Wanna Go Pro ... How does it happen?

[sivousplay]

To throw a little math into Eric\'s example ... if you can A). paint 3 minis in a day that you can sell for $60 per or you can B). paint 1 mini in a day that you can sell for $150, and you\'re doing this for the $, not for making the best paint jobs, you should clearly choose A. And, if you did all that in 10 hours, you\'d be making $18/hr and if you work 50 hr/wk and 50 wk/yr, you make ... $45,000 per year before taxes and all that crud. You also painted 750 minis in the year.

I guess I should add that you still have to take pictures, post auctions, maintain your web-site, package and mail your products, promote your work wherever you can etc ... which will add at least another 10 hr/wk to this which is why I suggested only 50 hr /wk painting.

I hope this helps you see what you can do if you are dedicated to the task.

jim

 

[t_haye2]

it is all in the choices of livestyle really. I choose to do this because I\'m totally passionate about pianting minis, and i don\'t really care for being rich(she says, whilst desperately clutching her lotto tickets for tomorrow, reciting the mantra pleaspleasepleasepleas) that much. I think the biggest problem with being a freelancer is the irregular work flow, ubt if you can handle that, no problem. it drives me up the wall sometimes though...

 

[Christiano]

Originally posted by elouchard

If you really want to start immediately I recommend working on speed then selling on Ebay in the mid range (ie. see what the average starting price is and put it there) range to start. Maybe try a simpler figure though for selling, though.

Eric

hmmm well it all sounds well and dandy, but speed is a bit of a dodge medium to be working with, im sure ill come up with some fastly painted minis.. but the cost of the speed will surely chop a chunk out of my profits... plus im not into that kind of drugs..

 

[elouchard]

Ha. Very deadpan delivery. Good one.

working on painting speed = good
working on speed = bad

And Tammy, you shouldn\'t be having difficulty getting customers considering your skills. Have you been selling alot on Ebay?

Eric

 

[t_haye2]

not recently, i think that\'s part of the problem. i\'ve been so busy with comissions and non painting stuff that the ebay thang sort of lost out...i\'m working on it though! hopefully this weekend I\'ll have a slann, a set of lamhians, a harbinger of horus and a set of squighoppers on..... the sets are more to Eavy Metal army standard, but the singles are totally display pieces.

 

[elouchard]

Tammy,

Ebay is a nice place to sell. I like the free advertising it brings. You\'ll get lots of customers the more you put up on ebay.

I worry sometimes about commission customers seeing ebay auctions and saying \"what about mine?\" but really it is just part of the business advertising.

Eric

 

[t_haye2]

i know, but there\'s only so many hours in a day.....

 

[finn17]

I buy quite a lot on eBay.

But I don\'t have the time to browse in any great depth. I do always check the CMON new page for auctions ending today though...

 

[Christiano]

hmm i just discovered a fatal problem... about half my paints have gone bad on me... damn evil pots that dont seal efficiently!!! grrahhhh!!!!!!

must travel to northwich and buy more paints... cannot... contiune...

this next piece im making ill paint with the most effort i\'ve ever put into painting. .im just so use to painting good looking fast done gaming minis.. i never really put time in.. apart from my forest dragon.. but he aint got a rider at the moment.. although he does look very nice.. i might take a photo or 2..

at least if i try my hardest and fail with e-bay, ill know how much i need to improve

 

[Flashman14]

Trying to be realistic here

There\'s a reason there\'s only a handful of full time painters who live above what I would call slaves wages.

But once one makes their hobby their work it sometimes gets old real fast. I paint for fun not because I have to eat. Saddling a fun, relaxing and creative pastime with responsibility and deadlines is not easy for most. But Tammy is right - if you have the passion for it and a situation conducive to very low pay to start then by all means do it!

 

[Slider]

Tammy H. would you consider a personal tutorship via email, web postings, personal reviews and tips/techniques. That may help to supplement the slow summer. I know a willing student...

Raises hand says: pick Me Pick Me :innocent:

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by Flashman14Don\'t foregt there\'s no pension or health benefits either.

If you\'re a good little painter, declare your earnings and pay your National Insurance you will get a pension and be elligable to claim benefits! Though pensions are worthless these days in the UK (You\'d have to earn some ridiculous amount now to have a decent monthly pension later according to a leaflet my girlfriend got recently. We\'re talking big earnings that few of us will ever make!).

Originally posted by elouchard
Ebay is a nice place to sell. I like the free advertising it brings. You\'ll get lots of customers the more you put up on ebay.

Ebay is useful for advertising your work and abilities, but I treat it purely as that these days. You end up paying out quite a bit in various fees for the privelidge and there\'s no guarantee that what you post is going to sell. It\'s a very fickle thing. I really do prefer commissions where you know who your customer is, what they want, and that when the jobs done you get paid a set amount. Ebay has been very useful to me and has helped me a lot, but I wouldn\'t want to rely on it too much.

Originally posted by Christianothis next piece im making ill paint with the most effort i\'ve ever put into painting. .im just so use to painting good looking fast done gaming minis.. i never really put time in..

Yeah, why the hell not?! That way you\'ll find out exactly how much time it takes to paint to your highest standard, whether you enjoy working to that standard, and you\'ll be offering your best work for sale which is always the better option in my opinion (why offer someone a half arsed figure?!). You never know, you might find those customers who appreciate (through the amoutn they\'re willing to pay per figure) the extra time and effort you put in. Do your best I say!

 

[Calavera]

Yup, try to calculate how long it takes you to do your best quality mini. I keep track with a watch and put pins on to my corkboard.. where you put memos and stuff like that with pins.

Doing that I\'ve found out it takes me 7-12 hours doing my highest quality.. on single minis. Not monsters or vehicles.

 

[sivousplay]

If you do your best ...

That\'s the artist in you speaking, not the businessman.

There is a noticeably smaller market for competition quality figs then there is for high-end gaming figs. So, you\'ll take longer to paint them AND slowly dilute your marketplace ... not the best way to earn the most painting.

On the other hand, if you\'re willing to make less money, and are more interested in the satisfaction of painting the best possible minis, then go that route ... but do it with your eyes open to the business implications.

jim

 

[Grey Mouser]

It\'s probably been discussed to death but I hear alot about E-bay in this article and I might add it\'s a very fickle place there are all kinds of factors to consider such as posting times, whats HOT, what day of the week it is... I recently spent 2 full days making a Chaos warrior look all that one of my very best efforts to date, and ended up make a mere $15.00 for the effort.. simply Shocking! (to me anyway) On the other hand I painted a single Reaper Giant Spider and made $60.00 profit and spent less than a few hours total. Try to keep your time and investment low.. GW mini\'s are not always the mini\'s to paint for a business venture they are cost prohibitive to say the least..

 

[Christiano]

GW minis arnt allways good enought to paint singles and well.. but looking at these rackham ones i\'d say thats the way to go. the prty damn good, trying a wolfen prowler when it gets here, if im gona paint squads ill do it gw.. its easier that way.