Selling painted or converted miniatures. I spent an absolutly awful day toying around with architects and excel today, and it dawned on me that I should be painting in the comfort of my own home, and then selling the minis. So Im just looking for really any info on the subject, or is it just as simple as... put it on CMON, take pics, paint nice, Ebay it, or have a website?
On Commisions and Auctions
- Thread starter J2FcM
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Dragon Forge Design
New member
...and join the ranks of thousands also trying to scratch a living painting figures..so unless your REALLY really good and command top dollar for your work and can paint REALLY really fast.. Id suggest you keep the day job and paint for the enjoyment of the hobby and if you feel like it sell the occasional piece for a little extra pocket money..
On the other hand if your determined that painting figures for a income is in your destiny.. well yes everything you mentioned is a good start.
darkartminiatures
New member
I\'m with Jeff on this one. Painting minis for a living is very hard work and its a job that is not well paid compared to other jobs. I would consider myself very lucky in terms of being able to pay my bills and have a little cash left over. Why do it i hear folk ask...well i love being self employed and having a 8 to 5 job with a boss over me would really suck. So i do it because I\'m happy with my job and it also allows to develop other ideas that will hopefully pay off somewhere in the future. There are a few however that can make an okay living out of it but like Jeff says, there are thousands of us 
Haven\'t been put off?
Then painting might be for you. Get yourself a free website, sell stuff on ebay and refer people to your site and with either abit of luck or pure talent you will get regular customers.
Sculpting on the other hand pays alot more if your very good. (something i need to work on)
Haven\'t been put off?
Then painting might be for you. Get yourself a free website, sell stuff on ebay and refer people to your site and with either abit of luck or pure talent you will get regular customers.
Sculpting on the other hand pays alot more if your very good. (something i need to work on)
Well, I was not thinking about it full time... I mean maybe if I became pyschotically quick...
But, I was thinking more along the lines of doing 2-4 mini\'s a week. Trying to spend less than 12 hours per mini, and then dividing the time by the cash, hopefully make 12+ bucks an hour...
I figure the time spent commuting + the wasted hour break (for a 9 hour day) is essentially like 2 wasted hours per day (Unless you have long commute). So the stay at home thing would be grand. In addition you may become a stupendous painter.
Finally, given I would intend at this point to paint only a few mini\'s a week, I was thinking just auctioning them... So probably not even commision, or that would come later. I feel like people really love SENMM and OSL so obviously, speed painting that stuff would help make big bucks... and in terms of mini popularity, I assume the latest and greatest from GW would be it?
But, I was thinking more along the lines of doing 2-4 mini\'s a week. Trying to spend less than 12 hours per mini, and then dividing the time by the cash, hopefully make 12+ bucks an hour...
I figure the time spent commuting + the wasted hour break (for a 9 hour day) is essentially like 2 wasted hours per day (Unless you have long commute). So the stay at home thing would be grand. In addition you may become a stupendous painter.
Finally, given I would intend at this point to paint only a few mini\'s a week, I was thinking just auctioning them... So probably not even commision, or that would come later. I feel like people really love SENMM and OSL so obviously, speed painting that stuff would help make big bucks... and in terms of mini popularity, I assume the latest and greatest from GW would be it?
Gilvan Blight
New member
12 hours a mini at 12 bucks and hour is $144 a mini. Do a quick search on ebay and see how many minis sell for that price.
Then realize you have to take your costs out of that. You\'ve got the cost of the minis, the cost of paints, brushes, etc. You\'ve also got the eBay fees, the new website, the domain name to go with that website, probably 10 other things that don\'t come to mind right now.
$12+ an hour I think is unrealistic for mini painting.
Even if you look at some of the minis that sell for more then that, the artist usually claim they take much longer then 12 hours.
Then realize you have to take your costs out of that. You\'ve got the cost of the minis, the cost of paints, brushes, etc. You\'ve also got the eBay fees, the new website, the domain name to go with that website, probably 10 other things that don\'t come to mind right now.
$12+ an hour I think is unrealistic for mini painting.
Even if you look at some of the minis that sell for more then that, the artist usually claim they take much longer then 12 hours.
Yeah mini painting is probably more like minimum wage for most artists. Unless you\'re like multiple Slayer Sword kinda good you\'re not gonna make a huge amount of money on each figure, and if you are that good then you\'re taking a lot of time so it balances out.
There\'s a few painters out there who can achieve good results in a few hours, but they\'re few and far between.
Add to all this the fact that some minis will for no good reason sell for half what they\'re worth, and others can rocket up to prices without being amazing minis. The market is pretty volatile in that regard unless you have a fairly predictable set of regulars who want your stuff.
I\'ll sell a few minis once in a while when I need the cash, and take the odd commission for the same reason, but basically the point of it all is to pay for the hobby purchases I make for my own collection. If you can sell a figure for $100 once in a while then you can go out and buy some cool stuff for yourself.
There\'s a few painters out there who can achieve good results in a few hours, but they\'re few and far between.
Add to all this the fact that some minis will for no good reason sell for half what they\'re worth, and others can rocket up to prices without being amazing minis. The market is pretty volatile in that regard unless you have a fairly predictable set of regulars who want your stuff.
I\'ll sell a few minis once in a while when I need the cash, and take the odd commission for the same reason, but basically the point of it all is to pay for the hobby purchases I make for my own collection. If you can sell a figure for $100 once in a while then you can go out and buy some cool stuff for yourself.
*Caution*
There\'s always the risk it can kill your enjoyment of the hobby as well.
The few occasions where I\'ve done commissioned stuff I hated having the deadline looming over me like the Sword of Damocles and it didn\'t make for a very enjoyable experience.
I\'d much rather paint what I want when I want... but then again, I\'m a lazy dumbass...
There\'s always the risk it can kill your enjoyment of the hobby as well.
The few occasions where I\'ve done commissioned stuff I hated having the deadline looming over me like the Sword of Damocles and it didn\'t make for a very enjoyable experience.
I\'d much rather paint what I want when I want... but then again, I\'m a lazy dumbass...
I\'ll be blunt............forget it!
The market for Ebay has been flooded by high quality paintwork on auction without reserved price, which end up going for a fraction of what it\'s worth. You just have to look back to the low price Fluffy\'s Artemis went for. Far too low for that level of quailty.
The market for Ebay has been flooded by high quality paintwork on auction without reserved price, which end up going for a fraction of what it\'s worth. You just have to look back to the low price Fluffy\'s Artemis went for. Far too low for that level of quailty.
Yeah, the Ebay thing seems quite frustrating in the end, just watch the auctions ending today, you\'ll see that a lot of finely painted minis go for less than the metal is worth.
There are few painters that can claim to have a good Ebay market, and there not gonna leave their spot so easily ( I mean, collectors will go see their stuff and buy,gamer kids looking for a cheap painted army will buy yours with their pocket money.), I am pretty sure these giys grabbed the opportunity when it showed and didn\'t plan to make money with it, they painted, got a name, had demand, and sold.
I would love to make a living with that too, but I am held off by 3 things: The market is small, there are too many painters and I can\'t compete. So a good selling mini would be a luck, and you don\'t make a living ( Or a working sideline for that matter.) out of luck.
On the other hand, commisions always seemed like a good I dea, but then again, good paying commision is not that frequent and the folks who want to invest more then 100$ on a single characters will prolly go see the big name, which leaves you with the 100$ warband, a lot less interesting.
I am lucky enough to know a bunch of gamers that don\'t paint, and have some extra money, so I can\'t get short on work; I am willing to share that opportunity, but be aware that I make about 1$/hour, as of now.
Heyyy, gotta start somewhere
There are few painters that can claim to have a good Ebay market, and there not gonna leave their spot so easily ( I mean, collectors will go see their stuff and buy,gamer kids looking for a cheap painted army will buy yours with their pocket money.), I am pretty sure these giys grabbed the opportunity when it showed and didn\'t plan to make money with it, they painted, got a name, had demand, and sold.
I would love to make a living with that too, but I am held off by 3 things: The market is small, there are too many painters and I can\'t compete. So a good selling mini would be a luck, and you don\'t make a living ( Or a working sideline for that matter.) out of luck.
On the other hand, commisions always seemed like a good I dea, but then again, good paying commision is not that frequent and the folks who want to invest more then 100$ on a single characters will prolly go see the big name, which leaves you with the 100$ warband, a lot less interesting.
I am lucky enough to know a bunch of gamers that don\'t paint, and have some extra money, so I can\'t get short on work; I am willing to share that opportunity, but be aware that I make about 1$/hour, as of now.
Heyyy, gotta start somewhere
Dragon Forge Design
New member
yup the fact that no one really bids anymore they just watch and snip in the last 30 minutes hoping to steal the miniature at a bargin price plus all the young talent out there especiall in eastern europe where good paying jobs are hard to find and one can do well painting miniatures trying to compete in that bunch is crazy.
My suggestions to you is this, Set up a proper .com or .co.uk website (if your in the UK) and start posting your work there and to CMON. Impress the collectors. Enter EVERY online painting constest you can find and even things like Games Workshop\'s Golden Demons.. Win and make a name for yourself. Get the collectors attention. Post your work on your site that you wan\'t to sell with the price you feel is fair and see if people bite. Also set up a structured commission price guideline for commissions.
If your good and provide a quality service people will come to you to buy and to commission work. At the point you work becomes desired then post a piece to eBay for the frenzy of collectors.
But I agree eBays becoming really expensive, with listing and selling fees and PayPal fees, a $100.00 final sale figure your going to loose about $10.00 or 10% in fees.
This topic over at the Reaper forum is quite helpful:
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19590&st=30
I do a lot of commission work, mostly whole army at a time. It\'s tedious, but brings in a few hundred bucks a month. When I paint for eBay, it\'s partially for the cash and partially for the personal satisfaction. I like to send my little \'children\' out to their new homes. Since I paint mostly gaming pieces, it\'s cool to think that someone in California is fielding a Space Marine I painted, while someone in Italy is fielding a Tau I did, and meanwhile someone in Colorado is fielding some warjacks by me. My hope is to one day get a photo from a customer showing the mini I painted on the tabletop.
One nice thing about eBay is the visibility. I have gotten more unsolicited commission work on the merits of my eBay auctions than profits from the auction themselves.
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19590&st=30
I do a lot of commission work, mostly whole army at a time. It\'s tedious, but brings in a few hundred bucks a month. When I paint for eBay, it\'s partially for the cash and partially for the personal satisfaction. I like to send my little \'children\' out to their new homes. Since I paint mostly gaming pieces, it\'s cool to think that someone in California is fielding a Space Marine I painted, while someone in Italy is fielding a Tau I did, and meanwhile someone in Colorado is fielding some warjacks by me. My hope is to one day get a photo from a customer showing the mini I painted on the tabletop.
One nice thing about eBay is the visibility. I have gotten more unsolicited commission work on the merits of my eBay auctions than profits from the auction themselves.
Dragon Forge Design
New member
You will see them appear on the CMON home page and in the forums plus anouther good source is the miniatures page http://theminiaturespage.com/
I know Wyrd miniatures is getting ready to start another iron painter competition..that would be good for exposure.
how much
ok so on average how much does the average person make off of this. i saw some guy from a place called blue table paitning quoting he made somewhere around 70-80,000 a year. this is with a crew of people as well. what about that? i am seriously thinking of doing the painting for a living but plan to start by selling miniature things online first and also offering comics and rolepalyuing then some small painting services when i have the time, and then when i have been established in a few years actually opening up a store in my town where there is only one store and its really crappy. no minis just a few comics and tons of nascar that does not sell.
ok so on average how much does the average person make off of this. i saw some guy from a place called blue table paitning quoting he made somewhere around 70-80,000 a year. this is with a crew of people as well. what about that? i am seriously thinking of doing the painting for a living but plan to start by selling miniature things online first and also offering comics and rolepalyuing then some small painting services when i have the time, and then when i have been established in a few years actually opening up a store in my town where there is only one store and its really crappy. no minis just a few comics and tons of nascar that does not sell.
Dragon Forge Design
New member
Well if he made that with 1-2 people..thats ok money..if he made that with 5-6 people.. then thats 12-15,000 per person a year. Not what Id call a good living per person.
No ones saying you can\'t make money at it.. what were all saying is its really HARD work.
No ones saying you can\'t make money at it.. what were all saying is its really HARD work.
Maybe a few years back, when the mini selling stuff was getting big, it was possible to make money if your were smart, but the new spread, and since money can be made, thousands of people jumped on the pie to get a slice... and now the pie is gone...
This is a common economic trend, and internet only speeds it up.
On the other hand, your very \'poetic\' plan of making a living might just work, if you can diversify and get a very low rent, it\'s possible, and living of your interest is always worth pursuing, but it surely won\'t be easy...
This is a common economic trend, and internet only speeds it up.
On the other hand, your very \'poetic\' plan of making a living might just work, if you can diversify and get a very low rent, it\'s possible, and living of your interest is always worth pursuing, but it surely won\'t be easy...
That painting group you mentioned does relatively low end commission work on a MASSIVE scale, I\'m talking several armies a month. Couple hundred bucks profit per army, multiple armies per month, and you\'re looking at tens of thousands of bucks a year for the group of people to paint minis.
I think a lot of their stuff in the past has looked \"dipped\" though, I think they denied it but it had that \"everything got a brown wash\" look to it. By my impressions after checking out their page once it seemed like they are built for speed above all else.
I think a lot of their stuff in the past has looked \"dipped\" though, I think they denied it but it had that \"everything got a brown wash\" look to it. By my impressions after checking out their page once it seemed like they are built for speed above all else.
