Buying terrain on Etsy - experiences?

[Fred Mills]

I've never bought any terrain items from Etsy, but am pondering a few 15mm products for Napoleonic and Ancients gaming. Does anyone have experience doing this, and reliable sellers to recommend? (I'll be buying intact, and not files to print later.)

I'm much prefer the local gaming shop, but there are none near me that carry such things.

All advice kindly received.

Fred

[ithoriel]

I've bought figures, scenery, jewellery and clothing items from Etsy, from a variety of sellers, and never (touch wood!) had a problem with any of them.

I don't tend to use the same sellers repeatedly so can't really give recommendations.

[carlos marighela]

Same here. I've bought from a number of sellers and no problems.

[Elbows]

Etsy's best strength is reviews with pictures, etc.  If you're in doubt, order something small...see how well it's produced.

I've had 90% good luck on etsy with a couple of poorly printed figures ruining a perfect run.

[nozza_uk]

Never had a bad experience with an Etsy seller. If something is broken in shipping or missing from an order, the seller has always rectified the situation.

I do have a small list of sellers that I use - mainly because repeat orders get a 15 - 25% discount from them.

[JollyBob]

I can only agree, Etsy seems very well regulated so the sellers are quick to respond and sort things for you.

I can't recommend 15mm stuff as I don't dabble, but generally speaking the cheaper something is the lower the print quality. Have a good trawl through the reviews before you buy.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

I’ve used a number of sellers on Etsy for figures and only had one problem - kyoushenko models (probably not correctly spelled) of samurai (can’t remember the print company) ordered in 15mm and printed at a total of 15mm high - obviously a print business not a hobbyist. They didn’t reply when I reported the problem.

 The best looking printed scenery I’ve seen in 15mm is from BattleHonours3d - I haven’t purchased any yet but they look good, are printed in 8k resin (print lines make any model look crap no matter how well you paint it) and aren’t extortionate (I think their website is slightly cheaper than Etsy - like most people). Certainly worth a look.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[modelwarrior]

All good times on Etsy. I would recommend for terrain, Highland3DPrintsUK,LaserXdesigns and RealityAtWork. One thing to be careful about is location of the seller. I live in the UK so buy from Etsy UK but it can become hard to tell the exact location of the product(there is a way of screening out non UK sellers). You get to the final payment screen and find the cost has doubled because its coming from the States. The other issue is that you buy a product unaware of its worldwide location at the correct price stated and then after 2 weeks wonder where it is ? Its 6 weeks away in transit coming from Canada and to add to your woes customs will charge you when it arrives
 So as long as you check the location its coming from and that customs fees have been paid(if its coming from abroad) your all set to go.
 One other thing,all of the above sellers I have mentioned are very flexible on what you require and it seems no issue to them to create bespoke sizes,commissions ets if you need them which is great for us customers.
 The filters button on the left hand side lets you choose item location and despatch time. You need to search for your item first and then the filter button appears. Hope that all helps

[Tom Dulski]

 I've bought a bunch of buildings from centurionstudio in the US and had no problems at all.

[Kikuchiyo]

I use woofooworkshop, he'll happily rescale stuff for you

Outside etsy I use these guys

irongatescenery.co.uk again resizing stuff isn't an issue

[FifteensAway]

I've purchased from various vendors via Etsy in 15 mm and generally no issues.  One vendor has been quite slow in getting items out lately - and sometimes ships the wrong item but has always made it right.  Etsy has a robust system in place to make things right for customers.  I had an order earlier this year for some model railroading items meant to be in N scale but I was shipped all HO - vendor 'promised' to make right but took so long I went to Etsy to get a refund and it was done right away.

Bigger challenge can be finding items in 15 mm.  A few to look into are Dungeon Torch (exceptional service) and Dungeon Artifacts.  I haven't yet placed an order but am planning one through Tabletop Terrain for some additional Old West buildings.

Do make sure to double check that what you have ordered is both available in 15 mm and that you properly selected 15 mm.  I speak from experience!

edit: I am referring only to vendors that sell pre-printed items and asking about vendors that sell pre-printed items, not STL files.
And, please, if you find vendors with a good selection of items in 15 mm, to let us all know what you found!

For 3D buildings (if you count that as terrain) many times the buildings include 'scatter terrain' with it - attached rather than separate mostly but sometimes separate.   If there is any downside to 3D printed buildings it is that sometimes there are a LOT of parts but once assembled not an issue - oh, and sometimes there is great interior detail that will never be seen, a small price to pay for the diversity of offerings.

[AndrewBeasley]

Contrary to all the positives I'll have to say take care if you are buying things that are advertised in different scales.


I've found that often smaller sizes are just 'automagically' shrunk in the slicer or other tool with little or no thought given to finer details. This quick fix has given me with windows where the grill is just broken / missing, roof supports so thin they broke while painting or animals with ankles / tails / antlers etc so thin I dare not put them on the table.


Often you also see the generic render or designer photos and have no idea what the actual output looks like - one set of statues looked like they where printed out of Play-Doh and went straight in the bin so you may want to get a sample or accurate picture first.

[Deedles]

Partrick miniatures in Germany I can recommend. They are fine for 15mm - I have a number of pieces .

Also a company called Highland 3d in the UK - they have done stuff for me

[Fred Mills]

Amazingly detailed and helpful replies, chaps, and many thanks for each one. I appreciate all the time and advice. It is, in fact, buildings I'm looking at, and they include BattleHonors, Patrick, and a couple of others. I'm in Canada; almost all are in the US or Europe, so I'm afraid I'll have to deal with the national customs sees (sigh), but I'll be mindful of the 'location' tabs, etc., as several of you have cautioned.

Really glad to hear of the dispute settlement process too.

More suggestions welcome. When I order and receive, I'll be sure to post an update.

Thanks again for the generous aid.

[carlos marighela]

Partrick miniatures in Germany I can recommend. They are fine for 15mm - I have a number of pieces .

Also a company called Highland 3d in the UK - they have done stuff for me

I'll second that. Very good to deal with. 1X misprint and one scale error over several orders and he replaced them swiftly.