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Hello everyone, recently I put up an post here about selling all my models and terrain as I am leaving the hobby. I have hit a problem, what is it all worth. I have been asked how much I want for everything numerous times and I don't know the answer. I have been gone for far to long and I have nothing to go on. So let me ask all of you, what do you ask for when you sell your models. Do you ask for retail? Or more? Less?
I'm at a complete loss for what to ask for.

I would imagine depending on how well its painted you could certainly ask for more.

NIB/NOS - ~60%
Assembled Bare or Well Primed - ~50%
Assembled Painted - ~25 to 100+% (Depending on paint job)

In general, your paint job only detracts from price though so around 25-50%.

your models are whatever someone is willing to pay for them. Same thing my father always said about my MtG cards. Get the enjoyment you can out of them, then part with them. If you get any money out of the deal, then you are ahead, but don't be afraid to pitch them into the recycling bin instead.

Personally, I have had 2 lots for sale for a while. $800+ of SM for 250 that I've had no bites on, and a riptide for 30 that I've had a lot of interest in but no payments. The bin is looking more and more attractive to me.

 carldooley wrote:
your models are whatever someone is willing to pay for them. Same thing my father always said about my MtG cards. Get the enjoyment you can out of them, then part with them. If you get any money out of the deal, then you are ahead, but don't be afraid to pitch them into the recycling bin instead.

I mean that's a lot of nice cliches but isn't terribly helpful to the OP. And why would you bin your stuff if you could resell it or even give it away?

The point is that there is so much more to selling models than people seem to think that there is. Did you know that we are supposed to collect taxes for our stuff? I was initially under the impression that these things (the online swap shops) were essentially online flea markets, but we are supposed to treat this stuff like a business, even though (in my case at least) just about everything I sell online is at a loss.

I think it has to do a lot with the country. For example none of this pertains to people from Canada as it's under a certain amount.

Back to my original question, how does one put a universal value on your models?

 carldooley wrote:
The point is that there is so much more to selling models than people seem to think that there is. Did you know that we are supposed to collect taxes for our stuff? I was initially under the impression that these things (the online swap shops) were essentially online flea markets, but we are supposed to treat this stuff like a business, even though (in my case at least) just about everything I sell online is at a loss.

That's for eBay and online sales sites. This isn't an online sale site.

:Online 'Garage Sales'
Online sales of personal, used items do not generally have to be reported. Selling your old bicycle on craigslist is an example of these types of sales. Losses on personal use property are not deductible on online sellers' tax returns. -

See more at: http://tax.findlaw.com/federal-taxes/do-you-need-to-report-your-online-sales-to-the-irs.html

 pretre wrote:
NIB/NOS - ~60%
Assembled Bare or Well Primed - ~50%
Assembled Painted - ~25 to 100+% (Depending on paint job)

In general, your paint job only detracts from price though so around 25-50%.

I would disagree with NIB/NOS at 60% of retail value, no where could you find 40% off unless its a going out of business fire sale. 80% of retail is more like it, maybe even more if the item is OOP or sought after such as metal version of a model rather than crapcast version.

The rest looks about right.

To the OP: if you want to maximize the value of your models: strip the models, clean the mold lines, assemble well.

 Big Mac wrote:
I would disagree with NIB/NOS at 60% of retail value, no where could you find 40% off unless its a going out of business fire sale. 80% of retail is more like it, maybe even more if the item is OOP or sought after such as metal version of a model rather than crapcast version.

You can get 25-30% off online pretty regularly though. And most people are willing to pay less than that when buying from a private party and paying shipping. What do I know though.

 pretre wrote:
NIB/NOS - ~60%
Assembled Bare or Well Primed - ~50%
Assembled Painted - ~25 to 100+% (Depending on paint job)

In general, your paint job only detracts from price though so around 25-50%.

This is probably what you'd find on ebay. People may or may not agree with it, but eBay is certainly my metric for determining used model prices, and whoever might be interested in purchasing your models certainly will if they've got a brain in their head.

I'd probably say that NIB/NOS that asking 60% is a little low, maybe 80% if it truly is like new. But as for assembled models, they lose a TON of value as soon as they're put together. Unless you're an absolutely FANTASTIC painter, and find someone willing to pay a premium for great painting, you're not likely to get anywhere near retail for your assembled and painted models. That's been my experience buying and selling ebay.

So your saying that because I have them painted my models are only worth 25-50% retail?

Ozeo wrote:
So your saying that because I have them painted my models are only worth 25-50% retail?

Yes, and depending on how well they're put together / painted, or what units they may be, possibly even less.

 morganfreeman wrote:

Ozeo wrote:
So your saying that because I have them painted my models are only worth 25-50% retail?

Yes, and depending on how well they're put together / painted, or what units they may be, possibly even less.

I agree with MF.

Yes, unless they are spectacularly painted and in demand.

The way I've viewed new/used sales of tabletop gaming is:

New In Box/Fresh from Pack - Roughly 20% off the cost of the item. As a seller and a buyer, I don't ever believe we should be making full retail on an item unless we are actually a retailer/shop (And even then, THEY don't even get full retail many times. Often stores give a discount.)

Used/Assembled - Price drops to 60% or less. This CAN vary, depending on a few factors. Models, if they are assembled in a creative way/kitbashed, then I could see the value going up a little...but only if the seller actually LIKES what you've done. If someone is interested in buying it, but isn't as fond of the work you did as you are, they will value it even less as a result. All subjective in which way the pendulum will swing. (Cards lose value depending on overall condition -as well as other factors such as tournament viability, availability, among others-. A card played in 1,000 games but looks like it's only been played lightly -aka taken care of- then I can see the card keeping it's value quite well)

Painting - This is where I feel models lose the most of their value. I understand many painters put a lot of effort into their work. There are also painters who don't. Regardless of the level of skill (more often than not) people will want to repaint them. This means we have to work on them a lot, especially stripping paint. The more work we have to do to get something to our standard/match our themes/tastes, the less we will want to pay for it. That goes for pretty much anything though, not just models.

If a car/bike/house needs work, it loses value. Even if a house is in pristine shape, if the buyer thinks they want to knock out a few walls, make a few new rooms, or repaint/refloor areas, they are going to factor that in to what they want to pay for the place.

In the end though, what your models are 'worth' is up to you to decide. The best way to go is set what you WANT to get for them. But don't be bashful from asking people to make you an offer. Haggling is a beautiful thing. You will likely NEVER get what you WANT for them. But you can do what you can to get as close as you can to what you initially wanted. But like others have said, in the end, it's really what your buyer is willing to pay that determines the sale.

 pretre wrote:

 morganfreeman wrote:

Ozeo wrote:
So your saying that because I have them painted my models are only worth 25-50% retail?

Yes, and depending on how well they're put together / painted, or what units they may be, possibly even less.

I agree with MF.

Yes, unless they are spectacularly painted and in demand.

Also, those prices apply generally to individual units/vehicles, and do not include shipping. Anybody buying in bulk will expect a larger discount, and people will work shipping into their offer.

GW stuff is a bit less of a commodity than MtG cards, but you can still just search ebay for what things actually sold for. (Search for the item, and then limit to "sold" items. For fun, look at "complete" auctions as well, and see what things didn't sell at the prices asked).

In short, your stuff is probably worth, very roughly, 30-40% of what it was worth at retail. A very small amount of stuff is worth more, and some stuff is worth even less (3rd edition Dark Eldar, AoBR Orks).

So looking at my models and the quality of paint job what do you think would be reasonable to ask for?

Ozeo wrote:
So looking at my models and the quality of paint job what do you think would be reasonable to ask for?

Hard to say with out seeing the models.

But from what I see you have to be basically a professional level painter to have painted models not be a hindrance to their selling price

Ozeo wrote:
So looking at my models and the quality of paint job what do you think would be reasonable to ask for?

From a recent thread:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/659053.page


If you're going for individual units, go for 50%. Looks like tabletop.


Then give it a month or two and drop price if you're not selling.

If you want your paintjob to not detract from the sale value of the model, you essentially have to be a Golden Daemon finalist or paint at a Forge World level. Anything else and people will just scream 'THIN YOUR PAINTS' at you.

Well, what do you have and where in Canada are you? I may be interested in picking some stuff up...

I live in South western Ontario, I'm pretty much happy to drive anywhere since I bought a hellcat.

Ozeo wrote:
I live in South western Ontario, I'm pretty much happy to drive anywhere since I bought a hellcat.

Alright then, pm me a list of what you've got and I'll see if it's anything I'd be interested in!

 j31c3n wrote:
If you want your paintjob to not detract from the sale value of the model, you essentially have to be a Golden Daemon finalist or paint at a Forge World level. Anything else and people will just scream 'THIN YOUR PAINTS' at you.

This.

If you aren't taking first-place in national painting competitions and the like, then your painting generally isn't doing the sale of your models any favors.