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Not a B/S/T post just trying to get information on the 2nd hand market going rate on 40k models. It's been a good long while since I posted on Dakka but also a few years since I've played 40k due to life. So I'm not sure if this would go here because or not.
I'm still in the hobby but i need to downsize some stuff for haven't way too many models from lots of the 2nd hand deals I got years ago. So I just want to know the going rate for 2nd hand 40k models? Also the 2nd hand going rate for the AoBR Nobz and Boyz

So the answer will be "it varies". Games Workshop minis tend to hold their value fairly well, and thanks to GW's price rises, can actually increase in value. But the going rate depends on rarity (ie something out of production for 20 years will go fairly high), popularity, condition of the model, and the current price of the model.

New on sprue - you can probably get about retail, though most people will expect a small discount unless its something GW is just bad at stocking at the moment. Most online stores do a 15% discount so you can usually sell for about that at a reasonable timeframe.

Built - depends on how well built and if you have the remaining bits. If its still got mold lines on it and none of the extra options with it expect to sell lower than if it was new on sprue.

Painted - varies. Most people who buy used are going to strip them anyways and repaint them so unless you have a fantastic paint job in the exact scheme they want, it will go for less.

It will also depend on if you are willing to sell individual kits vs just dumping the whole lot. Often when people dump armies on various trade sites it is to get rid of them fast so priced to sell (like 30% off retail) - the pro of this is you can clear it out fast, the con is you'll get less money than parting it out. On the flip side parting it out might mean all the popular stuff moves and you are stuck with things nobody wants.

Places to sell, I know there is the Dakka Swap Shop subforum. When I'm shopping around I usually use the Miniswap reddit. There is also Bartertown and also ebay of course. I'd suggest glancing at what you plan to sell on ebay and then perhaps miniswap to see what they are normally selling for to get a rough idea of how to price it.

tl;dr: unless you severely mistreated your models they should be worth close to what you paid for them, or possibly more if you bought them long enough ago. There are some kits that have gone up 20+$ retail price while being the exact same over the past few years.

A few tips

1) Go to Ebay and search for the items you want to sell and then in the results make sure to tick "sold listings" or "completed sale" or similar. Basically so that it shows you what sales have actually taken place.
This can give you a rough idea what the market will spend for various things. Do study a few prices and get an idea for the range as there's always going to be outliers that sell for way over or under normal.

2) A LOT of trading is now in various FB groups. Forums are good but their populations have dwindled drastically and that impacts the speed of making deals. By all means I'd advertise on Dakka and Batertown and so forth, but don't ignore FB groups.
A lot of the ebay trading is now on FB groups because of the various fees ebay has

3) When trading always make sure to insist on using Paypal Goods and Services if not using ebay. And if any one pushes you to not use that and to use Friends and Family - walk away from the deal.
FF comes with zero protections on trading and whilst the Goods and Services costs you 3% that's better than getting scammed.



As for Value - it depends.

Metal models painted or unpainted tend to keep good value as they are mostly out of production; but are durable and paint strip easily.
Plastics that are painted might sell well if you've a whole army in an official scheme; but custom schemes or odd models are unlikely to sell well.
Unpainted plastics will sell for more and unassembled will sell for more again - though if its already sold by GW then expect that people will be looking for a good discount (3rd parties already go up to around 25% from GW retail so you'd likely be looking at people wanting 30-40-50% off retail).

There's also a few hot items that are out of production and popular - like the Diaz Deamonettes.

I’d definitely recommend Facebook, where you can find specialist trading groups, which should see you getting a fair price.

Oldhammer Trading for instance covers anything release up to 2000. Which nearly encompasses 2nd Ed in its entirety.

Books seem to be going up in price. I collected a complete set of Rogue Trader books in 2020, and I’m glad I did. 2nd Ed Codexes do vary though, especially Angels of Death, which irritatingly I’m yet to get a copy of. And I think I’ve just that, Space Woofs and the Compendium volume to go.

I'd add go to Amazon. You'll see a number of the Brick and Mortars trying to move backstock on Ebay are also on Amazon by looking at the quantity of items for sale and price. Amazon is only going to have stuff still in a sealed box not the painted second hand stuff (Though I'm kind of surprised there aren't any pro-painters selling their stuff on there as "off the shelf".

When I buy I usually start on Amazon - $51 for a $60 box and 2 Day Prime is better than Ebay which is usually $51 for a $60 box and 5ish day Super Saver Shipping.

I think some of the above estimates are too high. Current or readily available GW stuff generally goes for maybe 70% or so of list. There are tons of stores that have it at 85% of retail already, so why would anyone pay more than that?

The exception is if something ‘hot’ is out of stock at GW. There was a while where plastic sisters were all the rage and the new hotness. Everyone wanted them, but sold out, and my open but unassembled plastic sisters squad fetched almost double the GW price! Strike while the iron is hot…

In general, older unassembled plastics and metals sell well. Assembled and or/painted models usually draw less. It has to be something exceptional, or someone wants bad enough to do the frequent extra work involved.

 totalfailure wrote:
There are tons of stores that have it at 85% of retail already, so why would anyone pay more than that?

GW doesn't allow stores in your region to order stuff people want, or lets them order 1-2 boxes. And suddenly you have a place where there is 20 marine players minimum, but the store got 0-2 boxes of scouts. Each player needs 2 to play the army. There is no prior secondary market, because primaris scouts are new. On top of that there is a good chance that the unit you need to play are locked behind a kill team starter , and again all the problems with being/not being able to order etc. GW will, or not, release the models in 3 to 6 months. By that time your army could be nerfed in to the ground with FAQs and nerfs. So considering how small the window is, for most factions, to be fun to play, people need the models day one of them being legal. So they pay extra. The only good thing that comes out of GW acting the way they do towrads some communities is that the stores, seeing how much there is market for specific stuff, open their own 3d printing offers to the locals. You won't find the adds for those online, but if you want to buy 6 NDKs for the price of 2-3, which look like upscaled GK and not the GW originals, you just ask the clerk at the store. Makes them more open to people playing with recasts too. The bad side of it is that this does drive away people from playing actual w40k/GW games. Even those that don't want to buy any recasts, are more willing to play OPR, just on the ground that the number of models they need is smaller.

So there are many reasons why someone would pay GW or scalper prices for models. And they are mostly releated to how GW runs their games and how they treat their business partners in certain parts of the world.

We were talking mostly about selling older models. GWs lack of stock and production policies are a relatively recent development. There are always exceptions when something is hot. Which I mentioned. But in general, if it’s available at GW, it’s highly likely 85% sources somewhere have it too. If it’s out of stock at GW, the price will likely be higher on the secondary market. Thanks for that stunning revelation! Again, available, current models aren’t going to sell for retail, or near 85% on eBay.