Ebay Tips?

[Snapshot_Superhero]

Hey there ladies and gents! Hope all is well in your part of the world.

In connection with my other thread regarding commission painting, I've gathered that a good way to get started in the field is to post some painted minis on ebay with the fact that you do commission painting in the description. Well, I aim to do that. This will accomplish four things for me:

1.) Advertise my services.
2.) Get rid of a large backlog of minis I've had laying around I will never actually play with.
3.) Practice my painting skills regularly.
4.) Hopefully make a little cash doing it.

So, that brings me to the following conundrum... I have an Assault on Black Reach set that I'm doing nothing with so I figured, "Hey, lets have a go at painting some orks to sell!" But I'm not sure at what lot size to list them on Ebay. I've seen people sell as low as 10 ork boys, or just try to get rid of the entire ork side.

In your experience, what do you advise as the best way to list them all? Split them up, or sell as one lot?

Thanks for your help!

 

[kathrynloch]

If you go to Ebay and in the advanced search look for closed listings of search terms like Warhammer Orc. You will be able to see the auctions that closed and what they sold or didn't sell for.

 

[lono]

Please don't think I'm being overly harsh in my response here, because it's meant to encourage you rather than just be snide. I think you need to start discovering things for yourself rather than asking so much. You can easilly gague these things to a good degree, from looking at other auctions and seeing market trends and interest. If you don't start thinking for yourself about this stuff and developing the skills, it will really hurt you in the long run. You'll pick up so much by doing, rather than asking. You may make a few mistakes, but as long as you check other auctions, you are never going to manage to screw up to a serious degree, so I think you need to just throw yourself in the Ebay mix and see how it goes. If you do make mistakes you'll probably find that you learn more from them too.

Just go at it and get your hands dirty in the Ebay mix.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

If you want to make money through ebay then you need to paint the latest gw releases as soon as they are available.
It's the biggest slice of pie, but you have to fast in getting the models and then getting them painted and on ebay.

 

[Snapshot_Superhero]

Please don't think I'm being overly harsh in my response here, because it's meant to encourage you rather than just be snide. I think you need to start discovering things for yourself rather than asking so much. You can easilly gague these things to a good degree, from looking at other auctions and seeing market trends and interest. If you don't start thinking for yourself about this stuff and developing the skills, it will really hurt you in the long run. You'll pick up so much by doing, rather than asking. You may make a few mistakes, but as long as you check other auctions, you are never going to manage to screw up to a serious degree, so I think you need to just throw yourself in the Ebay mix and see how it goes. If you do make mistakes you'll probably find that you learn more from them too.

Just go at it and get your hands dirty in the Ebay mix.

Not harsh at all. After posting, I kinda figured I'd get a bit of "just go do it" responses, lol. I'm the type of person that likes to plan obsessively, to a fault I suppose. But I really appreciate the welcoming attitude of those on this forum. I will admit, it is extremely intimidating seeing the work posted on this site and then I guess "having the audacity" to think that I could ever commission paint myself.

It's nice to know that you guys aren't a bunch of painting gods looking down at us plebians from on high with an air of apathy.

 

[Chern Ann]

Just like to add that lono's observation matches mine. It's better to be quick than be too concerned about pushing the best paintjob possible. e.g. getting a relative "B" will take 5 hours, pushing it to an "A" will take another 5 maybe, and to get A++ show level may take another 20 hours of planning and prep. You will generally make more money selling two "B"s if you can get them out quickly rather than one "A".

 

[Dragonsreach]

It's nice to know that you guys aren't a bunch of painting gods looking down at us plebians from on high with an air of apathy.

Who told you that?
They're wrong, we don't use apathy, just contempt.

Lono's advise is pretty good about seeking out for yourself as that way you can see the painting standards that sell reasonably well and their expected income generation.
By finding that level and seeing if its within your capability you'll be able to work towards a stock target.
BUT don't let that be your be all and end all, we sardonic and cynical gits on here know that a really well worked and painted mini can hit (sometimes) a good payback for the investment of time and effort.