Help me price my 1/5th Scale Allosaurs?

[Lawn Dinosaurs]

Hey out there, I'm looking for a little help in setting a selling price for my 1/5th scale Allosaurus sculpture. It measures 61 1/2 " long and 68" when measured down the spine, 24" high and 9' wide. It is roto-cast using Smooth-on semi-rigid 65D impact resistant resin and weighs approx. 14 lbs. I am the sculptor, mold maker and caster of this piece. At the present time, I am not interested in selling this piece in kit form, but only as a built up finished sculpture. I have checked into shipping costs and to ship within the lower 48 States is $150 or less depending upon the distance. Currently I have 5 casting completed with 2 fully finished  I'm going to try and attached a picture,  for more pics of the Allosaurus as a kit and completed, go to my web-site   www.dinosaursfoamfibergl.com   or just Google   " Lawn dinosurs by Rich ". Please let me know what you think is a fair price for the completed piece.

Thanks,  Rich

[attachment msg=13424][/attachment]

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Hey Rich !

The Allo looks great painted up ! I still think with a larger eye it could be a great 1/1 juvenile..

As for price...any idea about how much you have into it ? Man hours, materials, ect.. ?

[Lawn Dinosaurs]

Chris, I've got a lot of time and money invested. I'm just trying to get an idea of what a large scale model is worth. Considering that I'm looking to sell them as a built-up and painted model  and I've seen a 4 Ft. t-rex on ebay go for $600 - $800 and that is for the unfinished kit, I think $750 should be a very very  reasonable price for a piece that is 25% larger and completed. What do you think?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Chris, I've got a lot of time and money invested. I'm just trying to get an idea of what a large scale model is worth. Considering that I'm looking to sell them as a built-up and painted model  and I've seen a 4 Ft. t-rex on ebay go for $600 - $800 and that is for the unfinished kit, I think $750 should be a very very  reasonable price for a piece that is 25% larger and completed. What do you think?

I meant no offense, just trying to figure what all you have in it to make the best suggestion possible.  Do you have a link that Rex ?  Did it actually sell for that or was that the bid price ?

If you want to take the risk you could list it cheaply and see what the bidders say it's worth...but it's good chance you won't get what you want I'm afraid.. I've had similar experiences in the past. :/

It's possible if the right buyer was found you could get what your looking for...but your market is quite small...maybe 450-500.00 is more likely. I would sell as a kit though and offer a build/ paint service for the added cost.

[Lawn Dinosaurs]

He actually has sold 5 of them, with the lowest at $600 and the highest at $800. It is usually listed under toys and hobbies as dinosaur kits.

[attachment msg=13467][/attachment]

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

For those reading, the model Rich is describing is a JP Rex, I believe that is why it's commanding such high prices.

Anyone else have an idea ?

[Roktman]

IMHO I think $600 to $800 for a built up, painted 1/5 model is a fair.
Shane is selling his 1/5 kit for approx. $450, so building it and painting it should be worth double the kit price.  The true test will be how many buyers you have. Changing the price after a no sale is no big deal if you're going the eBay or similar route.  Worse to worse as has been said if they don't sell you could go the kit route. Not your choice, but it's still $$ in your pocket.  Good luck with it!

[Lawn Dinosaurs]

Roktman, Thanks for your input. I should have my custom sized shipping  boxes in early next week and be on ebay soon after. I just wish more members would give me their opinion also.  Thanks again

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Myself I would offer as both a kit and a finished product. There are many out there that might want the piece but just simply will not spend the money to pay you to do it for them. As for the actual price, I would experiment and find out at what pace it will sell for you at what price. If you are entirely new on ebay you might have a bit of issue with selling high price items right off the gun with no feedback history however. And it might help in figuring your expense versus profit curve, that ebay will charge listing, and final fees and then turn right around and charge you again through paypal for the transaction if that is your chosen payment method. Make sure to allow for those costs in your final total.

[Lawn Dinosaurs]

Thanks for your advice. I have sold a few things on eBay before ( guitars ) and I have figured out potential profit margins. My main goal is to recover sufficient funds from the mold making, resins costs and roto-cast machine costs along with all the other incidentals to get my young artist friend a start. I occasionally work with a young artist in my area, ( although she is not involved in my Allosaurus, she was heavily involved in the life size Ceratosaurus which can be seen along with some of my earlier pieces  if you google ( Lawn Dinosaurs by Rich and Allison ). I believe she  has as much talent and potential as anyone I've seen, and what I'm hoping to do is to get her to realize that there is more to artistry then just making the sculpture.  Her funds are very limited. So my Allosaurus project is mostly intended as a learning experience for both her and me . Example:  I had learn to make the molds, choose the correct resins make the roto-cast machine. Figuring out total expenses versus potential profit, how much labor time is worth etc. Where I'm still unsure is how many quality casts that I'll be able to get from my molds. I hope to get a minimum of 20-25 casts, so setting a price is very difficult and not having any idea of how much demand there may be makes it very iffy. I'm retired, so my time I can write off, but for her future,  time will become a money consideration. My reason for wanting to sell the Allosaurus as a completed piece is to first get a few sold and hopefully get good reviews from the buyers. I guess I'm very leery of someone buying it as a kit and doing a poor job of finishing it and then maybe giving a poor review.     Anyway,    Thanks much for your input and take care,,,,, Rich 

[attachment msg=13851][/attachment]

[amargasaurus cazaui]

You could sell as a single piece statue then, painted or unpainted. Remember even if you paint it, that wont stop someone from grabbing a spray can, brush and a six pack of beer and ultimately creating Frankensteins model and then blaming you anyways. People can be really challenging sometimes !!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Agreed.

Two further suggestions I have. Perhaps send one to Martin Garratt or Shane to build and paint and review for you ?  There are other artists as well..I know Steven DeMarco from PT will build and paint kits given to him and then use them in PT for painting tutorials and talk about it..good publicity there.

Also, if you want maybe Dan could sell your pieces in his store ? Dansdinosaurs.com..he does several other artists as well..just a thought.