: The link below has 5 foot strip built model canoes selling for $550! That's
: the only site that I've found selling model canoes. No model kayak sites,
: at least not that I've seen. But let's just say that it takes him 50 to 60
: hours to build one of these, which is quite possible, he's earning less
: that $10/hour for his labor by the time you figure a rather small
: materials expense.

: That's cool if it's just a hobby, like it is for me and many others, if it
: helps support the materials costs, but I honestly can't see doing THAT
: full-time. Not at $10/hour.

: The only real benefit of building small sized kayaks to sell that I see is
: that it would be fairly easy to find buyers. Everyone that I've shown my
: models to (most are not even into kayaks) want one. Not that these people
: are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on one, but those that are
: willing are out there. The guy that wants one of my models did not even
: blink an eye when I showed him this canoe site and the $550 price tag. I
: actually thought he was going to order the canoe, but he said he would
: much rather have about a six foot kayak, so I agreed to build him one.

: I spent some time last night thinking about this and concluded that I would
: set the prices for a quality kayak model, that's built just like the
: full-sized, to be based mostly on size alone and time spent to be around
: $180-250 for my 1-2 foot models, $250-400 for my 3-4 foot models and
: $400-600 for my 5-6 foot models. I realize the prices are high and have
: quite a range, but I think it would totally depend on the quality of each
: particular boat.

: I was going to email you my thoughts Ross, but felt it was better to be
: honest and up front with this entire group of builders to hopefully get
: some (positive) feedback. By the way, even when I start my little craft
: business, I'll keep my day job. I've been working here (survey CAD tech.)
: from 6am to 5pm 5 days a week for the last 11 years, and it's fed my
: family of six just fine. Now in order to gain some free-time for model
: construction, I'll need to convince my wife into working full-time

: Thanks to everyone for listening to me ramble, please let me know what you
: think. Off-line (email) is fine also.
: SMF

Great find of a site. Does it take a reputation to command those kind of prices? I'll have to look closer at what you're getting for the money. I've found that those scale models are quite challenging to build. All the parts are so tiny.

Last thought. If it doesn't look professional, it can't demand a proffessional price. But if it does................

Roger