Q and A Monday ~ Is $225 high without a trailer?

The question of price and customs can surprise or even shock people who want a replica of something they take pride in. This question came up again and I want to reveal a little of what goes into my own pricing structure.

Is 225 high? Even without a trailer?

Hi Tate, to be transparent I’ll share with you how I arrive at a price. I want you to feel confident in what you are doing. Please know I am not offended at the question. Glad to answer it. First I start with high end trucks. To get the truck to my house will be $55. Thirty or so minutes of time to locate the model. I am not a dealer so I pay straight retail 98% of the time. Occasionally I am offered a discount for bulk orders but that is rare. A grain trailer will cost me $45 shipped normally although I did just buy some for $30. Nice…

The custom paint I do not have on hand thus a trip to Hobby Lobby for a $7 can of Testor or Model Master in Dark blue. I will likely combine this trip with other errands so it will take about 30 minutes to purchase the paint.

I will spend a bit of time ordering add on parts. I price the current parts at Truckin Little but bought them from Badlands Custom Trucks with other parts to save shipping. The drop visor $6, rear double hump fenders $10, pipes $10 correct front bumper $10 plus shipping. Thirty minutes shopping.

The correct grill can be bought at Tractor Fab for $3.25 plus shipping but I will likely rob a grill off my own truck to save time and buy another one when I am make additional purchases. Figure 30 minutes of time.

When the truck arrives I will have to take off the fenders, dismantle the cab and take the cab top off. Two piece of mushroomed diecast fix the cab top to the roof of the cab. Drill those out that the top comes off. I can cheat and tape off the cab top but paint lines show up. I can do this same thing to the sleeper as well. Strip paint and prime. This may take an hour or more depending on how well the parts come off. Then cross fingers no parts parts are lost or broken.

Two coats of blue and clear to make it pretty. Paint time is 45 minutes total if all goes well. Sometime temperature makes paint do weird things and I get to start over:(

Reassembly either goes really well or is a fist fight. Normally reassembly should take a less than an hour.

This truck will have custom decals. Since the base truck is white these will be water slide and done in house. I have a freelancer at www.fiverr.com that will reproduce the art work for $10. Five for the number on the hood and $5 for the door logo. The pin stripe I will likely reproduce in MS Publisher. Download photos from Facebook and upload to fiverr once the graphic artist is hired. Figure 30-45 minutes for this job.

Once the art work come back I download the photos, stick them in a file with your name on it and import them into a MS Publisher template I made to get the size correct. I normally make 3 sizes for more options when printed. This may take 45 minutes.

Print the decals and shoot with two coats of sealant time 20 minutes. Applying the decals will take 30 minutes.

Finally I will ship your models once you approve via pics I will post on Facebook or email to you. I like to stage photos and post them which takes about 15 minutes.

At the moment, the cost of parts is right at $101.25 and 6 hours of time +/-. Not to mention consumable parts I did not include, glue, decal paper, ink, and sealant. My time on this truck is compensated at $20/hr if anyone reading this does the math.

I did not factor in all the shipping and correspondence to get the job done right and make sure all needs and wants are met. The back and forth takes a bit of time as well and varies depending on the person.

Once I give a quote for a model I stand by the price. As a professional I consider it my duty to get the quote right the first time. Unless a request for a major change is asked for I stand by the quote I give. Plus it annoys me when people I have hired come back and ask for money on when the price was set long ago and no changes were made. If changes were made, I am glad to compensate time at my expense.

I hope this reveals a little of what it takes to bring memories into world class models.

Thanks so much for asking.