Estimating value: Worth of a Tau Manta

[igenstilch]

This is not a sale thread. Just trying to get a community estimate of this items Value. Seeing as members of the community have a wide variety of insight on how to value things. I hope to come to honest representation to its value.

I have in my possession a Forge World Tau Manta. Considering the details of this item, I'm having a hard time getting a solid estimate on its value. In the event I ever leave 40k, I would want to move this item, though hopefully that isnt going to happen any time soon.

Things to consider...
-Its NIB unassembled value is £960.00
-Typical ForgeWorld quality, bad warping and bubbles. Lower bay badly warped.
-Manta number 081
-It was purchased second hand with three missing components, one of which was its right wing, came with two left wings.
- Spare left wing was chopped in half, bent into a right wing. Attached with steel 1/4 rods to hull.
-Assembled, lower bay glue to hull, does not lower. Bay doors work fine.
-Lower bay magnetizes closed, Upper bay latches closed.
-State of the GW community
-Difficulty of supply and demand for such an item.
-Shipping safely.
-40+ hours to clean, sand, assemble, reshape (done with plasticard, popsicle sticks, and bondo), etc. Still a WIP. For this exercise assume finished, but unpainted.
-I, the assembler, have worked a few years as a professional assembler. Plus 15 years as a hobbyist.

[igenstilch]

So... no response?

I was thinking I could probably move it for $800 easily.

Heres a finished picture (still could use detail paint, but thats a minor note) Pretty good for starting out as a pile of scrap. All the bay doors work and ramps lower. All the burst cannons freely rotate.

[MagickalMemories]

Personally, I don't have any clue what the value would be... but you did a decent job on the fix.

Eric

[Doctari]

That is some quality work on the restoration!

My response is the response I always use when questions of worth are raised:

You have to construct a Venn diagram. In the one circle you have what you want to get for your stuff (and you know what you think it's worth) and in the other you have what any one else might be willing to pay for it. The intersection is what your item is worth at any given time.

Another answer is the very minimum you're welling to accept for it.

These things aren't food, they're not necessities and as such they don't have a fixed worth. You did a great job on it, but for me there is no way I'd ever spend 850 on a single model, especially one that I couldn't play with on a regular basis.

[Chris33]

Another thing which may affect the sale value is this:

You do need to let people know that you had to reshape one wing, and for some it will reduce the overall value as not everything is an original part. Even though you did a fantastic job at the restoration - and you really did!-you do have the responsibility to tell any potential buyer that the model is not all original, especially at that price point.

I applaud your modeling skills, personally I could not pull off what looks to me to be a flawless repair, but some people are turned away by large repairs.

[igenstilch]

I would make all the information about my manta available. If it was a pile of chaos mariens, I might not mention that there are some loyalist parts mixed into the batch. But for something like this, the models history should be fully known.

Found one of the earlier photos of my work on it.

[efalsken]

Great job restoring it. I know it sells for 960 GBP new, but it also includes a handful of Crisis Suits, 2 Hammerheads, 2 Devilfish, 2 or 3 dozen firewarriors an Ethereal, and all the drones that go with them. So you end up with another 300 GBP of completely useful Tau models. If you take those out of the bundle, you're left with a 600gbp resin model large enough to cause its own localized eclipse. Considering that anyone I know who's interested in this model is more interested in building and painting their own, I'd say you'd be lucky to get 500gbp for it my itself, with a final price somewhere around 400.

Now, you've already got an excellent start on a Farsight Enclave paintjob. If you had a pro paint job done on it with detailing and everything... I mean, make it as pretty as the table it would be blocking out of the pictures .... then there's good chance you could double the value and sell it for 800-900 gbp by itself as a collector's item. They are rare, after all. Do a good job on the paint. Take care of this baby. She'll treat your cadre well.

Here in the USA, selling it assembled + basecoated without all the extras, I wouldn't be interested in paying more than 800usd. You did a GREAT job on the assembly and restoration, but it would still bug me, like a car with a salvage title.