The stash: A detriment to modeling?

Furthermore, I have a 150+ kit stash and I am 33 so I think I could build them all before retirement (which overhere has been raised to 67 years)

If you stopped buying RIGHT now, and just build the kits you have, the build-rate you'd need to maintain to reach zero kits at 67 is roughly four kits per year (4.41 actually, so I rounded down to four), if my math is right...  And that's if you take 90 days per kit.

I'm 20 years older than you, and I'd wager to say that, based upon my own building habits at that age and looking back over the last twenty,  your kit-building will steadily increase as you age, then go up yet again once you retire... 

Of course, you may actually go slower as other things may become more interesting... Me personally, I get in about 25-30 hours per week at the bench... And I'm only semi-retired...

My kit stash grew quickly when I started working (more disposeable income + less time = growing stash) However, I have brought some focus in my stash which effectively curbed its growth rate. (picking some theme's and buy those kits instead of what is for sale)
I also like to be able to pick a project, what do I want to build, something simple like an 1/72 Me-163 of a work intesive vacform. I have got it all in the stash.

Furthermore, I have a 150+ kit stash and I am 33 so I think I could build them all before retirement (which overhere has been raised to 67 years)

My stash takes up a whole bookshelf. Building terms? I usually plan ahead how i'm going to use a certain kit, diorama/ scene...

Most of the time it doesn't turn out how I originally envisioned. I keep the figure and detail sets separate to not overflow the shelf and cause my Mom to have a heart attack due to my ever- increasing stash.   

that is my big problem too though i have the room year round. my airbrushing is getting better but still a crap shoot at times. i am cleaning up shelf queens to practice more. a good reason for my stash. i just got interested in italian stuff after finishing my MAS. looked at my stash and have a 1/350 hobbyboss POLA i have started and a 1/400 POLA as well. i thought about the plane and, in my stash, i have a 1/72 biplane float plane, cant z-501 seaplane and a pair of sm-79 bombers. so i already have 5 kits and all i need is paint (and, if i stay with this long enough dump some german armor and pick up a ROMA).

Dre

So... hypothetically speaking, if one were to put kits on Ebay for selling, where does one start pricing them?  Obviously I'm not going to get back the full purchase price, but what's a fair starting price for current-mold DML armor kits? 

I think if you type in your product, they give you an average starting price, but I usually go for a starting price of the minimum I will be happy taking. I may not get as many bids, but then I will guarantee I get my sale price.

Current mold kits, sans zimmerit generally sell between $20-30, which is in most case 40% of retail. Some exceptions are the first releases of the Early and Late Tiger I, which still can get in many cases their old retail prices and sometimes more.

I do notice that lower shipping costs will get more bids. I use the USPS calculator and try to ballpark the price to say NY, which is where I always seem to sell my stuff, clear across the country. I like to use confirmation too, so I can track the progress and dispute any claims of not receiving their package (so far, so good). 

Reasoned

Hans von Hammer:

Last count, I think I have enough kits to last me until 2032... At which point I'll be 83...  So I'm done buying anything new..

Unless... I find a 60-70s Monogram or Revell kit that I don't have on-hand, or need another one of, or  just gotta have because it's THERE...

 

Did I tell you what I found in the basement of my LHS this time.....?

Ehhh??? Do tell...

Dre

So... hypothetically speaking, if one were to put kits on Ebay for selling, where does one start pricing them?  Obviously I'm not going to get back the full purchase price, but what's a fair starting price for current-mold DML armor kits? 

Go to www.oldmodelkits.com

Check ther prices (which are collector prices, and far too high for builder-kits... Generally speaking..) agaist the same kit you have, and reduce it by 40%. That will put your start-price at the upper end of the builder-kits..

Then, go to Ebay, and check the particular kit they have (more importantly, the NUMBER of that kit on sale there at that time) and price accordingly.. Going another 20% under the average price of what's showing will generally get the bidders looking YOUR way..

If you have say, an 1/48 Monogram B-17G or Revell B-17G, go under the 40.00 that beng charged retail.. But if you have an ORIGINAL ISSUE, 1975 Monogram B-17G, then go higher.. Say, 55.00.. 

Trick is to sell at what you wanna take, and you often will.. But if you ask too much from the get-go, you won't get any nibbles... Try with selling a couple kits first, see what happens.. If it doen't sell, you can always relist it...

Another thing to comsider is selling in lots of six or eight.. Put three "Goodies" in the lot, then some that you just wanna get rid of. Try not to mix scales or genres.. But don't start that at first... 

Be ABSOLUTELY TRUTHFUL in your descriptions, and in you answers to bidder-questions.. I always wade around in there, looking for rip-offs... I call 'em on it too... Privately, at first, politley... Sometimes, it's not a rip-off, it's usually someone selling kits they know nothing about..

But once you start to get a bunch of negative feedback, you're sunk at Ebay..

 

 

bondoman

Hans von Hammer:

Last count, I think I have enough kits to last me until 2032... At which point I'll be 83...

 

No you won't be! You're younger than me, and I'll be 76. So you have time for another 30 or so.

 

Typo. Should have been 73..

Thanks for the input, I may yet do this thing.

you can always start out with a few kits.. at the price you hope to clear.. and see what happens, or just a bit lower an hope the bidding escalates.. lots of pics helps to.

 

Dre

Ideally, I'd be reducing my stash without taking too much loss on the markdown... with what I know of these things, I'd wind up paying the customer for the kit.

I'll be happy to take your stash and your money.

Ideally, I'd be reducing my stash without taking too much loss on the markdown... with what I know of these things, I'd wind up paying the customer for the kit.

 

Dre

So... hypothetically speaking, if one were to put kits on Ebay for selling, where does one start pricing them?  Obviously I'm not going to get back the full purchase price, but what's a fair starting price for current-mold DML armor kits? 

It depends.. do you want to make $$  ? or just reduce your stash... ? Pricing high, or medium and hoping to make a good profitt, may work, but might result in less sales due to others looking for bargains.. and not willing to pay your price.

Pricing low for bids, and with a decent margin on a "buy it now" , might be the way to go...

I highly suggest not doing the thing some are doing and making the "shipping fee" high to offset the low buy/bid..   that creats ill will and makes buyers go elsewhere..

 

So... hypothetically speaking, if one were to put kits on Ebay for selling, where does one start pricing them?  Obviously I'm not going to get back the full purchase price, but what's a fair starting price for current-mold DML armor kits? 

i am getting better at overthinking a start. i used to be obsessive about the exact color. now i'm not, obviously within reason. for example resaerching KONIG found some kits with the boat hulss all one color some with waterline colors. in the past that would put the model back on the shelf because it wouldn't be "correct" now i just decide what will look nicer on the shelf and do it. i have a number of themes in my stash representing interests at difference times same goes for wargame buys and books. i have one 5 shelf rack of the kits i really want to build and i am narrowing my areas. right now it's modern wheels, modern ships, ww1 and earlier ships, railroad, and big torpedo boats. still a lot. some shelf queens are getting tossed. they served their purpose as a test bed but aren't worth the effort, especially if i have another in the stash. also i am going to start dumping older crappy kits unless i have a serious interst or am building it for someone else. i have too many kits to spend time on crappy ones. i may even start dumping ww2 armor and stick with less popular subjects.

Ebay can be a fun , and easy way to add to your stash.. it also can be maddening !! but.. its there.. I've used to add to my stash,, I find it easy to  shop there once you figure out some stuff.. plus.. it comes right to my door..!!!

Back the original question.. I find my stash,, sometimes is like looking at a library shelf of books you havn't read yet...

Don Stauffer

I do find that I have a tendency  to want to build the latest kit I have bought, instead of reaching for something in the stash.  However, at other times something peaks my interest- maybe something I see on TV, in a movie, or in a book, and I remember that I have something related in the stash, and that does then go on the bench.  Also, clubs I belong to are doing more and more challenge competitions, and I may have something in the stash that would meet the challenge.  But indeed I find myself building more of the recently bought stuff so my stash seems to age a lot.

I find myself doing the same.  The latest and greatest kit purchase is the one I want to dig into first.  I have a lot of nice stuff in the stash, but never seem to go back to work on them.  Example:  The recent arrival of the Tamiya 1/32 P-51 D.  I just had to start working on that one as soon as I got it!

Dre

Guilty, guilty and finally...  guilty to all counts listed.

I really should join the modern era and see for myself what this "Ebay" is all about.

Yeah, now you're talking...

Don't do it, you'll hate yourself later....

Guilty, guilty and finally...  guilty to all counts listed.

I really should join the modern era and see for myself what this "Ebay" is all about.

Dre

 

DoogsATX:

 

 

Dre:

 

I don't know if a large stash is a detriment to modeling or not, but I do know that after my own stash reached an unmanageable (for me) level, I quit buying kits and AM goodies.  Now, I just have to build what's there...

 

 

That's when you sell portions of the stash to make room for more...

 

 

 

Sell the precious?   Silly hobbitses....

Tastes change, wants change, impulse buys get regretted. 

DoogsATX

 

Dre:

 

I don't know if a large stash is a detriment to modeling or not, but I do know that after my own stash reached an unmanageable (for me) level, I quit buying kits and AM goodies.  Now, I just have to build what's there...

 

 

That's when you sell portions of the stash to make room for more...

 

Sell the precious?   Silly hobbitses....

PaintsWithBrush

Manstein's revenge:

...its not the stash that stops you, its YOU that stops you...

 

It was me that stopped me, I know that. I just wonder if I outran myself with a false "completion" of my ultimate goal. I've joined that crew of "I just seemed to lose interest" posters that bemoan their lot and need to hear that it was really some outside force conspiring against my love of the hobby rather than face the reality that no hobby can burn eternally with the brilliance of it's glory times.

...yes...

Dre

I don't know if a large stash is a detriment to modeling or not, but I do know that after my own stash reached an unmanageable (for me) level, I quit buying kits and AM goodies.  Now, I just have to build what's there...

That's when you sell portions of the stash to make room for more...

I don't know if a large stash is a detriment to modeling or not, but I do know that after my own stash reached an unmanageable (for me) level, I quit buying kits and AM goodies.  Now, I just have to build what's there...

maybe having tooooo large a stash is like  the inbox at work   it becomes so overloaded   you begin to debate every morning as to going or calling out sick

Hans von Hammer

Last count, I think I have enough kits to last me until 2032... At which point I'll be 83...

No you won't be! You're younger than me, and I'll be 76. So you have time for another 30 or so.

I don't have a stash, unless you count 20 or so. but I give away at least 5, trade 5 and will never build 5 of those, so I run pretty close to the mark every year. I only buy one or two kits a year so pretty soon there'll be none at all.

Where I get bogged down (the detriment part) is that whenever I do but a kit, I then buy every AM thingie for it that I can find, on the principle (sound) that if I don't, I won't be able to find it when I do build the kit.

So when I do start a new kit, there's a whole bunch of stuff in the box to deal with.

I think it's a pretty economical practice (I'm really cheap) but it does complicate the schedule.

Well, I don't know if the size of the stash was the problem or not but that's what I blamed it on. During my first few years back I accumulated a sizeable stash. Almost 600 auto kits. It seemed that it was so easy to set a build aside anytime I hit a difficult spot and start another. I sold all but the ones I wanted the most. Cut it down to about 75 kits. And now that I've been building military subjects I've kept that stash down to about 15 - 16 kits. Seems to work for me.

Tony

Manstein's revenge

...its not the stash that stops you, its YOU that stops you...

It was me that stopped me, I know that. I just wonder if I outran myself with a false "completion" of my ultimate goal. I've joined that crew of "I just seemed to lose interest" posters that bemoan their lot and need to hear that it was really some outside force conspiring against my love of the hobby rather than face the reality that no hobby can burn eternally with the brilliance of it's glory times.

I know what you mean Hans, about those old kits from Monogram molds.

I have a very difficult time resisting the 1/72 Tigercat, Bearcat and Skyraider models I see at discounts at shows, etc

I seem to pick up just about every USN or USAF version of their Phantom that I walk past, also

My collection is supposed to be all here, in the stash, waiting in a longggg build line,,,,,,but, those 5 kits just draw me in, maybe to use the decals that got put into the "left over" pile?

I do know that there are far worse "quick builds" out there than the Bearcat molding,,,,it makes a very nice looking model if you have plenty of markings, and don't want to do a "full meal detail deal" on a kit