Guide for Selling Restored Redlines
I am going to break this page into 3 sections - General Information, What to Do, & What Not To Do
This guide is intended for the sale of restored Hot Wheels through an auction site such as eBay since this is where most are sold. However, many of these ideas do apply to the resale of any restored toy at any location.
GENERAL INFORMATION
1 - Do not expect to make a profit from selling restorations of any toy. It is a myth that restoration is profitable. It is a myth that restored cars are worth half value of mint originals. When you look at it from the view that someone paid $8 for a beater and then sold it for $40 restored, many would say that person made $32. Did they? Purely from a dollar view, yes. Realistically - NO. Consider that when restoring you have costs for all your supplies, and the biggest thing is the time & labor put into each restoration. Then if your car needs parts or decals - consider $8 for the car, $9 for a new windshield, and $3 shipping for that new windshield, you are now very quickly up to $20 invested in that car before you even count any of your time or work. Then if you sell that car on eBay add another $2 or $3 for listing & selling fees and think about your time for packing & shipping that car as well.
2 - Better castings restored in desireable colors will bring a better sales price BUT those casting cost more money to acquire. A restored Pink Classic Cord may bring as much as $125 if the resto is of top quality, but you are not likely to find a complete beater cord for less than $60.
3 - The keys to getting the most out of your restorations - First is name recognition, this takes a while to develop. Second is quality - the restoration must be of the utmost quality, as near to perfection as possible, an immaculate show piece if you will. High quality leads to name recognition, which results in better sales. Quality is necessary to achieve name recognition, and once you have both you must maintain both, one cannot survive without the other.
4 - Quality is very important - shiny chassis, clear windows, reflective finish, nice wheels, good color, as many original parts as possible.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SELLING
1 - BE ABSOLUTELY HONEST
2- ALWAYS make it very very clear that the car is a restoration and not original. In an on-line auction listing state it first and clearly and several times, make sure it is very clear to all who are buying that the car is restored. Don't type a long description then bury/hide the word restored once in the middle of the description. Don't put restored in your auction title, that will cut your page views down and your price down. Do make the fact that it is a restoration very clear in your description, I cannot stress that enough.
3- Make it very clear as to what parts on the car are replacements and what parts are original.
4 - Show large clear photos from both sides & underneath (see photos above for reference). Anything less is only hurting your own sales.
5 - Be very very careful who you sell to. There are buyers out there who buy restorations with the sole intent of reselling them as originals to defraud people of their money. Some restorers keep a record of every car that they sold, when they sold it, who bought it, where they were located, and even save a couple photos of each car in a folder on their computer. I recommend doing this, this protects you and should someone try to re-sale the car as original then you have the proof to bring them down. Make sure your buyers know that you do this, this make them less likely to buy from you if their intent is future fraud.
6 - This is optional but strongly suggested. Many restorers sell their restorations with replacement rivots. I don't like this as it makes them easier to be resold as orginals by someone down the line. Use some method of re-assembly that makes the restoration look nice so as not to hurt your sale price but at the same time use a re-assembly method that does not look perfectly original, again the purpose here is to prevent future fraud. I try to use button head screws on mine, they look nice and are easily recognized as not original - see the underside photo of the Tow Truck above for reference. I put some epoxy in the hole and then tighten them just enough until they slightly strip out the threads in the hole - this makes them very difficult to remove and replace with repro rivots. As a restorer you should want to make every effort to keep this hobby honest, the more restorations that are sold as real, the more we get hurt as restorers. However, you can do your best, but understand that there is absolutely nothing that we can do to mark our restorations that some scumbag can't change if they really want to.
WHAT NOT TO DO
1 - Again, I must stress, never, ever, under any circumstances try to sell a restoration as original. That is fraud.
2 - Never sell to ANYONE where you have concerns about their future intentions or their integrity.
3 - Never show photos that are not color & condition accurate. Edit your photos to make them look as true as possible. Don't make colors look better than they are, don't give a glow to a car that doesn't have a glow.
4 - Never sell a restoration as is, or any item for that matter. If the buyer is not happy have them return it and as long as you receive the car back in the same condition as it was when you sent it, then send them a refund. Keep your customers happy, don't hurt your reputation over a few dollars.