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I had a unsolicted offer for Huggsy the Bloodthirster the other day, keep in mind he normally watches people come in the store from the front window and is on display because it brings people into the store. He hangs out there with about 20 or so other random pieces I have done, and he is the older model (new ones head looks like hell). Now for the most part I consider myself a tabletop painter, but some models I will put a bit more effort into. In his case he was bought cheaply, reassmebled, and as he was drying on his last coat of clear was picked up and droped 4 feet to the floor. So since he was repaired, rebuilt and painted twice in a 4 week span, he is worth a bit more to me. So when the person asked if they could have it for 50$ (they asked the store owner), he sorta laughed and mentioned that there was alot of time in him and that isnt even retail. They looked at him and stated he can't be worth that much, so I believe sometimes people just don't understand what kind of time goes into thease things. Would I sell him? Yes but not for less then 100$, and more often then not, I trade armies, I just like the model and alot of work went into him. Now if it is my Cygnar army, probably 75% of retail, why, it took no time and effort to collect and they are collecting dust in a box. I think the attachment for me is more based on if I like the model, if I like how I painted it, and if I use it.

Regards
Carl

Pic of Huggsy below.

DeJolly wrote:

MagickalMemories wrote:
Hey! That's got my name in it! Cool. : )

Eric

Let me guess you play Chaos. That is pretty cool though.

Nah.
You missed the point.

I mean, I DO play chaos... but that's not the point.

I was just razzing you a bit. It's spelled "heresy." : )


hERICy

Ghiest1 wrote:attachment for me is more based on if I like the model, if I like how I painted it, and if I use it.

Indeed, that makes a lot of sense! I agree, things you love are worth what they are worth to you, regardless of retail cost.

It's hard to explain why some folks don't see any value in finished art beyond what the kit (materials) prices were originally?

I'm afraid to speculate it is because most wargame pieces aren't very good, and generally people would rather have a new kit?

In regards to painting:

I know that I often spend 4-5 hours on a Captain, Chaplain, or other HQ.

My sergeants and heavy/special weapons guys get about 2 hours of attention.

I might be a slow painter, but I'm pretty proud of my work.

I couldn't fathom what I'd sell my armies for. Granted, if there were a family emergency, then I'd take what I could get. But if someone just walked up to me and made an offer, even for a single mini, it would have to be generous for me to even consider it.

i.e., It's probably worth more to me that it would be to a potential buyer. I really enjoy painting, converting, and playing.

It would take quite a bit. I put several hours of effort into my painting and perfection is important to me on my characters. I think it would take at least 1000 for my BA army!

Augustus wrote:

Ghiest1 wrote:attachment for me is more based on if I like the model, if I like how I painted it, and if I use it.

Indeed, that makes a lot of sense! I agree, things you love are worth what they are worth to you, regardless of retail cost.

It's hard to explain why some folks don't see any value in finished art beyond what the kit (materials) prices were originally?

I'm afraid to speculate it is because most wargame pieces aren't very good, and generally people would rather have a new kit?

The kit represents opportunity. A finished piece may win a GD but it will never be as captivating as the kit.

As a rule of thumb, for models that I had no attachment to, I would charge the painting/modeling score multiplied against retail price (on a scale of 1-5). Thus high quality tac marine squad painted/modeled to an excellent standard would be $200. Good tabletop stuff would be $120-ish. Negative multiples would apply to anything clearly inferior to gaming 'norms', like prevalent mold lines.

The true issue with regards to setting prices in 40k models is like any esoteric or niche market--there is absolutely no liquidity. If you absolutely MUST buy a complete and painted army, the seller can essentially name his price because there simply isn't any depth to the market. Similarly if debtors were knocking on Redbeard's door and he had to get quick cash or have his knees broken or his wife stolen, he'd have to accept $500-$1000 for the whole Daemon army from his local pawn store or an eBay quicksell...if that.

In markets with no liquidity, whoever is going looking is going to get screwed by whoever he finds.
That said, most people with collections are not going to sell at a perceived "cheap" price (barring debtors kicking the door in) because there is emotional attachment and you can always just sock your collection away into the closet until things "get better".

But that brings up another topic that often plays into decisions of sell/don't sell: replacement cost. People don't like to let go of inventory for less than what they paid, or they think it's worth. Going back to my statement on liquidity, just because FW models are listed at a price doesn't necessarily mean that they're selling from GW. Iif you 'have' to sell, a FW model that costs $100 from FW might still be worth only $10 to the guy being offered the buy because he wouldn't buy the FW item for $100 either.

Neither of these ideas really apply to OP because he doesn't have to, nor really want to, move his inventory. But if there's someone else out there with significant capital tied up in GW models and a self-assessed price tag of what the price tag "should" be, the market for a collection is often very different than what the collector paid to procure it--sometimes better, oftentimes worse.

I tend to flop through armies pretty often, as I get bored and want something new. Rather than sitting on 15 armies, I'll unload some and pick up new ones.

Since I typically buy at 25-60% below retail, and a lot of my armies I bought when the models were a lot cheaper, I take that into account.

So, current retail, plus whatever I paid to have it painted is usually enough to convince me to sell. My own painting is only average, and while it doesn't devalue the models, I don't get much for having them painted. I really enjoy the modeling, so I don't factor that into the costs.

Selling this way lets me pick up a new army, get it painted, and profit one or two hundred bucks, while still giving a very good deal in the process.

-Matt

Now that I'm finally starting to paint again, I feel like the answer is that I wouldn't sell... but of course tens of thousands of dollars would work as you say in the OP .

I'm about to sell an army I didn't paint... there's not the same emotional attachment (although it's still pretty strong!).

Quite a compliment to get an offer unsolicited, even if they didn't come up with the right number (or even very close...)

10,000 for everything. $5,000 to replace it all, $5,000 to take a month off of work to paint it all.

I'm not sure if I'd rather lose my chaos army to keep my 'parts', or lose my 'parts' to keep my chaos!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yes, 'parts' does mean what you think it means...

ponos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd need a big payday to consider selling any of my "finished" armies. It think it'd have to be five digits to consider selling my Tyranids.

My Genestealer Cult is basically priceless to me. Even with a big payday, it'd be far too much of a PITA to replace all those OOP models.

About 2.5x retail for anything painted so I can buy it again if I wanted.

I have a different perspective then Redbeard. I have sold many armies over the years. I define an army as something at least 2000pts. I've sold Iron Warriors, World Eaters, Nightlords, Blood Angels, Ultramarines, Saim Han Eldar, Tallarn IG, Speed Freak Orks (twice), Tyranids (three times), Necrons, Grey Knights, and Emperors Children (twice). I might be missing one. Currently I have Iyanden Eldar, Flesh Tearers, White Consuls, Tyranids, IG, Iron Warriors, World Eaters, Nightlords, and Daemons. I go through a lot of armies.

I will build out an army, paint it and play. After a while I will put that army away and build another - usually with a different playstyle or new models. As a new codex appoaches I will work to dump the old army in favor of the new codex, new models and new rules. In this way I am continuously cycling through armies.

When it comes time to sell off an army I will list it for a fair price. Never equal to the retail value of the miniatures. Rarely will anyone buy retail value for the miniatures. It is not realistic and I don't blame them. I feel that I got a lot of value out of painting the miniatures and playing with them over a period of time. Now I want new models and I sell the old ones for a reasonable price. I don't have a huge sentimental attachment to them - they are just plastic - and my desire is to clear space for a new army. One I will enjoy going forward.

The old army is like selling a used car. The minute you open the shrinkwrap the value of the models decreases dramatically. So I get my money's worth in enjoyment by playing the army for a while.

DarthDiggler wrote:When it comes time to sell off an army I will list it for a fair price. Never equal to the retail value of the miniatures. Rarely will anyone buy retail value for the miniatures.

...

The old army is like selling a used car. The minute you open the shrinkwrap the value of the models decreases dramatically. So I get my money's worth in enjoyment by playing the army for a while.

Your post and Redbeard's OP tie together ideas of liquidity and demand quite nicely.

Redbeard has no desire to sell his army, and no incentive to do so. He can literally name his price, and command a lofty premium. The work put into those models (specialized bases, painting) is able to add value because he feels they have greater intrinsic worth and tosses a premium on to justify the worth.

In his case, the market is going to have to pull the models out of him, doing so with a high price.

You do desire to sell your armies, as it has fulfilled your needs and you no longer wish to have it any longer in preference of something new or different. You generally have a time constraint (you're not willing to hold inventory for a year until the market comes to your price) thus you have to give up premium to get your volume moved. Whereas the market has to expand to pull Redbeard's inventory, you're causing it to contract by pushing your inventory actively. You feel that your price are realistic because in practice you know you have to give up margin in order to get your offer accepted.

Neither method is right or wrong, it's simply the philosophy one has to take in an illiquid market; if they need a certain volume moved in a certain time frame, they will have to give up price.

I would easily take £500 for my Dark Angels I might even take as low as £300, but not until I have finished painting my orks.

Some people don't put anywhere near the value on their toys as you guys though. I recently purchased a 10 man tac squad, 10 man Dev squad, 5 scouts, Marneus Calgar and Honour Guard, 2 marines on bikes 3 out of 4 "master of the X" minis, a librarian, a metal apothecary, the old metal venerable dread, a very badly assembled landraider, the GD 2008 SM Captain and a large GW figure case......

for only £30 I have to admit I did feel a slight tinge of guilt.

I'd probably sell one of my smaller less sentimental armies for a few hundred but for my 10k+ pts of Blood Angels it would have to be life changing! Or I'd have to be in some really deep money trouble, say if someone was going to take my house. . . .well, maybe not even then!

despite my lack of desire to touch anything 40k, i could never get rid of my armies, i have 20,000+ points of orks, 10,000+ points of chaos and a 2500 pt. deathwing force. ive never had the urge to downsize any of them despite the amount of dust is on their cases.

cash wise it would take serious bank, at least 10k plus for me to think about getting rid of my waaagh, with all the armorcast and FW stuff i hve in it and its all painted.

Well, I wouldn't sell my Eldar army, but if so, not under 10,000 Euro.

A couple million, so I could restart the army and build a second, maybe third army.

Failing that, if a gun was to my head and it was give up your army our die, I might start considering it.

My models are mostly primed or badly painted, I have one squad fully painted but DAMN do I love them. Its so much fun to crave your little niche in the universe, and have something you made and put your imagination into.

I had to put a price tag on all my minatures recently. We currently rent our house and our renters insurance did not cover large price tag items like our computers and my armies. After listing and photographing my models I came up with a hefty price tag of $10,000. I did not want to go to high as then my rates would be higher too, but I needed an amount to work with to replace what I wanted too. I could have went alot higher too.

3000 points of painted sisters of battle
5000+ points of painted Sallamander space marines
3000 points of old style Dark Eldar
2500 points of VC for fantasy
2000 points Crimson Fists tournament army
19 painted Inquisitor scale models
2 necromunda gangs
2 Mordheim gangs of 20+ models with multiple armed same models
20 Reaper minis painted for DnD
Terrain for multiple tables, and 1000+ starwars minis...plus 2 at-ats

20+ boardgames and 7 carrying cases.


Lots more not listed. The list made my wife sick as she had know idea its wurth.

A lot of posters here missed the point. The OP was asking everyone to put down a price. Emotional attachment? How much is that?

90% of my army is still unpainted. However if it was all painted to the quality Im aiming for and was given a good price I may accept. 2000 point army of Eldar? Hmm Im not sure. A LOT!!! It would need enough to buy another army + materials to do them again + a little profit.

If you think about it, some people will do a painting and sell it for a ton of cash. Mini's can get the same amount of work and look just as good, if not better. So, I really dont see why a Golden Demon army can't be sold for 10's of thousands of dollars if its good enough.

More then it would be worth for the person to spend. Cost of the miniatures is probably the lowest part. All the hours spent converting and painting.

Augustus wrote:It's hard to explain why some folks don't see any value in finished art beyond what the kit (materials) prices were originally?

I'm afraid to speculate it is because most wargame pieces aren't very good, and generally people would rather have a new kit?

Indeed this is one of the things that really annoys me when I look for stuff on ebay. I see something that I want, but it needs stripping and cleaning and a lot of work. Then I look at the price and the seller is asking for almost retail price as a starting bid. Bare in mind assembled kits don't come with all the weapon options and bits that are in the new box either. I frequently see these actions a few minutes before they are due to end, and have noted that other buyers must agree with me that these sellers are fanciful about how much their stuff is worth, since the auctions generally end with no bids.

What one person considers "well painted" bumping up the value, another person is going to see as "needs stripping" and expect a reduction. Oddly it seems to be one of those things that's cheap to those who can afford it. If I knew someone was going to look after my army and treasure it always... well they could probably have it for free. But if someone is going to strip it or sell it on then I would want them to pay full price, which would be far more than was worth their while to pay.

I've got lots of different armies and it'd take a lot of money to let me part with them all or even just one of them. And even then it'd be only if i could buy models that would assemble and paint themselves in the way i wanted.

For me alot, as i only get pocket money, i savour every new purchase of models. Because of this they all mean alot to me, i dont think i could ever get rid of them. Hell, i care more about them than ,my xbox and thats saying somthing.

I hate to say it but everything has a price. If you are willing to offer me an insane amount of money where I can rebuild what I sold plus add more, then I am possibly game. But I have to make out really big for me to sell entire armies.

For example, I sold an older Nurgle 40k army a few years back that gave me enough cash to finance a tau and an imperial guard army.

MagickalMemories wrote:With all due respect, I think some of you guys are only fooling yourselves.
You'd never sell?
It would have to be some crazy-ridiculous amount?
I don't see it.

"Yes, Sweetie. I know you need that operation. But, Daddy's really attached to his man-dollies. He's had them forever. Now, surely, you don't want me to give up my toys? I mean, it's just a kidney. We can always put you on dialysis. Right?"

Seriosuly, guys. You all have a price, and it's far lower than you're making it out to be.

Eric

Some of them aren't American and would never be faced with that particular issue..., though I do agree with your premise that we all have a far more reasonable breaking point than stated by some.

Someone offering me a vast amount of money or one argument to many with my wife.

probably about 200 bucks + shipping