Do the armies really sell?

[KingArthur]

HEY BT,

I'm considering posting an army for sale, but, I have a real question. Do these things really sell or am I just gonna be a goofball if I do it. I seriously want to sell it for profit, not a huge profit, like 20% above retail. If any of you out there reading this have sold an army please give me a pointer or two or some feedback on your experiences. It seems in trading that painted models are not valued more than normal used, and sometimes undervalued because they have to strip them in their opinion. I know when I trade I don't undervalue painted, and many times just keep the painted figures as they are, just so I don't have to repaint. What do you all think?

[MattHoell]

Unless you have won a Golden Daemon Award, you will not get what you are looking for.

For you to break even the army needs to be beautifully painted.

The realty is that whenever you sell an army you are going to lose money, and that doesn't include the time you put into it, that's why so many people do army swaps.

The thing about a painted army is it is painted the way you want it with the models you like. Chances are a potential buyer won't like your paint scheme and won't want to use all the models in the army.

What makes it tougher that if the buyer does want to add units, they will never look like the existing ones.

From my experience you can expect to get about half of what the models new are worth.

[starslayer]

To get more than retail the army must be completely painted & bases. Not some. Not most. All. The paint job has to be good. You must show pics.

[Norseman]

All depends on how well it is painted.

Generally you can trust on getting about 65% of retail for NIB, Assembled and primed minis.

Painted is a different animal all together.

There are some guys out there that THINK they are good painters, and expect to get top dollar for their painted minis.

If your painting doesn't look as good as the minis on the box front don't expect to get a ton of money for your painted minis.

I consider myself an above average to good painter. Armies that I have sold here on Btown generally go for retail to 20% above retail and I think that's a fair price. Considering the minis I am selling are usually painted to an "above table top" quality. You also have to consider how much of a demand the minis themselves are in. When a new codex comes out everybody wants the new coolness and prices go up.

$400 Retail Army
Unpainted Btown Price $260
Painted $400-$480

So you are making about $160-$220 to paint a small army. Which usually takes a few weeks, and is a fair price, for quality of paint.

For large armies the cost does get prohibitive so I have tried to stay under the $500 mark.

I am currently working on a Vampire counts army which is about $750 retail. If I were to sell it I think I would split it into two lots, just to keep it in the under $500 area.

Most people have $300-$400 not so many have $750-$1000.

I have seen completely propainted armies(I use the word meaning looks better than the box front.) Go for good money here. Not everybody is willing to pay $1000 for a paint job on small army but some are. So you may have to wait awhile, and find that rare buyer.

SS is correct it cant be most minis painted it has to be a complete finished army. That is what the customer is paying for. Not having to do any work and not haveing to spend any valuable time.

[KingArthur]

Thanks for the information amigos. I do want to say I did mean a fully completed army, not something half way done. I would not sell an non-based army as finished, that is silly.

[themailedfist]

I honestly think that the market for WELL painted, fully painted Armies is Ebay, not Bartertown.

Valuation of painting quality on Bartertown feels much more severe to me.

Yes, Ebay does charge a premium for their services - 9% these days? - but work accordingly with that and if it really IS a good, well-photographed paintjob that deserves the 20%-over-retail price tag, you're more likely to get it there.

My $.02. US.

--Robert

[MagickalMemories]

My opinion is to just post it with your FIRM price. Leave it a week.
If it doesn't sell, move to feebay with it.

As has been said, most buyers won't pay retail or more for a painted army, but there are a few out there who will, if it looks nice enough and is something they want - especially if it's one of the currently HOT armies. Fully painted or not, QUALITY is key.

Eric

[themailedfist]

And not JUST the painting quality- the photos will really make or break it! A GREAT paintjob with a poor picture will not sell anyone on it's quality.

--Robert (who is sadly guilty of bad photos more often that he likes to admit)