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Hi all,

I'm giving serious consideration to putting my IG army up on Ebay, and though this may be a bit unorthodox, I have no clue how much I should price it at. Here's the army:

Mordian:
Around 50 Guardsmen with Lasguns. Almost all of them are painted a grey / desert scheme.
6-8 Mordian w/Grenade Launchers
6-8 Mordian w/Meltaguns
4-6 Mordian w/Flamers
1 Autocannon Team (Three Autocannons with gunner/spotter) not painted, bare metal
1 Lascannon Team (Three Lascannons with gunner/spotter)Mix of fully painted and base-coated)
1 Lascannon w/gunner & spotter (base coated)
1 Heavy Bolter w/gunner (not sure if I have the loader/spotter) bare metal
3 Mortar teams (9 Mortars w/loader & gunner) mix of fully painted and base coated
Gaunt's Ghosts box set (mix of fully painted and base coated)
5-6 Commissars (fully painted)
Mordian lieutenant (fully painted)

Steel Legion:
10 Steel Legion w/Plasma + Missle Launcher (fully painted)
10 Steel Legion w/Heavy Bolter + Grenade Launcher (fully painted)
2 Chimera painted to match Steel Legion
1 Steel Legion Box set (new in box)
Steel Legion Sergeant blister (2 models, bare metal)
2 Leman Russ Battle Tanks (no sponsons) painted to match steel legion color scheme

Non-affiliated:
5 new ratlings (bare metal, assembled)
10 Storm Troopers w/Melta,Plasma,Sergeant (base coated) 3rd edition
10 Kasrkin (new in box)
4 2nd Edition Stormtroopers w/Sergeant and three regular troopers
Command Squad box set (not the new one) new in box
Ursarker Creed + Kell blister (new)
Col Straken (bare metal)
Commissar Yarrik (base coated, unassembled)
IA Tank Crews x4
Armourcast Baneblade (painted)

1 Hellhound
4 Chimeras (base coated with some dry brushing)
1 Chimera (assembled but the guy I got them from reversed one side of the tank) bare plastic
2 Leman Russ Battle Tanks (base coated with some dry brushing)
1 Leman Russ Vanquisher Tank (base coated with some dry brushing
1 Leman Russ Exterminator (painted)
1 Leman Russ Demolisher (painted)
1 Leman Russ Vanquisher turret (forgeworld) painted
1 Leman Russ Executioner turret (forgeworld) bare resin

So it's a pretty big army and obviously I'd like to get as much as I can for it. So the first question I have for you all is do I piecemeal it out or sell it in bulk? For those of you that have sold large armies like this do you typically take some percentage off of retail and price it out that way? Do you think that OOP armies like Mordians would command a few more dollars?

Thanks for the input,
Yad

It depends on whether you want to make money quickly or not. It also depends on how much time and effort you're prepared to put in, and whether you're determined to use Ebay or not.

You'll get the most money for it if you piecemeal it out on Ebay. And by that, I mean you start everything at a dollar, and separate it into individual squads and tanks.
However, for a large amoutn like you have above, this can be rather time consuming, and labour intensive, especially when you end up having to ship different pieces off all over the globe.

Your second option is to put it up on Ebay as one or two big lots(Steel Legion and Mordian if you pick this option) on a buy it now. However, you have to be wary when pricing this, as placing the cost too high may result in you not attracting a buyer for several months.

Your third option is to offer it around as a job lot here, on RogueMarket, and on BarterTown. Set a price at about 50-60% of the retail, and you should get a buyer relatively quickly. You could ask for more, but this may result in a longer wait, as the larger the sums involved, the less people there are capable of forking out those kinds of amounts.

Finally, you could offer it up for sale piece by piece on one of the 2 trading sites or here, but then you run the risk of being left with one or two items nobody wants. However, if you the prices are reasonable, you should be able to get rid of the bulk of it relatively quickly, but if you're not used to using these kinds of sites to sell things, make sure the other guy pays you before you send anything.

When it comes to prices on Ebay, it's all about picking your moment, as the average value of a model is constantly in flux. The more there are available, the less each one is worth. Mordians are currently worth about £1-£1.50 apiece on Ebay, due to a sudden saturation of the market, but give it a fortnight, and this may longer be the case. It all depends on how well you time it. the vehicles are worth 60-70% of the RRP on Ebay right now due to the large number of people picking up mechanized armies.

With regards to individual model values, stripped metal models sell for more then painted ones unless they're at pro standards. So if possible, get hold of simply green, and remove the paint.


Hope this was of some help. Feel fre to ask any more questions.

I have to say, splitting up something of this size would take a LOT of work! I did it earlier this year with a large number of high elves, and the auctions didn't do well enough to justify all the effort!

So you might try the large or medium-sized lot strategy... if you group them well / attractively to buyers (like Ketara laid out above), you might make an amount similar to what you would have made splitting them up, with a lot less effort!

Also, I think pricing things as a percentage of retail is smart... and 60-50% sounds like a good mark to shoot for. I wouldn't expect more than 50%, though! Since stores will discount 20% (or even more depending...) so used items won't usually sell for more than that.

Discounts are moot for the stuff that is Direct Only. Steel Legion sell very well and close to retail almost all the time on Ebay. Again, depends on the lot size mostly as a blister will get next to nothing, but a unit will get more. I always start at 30% off and haggle for everything. IMHO, starting at 50% off on a trade site is giving it away. Remeber, you can't haggle your prices UP.

They are correct that more small lots will sell better than 1 large lot. I've always come out better doing multiple small lots. Large armies/lots sell very well if they are nicely painted/based.

Look at each item/unit/etc, whatever you decide to break it up as, and think to yourself what is the absolute lowest price you would take. Then put that as the starting bid for each item/unit/etc.

For example, what would you take for that NIB Stell Legion box? Retails for $35.00. I'll give you $15 for it right now. I'd try to sell it for $25, more likely I would trade it for retail. You have something like $300 in just Russ tanks. $175 in Chimeras... Just break it into logical sections. Lots of pictures help too. Take multiple pictures of each lot. People spend more when they can see, and be sure of, what they are getting.

Thanks for all the tips folks. Seems the consensus is to split it up logically and sell it. After poking around on Ebay, Bartertown, etc, I agree. I think that's the direction I'll be taking. I've got a handle now on how I'll break up the troops, but what do you think about the tanks.

I was thinking of selling the two Steel Legion BTs together, the demolisher and exterminator seperate, and the remaining battle tanks with Forgeworld turrets together.

-Yad