Fantasy Football carrying case pitches...

[TheAzman]

Hello everyone,

I'm a long time lurker and I don't post much, but I wanted to get some answers from the community about fantasy football pitches.

What I wanted to ask was: How much would anyone here pay, reasonably, for a portable pitch similar to various pitches that I have seen on these forums but not fully complete? What I'm trying to say is that I'm pretty handy as far as measuring/cutting/assembly goes, but less so in the painting/modeling department and I wanted to know if there would be an interest from the members here about purchasing pitches that have the basic construction finished but any details would be up to them ( type of field, colors, advertisements, etc ). What would be fair pricing options for both parties? I just wanted to get a feel from the community about the feasibility of this idea.

I have a full time job and a family, but I wanted to do something with some of my free time that would be both fun and just a little bit profitable, but also provide something for the community members who were maybe contemplating building their own pitches but haven't.
I will try and take some pictures of possible products when I get my work area completed in the coming weeks as I am just now returning home after a long period of working out of town.

Any ideas/questions/criticisms are welcome and I thank everyone in advance.

[Chris]

The other way of looking at it is you cann cost materials, then cost your own time? How much is an hour of your time worth?

[TheAzman]

The other way of looking at it is you cann cost materials, then cost your own time? How much is an hour of your time worth?

That makes sense. I guess I can just use the wage I make in my daytime job. I do construction so it kind of fits.

Thank you for the advice!

[mzukerman]

That's good advice, but there are two other points of view:

1. What is the value of that item in the marketplace? You may find yourself pricing the item out of the market and then you don't have enough sales to make it worth your time.
2. Craftsmanship is really hard to price because the skills, though the same as what you might use in your job, may not be valued the same when you take out other factors in your day job's pay like inflation of rate from union negotiations, health care provisions, commoditization of labor (more people who do the same thing you do for less cost), etc.

I think your original question was spot on - what would people pay for such an item? Then you decide if it is worth your time.

Me? I tend to be cheap. Knowing that I would still have to customize the pitch, I think I'd probably be willing to pay $40-$50 US.

[TheAzman]

In hindsight, charging my wages for a product would put me out just because of the dollars per hour rate. I know I can keep it under $100 for such an item. I guess I will just have to build one and see how people like it. We'll see... I still have to set up my work area and stuff. May be a little while till I can put out a concept.

[Chris]

A point about charging less for your time is you would have a different reason for doing it (note I assume you aren't paying tax on this) to a financial one. At which point you are into doing things for reasons other than the money, in which case charge whatever you are happy with (and if no-one pays that don't do it for profit at all).

[TheAzman]

Well... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't doing it for money (I know I'll never make it more than just a hobby thing or get rich off of it), but I know I can't detail a pitch like the ones I have seen or even come close to pricing the same. The level of creativity on some of them..... They are fantastic looking but EXPENSIVE!! If I had the coin to drop for a custom pitch like some of those I would do it in a heartbeat, but, alas I don't. I also know that a lot of other people most likely don't have the funds to do that either, and if they do then congrats to them.

I may still not do it when all is said and done, but I hope to put out a few pics when a test product is built just to see what you all think. Like I said, I'm not trying to get rich, but I wanted to try to make something accessible for the average coach's budget. We'll see.

Thank you all for the information and advice! It gives me a lot to think about and it brings to light some things I hadn't thought about. I appreciate it!

[Chris]

Well, I was quite happy with this http://www.amera.co.uk/product.php?range=d for £20 from Salute a few years back!

They http://www.amera.co.uk/product.php?range=f actually have some nice cheap fast terrain that only requires a simple paint job.

[TheAzman]

That seems really low pricing. The terrain looks great, but how sturdy is the stadium? It looks awesome, though. I also like the open air pitches that don't fold up. They're less bulky than the fold up ones.

I was aiming to construct a pitch that works like a suitcase. Kind of like others I've seen out there, but with different features and gimmicks that set it apart so people can have more choices when they shop for one.

It's a bit of a lofty goal, but I'm game to try at least one.

Thanks for the link! It's great to see what's out there.

[mzukerman]

No, you should try to make a go of this. Get yourself enough interest and then go onto Shark Tank and ask them for funding.

Tell me that wouldn't be the most awesome thing in the world - seeing Mark Cuban go nuts over a sports game and want to throw $300,000 at you to improve your production capabilities?!?!

[TheAzman]

No, you should try to make a go of this. Get yourself enough interest and then go onto Shark Tank and ask them for funding.

Tell me that wouldn't be the most awesome thing in the world - seeing Mark Cuban go nuts over a sports game and want to throw $300,000 at you to improve your production capabilities?!?!

That would be insane!!!

Now the wheels in my head are turning faster......

[Chris]

Sorry, meant to make the point about unpainted stuff being fine and what is out there.

I ran out of cash at the same salute before I saw this...
http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?p ... 28mm-scale

Of course would only be of use in a fixed location and I don't like the position of the dugouts

Scrolling down google show many exmples...
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blood ... +unpainted

[TheAzman]

Damn.... Some of those are glorious.... I can build the cases and everything like those, but the crafting/painting/flocking....maybe with lots of time and patience.

These are fantastic links, by the way. My search-fu is weak compared to yours! Cheers!