Earlier this week, I purchased three bottles, each 0.5 ounces of flat acrylic paint. The price before tax was $3.99. I did the math! Now I wonder why Rustoleum is charging over $1020 USD per gallon for this hobby paint. This makes no sense to me. I know I have been paying more than $500 USD per gallon for these hobby paints which were from Testors.. The Polly Scale I purchase was generally a 1 ounce bottle and as I check my old inventory, the least expensive bottle is marked $3.99 for 1 ounce.
I think any product that is made for a limited market with special specifications and small quantities will be more expensive. There's all the cost of mixing specific colors to match those of real railroads but the total quantities made are small for each color. The cost to fill a small bottle is the same as filling a big bottle but how many people would buy a quart of, say, L&N Gray or even Grimy Black? The cost of model paints has always been high. I remember the little bottles of Testor's enamel seeming to be very high 65 years ago. I now use the better quality craft store acrylics, with brush or airbrush, for structures and weathering. I airbrushed the switch engine here with craft paint as an experiment, and it didn't come out too bad. I did have to prime it first with a rattle can of Rustoleum primer. But obviously you can't match a specific RR color with craft paint. George V.
I have been retired for about 10 years and thus have time to re-examine my hobby budget and how I am allocating the funds. While I was still working, I rationalized the high prices as the cost of entertainment and felt I was getting a good value. I started in n-scale modeling in 1973-74. I have always looked for good value in purchasing modeling products: e.g. I use light weight spackling compound on scenery instead of the similar product offered in the hobby shops under recognized brand names. The profit margin on these hobby paints is ridiculously large. I do not see how Rustoleum in good conscientious can price it so high. I am tempted to try to mix my own with artist acrylics.
I'm not old enough to know what Testor enamels sold for 65 years ago but 55 years ago, they were 15 cents. Hardly high-oriced, even for those days. Government regulations and liberal desire to cripple industry is the reason for extremely high prices on products such as model paint. They would love for those products to disappear. Some may poo-poo my statement but it is the truth. Doug
Taxes, regulations, mandatory insurances, mandatory bondings, constant litigations and ? Yup. However, the pricing when compared to a gallon is still hard to justify. Anyone paints a significant amount would be better off going to the local auto parts/autobody supplier and having them mix up a quart...
I really doubt that federal or state regulations have resulted in the high prices of these 0.5 and 1 ounce bottles of hobby paints. RPM or Rustoleum seems to have a monopoly in the hobby paint market; their acquisition of Testors and subsequent elimination of three of the long time favorite brands was not a good sign when it happened. As for liability being a significant factor, it would not be enough to justify the price.
Just saying those things do factor into the cost of doing business. But I also said "the pricing when compared to a gallon is still hard to justify". I probably could have used the word 'impossible.'
The purpose of any company is to make a profit. They charge what they feel people will pay, and apparently they're not wrong. Don't underestimate the cost of government when doing business either, who do you think has to pay for the tests required to let you know that paint is full of cancer-causing substances as determined by the state of California?
I know all about those costs. I have managed and owned automotive related and C-store businesses. What people have no clue about, money-wise...
Small, low cost products in general must carry a high percentage if just for the processing and handling cost. Packaging 1 oz, 5 oz, or a pint will still carry nearly identical handling costs at the various levels and for a supply chain to make ends meet for any product it must cover those costs. If it takes your hobby shop fifteen minutes to place and receive an order, sell it and bag it, any order, then there's a fifteen minute labor with overhead cost before you got one oz, one pound, one crumb, or one drop of anything. Many of these products really don't pay their own way but are a service to hopefully sell the bigger ticket items where 20% has a chance of paying some bills when the low cost items, even at 90% margin, never covered their own direct costs. Some of these items when priced the same as they are might still have costs that exceed their selling price even if the product inside was literally free. And some of this is why there are fewer and fewer store fronts carrying the low per piece cost items but at the same time, invaluable pieces when that one piece is just what we need. Especially when the internet took the higher priced stuff which gave the retailer a fighting chance. Maybe at $4 an oz. those involved can make a meager living. And at those prices with all that goes with it, they won't have me jumping into their high margin gold mine, slicing their pie any thinner. Just a thought from an old businessman who made a living in manufacturing.
Actually they do. I was the Floquil and Pactra Brand Manager at Testor Corp in "Good ole Rockford" from 2002 until 2006. Just look up Prop 64, its the bane of the hobby industry. Also as the Brand Manager, a lot of my time was with working with Dupont Industrial as well as BNSF and CSX and getting the colors "right". Labeling is something that many don't think about other than the color name. Read the fine print and realize I had to spend time getting all that chemical stuff and legalize jargon on that label at a certain point size, send it through a process that involved a paid legal team, state and federal laws and specs and finally a proofing cycle that went from the lab to sales. Something not done in one day and certainly not free. When the government decides to change something, suddenly about 60 plus SKU's have to be changed, updated and you guessed it, the whole process all over again. Meanwhile the Distributors, hobby shops and users are asking, "Where is my paint?" Then the internet rumor mill kicks in, "ABC paint isn't going to be made anymore!" Now Marketing and Consumer Affairs get involved in damage control. Hobby paint is considered to the government as a "childs paint" under their strict code, unlike Automotive paint or even house paint. The government knows an 8 year old is usually not going to use automotive or house paint to paint their model car or toy, but the chances of using hobby paint, well you guessed it. So in brief, research takes money, labeling takes money, legal fees, AKA CYA takes money, support, tech, damage control takes money. Now this was all before Rustoleum took over operations in Rockford. What they are doing their now, I could hardly care as the Floquil line went down hill rapidly and I switched brands to Tru-Color before the demise of said line(s). They discontinued Floquil, Poly Scale and Pactra because there was no profit margin on an already thin profit margin line. Anyone who thinks Testors/Rustoleum/RPM is raking in the money on hobby paints is just not in touch with reality. I can guess that many who think that probably grossed more in three months with their jobs than what I did in a year at Testor. They make their money on interior paints and Bondo, not to mention the idustrial coatings they have done since day one. Testors was a lucrative purchase because the once family owned business only did hobby paints and had perfected the mass production of filling small containers. That said, I have no problem going to a giant chain and finding bottles of acrylic "craft paint" for .99 and using it on my layout, structures and even vehicles. Only when I need authentic colors for locomotives and rolling stock do I purchase the Tru-Color paints. Yes they are "expensive" which is a relative term, but when spraying a locomotive in an authentic scheme that I have spent hours on, quality and performance matters. I'll gladly pay the extra for the amount of work those guys are doing to provide a much better service to us modelers than what Rustoluem/RPM could ever provide. It's like anything folks, follow the money.
With the announcement that Weaver Models is closing (see message on front page http://www.weavermodels.com/ ) there goes the best deal on model paint with the probable end of the Scalecoat line ($7 for 2 oz bottles). I stocked up a while ago, but it sounds like it will be Tru-Color from now on as the only real source of RR paints. Peter
Jim, Thanks for your comments and inside perspective as a Testor employee. I am an industrial toxicologist, so my perspective is one of helping my employer comply with the federal and state regulations over the period from 1977 to 2005. My involvement was with screen printing inks for commercial graphics and signage; thus the chemicals of interest are some of the same used in the paint industry.
Thanks for the insight Jim. You verified what I suspected as to some of the things that you into the cost of our hobbies prices
Until now I have never known what the cost of paint was. So for me, that has never painted any thing with an air brush and never will, the cost of paint is a non issue. For those that have to paint every thing as no one makes what you want, I do feel for you.
It seems like a tough industry to make much money in. A $6.00 bottle gets me through several custom engines, so the paint (one of the most important parts) only costs me $1 per engine. That same engine may bet $30-$40 in brass parts and $10 in 3D printed parts. I think $6.00 is a decent price.
Yeah, got to agree with Karl, the paint isn't as much of an issue as the detail parts or decals. I remember getting decals for about $3.00 a sheet at Longs Drug, now direct they are what? $8.00!
Roger: If you take a sample of any Railroad Polly Scale paint on a piece of paper to Home Depot, they will match the paint and charge you less than $5.00 for a 7 1/4 ounce jar. This is called a custom color match. I've used this for many of the Polly Scale paints I use frequently for weathering locomotives, cars and buildings. (Rail Tie Brown, Rust, Engine Black, Brunswick Green,) etc. etc. Have fun with it. I've been doing this for many years now. Shades
I have already done this in the past because I wanted the Polly Scale Earth color as a base for all my grassy areas of the layout. I actually had quart made. I have also had the smaller size samples of sky blue and off white made to create sky back drops. I had not consider this option for some of my favorite colors for brick buildings. It is not clear to me whether the pigments in these painted are milled as finely as it appears hobby paints like Polly Scale were milled. I do not like a grainy texture to a finished paint job on a model. Thanks for the suggestion, it certainly is better than the hobby paint prices.
