Kitting Up Sputniks - Part 6

This is only a small part of kit production.

Instructions have to be drawn up - the hardest and most expensive part of the kit. I save money on that, I draw up my own.
But there's more - Print the instructions, print and cut out the header cards and buy the correct size kit bags.
Add in shipping boxes and packaging supplies. And, I'd better renew my business license, too.
That check I just got in the mail goes right back into another parts order to BMS for more laser cut fins.

Looking at all that is involved, I don't complain about kit prices anymore.
I didn't mention, you sell your kits to distributors at a wholesale price. There goes the bulk of the profit!

When kits are bagged, you can't just throw in the pieces and staple on the topper!
You have to think about shipping and storage. 
How can the nose cone be protected from dings? The engine hook is placed in the engine mount tube away from balsa.
Sometimes the laser cut balsa sheets are inside the instructions for protection.
On this Sputnik kit, the dowel antenna legs are set into a fold in the instructions.
Decals are covered with waxed paper to prevent sticking on other parts.
Engine mount parts are in one zipped bag, recovery system parts are in another.

Compared to the large vendors, Odd'l Rockets is a small operation. I read somewhere that each Estes kit is produced 10,000 units at a time. When you deal in large numbers, bulk parts are cheaper and your profit is higher - if the kit sells.

If you want to go into kit production, you'd better love this hobby. After you've bagged a few hundred kits, the "glow" fades away! I still enjoy doing most all rocketry related activities.
Doug Pratt said it best years ago: "Do you know how to make a small fortune in Model Rocketry? Start with a large fortune."