how to market and sell my models, are they worth the effort?

i will also add that ive built these bikes for better than 13 years, all of them were made in prison.

im going to start building them her in the real world and any advice about how to sell them or market my skill would be greatly appreciated

No disrespect, but where you've been building your motorcycles is absolutely no one's business but your own.

Drop by the local community college, enroll, and take some marketing classes.

Good luck.

First off you need to  make your creations known.  Good photography and presentation is key.  You might want to invest some time and a bit of money getting your models online.  No one will buy them if they can’t be seen.  If they are as good as you say they are, you will get some sales.

There are plenty of pre-packaged websites/services online you can use to start selling.  They are not by any means perfect, nor free, but they are a start.  

Sadly it takes money to make money.

Good luck.

where they were built and hence where i invented and honed my skill i think may have a direct impact on their marketability, no one taught me this craft and ive never been to school for it, nor is that a possibility at the moment. im just wondering where best to try to sell finished products to people who will truly see them for what they are and i look to this forum for advice and perhaps a little technical help in the future.

thank you easymike for taking the time to reply

thank you echo139er, i would like to email some pics to some of you here on the forum to get an honest opinion of how good these are in comparison to whats out there in the scratchbuild model world. as of this date i have nothing to compare to. if you look at the profile pic i have posted that is one of the bikes i speak of. any input would be appreciated( good or bad i take no offence) and can you echo139er give me any specific examples of web sites that may help with the promotion?

No need to email them (yet).  That is what this forum is for, to share your models, ask questions, help others and make a friend or two.

Just post some of your pics here.  I am sure you can get some constructive feedback.  

umm how to post them?

Try  doogs intructions....

doogsmodels.com/.../how-to-post-your-photos

i1064.photobucket.com/.../img017.jpg

i1064.photobucket.com/.../img018.jpg

i1064.photobucket.com/.../img007.jpg

i1064.photobucket.com/.../img016.jpg

i1064.photobucket.com/.../img102.jpg

this is the album to which i will add more pics

http://s1064.photobucket.com/albums/u361/Michael_Joyce/

As a first step, I'd suggest making connections at local cycle shops, with the possibility of displaying some of your work. The people who buy the big ones are a ready-made market for the small ones as well, and if your work is as high-quality as it appears in your photos, it may generate a "buzz" more quickly than blind web-marketing.

Best of luck!

I'll agree with Greg on this point (local bike shops). Most have a showcase or two that they might be willing to clear a little space out to put them in.

Web marketing can be a real bear to get results out of. Fees can easily make it counter-productive for a small operator. There are free sites out there, but most don't allow any type of commercial dealings on them.

I looked at some of your pictures and I can definitely see possibilities of some good sales. You put together some nice looking bikes.

gtjedi

where they were built and hence where i invented and honed my skill i think may have a direct impact on their marketability, no one taught me this craft and ive never been to school for it.......

I'd agree with you there! I think that would have the biggest impact on their marketability. I'm always in awe at a well "scratched" piece....but being so limited, to whats avaliable in prison adds a huge "awe factor" and genius quality to your pieces.

 Sorry, I can't give any advice on where to market, other than e-bay, or local shops (as has been stated already). Best of luck!

thank you for that, i have talked to some bike shops and they are considering it.

I also think that bike shops would be a good starting point.  You also might want to cover auto parts shops, particularly locally-owned stores who might be willing to display an example of your work.  Hobby shops and craft shops also might have some interest.

Other than that, maybe local art & craft shows.

Do you have a good handle on the cost and time required to build a model?  If you're going to put this much effort into it you need to make sure it's going to be profitable.   Most folks I've seen try something like this greatly underestimate the value of their time & labor.

Good luck,

Mark  

WOW, thats high praise coming from other modelers. thank you all for that.

Maybe you could consider a site like Etsy.com, it really focusses on arts&crafts and has a miniatures section.

Wouldn't hurt to go the Ebay route to test the waters. There's a lot of sellers with Ebay stores there selling a lot. The bikes look fantastic in the pictures!

thank you for the compliment, coming from fellow modelers thats high praise.

just lacking some tools to get re-started and i will be off and running. all i need now is a router and a set of round over and camfor bits. got a table top dril press today :)

Here are some quick suggestions for you.  Get a website!  If you want something relatively cheap that doesnt take much to setup look up the company called 3dcart, they make a plug and play shopping cart for less the 20 USD a month I think. Plus that will allow you to have your own domain name.  You can also include information on your story.  If you don't mind the never ending questions about prison life and what got you there I think you may be correct that it could give a unique spin to your products and story.  

then you need to contact other websites, believe it or not the ingenuity detail and story about your models would make them an interesting story for large sites like engadget.com and lifehacker.com these sites have highlighted other scratch building products to audiences well into the millions.  Make sure you have your site up and running first.  You only get one chance to ride the wave of social media so don't rush it.  

Include your name if it is a unique one in your website: For example johnsmithdesigns. com . Why? No one is searching for motorcycles made out of paper on the internet.  But if they see your products they will search for your name.  Also this will allow you to add your name to ebay listings to help people find your products.  Selling custom work like this on ebay and etsy is difficult because those are search engine based websites. People type something into the page, so if you have an unusual product it is difficult to get traction this way.

Just my two sense!

P.S. RedCorvette is correct as well, make sure you properly price your time.  Sometimes you will find your models are just too expensive because of the hours it takes.  Calculate the hours of completion and multiply it by how much you want to make.  So if a model took you 60 hours to finish and you want to make $20 an hour you would have to price your model at $1200.  That is already a high price and will limit the market of your customer. So just keep it all in mind

thanks for that as well, i can handle the questions about prison. as for the own web page the cost is little but financially i am not well off and i have no projects on the go because, as yet ,i don't quite have all the tools.

seems odd but in the joint i had access to an entire hobby and craft shop and i was working in a cabinetry shop with industrial grade equipment. now that ive seen what i can do with some great tools and my own ingenuity i dont want to back pedal, so i need to get my gear together or figure out new methods to build certain parts. the photos you've seen are scaned copis of prison photos, i constantly strive to get more and more realistic and accurate with my work and i feel like if im not getting better its not worth the effort to build them. basically i dont want cookie cutter bikes, always different, always unique, i wil never build the exact same project twice. and the hours to build them decrease with the better tools and equipment i have and now that ive been building paper projects for better than 17 years      

i am pretty quick to solve issues with the build that may slow it down. though i periodically loose focus/interest. dont ask why im posting all this , i guess i just need to blurt. again thank you all for the advice and as soon as i get going i'll photo the build from first drapht to last coat of clear coat :)

I'd be a buyer if you can make a 2003 Suzuki Volusia! :)

to custome '56 f 100

that is very doable, if you are serious email me at mikejoyce34@gmail.com.