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Ok so one question that has always crossed my mind is, How do these Bit sellers on Ebay have so many bits and are still able to make a profit? Do they go out and buy the kits, cut off the sprues of the item and sell like it is? Or is there a wholesale warehouse? Is the question just a plain simple answer that im over thinking on? Just something ive always pondered at.

 DaKKaLAnce wrote:
Ok so one question that has always crossed my mind is, How do these Bit sellers on Ebay have so many bits and are still able to make a profit? Do they go out and buy the kits, cut off the sprues of the item and sell like it is? Or is there a wholesale warehouse? Is the question just a plain simple answer that im over thinking on? Just something ive always pondered at.

Many are actual stores. They buy the boxes at discount from GW or their distributor and sort out the parts they can make money on.

That would explain it. Just never thought there was enough demand for bits to be making a living from selling them.

I've spent a bunch on bits over the years. If I just need a few extra black templar shoulder pads but didn't want to buy a whole new BT Upgrade kit. Just wanted a few more special weapons before FW came out with their kits, etc.

 DaKKaLAnce wrote:
That would explain it. Just never thought there was enough demand for bits to be making a living from selling them.

Im pretty sure its mostly supplemental and not that profitable.

It also depends on the kits. You could sell a TON of Grav guns when they were first introduced but you were left with a ton of SM bodies no one really needed.

 DaKKaLAnce wrote:
That would explain it. Just never thought there was enough demand for bits to be making a living from selling them.

They don't. Most a little better than break-even, but it doesn't pay even minimum-wage for the time involved.

But it allows them to make a little cash for their own hobbies, doing something they don't mind doing (playing with minis, even if at second-hand), so they find it to be worth it.

Recently i bought an imperial knight (before the warden was announced - grrr..) and it was missing the legs sprue and had an extra gun sprue - so i got a free replacement, kept the bits (flgs) and then bought the legs from 'bits-world' on ebay.com rather than the uk site and now i have an extra one!
I think that with the imperial knight at least, they are making a profit because to my mind they are obviously not paying retail for the kits!! I paid for the feet, the legs (with all the cables and pistons and panels), the hips and the head and it came to ~£32 including postage from america; which would leave him with a lot of valuable parts still - the body, arms, weapons, base - but the economics would be too tight unless they're getting a large discount for bulk purchasing.

 SirDonlad wrote:
Recently i bought an imperial knight (before the warden was announced - grrr..) and it was missing the legs sprue and had an extra gun sprue - so i got a free replacement, kept the bits (flgs) and then bought the legs from 'bits-world' on ebay.com rather than the uk site and now i have an extra one!
I think that with the imperial knight at least, they are making a profit because to my mind they are obviously not paying retail for the kits!! I paid for the feet, the legs (with all the cables and pistons and panels), the hips and the head and it came to ~£32 including postage from america; which would leave him with a lot of valuable parts still - the body, arms, weapons, base - but the economics would be too tight unless they're getting a large discount for bulk purchasing.

You are correct about the profit in the is case. For some kits, the sum of the value of their bits vastly exceeds the cost of the kit. In the case of the Knight Titan it because of the new kit has new pieces.

Often times, the high cost of a bit is because the box contains one gun, but all five figures in that box could be equipped with that gun.

I am into Hobby resale and I do not have a distribution contract with GW, so I routinely sell bits at conventions. They generate a little bit of money each weekend and since I just put them in a box and let the customers sort through them, it doesn't take up much time on my part.

One interesting note is that non GW fans also buy the bits for other gaming and hobby projects.

 kronk wrote:


Many are actual stores. They buy the boxes at discount from GW or their distributor and sort out the parts they can make money on.

I thought trade accounts were forbidden to do a bits service?

 kronk wrote:

 DaKKaLAnce wrote:
Ok so one question that has always crossed my mind is, How do these Bit sellers on Ebay have so many bits and are still able to make a profit? Do they go out and buy the kits, cut off the sprues of the item and sell like it is? Or is there a wholesale warehouse? Is the question just a plain simple answer that im over thinking on? Just something ive always pondered at.

Many are actual stores. They buy the boxes at discount from GW or their distributor and sort out the parts they can make money on.

Having knowledge of the business, the point about them mostly being stores is true. magic the gathering pays the bills, bitz and other items make profit. yes this makes increased overhead for the cutters and sorters, but it works out.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Tyron wrote:

 kronk wrote:


Many are actual stores. They buy the boxes at discount from GW or their distributor and sort out the parts they can make money on.

I thought trade accounts were forbidden to do a bits service?

They are forbidden, generally the bitz operation is hidden, or placed in a shell company.

 Vulcan wrote:

 DaKKaLAnce wrote:
That would explain it. Just never thought there was enough demand for bits to be making a living from selling them.

They don't. Most a little better than break-even, but it doesn't pay even minimum-wage for the time involved.

But it allows them to make a little cash for their own hobbies, doing something they don't mind doing (playing with minis, even if at second-hand), so they find it to be worth it.

It was quite profitable earlier on. As more bits sellers popped up, more kits got cool extra bits (thus resulting in fewer extra bits people needed to buy) and GW started systematically decimating their own customer base , it gradually became less so .

The changes to the trade policies would have had an impact as well , although I was well and truly out put of it before that happened .