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Hey guys!

The title pretty much says it all: I'm looking to get into the hobby and need help to determine the worth of a paint set I've found online.

The set contains 83 various paints that have all been used to various degrees. From what I can tell there appears to be a mix of different paints, like layers, shades and so on.

Any thoughts? How much would be too much?

I would be thankful for any input.

Thanks

Could you ask the seller to weigh all of the paints for you?
From that you could extrapolate exactly how much paint has been used. That'd be the only way to find out hilariously.
I'd also ask for photos or check that there isn't paint smeared all around the lids, labels etc and to identify how old they are from the pot shape.
Then it's up to you to decide what you'd pay for it.
If you cant get a weight then I'd assume they are all half full and suggest £1 per pot absolute maximum but probably more like 50p assuming they're GW.

Easier to just decide what you consider a fair price and pay it. What does the description say about their condition

Or £830 if all of the paints are Devlan Mud.

I hate to be that guy, but I'd recommend getting your paints new as opposed to used. Yeah it will cost a bit more, but used paints tend to be finicky.

I take as good care of my paints as I can and weird things still happen with them.

Aside from that, if you do elect to move forward with the purchase, I'd probably get an idea of the value of the set new, and cut the price in half.

This is something which would be worthwhile if you were able to see this in person and inspect the paints (levels and making sure they aren't dried up in the bottle, etc.).

Paints can last a long time (if they're not in crappy GW pots most of the time) and you can get a tremendous amount of life out of a single bottle.

A normal, quality paint from, say, Vallejo, costs round about $2.50-3.00 in the United States (with a discount from an online vendor). I'd expect to pay $1.00-1.50 per used bottle if they're not dried out and useless.

If it's a random eBay seller or random person online - honestly I wouldn't. If they're a respected member of an online forum somewhere and you've been aware of them for sometime, maybe risk trying it? Only you can decide.

I'd buy a starter from Army Painter, maybe the GW set for what ever army I wanted, or just a selection from Vallejo or Reaper. Or frankly any other new source.

Buying used paint is going to be a huge gamble, unless you can inspect each and every pot, in person.

I'd rather have less individual new pots, than get burned on a used set.

I'm also going to guess all the "GOOD" stuff is gone or empty. Like your whites, blacks, common shades. I still have paints I've never used from paint sets I bought years ago, like 5 years ago because I didn't need the color. In the same time I have burned through several white/black pots.

Buying used paints especially from net is risky. You cant be sure about honesty of seller or his/hers knowledge.
If I decide to buy used paints I ll buy them h-t-h (so see them first and then decide if they are worth it and I can easily decide on the price).
Prince August company has vallejo paints (my primary paints for miniature painting) from 1€ which is probably best price you could find for a new paint pot.
Also there are Warcolors (http://www.warcolours.com/) from manufacturing company from Cyprus which are also concurrent with their prices.
I see that you mentioned 83 paints, that is too much in my experience for a "normal" painting (not counting pro painters, commission ones etc). I think for a start around 20-25 paints is more then enough and after you get some experience you can buy what are missing.

Wow, thanks for the response guys, really helpful!

Alex Kolodotschko wrote:Could you ask the seller to weigh all of the paints for you?
From that you could extrapolate exactly how much paint has been used. That'd be the only way to find out hilariously.
I'd also ask for photos or check that there isn't paint smeared all around the lids, labels etc and to identify how old they are from the pot shape.
Then it's up to you to decide what you'd pay for it.
If you cant get a weight then I'd assume they are all half full and suggest £1 per pot absolute maximum but probably more like 50p assuming they're GW.

That's a good idea, thanks!
I've seen a photo and they appear to be in good condition (as in no paint smeared on the lids). The shape of the pots looks like the ones on GW website, so I'm guessing they are the latest edition then?

Marxist artist wrote:Easier to just decide what you consider a fair price and pay it. What does the description say about their condition

The description says they are in good condition and that some are not even opened yet. I've only seen pictures of the pots with the label facing the camera though, so I guess it's hard to tell if they have dried up or not..

Cothonian wrote:I hate to be that guy, but I'd recommend getting your paints new as opposed to used. Yeah it will cost a bit more, but used paints tend to be finicky.

I take as good care of my paints as I can and weird things still happen with them.

Aside from that, if you do elect to move forward with the purchase, I'd probably get an idea of the value of the set new, and cut the price in half.

Yeah I think you might be right. I'm kind of a stickler and would probably want my paints to be neat and tidy.
Cutting the retail price in half should probably be my maximum price, thanks

Elbows wrote:This is something which would be worthwhile if you were able to see this in person and inspect the paints (levels and making sure they aren't dried up in the bottle, etc.).

Paints can last a long time (if they're not in crappy GW pots most of the time) and you can get a tremendous amount of life out of a single bottle.

A normal, quality paint from, say, Vallejo, costs round about $2.50-3.00 in the United States (with a discount from an online vendor). I'd expect to pay $1.00-1.50 per used bottle if they're not dried out and useless.

If it's a random eBay seller or random person online - honestly I wouldn't. If they're a respected member of an online forum somewhere and you've been aware of them for sometime, maybe risk trying it? Only you can decide.

I saw an image of the set and the pots look like the ones on GW website, so I'm guessing they are not that old. Perhaps a few years? Do you think they have started to dry up by now?
I'm assuming they last a bit longer if they are stored in an optimal environment (dark, cold etc), but I have no way of knowing that now though..

4zero6 wrote:I'd buy a starter from Army Painter, maybe the GW set for what ever army I wanted, or just a selection from Vallejo or Reaper. Or frankly any other new source.

Buying used paint is going to be a huge gamble, unless you can inspect each and every pot, in person.

I'd rather have less individual new pots, than get burned on a used set.

I'm also going to guess all the "GOOD" stuff is gone or empty. Like your whites, blacks, common shades. I still have paints I've never used from paint sets I bought years ago, like 5 years ago because I didn't need the color. In the same time I have burned through several white/black pots.

Yeah I know, seems like quite the gamble..perhaps I should go with your advice and get a GW paint set.
I consider buying the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Starter Set. Is there any specific paint set you would recommend?

dubovac wrote:Buying used paints especially from net is risky. You cant be sure about honesty of seller or his/hers knowledge.
If I decide to buy used paints I ll buy them h-t-h (so see them first and then decide if they are worth it and I can easily decide on the price).
Prince August company has vallejo paints (my primary paints for miniature painting) from 1€ which is probably best price you could find for a new paint pot.
Also there are Warcolors (http://www.warcolours.com/) from manufacturing company from Cyprus which are also concurrent with their prices.
I see that you mentioned 83 paints, that is too much in my experience for a "normal" painting (not counting pro painters, commission ones etc). I think for a start around 20-25 paints is more then enough and after you get some experience you can buy what are missing.

Exactly, right now I'm thinking about the seller's knowledge. Perhaps the pots have not been stored in a good way and perhaps they have been used carelessly (finding a strain of red in the white pot would make my brain explode, haha).

Thanks for some really good advice. Prince August looks very promising. I imagine this is a really debatable question, but is there really any difference between Vallejo and Citadel? Because 1€ seems like a really good price, might try them

Yeah the 83 paints got me somewhat worried (even though it's nice to get many paints). Seems almost too good to be true and I start to question their quality..

1€ for Vallejo is more then great price. There are some differences between all manufacturers but in the end it is all up to you and your preferences. When I started hobby some 20+ years ago there were only revell and gw paints so I logically switched to gw but few years later when I found Vallejo I switched my whole palette to them.
One of universally high points between GW colors and some of the other companies is so called dropper bottle. That thing makes your life easier and lifespan of your colors longer.