Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Jan 28, 2005 11:26:04 GMT 12
More people need to be painting and selling on trademe!. Got to create a market for and appreciation of more finely painted figures. I'd love to be able to actually make the hobby pay for itself by selling the odd mini or two for every few I buy. But at the moment the general feeling seems to be that a painted mini is second hand and therefore not worth as much as a new one.. or at the best equivalent price  I check cool mini or not on a regular basis and well painted minis in the states get decent prices on ebay. It would be terrific to be able to sell to the NZ market for a fair price |
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Post by Aaron on Jan 28, 2005 11:32:59 GMT 12
I've heard rumours that well painted armies can fetch top dollar overseas but I think the game in NZ is more dominated by young players who normally dont have the funds to buy the really nice mini's. having said that I still prefer to get my hands on a mint clean miniature. Perhaps part of the problem is that so many of the models for sale are not of a high quality (or even decent) so that people tend to go for the safety of an unpainted model. Plus its hard if you do play the game to pick up models painted by others that fits into your army scheme. Dunno, maybe were just cheap |
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Post by PitYak Studios on Jan 28, 2005 11:41:49 GMT 12
A subject very dear to my heart.
I have essentially given up selling painted minis on TradeMe for that reason. A typical listing will say something like "... but the paint can be easily be removed". Anyone does that to one of mine I'm gonna come round and take it back!
I have seen some figures for sale on there that looked truly stunning, selling for a couple of dollars each. (There were some LOTR Orks recently that put my work to shame!)
To be fair to the buyer though, it is often very difficult judge the quality of a pic from a photo, which is why I used to post a link to a better pic in the description.
I'll be the first to admit I'm not the quickest painter in the world, but I do a good job, and have never had a complaint. I'd like to be able to charge a reasonable hourly rate for my time, but at the same time want to offer value to my customers.
There has to be a balance I feel, value for the customer, and apprecaition for the painter. It takes a long time to paint a mini to a high standard, not something anyone does in an hour. People seem to forget how much it costs to hire any sort of tradesman; imagine a plumber spending a whole week at your house, then going "oh, just give me $20".
Another problem of course is the tiny fanbase we have here; it's pretty hard to generate much interest when there's not many people around!
Ironically, I have had more success selling to people outside of the hobby - they seem to appreciate the work a lot more.
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Jan 28, 2005 11:46:49 GMT 12
I hear ya there... how many auctions have I seen titled ****PRO PAINTED MINI**** and they've provided one photo taken with the web cam of a tiny mini in the middle of a large expanse of carpet. You cant even take the photo and blow it up for a clearer look. Some kid from school who paid a dollar each for you to paint their army doesn't make you a professional! So it can be very hard to know what kind of quality you are buying. I know every painted mini I've bought off trademe has immediately gone into the acetone jar after unpacking for stripping.
But is there a market here for well painted stuff, I mean where you have decent photos from many angles that clearly show the detail and colours accurately. Is there a market for it here do you think? or is there the potential to create a market for it? Or should I just look to the overseas market
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Post by PitYak Studios on Jan 28, 2005 11:58:25 GMT 12
I would certainly hope there is a market, but for showcase quality figures it may be collectors and others rather than gamers we should be looking at; you're not gonna pay top dollar for 200+ figures (or if you are, give me a call ;D).
Like I said above, those outside the hobby often have a better understanding of the value, and I am always keen to explore this angle. Minis of different genres, related to subjects the general public are into. I don't know, maybe sports people or something like that?
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Jan 28, 2005 12:00:55 GMT 12
Very true. Perhaps they'd sell better on the collectables listing on trademe. I might try some lotr figures there as there is already a healthy lotr collectables market
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Post by PitYak Studios on Jan 28, 2005 12:33:14 GMT 12
That's a really good idea, stamp LOTR on something and someone will buy it.
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MongrelFish
Scalpel supremo
Bow before the might of Chaos
Posts: 384
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Post by MongrelFish on Jan 28, 2005 16:00:18 GMT 12
Speakin of selling minis on TradeMe, did you hear the news? As of, like, April 1st or something, if you sell more than 6 things per year "second hand", including at garage sales, TradeMe, etc, then you need a second hand dealers licence? They're "only" $500 a year, and if you don't have one and sell stuff you're liable for a $20,000 fine? How stupid is that??
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Fatrix
Ambitious Upstart
Posts: 108
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Post by Fatrix on Jan 28, 2005 18:38:31 GMT 12
thats stupid!!  how do you think TM are gonna work around this? |
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Abaddon
Putty pusher
Bringer of Chaos
Posts: 126
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Post by Abaddon on Jan 28, 2005 18:58:42 GMT 12
what'd be funny, if like some old lady who had no clue how exactly trademe works sells 6 antique pots seperately and she has these big tank gorilla looking dudes turn up at her door and pummel her cause she dont pay up lol that'd be so cool, yeah senseless voilence that doesnt envolve me is so funny
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Jan 28, 2005 21:35:21 GMT 12
are you sure about this? it doesn't really quite sound right to me. I mean people have garage sales, sell stuff to cash converters sell to their mates etc all the time. The art of selling and buying second hand is a kiwi institution!
6 items sounds way out of proportion.. *thinks about the 30+ magazines she sold recently for $2 each*
um yeah that would kind of kill the whole great kiwi saturday morning garage sale hunt
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Post by PitYak Studios on Jan 28, 2005 21:46:50 GMT 12
TradeMe sent everyone a mail about this recently
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Jan 29, 2005 7:04:20 GMT 12
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Post by Aaron on Jan 29, 2005 10:55:40 GMT 12
I will be very interested to see how this auction goes www.trademe.co.nz/Toys-models/War-games/Warhammer/auction-21760670.htmIt looks pretty stunning to me, a new model would set you back about $75, this is an old edition (which actually looks better than the new edition I think) Id be suprised if it gets to $50. I dont think I could part with a piece like that once I'd painted it. |
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Fatrix
Ambitious Upstart
Posts: 108
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Post by Fatrix on Jan 29, 2005 11:04:28 GMT 12
That is a very very well painted piece in my opinion. It's incredibly sad that these sorts of models don't fetch high prices.
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I check cool mini or not on a regular basis and well painted minis in the states get decent prices on ebay. It would be terrific to be able to sell to the NZ market for a fair price
how do you think TM are gonna work around this?
