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CoolHands

Have you ever new built a car then sold it straight away?

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I’ve enjoyed building a super clodbuster black edition. But I’m sort of wondering about selling it more or less straight away? (This is not an advert). In general I don’t like selling things I have enjoyed using, but the clod I haven’t really ‘used’ so has no nostalgic memories attached.

 

I have a konghead to build next which I suspect I’ll be more willing to use & abuse and not worry about if it tips over etc. (Don’t want to damage the clod body)

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Most of the time, I'll get stalled on a project then give up and sell it partially built.  I will also say that 95% of the time I end up rebuying another of the same thing anyway.  I'm considering a Axial Bomber now and have already given up/sold 2 Bombers.

Do I have issues... for sure lol.

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I built a df03RA with 2 Subaru bodies and sold it before ever running it. Then I did the unthinkable and built a buggy champ, labored over the body finishing for weeks and then sold that before running it as well.  It's the only RC regret I have.

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Not yet, but i'm going to. I have a new in pack re re Lancia Rally body shell from 2001. I am in the process of painting and applying decals, but as soon as its done, i will sell it as i have no interest in the re re stuff.

J

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20 minutes ago, Nobbi1977 said:

Finished today, eBay tomorrow 

 

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I hope it raises lots of money for your chosen charity :D

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24 minutes ago, J@mes said:

I hope it raises lots of money for your chosen charity :D

If it gets a little more than the boxed kit was worth then it will be worth it. 

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I’ve been kind of meaning to ask and see what people thought. I absolutely love building Tamiya/Kyosho kits.  Maybe even more than I like running them.  Nothing better to me than spending an afternoon cutting/trimming parts and putting things together.  I always wondered if I could just break even buying kits, assembling them and selling them on eBay. Not looking for profit, just a way to break even doing something I really enjoy.  No idea if there’s an eBay market for RTR cars.  Do I include electronics?  Paint the bodies?  Would anyone buy it?

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I sold a new build dt-02 holiday buggy, because I do not like red body and did not know that the body was not paintable

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1 hour ago, A-Baum said:

I’ve been kind of meaning to ask and see what people thought. I absolutely love building Tamiya/Kyosho kits.  Maybe even more than I like running them.  Nothing better to me than spending an afternoon cutting/trimming parts and putting things together.  I always wondered if I could just break even buying kits, assembling them and selling them on eBay. Not looking for profit, just a way to break even doing something I really enjoy.  No idea if there’s an eBay market for RTR cars.  Do I include electronics?  Paint the bodies?  Would anyone buy it?

There might be, but I suspect that it would be limited. Most people I know choose Tamiya precisely because of the build experience. I know only one chap who would rather run Tamiyas built by someone else than build them himself. Still, if you find several such individuals, it might be enough to keep you supplied with projects.

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1 minute ago, TurnipJF said:

There might be, but I suspect that it would be limited. Most people I know choose Tamiya precisely because of the build experience. I know only one chap who would rather run Tamiyas built by someone else than build them himself. Still, if you find several such individuals, it might be enough to keep you supplied with projects.

I would almost pay to build other people’s cars. They can cut and paint their own bl**dy bodies though.

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7 minutes ago, Nobbi1977 said:

I would almost pay to build other people’s cars. They can cut and paint their own bl**dy bodies though.

Lol true.  I’d have to add an extra fee to provide the catalog quality livery.  I hate doing bodies.  

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14 minutes ago, Nobbi1977 said:

I would almost pay to build other people’s cars. They can cut and paint their own bl**dy bodies though.

It's funny, i just said this to my girlfriend last night when she was asking why I don't just start building right away instead gathering parts first.

"Don't you want to have fun driving it?"

"90% of the fun for me is building"

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45 minutes ago, M06Guy said:

It's funny, i just said this to my girlfriend last night when she was asking why I don't just start building right away instead gathering parts first.

"Don't you want to have fun driving it?"

"90% of the fun for me is building"

I am not a great driver and the space and time needed to drive is not always available. Plus charging batteries in advance is a pain.

Building and modifying is the fun for me

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On 4/18/2020 at 2:06 PM, A-Baum said:

I’ve been kind of meaning to ask and see what people thought. I absolutely love building Tamiya/Kyosho kits.  Maybe even more than I like running them.  Nothing better to me than spending an afternoon cutting/trimming parts and putting things together.  I always wondered if I could just break even buying kits, assembling them and selling them on eBay. Not looking for profit, just a way to break even doing something I really enjoy.  No idea if there’s an eBay market for RTR cars.  Do I include electronics?  Paint the bodies?  Would anyone buy it?

Unfortunately, you'd lose money.  I've gotten several almost-brand-new built cars for about $80.  Often with oil shocks, servos. Sometimes with an ESC too.  

Some people just liked to build.  They keep it without running for like 10 years, and then sell it.  I never liked to buy a painted body, even though painting is the least favorite of the build process.  I like orange and light blue, but never liked dark green.  The way I see it, once you paint it with one of the 9 colors (rainbow 7 plus Black and White), the number of potential bidders becomes 1/9th of what it was before it was painted.  If you must paint, going with the box art would be the best bet.  

If I were selling, I'd sell it as a rolling chassis with a clean shell. ESC separately.  If it's brand new with ball bearings (30 cents a piece) installed, you might just break even.  As much as I like building, taking a built one apart to put in bearings is a pain.  

 

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This is funny cos the car I most want right now is a Clodbuster! The only thing stopping me is the money plus the fact I'd struggle to sneak it past the wife, due to the size of the thing (the Clodbuster, not the wife :lol:)

I once built a DF03 Dark Impact, decided I preferred the Keen Hawk body instead so bought one of them, ended up selling them both before even turning a wheel.

Bizarre this hobby sometimes.

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I restored and built a mud blaster it took me an age but it was in pretty bad condition and I was so pleased with the outcome then straight after I rebuild a Ford ranger again I was really pleased with it! I thought because the ranger was my first ever tamiya rc it would enhance my nostalgic sentiment? But it never I had no attachment to it probably because it wasn't my original one and the mud blaster I got for next to nothing from a boot sale but the time and money I spent on them was probably real reason I sold them both to recoup the money I spent on them the mud blaster I got absolute peanuts for it:( the Ford ranger long story short the guy that bought it was an absolute nightmare to deal with the least said the better it still makes my blood boil to this day to the extent I didn't sell another thing for years after! 

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11 minutes ago, moffman said:

the guy that bought it was an absolute nightmare to deal with

I am sorry to hear that.  Since I'm an introvert, I really don't like to deal with people even in the best of circumstances.  However, I bought one from the most wonderful guy.  There are terrible people in the world, but it seems there are absolutely wonderful people too. 

I got a rolling chassis for about 70 USD.  The rear tires looked new despite how the bottom of the chassis looked. But DT03 has weak rear springs so it doesn't take many jumps to leave marks on the bottom.  The cardboard box came pulverized.  The chassis and the shell was fine, but the pinion was missing.  It was shipped loosely tumbling around in the box, and holes had developed at the corners.  I didn't think the seller would even respond.  But he did. He ordered a pinion, but that secondary seller sold one of wrong pitch.  I send it back to that secondary seller.  The first seller then ordered yet another pinion.  All in all, it took like a month to sort it out.  He tried absolute best to keep his end of the bargain and he came through. I was impressed. 

Be it cleaning bathrooms or cleaning tumors out of people's brains, Every job is taking care of other people's needs.  If he does that well, he's going places.  While the world is showing a lot of irresponsible people, there are hidden gems out there. We just have to live long enough to encounter them.  We do see TC members sending necessary parts, sometimes free of charge.  I think we are fortunate to have members like that. 

 

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On 4/18/2020 at 7:06 PM, A-Baum said:

I’ve been kind of meaning to ask and see what people thought. I absolutely love building Tamiya/Kyosho kits.  Maybe even more than I like running them.  Nothing better to me than spending an afternoon cutting/trimming parts and putting things together.  I always wondered if I could just break even buying kits, assembling them and selling them on eBay. Not looking for profit, just a way to break even doing something I really enjoy.  No idea if there’s an eBay market for RTR cars.  Do I include electronics?  Paint the bodies?  Would anyone buy it?

Well I sold it. It is loss-making!

cost £264+£15 (bearings) + £15 (paint) = £294

sold for £235-£13 delivery - £23 fees = £197

loss of nearly a hundred quid!

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Ouch!  So the moral of the story is - if you buy and build a clod, keep it!

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yup. On the other hand the 200 quid I got back 'paid for' (in my mind!) the konghead! haha

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15 hours ago, CoolHands said:

yup. On the other hand the 200 quid I got back 'paid for' (in my mind!) the konghead! haha

No, but I’ve bought a car before and built it just to realize I need to get another one for shelf purposes 🤣 1 for running, 1 for collect

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Nope. Once I buy something I very rarely sell/get rid of it.
Having said that I do buy cars and give them to my kids....does that count?

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Bought a mini-z a few months ago when I was getting into the hobby. 

We bought some crappy wee cars for indoors from China and I could see the potential for indoors winter fun. 2 days later I bought a mini-z audi tt. 

We had some fun with it and it's an amazing bit of kit but yeah, it's sat on the shelf since we were able to get outdoors and I'll be selling it as soon as I can be *******. 

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