Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was not sure where to post this but I just wanted to know if a figure, unit or army is worth more painted? I mean, if the paint job is not sloppy. Maybe a 5-6 grade on a scale of 1-10 (at least that is how my figs were rated). Do painted figures usually get sold more than their original box/blister prices?

Well that depends. Most people on the market for miniatures are after unpainted, usually unassembled... but the internet evidently has its fair niche of people looking for pre-painted. Mundane schemes like orks, Necrons and Chaos probably fare better than more specific units, unless you're pushing a whole army.
In the case of metal models, only supreme paint jobs are worth anything extra. They can be easily stripped back so it's no problem if they're shoddily painted and makes little difference to prices where the model is desirable.

You have to be quite good and willing to spend a lot of time painting if you're after profit from this, in which case you should post examples of your work and what you hope to get for it.

Well-painted Characters are another niche, usually in the metal-models-pro-painted department there.

Or some people are lazy and buy painted models so they don't have to do the work.

It all depends what the customer wants. A supremely well-painted model is worth nothing extra if it doesn't match a customer's artistic concept - it may be worth less due to the costs of stripping it and repainting it.

From my experience, painted figures usually sell for LESS than unpainted models, of course that depends entirely on the paint job. If they paint work is very good and/or you're buying a lot of models with the same scheme then they can attract more money. One off figures need to be professionally painted before they attract large bids/offers.

Honestly if you take the price of the model + the time taken to paint it + cost of materials (glue, paints) just to sell a unit or 2 or maybe even a whole army for 10-20 more per model or 100-200 per army its just not a realistic option.

Ultrafool wrote:Or some people are lazy and buy painted models so they don't have to do the work.

Some people do not have the time. Their hobby consists of time to either play OR paint, but not both.

I paint for people that fall into this catagory.

I am not a Golden Demon painter, nor do I pretend to be.

But I am above average I think.

So you tell me.

That's more accurate. You can't just call a person lazy if they fork out to buy/commission painted models. They didn't make that money by sitting around painting soldiers, they probably made it by telling other people what to do. Strategy probably appeals more to these folk than design. It's all a part of the hobby - some great painters don't play at all.

A person who makes no attempt to get their army painted by themselves or anyone else could be seen as lazy, but they also be just a casual or social gamer. One of the better players I know in the area rarely fields painted armies. In fact, the one painted army of his I've faced was painted by someone else, I'm pretty sure.

If the OP ever returns, I'd like to know if he's shooting for profit, or just trying to move some old surplus.

Complete armies painted have a certain value to some players.

Otherwise, it depends what the item is.

Generic orks, aspect warriors, etc can be slotted into pretty much any army so people may want them painted.

Marines are worth less unless they're for the same chapter as the buyer's and they match his paint (un-likely).

I get most of my figures on eBay, and I'd concur that in most cases, painted models sell for less than unpainted. A bad paint job can reduce the sale price considerably; a "good gaming standard" paint job may reduce it slightly, or have no significant effect on the price.

I don't think there's any shame in buying painted figures, BTW. Hobby-wise, I'm a lot more interested in converting than I am painting (and somewhat more interested in playing than in either), so for standard troops that don't need converting, I'm happy enough to buy prepainted troops. I'm unlikely to want to pay extra for them prepainted, though.

Regardless of all this because there are a lot of prepaints aroujnd it is a buyers market.

In general unles you are very good you will always get less for a painted model then for a NIB model.

There is some leeway for whole armies as it eliminates all exrtra work, units on the other hand are a bad idea unless they are very generic. So what if you sell marines cheap and painted. If they dont completely match the buyers army there is still work to be done.

So keep it to:
1. Golden demon entry worthy paintjobs.

2. Armies.

3. As close to NIB as you can get.
Unboxed is fine, that normally has the same price aa NIB. Undecoated or assembled drops a bit but still fetches a good price.

Yeah, I pretty much refuse to buy models that are painted unless they are in good condition (so they can withstand a nice simple green bath and come out looking new), because even though I am mostly in to the gaming aspect, I'm also a full time student with only a part time job, so when school isn't in session (the break between semesters seems FAR too long) I find myself with a LOT of time to build, convert and paint models for myself.

If I bought a model and didn't get to paint it... well... I would lose out on some of the hobby's value to me.

it all depends on how you painted them. if you went with a custom paint scheme (or just a lesser known one), you may have trouble finding a buyer depending on how many models you're selling. if you have, for instance, a complete 2500pt cadian army painted up in a bright yellow (but well done) camo scheme, i doubt you'll find a buyer for anything other than the whole shebang since they'll match nothing out there. if you used the "standard" cadian 8th scheme colors, you'll find more buyers for individual squad lots since they'll match other people's armies. right now, the market is bad for painted figs due to the economy. i sold some of my IG last year and got more than retail withing 24 hours on my buy it now ebay auctions; i had trouble selling my similarly painted (quality wise) orks this year for half retail. unpainted figs are easier to sell since (barring any weird conversions) most potential buyers can imagine the figs in their own ideal colors.

edit: are you selling the white scars? that has to be the first white scar army i've seen without any bikes; usually they look like a mongol biker gang! i'd give (and did with my votes) most of your scars closer to a 7 for painting.

With painted models, you don't have a choice as to what the army looks like. Ie - I want White Scars but the army I want to buy is already painted up as Ultramarines.

Or maybe I have an army of black-and-red nids, but the army for sale has yellow-and-green nids in it.

So I don't usually pay more for painted myself.

It seems that in theory, you would get more because of all the time you put in painting. But if the job is only average, then only a very specific buyer would want it. That buyer would 1) not have an army of that kind already 2) not have any desire to paint at all 3) likes your color choices

If the buyer is inclined to paint his own models, you might even be taking the fun away from him by handing the whole thing to him in a finished state! Or worse, making more work for him by requiring him to repaint the models (which he might do if he wants a different color scheme).

I agree with the above posters, however, that who you sell to makes a difference. If you do decent work and the army is beautiful as a set, you may expect to sell for close to the cost of the models themselves. If your army is slam-bang fantastic, you may be able to sell it for even more than that if you find the right buyer.

As a footnote, I find that your average buyer is unwilling to drop more than $50 or $60 at a time. This makes selling an army difficult, or maybe best done a unit at a time. It is strange behavior considering how expensive 40K is in general, but there you have it.

Painted is only worth more to someone who wants that particular paint job.

Otherwise, it's worth less.

It depends on a couple factors. mostly, the "How" and "where" factors.

HOW well are they painted?
HOW are they painted (scheme)?
HOW are you selling them (by unit or army)?

Where are you selling them?

As has been said above, quite well, "original" armies do not sell well by unit. They sell by army... and, even then, it needs to be well done. Not many people want to buy a "table top" standard IG force in yellow camoflage. : ) If that yellow really *pops,* though and all the pieces are sharply painted... you have a more marketable product on your hand.

The better your painting is, the better your chances of getting good prices. People buy pre-paints ALL DAY LONG on feebay.

...which brings me to the "where" of the equation.

Where are you selling them? You'll get a better cash price HERE than you will on bartertown, but you'll get a better cash price on feebay than you will here (typically).

When PURCHASING;
People go to bartertown for deals and to buy cool stuff (preferably for a good deal).
People come here for deals and to buy cool stuff.
People go to feebay to buy stuff. If they get a good deal, then all the better... but there are people all over the world looking on feebay for painted models to go with their army. Go there, type in "40K painted ork" and look at "completed items" to see. Heck... my buddy spent over $300 on a painted Stompa.
Happens all the time.
For that matter, type in "40k painted" and look at completed items. Well painted 40K can get fairly good prices there.

Eric

What if he provided "blanks"? What I mean by that, orks or catachans come to mind with all that flesh. Say he primes it, and only colors the flesh, leaving the clothing and equipment to be painted by the buyer. Do you think for large armies/quantities that is worth it? I have been thinking of doing this with all those lousy AoBR orks I have laying around.

Interesting aside...someone on eBay is selling a metric frakton of "touched-up" and re-based AT-43 models, and I was shocked to see that right now the prices are way, way low. I would have thought that pre-paints players would have been all over getting models that looked much better than usual if they could pay the same price...could it be that having to depend on photos to judge quality, and consideration of the huge variable that is someone else's painting skills, that these models are actually *less* attractive to someone?

I would have bet dollars to donuts precisely the opposite. We'll see what happens in the final hours of the auctions, but so far I am really shocked.

99% of the time the more work you put into the model the less it is worth to a buyer.

Even "pro-painted" models go for less than NIB models on ebay.

As someone who buys all of his models on eBay, save an AoBR box I split with a friend once, I shop there because I find the prices of these products new to be insane to be quite blunt. Except for the AoBR box as I mentioned before, as it was the only new product from GW that was priced reasonably.

Even there I still find many people willing to pay far more than what a small piece of plastic or metal is reasonably worth. Point being, people shop on eBay and similar sites to pay far less than retail. This of course varies from person to person and the quality of the product, but if we thought GW's outrageous prices were reasonable or the prices that many painting services charge were as well then we wouldn't be there to begin with.

That all being said I have seen exceptional work go for a lot, and deservedly when it becomes a showcase piece over something I use in a game, but that takes quite a bit of talent.

Cairnius wrote:Interesting aside...someone on eBay is selling a metric frakton of "touched-up" and re-based AT-43 models, and I was shocked to see that right now the prices are way, way low.

Is that person you?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Thursday wrote:99% of the time the more work you put into the model the less it is worth to a buyer.

Even "pro-painted" models go for less than NIB models on ebay.

With so-called pro painted I agree, but if you are really good then you can sell a tank for $300+ a squad for $1k+. Take a look.

Thursday wrote:99% of the time the more work you put into the model the less it is worth to a buyer.

Even "pro-painted" models go for less than NIB models on ebay.

That is absolutely not true... not of models that DESERVE to be called "pro-painted," anyway.

Eric

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:What if he provided "blanks"? What I mean by that, orks or catachans come to mind with all that flesh. Say he primes it, and only colors the flesh, leaving the clothing and equipment to be painted by the buyer. Do you think for large armies/quantities that is worth it? I have been thinking of doing this with all those lousy AoBR orks I have laying around.

I don't think that's a good idea at all. Skin tone is just as much a part of the overall scheme of an army as anything else, especially with non-human models.
If you want to see 'em, sell 'em as is. It will save you time and money.