Ebay (or similar websites) rescues

[GreenScorpion]

I have seen many rescues done by other people in the Astra Militarum sub-forum and I was wondering what you typically search for, when trying to get some reasonably priced second hand models, especially with so many people with bad intentions spread throughout the world.

I have often considered checking such items, but the second hand market for 40k in Portugal seems to be rather reduced and while I am not saying smaller distances improve reliability, they do tend to improve shipping costs.

With that said, from your experience what do you think is important to do when trying find a good home for second hand miniatures, without getting scammed in the process?

[Mendi Warrior]

As someone with a few collecting habits, there are a few things I tend to always do when I consider a purchase, they can be broadly grouped as follows:

 

1. Assess the seriousness and honesty of the seller / intermediary

 

For 40k models (or assimilated), this translates (in my personal case) into sticking with eBay, checking the offers, looking at the seller's evaluation profile, negative ones or "bad experiences" in particular (not everyone gives a negative rating but some neutral ones are accompanied with "horror stories") so as to gauge potential risks if the transaction goes wrong, I prefer to pay using Paypal due to the cover I get as a buyer, paying attention to the terms and conditions from the listings

 

Also coming into my assessment is the responsiveness of the seller if I ask for more information and also, but that is more relevant for repeat purchases, their willingness to help in case something goes wrong (e.g. your item is supposed to have been delivered already but it has not been delivered yet and the seller helps you sort things out without you having to start an unpleasant eBay and paypal claim process)

 

2. Assess the value of the items you are looking for

 

Pictures and descriptions are paramount here as well as a sense of the work required to salvage the items, are they still available? if yes, at which price? are they out of print? hard to find or quite common? are there alternatives, cheaper ones in particular? All of this will lead to defining a limit above which you drop out of the race. In an unrelated domain, I have seen some people bid against each other for books that could still be found in shops as new and ending up at much inflated prices on eBay, I let them bid and bought the book from the shop.

 

3. Assess the additional costs if you were to actually purchase the item in question, that covers shipping costs but also duties and taxes

 

Shipping costs and duties and taxes can add heavily, always best to have an idea about them. I tend to avoid eBay global shipping as most of the time you can't combine shipping of multiple purchases and duties are calculated on a generic rate which sometimes can be reduced depending on the type of item (I don't think this last element applies to wargame models).

 

These are the elements I pay attention to when considering buying wargame models on eBay.

 

I hope this helps.

[WarriorFish]

Indeed, checks that things are all above board is never wasted time and steer clear when things don't seem right. Better no deal than a bad one and why I stick almost exclusively to "official" channels where there is additional protection and checks. Which is also the case for prices - work out the price where you'd start to feel it wasn't good value and be sure to set your limit below it. Helps a lot, means you never have a deal you regret :)

 

Patience is the best weapon in this regard, I have waited years to get something for a fair price in some cases Otherwise as noted don't be afraid to search further afield if the postage works out, sometimes you can get a good deal this way.

[GreenScorpion]

Thank you for the inputs.
I have always tended to stay with stores that I can do background checks, when doing first hand purchases and I tend to be positively suspicious about things.

I come from a poor family, especially when compared to most of Europe, so cost is something I always look at and it works both ways, if it is more expensive than I would be willing to pay, I just don't buy and if it is way too cheap I also don't trust that (portuguese have a saying: "Se a esmola é muita, o pobre desconfia", which would roughly be: "If the alms is too big, the poor suspects"). While there might be good reasons to sell very cheap, like someone not knowing what it is worth, it is generally risky.
Location wise I was looking more at Spain, since it has a bigger hobby related market than Portugal, but it is still very close and it is within EU so no customs and stuff.

 

Patience is the best weapon in this regard, I have waited years to get something for a fair price in some cases Otherwise as noted don't be afraid to search further afield if the postage works out, sometimes you can get a good deal this way.

I am so patient that I waited years because I liked forgeworld renegades, but their price was too high for my wage, at least if I wanted more than 1 or 2 squads of infantry.
I waited so long that the models went out of production :D

On a more serious note, making renegades with GSC ended up being cheaper (the battleforce box was quite nice, shame I only got 1) and also looks nice, but obviously they won't be from vraks :)

[UltraRich]

Almost all of my army has come from ebay.

Couple of tips are watch for models that are primed. Primer covers a host of thick paint jobs and glue bombs.

 

Paint can be stripped but badly built minis can be a challenge. If somethings been assembled with solvent melting glue that can ruin details.

 

I've also found you can get better deals by spending a bit more. Eg 10 man squad for £15 or 40 minis for £40. This also applies to vehicles. You could also resell anything you dont like

 

Hope that helps

[GreenScorpion]

I have always wondered when looking at things for sale, if the primed ones were meant to hide any issues, as they pop up quite often. I am guessing that you had some bad experiences?

There is rarely good squad based deals from what I have seen so far, unless it is something out of production.

[MegaVolt87]

Its been a while since I bought second hand from ebay. Too many people overvalue their potato paintjobs and conversions and the price is too much for something I 99% of the time will strip/ disassemble to fix properly. I'm not paying diamonds prices for your potato's and inflated sense of hobby skill there friendo. If I sold anything, I would do it via trade groups and meet face to face for the sale in cash. 

[Lord_Ikka]

Always check where the item is coming from- I don't mind international shipping but you can get screwed with some of the countries' shipping times. Russian Post and Chinese EMS are both really slow and have tracking numbers that have spotty updates.

[sairence]

I've gotten a large chunk of my army from ebay, but the vast majority of it through a reseller store, as opposed to directly from the owners. It's taken a lot of insecurity out of the equation.

 

And yeah...patience and clear limits for your bids are important. If it goes above what you think it's worth just drop out. Chances are something similar will show up again.

[Inso]

I only bid what I can afford to lose... but with Pay-pal protection, refunds can happen so it isn't always necessary to be totally negative.

 

I buy what I like and also what I think I have the skill to rescue. An example is painted, assembled, plastic Squats. I have bought a lot of them (to disassemble, paint-strip and renovate) and expect a few to be beyond salvage... but even those can be used for casualties (sometimes).

 

... and often, you get good deals on badly painted stuff... so it's worth taking a risk :) .

[MedicMike0708]

Since my main army is long oop, a lot of it has come from eBay. I agree with everything posted above. You can also find deals on FB marketplace, usually in the fall when folks head off to college.

 

Another caution for online purchases (especially eBay) watch for recasters. Lots of Forgeworld kits are done in inferior quality by recasters, I won’t debate the hobby ethics, but some of them are also fairly shoddy quality and will never look as good as the actual kit. I’ve also accidentally picked up a batch of “seconds” on eBay, which was basically a lot of 20 metal minis who had major production flaws, mold lines or whole chunks of detail missing, I don’t think they were recast, but they were all severely damaged.

 

That said a large army lot eBay can retail for less than half of what it would be to purchase NIB, supplementing with the specific things you need from discount retailers, you can actually have a sizeable force on a budget.

 

Where you live matters a lot. Some regions get shafted on postage, and eBays indwelling global shipping program. When someone ships to me via certain couriers or that global shipping program, they act as your customs broker and most of not all savings are eaten up by fees. Some sellers also manage virtual storefronts that offer better discounts and choice of shipping method.

[Kain Mor]

Personally I would assume that most primed models being sold are just because many hobbyists that focus on the gaming aspect don’t get much past the priming stage of actually painting their models before they decide they actually want to try a different army. At my local store a solid 1/3 of the armies I see are just painted characters and 2-3 other models with the rest being primer.

 

 

The other thing I could think of is that the primer is hiding some counterfeit sales. When I was working at a GW I had a young man come in with some intercessors he had bought primed off eBay, then stripped the primer at home only to find that they were made of resin.