Miniature Economics

[EBITDAR]

I am curious / puzzled about the economics of miniature painting. -I'm tempted to call this micro economics, but that would be wrong.
I see lots of truly great mini's on this site. Some number of them are for sale. I haven't seen a lot of bidding for them. Do they ever sell?
I also see some of the great painters take commissions. What's a reasonable amount to pay for a work of art? My sense is that the range of numbers is all modest compared to the work and the quality, but I'm an old value investor and it goes against my nature to overpay. What ever that means in the art world.

I'm never going to be near as good as the elite of this site, but having a few great pieces seems like it would be inspirational and a lot of fun. Besides, I've all ready covered the walls of my house with paintings.

Insight, Advice and random thoughts welcome

EBITDAR

 

[Yuggoth]

Remember that this is a very small and highly subjective market which means you will never see something like stable, pedictable prices. If something strikes the fancy of a few people who just got their paycheckes, the bidding can climb quite high, while on other days you can grab something beautiful for a price that I assume the painer grinds their teeth in frustration about. As of lately I have seen more and more sellers use the reserve function on ebay because of this.

Some hints from my personal expirience:
1. I think GW-figures sell higher than others because of the sheer number of players / collectors.
2. Some top-painters sell on ebay (James Wappel for example) regularly, but they don`t allways paint the ebay-pieces to the best of their abilities.
3. If (like me) you are mainly interested in figures that score 7,5+ on here, you will seldom find pieces that end below 60$ regardless of manufacturer. Use the seach function to comb the active autions regularly and you will probably find something fancy and affordable.
4. If you want something from one of the top artists from this site (Derwish, Crackpot, Yellow one), be prepared to spent 250$+ for a single fig. But just contact them and ask for commission prices. Asking is free ;-)
5. If you consider how time consuming some pieces can be, I doubt that anyone ever got ritch from miniature painting.

Hope that helps

 

[Dragonsreach]

I am curious / puzzled about the economics of miniature painting. -I'm tempted to call this micro economics, but that would be wrong.
I see lots of truly great mini's on this site. Some number of them are for sale. I haven't seen a lot of bidding for them. Do they ever sell?
Oh yes, BUT it sometimes depends on the seller. People like Jen Haley, Marika Reimer can get good money for their work
I also see some of the great painters take commissions. What's a reasonable amount to pay for a work of art?
My sense is that the range of numbers is all modest compared to the work and the quality, but I'm an old value investor and it goes against my nature to overpay. What ever that means in the art world.
Ok I don't want to sound or come across as being nasty, but would you scrimp on someone doing plumbing work, or car repairs...then the same should apply to painters doing a professional job.
Regretfully I know of one collector who only wanted to pay £20 for a figure which had taken some sixty hours work and was of high level competition standard.


I'm never going to be near as good as the elite of this site, but having a few great pieces seems like it would be inspirational and a lot of fun. Besides, I've all ready covered the walls of my house with paintings.

Insight, Advice and random thoughts welcome

EBITDAR

Just a few thoughts.

 

[SkelettetS]

to make a bigger buck its better to learn to paint fast, and to paint armies. to quote a german friend, "why should i paint a display mini in five days and earn 200 euro, when i can paint an army in the same amount of time and earn 2000 euro...".

 

[gohkm]

Yeah, I think Skelette is right. If you want to play the miniatures commissionning game, then sale by volume is arguably the best way to go.

Maybe I should fly to China and start a painting studio there.

 

[EBITDAR]

I don't want an army. Just a few minions! Maybe a shark with lasers......

 

[Bailey03]

Ebay just doesn't seem like the ideal place to sell top level work. The price range is just too high for the impulse shopper. Maybe if you did some high standard table top work and put that on there the price might get some interest, especially if it's GW (due to the large number of players). But it doesn't seem like the right place to sell display level. I've seen the same high quality figure listed on there again and again with no one bidding. I've also seen some pretty poor quality work asking outrageous prices.

Seems like if you want to buy a display figure the best option is to find some artist you like and contact them directly. Ask just one and it's hard to judge if the price is fair. But, if you talk to a couple you should start to get an idea of what a reasonable price range should be. While you could pick a figure you want painted and commission someone to do it, you can also see if the artists have already completed figures for sale. Although I can't speak for anyone else, I would charge less for a figure I'd already painted than for a new commission piece. I look at the stuff I've already done as figures I painted for fun, whereas a commission figure seems more like work (someone else picks the project and tells you how they want it done) so I'm going to ask more for my time.

And as Skel said, if you really want to make money painting then learn to paint quickly and paint armies.