I agree 100% but projects are quite often more profitable than other machines these days

You mean for the importer? Perhaps they are, but that is the point, they take the risk and use the knowledge, and make the profit. And every once in a while they will incur costs or losses that need to be covered, and those profits then average out lower.

If you mean for a backyarder (like me) to acquire a project, restore it and sell it - then its not profitable because I only restore for my collection, and sell only when I  want other games or have had enough of the game etc.

Even with some projects, while some have returned more than cost, many times I have only got back what I have spent, and sometimes a little less if selling to a forum member.

For a new collector to acquire a few titles it probably is a good thing to acquire projects - not just for the cost, but for the experience they provide during the process. But getting them from overseas is the issue here, and those risks are too high for many.