Phil Green of Windsong Canoes is reached the point where he can sell a canoe for $20,000. Other builders are content to sell a similar sized canoe for less than $2,000. Phil's workmanship is phenomenal and he spends more than average time making a canoe. The boats are museum quality. The $2,000 canoe looks darn nice as well. Are Phil's boats really "worth" 10 times as much? With regards to labor and materials, no. But Phil is the only one making boats to the high quality standards he is achieving.

Anyone who has made a few boats can build one to compete with the $2,000 canoe. Because his workmanship is rare, Phil can charge more for it. There are probably a lot of builders out there with the skill to make a boat to Phil's level, but nobody else is doing it. But don't think that if you make a boat as nice or better than Phil you will be able to get his kind of money for it. He now has a reputation in the right circles. People buy the boats as works of art and know that they can sell them again as such.

> It's fairly easy to establish what plans and kits are worth as the
> companies producing these publish the prices. There is very little
> information to be found on what finished boats are worth in the real world
> however as they tend to be done by individuals more so than
> "big" companies with massed produced lines. Keeping in mind the
> variations of complexity in design and execution, not to mention the
> degree of quality in the finished boat, I'm curious how one would put a
> price on a finished boat. I realize the "value" and
> "price" are two different animals. So how do YOU figure this one
> out?

> Doug