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Hey folks,

I bought the dark vengeance box with the intent of painting up the models and selling them on (either locally or through e-bay).

It's the first time I would be selling anything this way though. So my question is, what would you think I could get for these (both low and high estimates) if you have any experience in this field.

The full squad:





the plasma gunner:





The plasma cannon:





The sarge:





Random tactical marines:







Hope you like them. They have had some zenithal highlights, combined with some subtle edgehighlights. Shading was mostly done using oil paint washes.

Those look really good. I cannot comment on the price but you may have convinced me to actually take my dark angels off the DV sprue

Thats an atleast 5 dollar paintjob per mini, some people might even pay double that.

That is some nice work. The basing is wonderful. I am sorry though as I have no idea what to charge for them. I guess maybe double what a tac squad would cost in the box? Check e-bay to see what similar pieces are going for Good luck.

IronEagle wrote:
That is some nice work. The basing is wonderful. I am sorry though as I have no idea what to charge for them. I guess maybe double what a tac squad would cost in the box? Check e-bay to see what similar pieces are going for Good luck.

The cost of the squad + $2 labour per mini + $5 per mini because they're a good standard. I would pay around 55-60$ personally, but that's how my friends painting business works.

I've been selling minis on ebay for years, here's a couple tricks:

-Check other listings and see what they're going for. All I could find for that squad painted was a BIN at $149. I personally think that's ludicrously high for the paint job being sold. Yours is nicer, $120 could do it, but I think they'd be more likely to sell at around $85. If you really just wanted to move them, $60 would, but that's half my highest estimate. I've sold worse for around $120 before though, so it's certainly possible.

-Try to take more dynamic pictures, really try to show off the silhouettes of the minis and how the poses interact with each other. Small groups of two or three with a group shot work well rather than a bunch of individual shots. I know they're basic sculpts, but there is definite movement happening in them and the right angles will show it.

-I'd go back and drill gun barrels and paint the circuitry behind the heads. Little details like that go a long way. If a potential buyer sees that's missing, they may think what other little shortcuts you took they don't see.

-Make sure you include warhammer, space marine, 40k, etc. in the title, and don't misspell anything. I just got three IG sentinels still on the sprue minus the missile bits for $20.50 because the seller left 'Warhammer' out of the title. It wasn't seen by lots of people who would've been willing to pay much more because they all included 'Warhammer' in their search. $90 worth of minis for $20.50, best deal on minis I ever got... part of me still can't believe it.

-Let the pics do the talking. Try not to play up the quality with over the top language or font choices. That's just annoying, your minis are definitely nice enough to sell.

-If you know how to use the html option for the item description, make a scroll down gallery of the pics rather than using them all in the 'view larger images' option in the top corner of the listing. Include one pic for that (I believe the first is free, any more cost a little bit, though I could be wrong), then present the rest of them below. It's cheaper (I'm pretty sure) and is easier to view than having to click back and forth, and as such looks more professional.

-A little watermark logo to attach to your pics and a studio name helps, people are attracted to that more than just some painter trying to move stuff on ebay. You're choice isn't set in stone, so don't let feeling like you're making some grand life decision prevent you from actually moving forward if you do this. Something quick and simple works well, something like Elmir Miniatures.

Sometimes I'm astounded by how much people are willing to pay for table top quality so I'd feel confident trying to sell those. Don't be afraid to aim high at first, if they don't sell just lower the price. Ebay does a lot of free listing opportunities now anyway, so if you're patient, you could make a nice chunk of cash.

If you get the hang of it, it's a great way to get an expensive hobby to help pay for itself, and you become a better painter at the same time.

Good luck!

Great work. Really like the fade work.

 scuzz_bucket wrote:
I've been selling minis on ebay for years, here's a couple tricks:

-Check other listings and see what they're going for. All I could find for that squad painted was a BIN at $149. I personally think that's ludicrously high for the paint job being sold. Yours is nicer, $120 could do it, but I think they'd be more likely to sell at around $85. If you really just wanted to move them, $60 would, but that's half my highest estimate. I've sold worse for around $120 before though, so it's certainly possible.

-Try to take more dynamic pictures, really try to show off the silhouettes of the minis and how the poses interact with each other. Small groups of two or three with a group shot work well rather than a bunch of individual shots. I know they're basic sculpts, but there is definite movement happening in them and the right angles will show it.

-I'd go back and drill gun barrels and paint the circuitry behind the heads. Little details like that go a long way. If a potential buyer sees that's missing, they may think what other little shortcuts you took they don't see.

-Make sure you include warhammer, space marine, 40k, etc. in the title, and don't misspell anything. I just got three IG sentinels still on the sprue minus the missile bits for $20.50 because the seller left 'Warhammer' out of the title. It wasn't seen by lots of people who would've been willing to pay much more because they all included 'Warhammer' in their search. $90 worth of minis for $20.50, best deal on minis I ever got... part of me still can't believe it.

-Let the pics do the talking. Try not to play up the quality with over the top language or font choices. That's just annoying, your minis are definitely nice enough to sell.



-If you know how to use the html option for the item description, make a scroll down gallery of the pics rather than using them all in the 'view larger images' option in the top corner of the listing. Include one pic for that (I believe the first is free, any more cost a little bit, though I could be wrong), then present the rest of them below. It's cheaper (I'm pretty sure) and is easier to view than having to click back and forth, and as such looks more professional.

-A little watermark logo to attach to your pics and a studio name helps, people are attracted to that more than just some painter trying to move stuff on ebay. You're choice isn't set in stone, so don't let feeling like you're making some grand life decision prevent you from actually moving forward if you do this. Something quick and simple works well, something like Elmir Miniatures.




Sometimes I'm astounded by how much people are willing to pay for table top quality so I'd feel confident trying to sell those. Don't be afraid to aim high at first, if they don't sell just lower the price. Ebay does a lot of free listing opportunities now anyway, so if you're patient, you could make a nice chunk of cash.

If you get the hang of it, it's a great way to get an expensive hobby to help pay for itself, and you become a better painter at the same time.

Good luck!

Wow now that is a nice reply.

First of all, great paint job.

And, that is a really nice post, scuzz bucket.

I'm listing some of my painted stuff on ebay for the first time right now, so it's very useful.

One thing I will say, however, as I am in sales as a profession - don't forget exposure!!! Exposure exposure exposure. Once you list the item on ebay, make sure you put a little ad on all of the major gaming sites. Ads on CMON and other similar websites are really cheap, too.

The more people see your listing, the more likely it is you will get the price you are looking for. As someone who sells real estate for a living, I can tell you it's a numbers game.

Scuzz, what is your opinion / experience with free and open bids? I've always thought that was the best way to get the best price. Start the bidding at $.01 with no reserve, expose the hell out of the product, and let the market dictate the price. What's your take on that?

Anyway, that's what I am doing with my listing, and within three hours of listing I am already up to $51 for something I was willing to let go of for $300

Oh man, thanks for your replies guys. Especially Scuzz_bucket and Xenocidal Maniac.

Those are some great tips!

I'm not too sure about starting at 0,01$ and having no reserve whatsoever. I mean... These things cost me money to purchase them to begin with and did take nearly 12 hours to completely finish (granted, I can do it faster now after the first batch). I'd hate for all of that effort to be in vain by getting a very underpriced bid to win.

Also... Do you think it would be wiser to hold off on this squad and to do a full DV DA group in one go when the new codex hits? It should mean a very consistent look for an army along with a new book... It might attract more customers at that time because of the hype?

Don't drill out the barrels but you should paint dark spots to show that the barrels are actually tubes and not solid bars.
Even if you don't paint the wires at the back of the backpacks, painting the two circles on them red makes them look better.

For UK Commisions I would suggest they are cost of models, shipping and £6 per model max

Worth noting that you can get a lot more money by painting up the entire DA set from Dark Vengeance and offering it as a single auction, there will be plenty of interest in that.

Excellent paint job with awesome bases. I love to see such miniatures

Great paintjob! Wish I was as good as you