"Gamers don't care about quality modeling and painting" Topic

After having my ass kicked with my most recent auctions, I've come to the depressing conclusion that Gamers DNGA how much work and craftsmanship goes into what they purchase. It looks as though the Sweat Shops have won.

Did you remember to mention them in the TMP Marketplace?

I collect early Ancient figures. The price that Minifigs 'S' range figures go for is ridiculous – sometimes less that I pay for the metal I use for casting my own figures. And that can be for painted figures.

Auctions are absolutely the wrong way to sell welll-painted stuff. A good price needs a buyer with cash available and a strong interest in exactly what you're selling, and those simply don't turn up every week. Plenty of gamers are cheap, plenty more simply don't have the cash, and rather fewer are your target market.

Set an asking price you're comfortable with and be prepared to wait – an auction guarantees a quick sale, but leaves it entirely to chance whether the right buyer turns up in time. (Indeed it worsens your odds, since an auction needs *two* buyers willing to pay a good price, when a fixed price listing only needs one….)

As a PS, consider that your timing couldn't be much worse too – if your listings have just finished, you timed them to end just before January payday for most people – ie. financial rock bottom, given that if salaried they've not been paid since Christmas….

Plenty of gamers are cheap

I'm in that category. :)

Doms got it right. I'm quite agreeable to paying above board for quality work, IF you have what I'm looking for. I'm currently searching for a painter for my Infinity figs right now.

I am convinced there is no real money to be made on this hobby. If you are lucky enough to sell enough to pay for your habit, then you are a winner. We a cheap bunch of bastards to begin with, and buying toy soldiers is usually not in a household budget. I have made buildings that people would buy, but when I put a price on the time and materials on it I am looking at making $10 USD an hour.

try listing them on etsy instead.

A few turns back someone wrote, "He hopes to sell his figures for what he told is wife they cost".

Right now it is the first set of bills that reminds everyone that they overspent through the holiday season.

Why not try again mid March or April when the tax refund shows up?

Agree with Doms. Auctions are designed for fast and cheap. Quality mean you wait. I pay very well for good stuff. But I DO NOT BUY QUALITY ON IMPULSE.

Gamers like everyone else want a bargain the best they can get for the lowest price….

All that has been said about looking for deals and auctions is true. For me a further problem is that I want some consistency amongst my figures. If two poor or great paint jobs are not compatible I have little interest. Since the lots offered generally are not large enough for my needs I am not interested in them no matter how good the painting is.

Great painting? Yeah, I like it but I also am not willing to pay for sufficient figures supremely painted to flesh out a game. Modestly painted plain jane figures are fine for the table.

I'm not a collector, I'm a gamer, so I'm not going to pay much for "collector" quality. Once the units are placed on the table you don't notice the details of each figure.

It's not that I can't appreciate a very well painted figure, it's just that it's not worth the money when units tend to blend on the table.

I may flatter myself but I think I paint well and I've never had an issue with getting what I feel is a fair (not ultra premium but fair)price when I've sold painted fleets or units here or in person. As others have said, it won't always be fast but you set a price and if it is fair to both parties, it usually sells sooner or later.

Any transaction ideally should be a win for both parties.

I paint my figures and I put quite a bit of time into them, that being said, I never paint figures with the thought of selling them because most people won't pay what you think the figures are worth.
What I do is paint them and keep them and if down the road I decide to sell them I ask what I think to be fair, if someone is willing to pay the price then they get sold.
More often than not I let them go very reasonably because I would prefer to have them go to someone who is going to game with them rather than have them sit in a box.

Gamers want to buy low and sell high.
Selling stocks can be the same way. Ask your broker how that goes day by day.

Grimm

Personally, I don't want to buy figures that are already painted, unless it is for an entire unit in one go, maybe even an entire force/army in one go.

Basically I want to deploy a force/army that is visually unified, even down to and importantly the basing style.

I delude myself/think I can paint to a half decent wargaming level. So unless it is a centre piece figure I'm not interested.

I do however have a mate who cannot, and does not want to paint. He does buy painted figures. With mixed results.

For the record, I do care about quality. And I am not cheap. I am not in the market for prepainted figures mostly because (a) I am better at it than most painters and (b) the painting and preparation is part of my enjoyment.

I am a wargamer, not a gamer …

I do, however, collect classic figures from yesteryear (mostly flats, in my case, but I understand the interest others have in S ranges, Hinton Hunt etc.) … and I will pay what I have to to get what I want.

Phil
N.B. of course, there is a market: nobody buys cheap unless people are selling cheap.

First off, with historical miniatures you're never going to make enough money to compensate you for your time and effort in painting. I recently sold about 100 Victrix 28mm French that were painted to what I would consider a grade 8+ (not quite collector standards, but look great on the tabletop) for around $350. USD The cost of the figures, the time assembling them, then painting them, probably meant I lost several hundred dollars on the deal, but I wasn't too upset about it as gamers aren't going to pay more than that. I've sold sets of figures that I thought would go for $500 USD sell for half of that and I've sold some that I thought I would be lucky to get $100 USD for sell for $750 USD! With auctions you never know who is looking for what or how much they're willing to spend.

Make your minimum bid worth your actual minimum you are willing to sell them for. If you place a low minimum, and they sell at that price, no one is to blame but yourself. If they don't sell at your listed minimum, you will need to find a different market which is willing to pay your asking price -- or don't sell them. Taking a loss is your choice, due to your minimum asking price, not the market's. Cheers!

Maybe there are collector sites you could try, where the average asking price is fairer than what gamers are prepared to pay.

At the end of the day, yes, most wargamers I have met are cheap. Sorry guys. Secondly, if you were to accurately price painted figures, and I mean 'properly' painted figures, they would be horribly expensive due to the time required. I paint quite fast, but I calculated that at the prices being offered, I was working for about $2.50 USD an hour.

What dom and aegis said. Your best bets are either to paint on commission, or paint up a set of popular boardgame miniatures (eg. Zombicide, Cthulhu Wars), and set a price or trade. I know BenWax on the BGG Cthulhu Wars forums started commission on CW within a short time, so maybe he has some suggestions.

I don't expect to pay more than bare lead prices for second figures, and I couldn't give two hoots if they are painted or not as I repaint all of them myself anyway. I like painting figures.

On the odd occasion I sell stuff, I also price it at bare lead prices. If I sell it, I want it gone, not much about trying to work out the cost if my time.

I appreciate other people's circumstances and desires are different, but however time poor I am, I'd always prefer to paint my own stuff.