Bartertown.com

Alright Everyone

I'm currently trying to decide between mutliple Tyranid army deals that I've found. PLEASE READ the following before offering advice.

--The first two I can probably wait on until I definetely have the cash, the last 2 are a bit more time-sensitive.

--As far as I know, ALL of the lots listed below have ALL the arms/weapons and various upgrades that came on the sprue. (Mostly this is a concern for Army 1 & 3) BOTH of these have all the bits from the sprue..they just haven't been attached yet! (According to the seller)

--Most of the armies are partially painted, and in most cases, I would probably want to strip the paint.

--Lastly, I'm hoping to get a really good deal so I can possibley resell some or most of the army and get most or all of my money back to help pay bills, and still have a decent amount of tyranids to play with. (in other words, it's an investment)


With that in mind, which offer do you thnk I should go for, and how much do you think I should offer/pay at the Minimum/maximum?


Army#1 $175 IMPORTANT--ALl bits, weapons, arms, Biomorphs, ARE Included NOS! The seller started assembling them, but left those off to keep options open!
(current offer by seller..debating on counter-offering $150)
1x Biovore (assembled)
1x Carnifex (assembled but no weapons, aka armless)
11x Spore Mines (assembled, 8 painted red, 3 bare metal)
6x Warriors w/ ST and DS (assembled and primed tan)
9x Rippers (3 on each base, 5 bare, 1 primed tan)
28x Genestealers (8 assembled with all rending claws) (12 assembled with all rending claws, painted red) (8 assembled but no arms)
36x Hormagaunts (assembled)
61x Termagaunts (44 assembled but no weapons, aka armless) (17 assembled, fleshborers, painted red)

Army #2 $250 (current offer by seller..debating on counter-offering $225)
2 Hive tyrants
5x Carnifexes,
6 raveners,
3 zoans,
2 tyrant guards
10x Genestealers
10x Gaunts
30x Rippers

Army #3 $250++? Auction(haven't decided how much I should offer)

-2 Hive Tyrant, 1 painted ranged, 1 unpainted melee
-3 Tyrant Guard, 1 layer of paint applied
-5 Carnifex, 2 painted, 3 unpained and awaiting weapons
-16 Termagaunts, unpainted and awaiting weapons
-1 Lictor, unpainted
-3 Zoanthropes, painted, 1 is missing an arm
-16 Hormagaunts, 1 layer of paint applied
-16 Genestealers, 8 painted, 8 unpainted
-1 Brood Lord, unpainted
-3 Raveners, unpainted
-6 Warriors, unpainted and awaiting weapons

Army #4 $110 + (again, debating on how much to offer)
1 Hive Tyrant (Pro Painted),
1 Brood Lord with 20 Genestealers,
3 Warriors, 1 Lictor,
2 Raveners,
1 Zoanthrope,
31 Gaunts,
14 Hormagaunts,
5 Ripper Swarms,
15 Spore Mines.

If all tge parts are there I'd get 2 especially at the reduced price. You probly will need a lot more termagaunts (as in the amount in 1) to do a tervagon list.

U could probly get at least $25 for a fex and $30 for a tyrant (if they are all new Ed) so about $125 in fexes and $60 in hive tyrants so $185 from the big bugs alone if u need to sell.

If u could get 1 for under $150 then it would be worth it but it's too many missing parts at $175.

except that Carni's have been hit hard by the new codex AS carnifexes.. as a basis for a Tervigon or Tyrannofex they are good. so stay away from already built ones.

Buying?
- all NOS? at *least* 30% off retail
- prebuilt, but unpainted, and with all bitz? at *least* 40% off retail
- painted, without all original bitz? no more than 40% of retail

Note that "retail" would be calculated against battleforce boxes / BfM bulk blocks before adding any individual boxes. Remember: nobody cares what the seller PAID - "retail" is based on what a smart person can BUY.

If I were jumping in for an army, I'd probably make initial offers at 20 to 30 cents on the dollar. That's about what things went for at the last Bunker Bazaar.

Whatever you do, don't over pay. There are lots of sellers of brand NEW stuff out there. Somebody's castoffs should come at substantial discount. Especially in today's economy. Take advantage of your buying power!

JohnHwangBT wrote:If I were jumping in for an army, I'd probably make initial offers at 20 to 30 cents on the dollar. That's about what things went for at the last Bunker Bazaar.

Making an offer like this could very well get you blacklisted by some traders though. This is a serious lowball effort and shows, IMO, a lack of respect for the other traders. Think very hard about it before you do something like this. Think about how it sounds. "You know that $100 battleforce? I'll give you $20 for it." You might hit people's do-not-trade lists with that kind of start to negotiations.

$100 plastic Battleforce assembled with plastic glue and half-way painted to near-tabletop quality? 20 bucks (shipped) is a *VERY* fair price. Quite frankly, most used plastics are practically worthless. The effort in cleaning used plastic is better spent simply buying new.

$100 plastic Battleforce in shrink NOS? $60, maybe $70 shipped.

People come in all the time with vastly overinflated ideas of what their used plastics are worth. Perhaps, when the economy turns, the value of used plastics will go up. But the bubble has burst, and buyers don't have to put up with sub-par product when there are lots of sellers out there. The fact of the matter is that it's a buyer's market, and used stuff sold for around 1/4 retail at the GW Bazaar. I got new metal at less than half retail. Sellers don't have to like it, but that's a fact.

Finally, expecting excessive high trade values is no less disrespectful of a buyer.

JohnHwangBT wrote:$100 plastic Battleforce assembled with plastic glue and half-way painted to near-tabletop quality? 20 bucks (shipped) is a *VERY* fair price. Quite frankly, most used plastics are practically worthless. The effort in cleaning used plastic is better spent simply buying new.

$100 plastic Battleforce in shrink NOS? $60, maybe $70 shipped.

People come in all the time with vastly overinflated ideas of what their used plastics are worth. Perhaps, when the economy turns, the value of used plastics will go up. But the bubble has burst, and buyers don't have to put up with sub-par product when there are lots of sellers out there. The fact of the matter is that it's a buyer's market, and used stuff sold for around 1/4 retail at the GW Bazaar. I got new metal at less than half retail. Sellers don't have to like it, but that's a fact.

Finally, expecting excessive high trade values is no less disrespectful of a buyer.

You know, John's got a point here.
I mean, the $20 to $30 might be a bit low by Bartertown standards (remember, John, BTown isn't the Bazaar. They're looking for a quick buck there. BTowners are typically willing to wait it out), but he's right that the condition affects their value GREATLY.
I'd say to up his "assembled" prices by about 10%, but keep his "new" prices unchanged, and you're looking at a general idea of what "fair" would be online. Keep in mind, though, that BAD painting and assembly can EASILY lead the numbers back down to the low range John mentioned.

Eric

JohnHwangBT wrote:$100 plastic Battleforce assembled with plastic glue and half-way painted to near-tabletop quality? 20 bucks (shipped) is a *VERY* fair price. Quite frankly, most used plastics are practically worthless. The effort in cleaning used plastic is better spent simply buying new.

$100 plastic Battleforce in shrink NOS? $60, maybe $70 shipped.

People come in all the time with vastly overinflated ideas of what their used plastics are worth. Perhaps, when the economy turns, the value of used plastics will go up. But the bubble has burst, and buyers don't have to put up with sub-par product when there are lots of sellers out there. The fact of the matter is that it's a buyer's market, and used stuff sold for around 1/4 retail at the GW Bazaar. I got new metal at less than half retail. Sellers don't have to like it, but that's a fact.

Finally, expecting excessive high trade values is no less disrespectful of a buyer.

huh, stone cold lowballer huh?
I try to buy plastic at around 50-40% of value but if someone wants to sell for less that's they're way to move product.
I'd prefer to sell at 40-50% off so I do not want to get the market even lower by buying at the lowest price of 20-30%

Plastic usually easier then metal to strip (besides plastic glue). All you do is fill a airtight container with industrial grade oven cleaner with the minis and let them soak a month. You can peal the paint off with a hose easy as pie.


On topic: yes the 5carnies should turn into tervagons or whatever big bug u need.

It's just a decent price if it's all close to nib/nos

I think a bit of perspective is in order: I already own multiple *large* armies for 40k, over 25,000 pts total. In addition, I have plenty of other stuff for other games. As I can already cover a huge range of 40k play styles, and have a substantial backlog of stuff to work on, I have pretty much zero need for buying any new armies on top of what I already own. I can easily play what I already own for years and years, with just minimal rules updates. So when I say "if I were to buy in", I have no pressing need to buy more, and thus, my demand level is very low, with a correspondingly low price.

And as Eric notes, pictures matter a lot. WIthout pics to gauge condition, there's no reason to pay more.

Also, I am well aware of discounters who sell at 30+% off retail, so that sets a clear price cap for me, which also depresses pricing.

Personally, I get around the current low market valuations by focusing on equal retail trades - if we both value high, no problem If we both value low, it also cancels out.

EZ mac wrote:Plastic usually easier then metal to strip (besides plastic glue). All you do is fill a airtight container with industrial grade oven cleaner with the minis and let them soak a month. You can peal the paint off with a hose easy as pie.

Are you mad? Oven cleaner will melt/deform plastic given too much time. Are you sure you aren't talking about a degreaser?

JohnHwangBT wrote:I think a bit of perspective is in order: I already own multiple *large* armies for 40k, over 25,000 pts total. In addition, I have plenty of other stuff for other games. As I can already cover a huge range of 40k play styles, and have a substantial backlog of stuff to work on, I have pretty much zero need for buying any new armies on top of what I already own. I can easily play what I already own for years and years, with just minimal rules updates. So when I say "if I were to buy in", I have no pressing need to buy more, and thus, my demand level is very low, with a correspondingly low price. <<SNIP>>

This tells me a lot.
John, I think that, when you're making suggestions and recommendations, you should keep it in the forefront of your mind that most people doing trades are trading for things they *need* for their armies and have less room for manuvering than you.
So, while those models might not be that "necessary" for your army, that you're only willing to pay 20% to 30% retail, others "need" them more, so they need to adjust their relative value. KWIM?

Eric

Eric, of course, people have different levels of demand, hence my follow-up disclosure.

Gotcha.
I wasn't reading it as a simple disclosure.

Eric

Ironhide wrote:

EZ mac wrote:Plastic usually easier then metal to strip (besides plastic glue). All you do is fill a airtight container with industrial grade oven cleaner with the minis and let them soak a month. You can peal the paint off with a hose easy as pie.

Are you mad? Oven cleaner will melt/deform plastic given too much time. Are you sure you aren't talking about a degreaser?

I believe 200 space marines would disagree with you.

In the six months we (roommate and I) have stripped: 2x LR, 10x dreadnoughts, 30x terminators, 12x bikes, 5x speeders, 6x rhinos, 2x vindicators, 200x marines, 2x basilisks, 6x leman russ, 5x sentinals, 150x valhalins, 35x plauge marines (10x resin ones), 3x fw dreds (not included in the above), 1x fw avatar, and then misc other metal/ resin/ plastic guys.

Right now I have 65jump pack dudes in one pot (for blood angels), and about 30 random eldar in another (each have been there for about 2 1/2 weeks.

We use "greased lightning" it's a 'super strength oven cleaner and degreaser' which comes in a 1gal bottle for $12.00 from smart and final (or any resturant supply store but s&f is closer).

We used the spray foam oven cleaner a while ago but it was about $6 and it only lasts one or two baths so wasn't cost effective.

The plastics do not melt...that would be pine-sol as if u don't pull it out after at the most 24 hours it melts plastics.

The oven cleaner will slightly soften the plastic, it doesn't change the shape, melt it, or do any damage... It just makes it feel weird (might be the greased lightning on it) but when u let it air dry it's perfect.

Anyone who would like a pic of a large group of minis which are freshly stripped just pm me.

JohnHwangBT wrote:$100 plastic Battleforce assembled with plastic glue and half-way painted to near-tabletop quality? 20 bucks (shipped) is a *VERY* fair price. Quite frankly, most used plastics are practically worthless. The effort in cleaning used plastic is better spent simply buying new.

$100 plastic Battleforce in shrink NOS? $60, maybe $70 shipped.

People come in all the time with vastly overinflated ideas of what their used plastics are worth. Perhaps, when the economy turns, the value of used plastics will go up. But the bubble has burst, and buyers don't have to put up with sub-par product when there are lots of sellers out there. The fact of the matter is that it's a buyer's market, and used stuff sold for around 1/4 retail at the GW Bazaar. I got new metal at less than half retail. Sellers don't have to like it, but that's a fact.

Finally, expecting excessive high trade values is no less disrespectful of a buyer.

Okay, just to touch base on this and my response. You didn't say anything about assembled plastics. You just said:

JHBT wrote:If I were jumping in for an army, I'd probably make initial offers at 20 to 30 cents on the dollar. That's about what things went for at the last Bunker Bazaar.

This says nothing about condition, and everything about what price you plan to offer. Comparing BT to some GW Bazaar is a bit skewed as well. You have a limited number of people there as contained by the region. Here, it is a wider scale population. It might be a buyer's market. But that doesn't mean to burn bridges with other traders before you even start.