"Overpriced or not?" Topic

I've been painting up Calpe's for awhile now and am always interested in painted items on E-Bay.

This ones seems a bit steep to me at $47.00 USD a rider.

Comments?

auction

The auction says they are 'Perry'.

More than I'd pay for a unit, but they're painted and based to a very high level. I'd say they're worth the money he's asking.

They're worth whatever someone will pay for them. Far too rich for my blood, but to each his own …

The dichotomy of the figure painter- I would imagine a number can't sell for a reasonable hourly rate.

More than a few of the construction trades make $45 USD per hour these days. I would imagine that each of these required at least an hour of work each. Throw in the cost of the figures and all the equipment/supplies cost and these are a bargain.

They are nicely painted. If you can paint well your "regulars" will buy up everything you can paint.

Oddly enough the thing I admire most is the basing, with its flowers! Certainly well painted, but my tired eyes can't see anything on the pictures to make me think it is an exceptional job.

Which is probably why I am entirely content to stick to 'wargames standard' painting these days: wheres the point in paying top dollar for a top paint job if you can't see the thing to appreciate it!

I you take away the price of the figures it works out at about 50 hours if you where being payed UKs minimum national wage.

The proof of the pudding will be if they are sold.

nice enough, forget hourly rates, unfortunately its meaningless, the vast majority of wargamers are as tight as , as… well, lets just say they don't generally have much conception of time versus reward.
These are decent figures, well painted.
If they were half the advertised price I'd say that was about the going rate, good luck to the guy if he can get more.
its got nothing to do with what they are worth, its about what someone will pay.

I have seen better painted (or of similar quality) figures on eBay for half this price (UK based painters at that).

Must say I thought these are very high quality work. They are bound to be pricey, but I wonder where is the market?

What I mean is even the wealthiest wargamer might blanch at this expense and think twice about transporting and using them.

For the collector, surely half the fun is creating them yourself. "All my own work" works for me.

If these are done on a commercial basis, the price seems reasonable to me, but not for me, if you know what I mean

Ouch!!!

Very nice work, good luck to him.

Be honest. We can all flog French Imperial Guard Lancers in full dress. To show Prussians (nice blokes, bit late getting there, covered in mud and knackered, frightfully dull outfits, never take prisoners) to this standard……much respect

So……I used to be able to paint a 28mm unit of 12 figures to a similar standard in a week…I timed myself from removing the flash to the final touch up of varnish and it took me pretty much 40 hours.I would imagine this chap took a similar amount of time and so in that respect the price he is charging is pretty much fair at around minimum wage in the UK.

But as many of you have pointed out….the market determines what is a "fair" price

Anyway, good luck to him. Let us hope there is a gamer out there who appreciates the work!

12 hours to go and still no bids…..seems eBayers aren't interested at that price at the moment. Any different time….who knows.

A few painters can command the price the seller is hoping to achieve here, Sascha Herm, Artmaster, Paul Armer to name a few..

These are painted to a very good standard and well above what could ever be achieved by the majority, but not to the standard of those painters mentioned.

Having had an interest in the painted figure market as a buyer and seller for over a decade, I see their fair market value at around the 180 to 200 GBPs mark.

I agree he should have painted Imperial Guard Lancers – it might be easier to find a buyer for those – otherwise I agree with I see lead people, for that amount of work – very reasonably priced.

The listing ended and he re-listed it at the same price.
I also agree with "I see lead people." and "Von W."

There are some amazing painters who can ask for this kind of price and Imperial Guard Lancers would sell faster.

Like with every collectors item:it is worth what the fool is willing to pay for it.Good luck to the seller,nice job by the way.

As others have mentioned he may have to come off of that price point to move those…

A French Imperial Guard Unit, Scots Greys, or other famous unit and he can probably get the desired amount. At that point they are display models as much as wargaming units…

But it is a very hard sell to ask a premium price for an ordinary unit in what is a very limited niche market.

I believe the no-bid auction is his wake up call to this reality…

Not trying to be mean or to denigrate him. The painting is very nice! However, for the same amount of time, money, and effort he expended he could and should have auctioned a much more marketable unit if he wants to sell it at that price point.

Frank

Another angle to look at is the cost per hour. For arguments sake lets just say it took 4 hours to paint which IMO is still a bit tight for me anyway . That works out at $11.75 USD per hour. Sounds reasonable to me .

Probably why some of these painting companies subcontract their work out to far flung places on the planet to lower their labour costs and maximise profit . I mean maximise profit very loosely here as it will probably just be enough to make it worth while doing.

Maybe his point isn't to sell them. Maybe he considers this advertising…

Seems fair to me – what would be a market rate for someone spending his time painting these style of figures then? I doubt he could do them each in an hour, and so £30.00 GBP as an "hourly rate" does not seem to scary.

I have nothing but respect for folk who paint figures to this standard commercially….because many many hours of work have gone into this….for a unit that is indeed less than "mainstream"…(as I explained above)……and at the end of all that work….you part with them!

Now if this was for rates that would fund a holiday in Tuscany, OK. But, as we have heard, we are talking about minimum wage (or the sweat shops we do hear about in the Far East).

I have spent hours each night watching my Gendarmes d'Elite slowly coming together. A few tips from Archiduque's book has transformed them. But, when they are done, eventually, they are mine, on a shelf, just to gaze at.

I still wonder where the market is. Too much for most wargamers and collectors will surely want to do themselves….but good luck to him!

Just maybe he is a retired guy who wants to supplement his pension and therefore need not be fast sellers as he isn't desperate for the cash .

It is something I am thinking of doing in around 8 years time when I retire just to "pay" for the hobby so to speak .