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Wanting to sell painted models...


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Got some good solid advice there.

 

Whenever I want to see what the broader comunity thinks, I usually post pics at 2 places: here and CMON.

 

Here you usually get constructive cryticism (which is what really makes you improve).

 

CMON is just "hey, do you guys like this?" Yes/no?

  • 4 weeks later...
Got some good solid advice there.

 

Whenever I want to see what the broader comunity thinks, I usually post pics at 2 places: here and CMON.

 

Here you usually get constructive cryticism (which is what really makes you improve).

 

CMON is just "hey, do you guys like this?" Yes/no?

 

I wanted to add a correction to this.

On CMoN (my primary home for WIP) as long as your active in the community of the forums, you can get a lot of helpful advice. I used to believe that the only people who would give advice on there were the artists if you directly contacted them via PM or posting to the gallery, but this is not the case.

 

In fact, not to slander the B&C since I've loved this site since 2003, I've had more success and a better time improving my own skills since I began posting on CMoN regularly. I've even been able to expand my commission work and projects to include two more painters and a sculptor who I've met all through that site.

 

Another piece of advice to improve. It takes no shipping and can be purchased online with ease. Subscribe to Miniature Mentor. Their tutorials are amazing and you can learn so much. The subscription service is by far worth the investment.

 

I hope this helps!

Cheers

William T.

This topic is interesting to me. I was curious for those of you that do sell miniatures do you find it better to sell them as a lot or as individual units. For example with the dark vengeance sets out would you sell a fully painted DA or chaos set, or sell individual units like cultists, ravenwing etc... In my mind I can see benefits for doing it both ways but wasn't sure in reality what buyers are doing.
This topic is interesting to me. I was curious for those of you that do sell miniatures do you find it better to sell them as a lot or as individual units. For example with the dark vengeance sets out would you sell a fully painted DA or chaos set, or sell individual units like cultists, ravenwing etc... In my mind I can see benefits for doing it both ways but wasn't sure in reality what buyers are doing.

I look at the trends and see how things are selling. In my opinion it takes a higher standard to sell a whole group. Individual units can sell for what seems like a lower price but when you add them all up, you come out ahead of what a whole set will normally sell for.

It's a similar concept in retail. When stores run promo's like Buy One Get One Free. They mark up the product prices which covers the cost of the free product and makes more money in the end.

With Dark Vengeance, I think I'd probably sell the whole set painted; the game comes with some predesigned missions to be played with the models in the box (which is great!). Means there is actually some reason to having both sides together as part of the set. Black Reach didn't really do that; there were two (nice) collections in the box, but beyond that there wasn't really much purpose in keeping it together.

Excellent point Winterdyne. What did you think of the carrying case for the set?

Myself and some of the local commission painters discussed the idea of doing the Dark Vengeance set with the case for eBay but decided that it wasn't a good idea.

When are you going to be doing a set for yourself mate?

I actually quite like the custom case; and don't think it's THAT badly priced (if it's OK quality wise). Not had a look at it in the flesh though.

 

As for my own stuff, I am currently working through a huge backlog of commissions. The titan has taken a lot more time and effort than I thought it would, so I'm delayed a fair bit. Hopefully I should clear the decks by early next year, then I'm going to concentrate on not getting snowed under again. There are other things I'll probably want to paint of my own first, we've been playing Warhammer Quest again, so getting that whole set done would be nice. Or Space Hulk. Or Sedition Wars... or some of the hideous amounts of stuff I got through the Reaper kickstarter. I really don't know when I'll get round to any of them.

I actually quite like the custom case; and don't think it's THAT badly priced (if it's OK quality wise). Not had a look at it in the flesh though.

 

As for my own stuff, I am currently working through a huge backlog of commissions. The titan has taken a lot more time and effort than I thought it would, so I'm delayed a fair bit. Hopefully I should clear the decks by early next year, then I'm going to concentrate on not getting snowed under again. There are other things I'll probably want to paint of my own first, we've been playing Warhammer Quest again, so getting that whole set done would be nice. Or Space Hulk. Or Sedition Wars... or some of the hideous amounts of stuff I got through the Reaper kickstarter. I really don't know when I'll get round to any of them.

 

I hear you. I have a Deathwing Company commission at the moment that is eating a lot of time because I paint as a side job to a full time retail position. Which means all my armies and other projects are on back burner. Not to mention I have 7 boxes of Dark Vengeance to paint.

 

I am sooo tempted by DV and its custom case.... But I got a ton of stuff I haven't even started.... (Because I physically can't get to it, not because I'm a slacker....)

 

I think we all have that problem. As collectors we get a lot of stuff. As commission painters we sometimes have large projects and our own personal work is just building up collecting dust. I have a closet full of boxes that I want to work on, plus a table of commissions and single models, then 3 shelves of armies to work on.

My experience of selling on eBay is that largely speaking you will struggle to pay for your hobby through it.

 

My advice is:

 

- Scout around for cheap deals for models on eBay and at garage sales/car boot sales. The less the models cost, the higher your chance of profit.

- Focus on popular armies, you are aiming to find the armies which have the largest number of potential buyers.

- Cut corners, if you can find a coloured spray to do your basecoat, use it. Time is money.

- Get a good camera, or learn to use a bad one well. Good photos are essential to getting a good price.

- Single minis i.e. Special Characters seem to sell for better prices than units or armies.

 

This is based upon my experience of painting and selling on eBay, though I've never really made enough to fund myself from it.

 

:)

  • 1 month later...

Sorry to necro my own thread but... Been home and picked up all my models etc! Unfortunately didn't have any time to paint while I was in the UK so I only managed to bring one model that I did 10 months ago (Space was at a premium in my luggage what with my shiny new compressor and airbrushes and all my kit...) But I figure this one will do as an example of my table top standard. Forgive the pics. Poor lighting/setup at the mo.

gallery_63768_7849_1335890.jpg

gallery_63768_7849_2065385.jpg

Thanks Winterdyne. I knew I hadn't actually finished him, but I got a Sanguinary Guard set just after I did this guy so he was left as 'finished enough'. I bought him cheap from ebay as a practice model and was happy enough with how he turned out.
  • 2 months later...
Sorry to totally necro my own topic, but I have just finished my DA Company Master (see my WIP topic for links) and have posted it on CMON too, my score there (at the time of writing) is 5.7, which I am more han happy with. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone here who helped me out, especially Winterdyne, who even helped me choose an airbrush/compressor kit. This will probably be the last time Iwrite in this thread. Thanks again guys!
  • 2 weeks later...

If you want to fund your hobby...and I totally understand...you need to create a product people want.  When I was learning how to paint to competition standards, I combed ebay for bitz lots, pieced together some orignal minis, painted them to a high level, and sold them.  This served 2 purposes.  1.  It helped me improve my skills for competitions.  2.  It funded my "hobby" by earning extra cash for "practice" models.

 

Sadly, ebay is depressed, and models I sold for $100 in 2011 would have brought $300 in 2007...and today...probably go bidless.

 

Good luck.

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