that prints 1200 dpi. (I get a discount for being such a good customer)

The printing cost of the model is then (double sided B&W instructions) (.34x4)+.11+.26 = $1.73, Charge $5.00 shipping and handling that covers postage,an envelope to mail it in, maybe a ziploc baggie to store it in. Gas to go get it from the printer and gas to take it to the mailbox. so figure you S&H is a wash. $10 -$1.73 = $8.27

Lets just skip the cost of the website for a moment.

You make $8.27/model. -not a huge amount. If I sell 30 copies, I consider a model a success. $8.27X30 =248.10 profit. cash in your pocket to buy other models/paper/ink. I was going to say I've never sold 300 of one model but thats not true I've sold just about 2000 minnows most are way less.

Now sell 10 different models a year, = $2481.00 extra -free gratis - in your pocket... or just stick it in bank and save it for retirement. Out of that you can pay for a website - no problem.

Guess what, models don't go away, they sit there after there initial surge and sell 1s and twos every month or so as long as they are available...

So no - I don't get rich from selling paper models. But I can easily do the numbers I've shown above. Actually they are really conservative.

You can actually make it much more profitable. sell downloaded models, or sell models on CD,

or you can make it easier ,but less profitable, let someone else sell them for you (that really takes a bite out of the profit) or sell them on eBay (you end up paying a lot of fees though, its still profitable)

I'm doing my taxes for this year right now, and yes, I pay taxes on my paper model income. so over the last five years I have made around $10,000 on selling paper models. Every year it has increased, because as I said, the old models still keep selling.

I cheer for people who want to give away cool paper models. it brings all kinds of new people into the hobby. And there really isn't that big a difference in price between a $15.00 model and a free one. people are willing to pay for a model they want. So free models are actually good for those of us who sell models. The more people who become aware of paper models the better.

And in the long run free paper models aren't free, it's just you paying for the model instead of the guy who takes it. I prefer to let them pay me.

I get a hobby that my wife encourages, (it helps pay bills) If I buy a paper model, its research and a write off on taxes, my paper and ink get paid for, I have an excuse to have my own website. I get emails from all kinds of neat people who have comments or suggestions or info that I didn't know.

Sparky
Matt Sparks
Maltedfalcon

[maltedfalcon]

Originally Posted by Lex

I agree, if the model is not good enough then there's no point selling it... Besides there are plenty of good quality freebies on the net, and if people can get those for free, why would they pay for the commercial ones?
--That's why I'm not selling mine for money until I can do better than the best free models on the internet... (I mean Currell Concorde / DN Dreadnought / the 40-page Hindenburg etc.........) Still a long way to go

Lex, I think that you're just making an excuse.
I stand in awe of Currells models and all, but you know a fifth grader looking for a model for his school airplane project isn't going to want them. He wants a simple concorde he can download and put together in one night, and his mom would be happy to pay a couple dollars for it, especially if it came with information he can use in his report..."
A fiddler's Green Jet, is just as good a model as a JF Schreiber jet, same plane one goes for $3 one goes for $23 and there are also then there are free ones but people still pay for the commercial ones.

If your model is good enough to put out on the Internet, why isn't it good enough to sell. If its not ready for somebody to build why put it out at all free or for sale?

[CJTK1701]

Fascinating breakdown. You know, I did a breakdown like that for "Garage Kits" and was soundly beaten down by the masses. Let's look at that for a moment, as I believe it's apprapo.

Let's say you make a 1/2500 model kit and sell if for $75.00 Yes, they do sell for that price! OK, you've made a resin kit that consists of three to five pieces and takes a couple of ounces of resin. Sure, you've got the development work involved and the research, but let's say this is something you enjoy doing anyway, so your time really isn't worth quite as much as say a professional that has to really work hard to make the grade.

If you sell 100 kits minimum that's $7.500.00 dollars for the first 100. All of the issues stated above are applicable as in this model will continue to sell.

Now let's move up in scale and naturally up in price. Some 1/350th scale kits go for $600 to $1500.00 apiece. If you sell 100 kits at $800.00 per unit is $80.000.00

What if you put out a new kit every 6 months? That's $160.000.00

I know it may seem that I'm over simplifying this, but no by a lot. I know how long it takes to make one of these and all you have to do is sell one model to make more than enough profit to bank and set up your business.

I invested about $400.00 creating a 1/350th Enterprise and it was the firs thing I had ever scratch built. I wanted to sell this kit for about $100.00. At that price I would have been able to cover my expenses, S&H and gas and still made a small profit.

Don't believe it when people that make garage kits say they don't make any money. I know more than one that does this for a living!

Think about it.

This is the very reason that people have gone to cardstock as opposed to styrene GK kits, at least it's one of the reasons. Anyone that can do basic math and cruches the numbers can figure it out.

[maltedfalcon]

Actually just read the story of your Enterprise over the weekend.
Very interesting.
Im just curious why you listened to the negativity at all.
it was obviously bogus,
make your model, sell your model , smile about the people who say don't cant shouldn't as you go to the bank.
just curious why you went the paper model route to start with, why not just dremel the blank out of foam? then cast it? kind of a lot of extra work, but I cant argue with your results...

I would have no problem making the initial model, Im just not set up for or very good at casting things in resin. too bad, it looks fun, no room though and my wife hates the smell, - one of the reasons I do paper models instead...