Pro Painter...... ?

[ilynx2k4]

Hi all,

Ive decided to join the bandwagon and attempt to paint-to-sell on eBay and the like. Ive notcied though that there are an increasing number of miniatures that are appearing with \"pro Painted\" in the heading (am I the only one who thinks this?). I suppose really im looking for the definition of a \"pro painter\".

Is it a definition of the quality of the painting on the miniature? Or should the term be more exclusively used for people who are full time miniature atrists?

Hope your new years are all going well so far!

 

[Gin1906]

Ilynx,
First of all welcome to the forums!
Next go to the top of the main page for the forums, click search, type in pro painted, there have been several threads in regards to pro painted, all interesting reading!

In a nut shell, pro painted on ebay equells horrible and most painters who make lots of money selling on ebay stay as far away for the \"Pro Painter\" name as possible.

So go have a read, then check back in and let us know what ya think

Gin

 

[EricJ]

Welcome to the forums!

I think the definition of a pro painter is someone who figures out how to correctly type it into the ebay field. ie. there is no offical definition and is overused and abused.

Good luck on your endevors,

-Eric

 

[Propaintjob]

On the other hand... lol

 

[Frustrated Father]

Welcome to the forums.

I get a real tickle over seeing \'pro paintjobs\' on ebay - mostly they aren\'t, but you do come across some folks that just have some great stuff on there.

Me, I plan on selling some of my stuff off one day just to make room for the next load of miniatures (don\'t play games or anything) but, that being said, I would put a list of keywords at the bottom of your listing, one of them being \'pro paintjob\' just so the nuts on ebay can find it as I know some people can be very narrow-minded in their searches.

Kills me on some of this stuff that goes for big $$$ and is painted to a quality of 5.3 score on CMON and then stuff that is an easy 8+ goes for little over the price of the miniature itself.

 

[tidoco2222]

Once again welcome to the forums.

People often list their minis on e-bay as pro painted I think as this will almost guarantee they get more hits at selling their item.
More hits in theory will equal more interest and the more liklyhood of a sale.
My advice try a different approach as most people who have some skill at painting just use these pretenders as something to laugh at.
The problem comes when the genuine pro painters sell using that prefix as they unfairly get tarred with the same brush.

 

[supervike]

pro-painted...

I agree it is an overused and abused term, but if one SELLS a painted item for money, don\'t they, by definition, become a PRO-PAINTER? Being a PRO at something doesn\'t necesarily mean you are an expert at it. So, other than it makes it harder to seperate the wheat from the chaff, I really don\'t have a problem with it.

Ultimately it is up to the buyer to decide.
I always have thought that something is worth what someone else is willing to pay. If that means a 5.3 score can garner 300 bucks, then more power to them.

I think the \'buying\' public is a bit more saavy than to just be fooled by a headline meant to grab their attention.

Plus, the sellers that \'abuse\' the pro-painted title probably won\'t stay in business for long.

Caveat Emptor (which I learned from the Brady Bunch!)

 

[Joshua]

i would rather sell my ebay stuff for only half the price than claiming im a \"pro painter\" that i\'m not.
Only very few deserve that lable. The problem is the \"pro\" itself, its beeing abused not only in the painting buisness. But as gin mentioned, most good painters stay away from the \"pro painted\" as far as possible since it gives you most likely 5.0 rated hits on ebay.
But if you consider yourself as a \"pro\" its your choise to use that fungous title

heres a nice definition i found:
\"Professionals normally have a code of ethics, take the trouble to keep their knowledge and expertise up-to-date and are paid to enable them to devote their time to using and improving their skills.\"

 

[Chrispy]

Yeah, pro painted means anyhing but, usually. But by definition, professional is anything done for money and amatuer is done because you like it alot... Me, I\'m a Professional Amatuer..

I have some advice for anyone starting to paint figs on eBay:
- Always charge at least the mini\'s retail price. This will ensure you can at least get another miniature and paint it for money.
- Gallery. You can always put your image up on CMON and use the pic on eBay, or from your own website but people like seeing the little thumbnail.
- When you get a a following, insert your name somehow into the title. Matt Verzani does this all the time, so you can type \"vp\" for Verzani Productions and you\'ll get all of his stuff.
- Also charge 70% of what you reasonably want. Obviously, people have to bid, so you could get upwards of 100% of what you wanted.
- There are also several figures that everyone just HAS to have, and painting and selling them is a good way to do them without keeping them and sitting around. I would\'ve never painted Nightbringer if it wasn\'t for the fact it\'s a good seller.

Also remember your craftsmenship is important, I\'d spring for gl glue because it holds better so things won\'t get shattered in the mail!

Hope this helps!

 

[Legacy Account]

Being a \'Professional\' implies that you make a living out of what you do. I sell occasional books on Ebay, but I\'m not a book dealer!

It\'s a cretinous expression that has been made so by it\'s blanket use. Most of the F-Wits who use it should be prosecuted under the trade descriptions act!!

How about an honest appraisal of their work?

\'Mundanely painted\'
\'Relative beginner\'
\'Better than tabletop quality - just\'
\'Painted to the same standard as the other 10 I painted today\'

or more honestly in most cases:

\'Ready for stripping\'

:bouncy::moon::bouncy:

 

[Primeval]

Keep in mind that \"professional\" doesn\'t necessarily have to denote the highest of skill levels. I like to use the example of Rey Ordonez, who the Cubs signed to play shortstop last year for awhile (actually, there were several players the Cubs signed this could apply to...). The man can\'t hit a baseball out of the infield and batted somewhere around .140, and he still is considered a professional baseball player because its what he does for a living

Edit: Excellent advice Chrispy!

 

[Legacy Account]

If I pay a \'Professional\' photographer to come and take pics of my wedding, I expect the guy to turn up with something more than a 35mm compact and to produce something more than a few 6x4 enprints!

And I won\'t even go into some of the \'professional\' plumbers/sparkies I\'ve had round for quotes! (Knuckle scraping chimps!)

If the trousers are too big, don\'t wear them!!lol

 

[Dragonsreach]

Spacemunkie:

If the trousers are too big, don\'t wear them!!

I totally agree. However the people who are defining themselves as \"Pro-Painters\", in the context we are talking about, sometimes seem to have a blinkered or \"Rose\" coloured glasses view of their capabilities.
Trying to advise them that by saying they are a Professional Painter is not neccessarily equating to Quality Painter.
Having browsed Ebay (alot) I have seen some \"Pro-painted\" items on there with reserve prices which are way above the reality of their worth.
I would far rather see someone honestly describe their work as \"Competition entry level paint work \" and that would be an understandable expectation for potential buyers.
However I realise that there are people who will make a mockery of that as well.

 

[Jappobra]

Well I gues msot pro-painted miniatures are ready for another paint job(and in most cases a better one). But in this case; I painted a Clan Eshin Army/skaven warband for the sole purpose of selling it on e-bay (well I played with it at a tournament I organised and won best army, btw I didn\'t judge :innocent: ). But is this pro painted? What I mean, if someone paint mini just to sell them on e-bay, even if it\'s occasionally(sp?), is this considered professional?

 

[Wappellious]

won\'t do that

Fortunately for us, we never thought to include \'pro painter\' in any of our ebay auctions (nor do we have any plans to do so!)

Art has been my sole livelihood since the 1980\'s, but I still won\'t screw around with the whole pro-painter thing.

Linking auctions to CMON and having a nice mix of manufacturers listed seems to be a decent way of drawing a crowd to ebay auctions.

That\'s why Chicago loves CMON (but south-siders still don\'t like the Cubs)

 

[Jappobra]

Ofcourse I won\'t, me and some friends over here think that the word pro-painted stands for pre-painted crap. So i would never use it in my auction name. But it was just an example if, in that case, I am a pro-painter.


Edit:
Just look at this auction( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5947432493 ), it sais painted, instead of pro painted. And I think most pro-painters could better say: Pre-painted.

 

[Brother Tom]

Hmmm I list my stuff that I sell on Ebay as pro painted now I feel guilty, it seems the most common search someone would do for a well painted minature and you want as many people to see it as possible. I would,nt paint minatures for Ebay just for the money though , it gives me a chance to paint different things and practice plus I only like to keep minatures I spend along time painting for myself.

 

[Legacy Account]

I\'ve got no beef with work of that standard - I really like MAS\'s stuff. This would be one of the sellers that deserves the term \'pro\'. They always knock out very good quality stuff.

Speaks volumes about the phrase and what it (doesn\'t) mean.....

 

[Joshua]

Originally posted by Wappellious
Art has been my sole livelihood since the 1980\'s, but I still won\'t screw around with the whole pro-painter thing.

yep wou will barely see a van gogh or picasso beeing auctioned as \"pro painted picture\"
you dont see brands as ferrari, remy martin, hennessy, cohiba, bentley or whatever airing commercials on tv? why? because they are high quality products for a \"certain\" group of people and so are high quality painted minis (sometimes even as expensive lol )

 

[supervike]

built in security measures...

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
I have seen some \"Pro-painted\" items on there with reserve prices which are way above the reality of their worth.

That is what is great about a free marketplace. The correction will happen by itself, with no ones interaction. If \'pro-painted\' items are listed above the actual worth, then no one will bid on them. The seller will be forced to either lower the price or not sell.

It is always up to the buyer. The item will be worth what someone is willing to pay for it, whether it says \'Pro-Painted\' or \'Ready-to-strip\'.

That is why I don\'t understand the animosity towards people calling themselves \"pro-painters\". They will be taken care of by the marketplace.