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Hello
I was wondering if you lot could help me out.Because I
lost my job recently I need to sell off a chunk of my
collection,but how do you price your figures? I noticed
at Claymore in Edinburgh that a 2nd hand figure trader
seemed to be adding to the price if the figure's paint
job was ok.He had a plastic high elf spear regiment
and was charging(If I remember right) £2.50 each!
So what do you take into account?The problem I have
is I always take into account how much I originally
bought for and try(and fail) to come up with a price.
Anybody got any thoughts?

Look on ebay and see what stuff is selling for. Set a reserve you won't go under.

Consider splitting if you have the time as you'll likely get more (at the expense of said time and effort) or all together for quick returns.

You can also start by looking at the current figure prices, and assume that everyone has access to at least 20% off on brand new stuff.

So, you'd want to start at 20% and work your way lower.

If the models are from an earlier version of the game, for example, the one piece plastics from early fantasy games, which have been replaced by newer models, then they're worth even less (usually).

If they're out of production, but rare (special edition models, models that are old but have not been replaced), then they may be worth more, depending on the buyers and what works well in the army books.

Painted models can go either way. For the majority, paint decreases value further, because some will want to strip the models to repaint them (more work). If you're going to sell on ebay, then painted might garner you more, depending on the quality of the model, and what version of the model it is. Painted, unless an entire army, tends to sell for much less on trading sites.

Slipstream wrote:Hello
I was wondering if you lot could help me out.Because I
lost my job recently I need to sell off a chunk of my
collection,but how do you price your figures? I noticed
at Claymore in Edinburgh that a 2nd hand figure trader
seemed to be adding to the price if the figure's paint
job was ok.He had a plastic high elf spear regiment
and was charging(If I remember right) £2.50 each!
So what do you take into account?The problem I have
is I always take into account how much I originally
bought for and try(and fail) to come up with a price.
Anybody got any thoughts?

There's no easy answer. It's all so subjective and up to individual interpretation. I'd say you have to loook at it yourself.

My rule of thumb is about half retail for most trades. Clsoer to retail for unused and NIB material.

I also ask what it is worth to the prospective buyer and then ask myself would I be happey with that amount. If the answer is no, I give them a "I want at least this much number." That way they set the price and if I get more than I wanted it's not by having someone pay more than they think something is worth.

If they are painted VERY well you can garner more on EBAY in individual auctions. Entire armies usually never sell at or above retail.

Meph

If the figures are painted in a very commonly played army's color scheme and well above what the average person can do, then you can expect them to fetch a "good" price, though this may still only be close to full retail. Most players will strip the models and paint them to match their own armies, individually painted units done by different artists tend to clash when used in the same army, which makes buying painted individual units or models nearly pointless. Now an entirely painted army can fetch a lot more, but again, painting quality here counts big time. There's a ton of crap on e-bay claiming to be "pro-painted" that is in reality at best table top standard. This can be a big ego-popper for people. Be honest to yourself about how good you can paint. The harsh reality is most players would rather buy a stripped or unpainted model because then they don't have to do the work of stripping off someone else's paint job. You'll also make more parting out the army than selling it as a whole.

TAKE GOOD PICTURES Biggest sales killer right there. Get the model off the kitchen table, off the cluttered painting table, get it well lighted with a nice non-distracting background and take a good in-focus picture! Seriously, photo quality makes a ridiculous difference in attracting bids.

I've got a lot of experience buying, selling & trading new & used miniatures online, and I can tell you without a doubt that there is no hard & fast rule.

What you get depends on a lot of things:

Model condition
Paint job quality, if painted
Model rarity
Model/Army popularity
Ebay vs. Bartertown vs. Dakka & other discussion based sites (Where are you listing them?)
happenstance
Lot size (Army vs. unit vs. Character)

All of these things matter. each one afects your outcome differently.
The bottom line, however, is happenstance.

WAY back when I was selling painted miniatures on Feebay, I painted a mini that sold for about $80. That was darned good money, considering that I was doing RPG minis that usually went for $15 to $25 a piece. So, I painted up another one... almost identical... and the person that was bidding against the guy who bought the $80 one ended up getting the 2nd one... for $25.
It just so happened that the first auction has two guys who wanted the mini bad enough to bid the price up nicely. Not so much, the second time around.

Eric

My one piece of advice is to check eBay for auctions similar to what you want to sell and see the final bids.

I've sold a couple of nice items easily and quickly by finding the loser in an auction, listing my similar item at about the price he offered, and emailing him through eBay to alert him to my auction.

I usually do 60% of retail if it is unpainted and do 50% if it is painted/primed. But I will also offer lower if the model looks to be in need of serious stripping.

Was that a sonnet?