by ZachC

 

So you’ve designed, submitted and got your first buggy in world. You listed it in auctions and waited for the tbux to come rolling in. Only they didn’t. If you’re lucky you may have sold two or three to friends but that doesn’t even pay for future submissions. So you ask around and people tell you “the market’s slow right now”. OK, so when do people expect it to get better? Simple answer folks, for buggy designers it doesn’t happen. The market may be slow, but unless you have a product people want it’s gonna stay slow for a very long time.  

What do I mean, you ask? Let’s look at the market for starters. Currently as of this writing there are 1,537 buggies in auction. Of those, 160 are TUVs and 163 are 4 seaters. Based on that you’d think your best bet would be to create TUVs and 4 seaters, but since 2 seaters are the buggy of choice the others languish. OK so entering the main market means that you’re competing against 1,537 other listings. You may argue that many of those are resales, so I’ll point out that in There no buggy ever wears out or breaks down. In fact nothing does. So every single buggy that’s ever been built is still out there waiting to be driven or listed again. The only attrition comes when people leave the world and don’t give or sell off their stuff, or when they hate something so much they return it to There. That last doesn’t happen too often. So like it or not, designers are competing with used buggies. 

What this means is that the idea most new developers have of creating a low cost buggy for Newbies isn’t going to fly. You can’t compete with the resale market. If someone is buying a buggy based on price alone the designer hasn’t got a chance. He has to list the buggy for at least wholesale, in this case 8,850t. The resellers can list theirs for 1t if they want to. In a previous column I did an analysis of how long it would take to make your money back by selling a buggy for 1,000 over wholesale. I used one of my own that isn’t one of my big sellers, but it isn’t bad either. It took far longer than most designers want to wait to recoup their costs. With submission, auction fees, advertising, it took well over 9 months. At the other end of the spectrum are the new designers who think they can avoid paying any dues and start right out with a limited edition buggy. Some price them very high, some price them lower, and none of them have a track record for collectors to go by. It seldom works. 

There’s no magic to creating buggies. It takes time, effort and patience to learn to use the tools, generally either Photoshop or Paintshop. You have to realize that people aren’t shopping for buggies. There’s no need to. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t own at least 2 or 3 unless they’re a new account. Even then there are plenty out there being loaned and once a newbie has a premium account there are plenty that get given away too. The only answer is to create a buggy of quality and innovation that will catch peoples’ eye. Something that makes them say “I want that buggy!” when they see it. I go through auctions extensively for this column, and I can tell you those buggies are few and far between.  

Another mistake many designers make is constantly relisting their buggies even when they don’t sell. What happens is that people get used to seeing your name, and they also get the impression that you don’t have anything they’re interested in before they even look. If something doesn’t sell after a month or two, why relist? In hopes it may sell one? If it hasn’t sold by now chances are it won’t, and in the meantime your buggy that no one wants is sitting in auctions “advertising” what? That this is the best you can do? I find myself passing over several designers when I review buggies because I’ve seen their old stuff so often I don’t even notice if they’ve come out with something new. Is that good? No, not for an aspiring designer it isn’t! My recommendation is to not relist items that don’t sell. Keep trying but don’t get bogged down with old stuff. I can tell you I used my credit card a lot more than I intended to when I first started designing buggies. I did it because I had a passion for designing them and I really had fun doing it. I still do, but back then it was cheap entertainment that took up hours and hours and was a lot more enjoyable than sitting in front of the TV. 

I went out and asked several people about buggies this past weekend. These weren’t collectors or racers, just your average Therian. I asked them what gets them to buy a buggy. My sampling was small, and the method far from scientific, but every singe one mentioned realistic. When I asked about that, they all said they like real looking tires, clear glass, and depth in the paint. Themed buggies seemed to be ok, but only as long as they looked realistic enough that they weren’t a joke. Others said things like: “Balanced design, realistic, and interesting use of color and variations. A buggy reflects on who you are just as much as your real life car.” So look at your designs. Do they meet those standards? Unfortunately the vast majority doesn’t, and the vast majority don’t sell. Learn what the customer wants and try to provide it. 

Of course there are those who will tell you that they only design for themselves so they don’t really care what others think. I always wonder why these same people list their buggies in auction, or why they complain when they can’t sell them. 

OK enough doom and gloom there are some great designers out there, and I try to bring those to you in this column. This week we have a familiar face returning to these “pages”. Mullachops has done some incredible buggies. His latest is a take off on one of his designs that’s proven quite popular. The M:Core:Kamo is priced at 18,599t and it’s limited to 10. Mullachops has a proven track record and if you decide to buy one of his limited buggies you know if he says “limited to 10” that’s what it’ll be. As camo buggies go this has to be one of the best. The detail is excellent and although camouflage paint isn’t easy to do well, Mullachops makes it LOOK easy with this buggy.  

Next we have the DMC Korsa GT-07 (Black) by BigD26. This buggy is well done, which isn’t easy with black, and it’s priced at 14,850t. You can’t beat that price for a buggy of this quality! The seats are beautiful, the dash is excellent, and the rims are spot on. This has to be considered a bargain. 

If you’re looking for a four seater for Halloween, check out the Coffin Dodger by Polymatrixdragon. Poly has a unique style and his buggies have proven to be quite popular. At 19,999t I expect this one will be as well. The interior is well done, the rims are right for the design. It just looks like everything fits.

  

Speaking of Halloween, as we get closer I’ll be checking auctions looking specifically for holiday related buggies and other transportation. Hopefully this season will bring out some cool new stuff to capture our imaginations.