A bad time to sell painted minis?

[dbsubashi]

Postage may be alot of this. Postal rates and fees have increased in the last few years. I'm down here in sunny Southern California, and Canada is our (national) neighbor, but postage from there to here is insane. Getting items flown over from England is much cheaper (and faster!) I no longer look at items on Ebay from Canada.

I also used to do Ebay as a "semi-professional", and can tell you that of the 4 figure states (unassembled, assembled, primed and painted) painted sells the slowest and the lowest, unless the painting is phenominal or Nurgle/Space Wolvian. (All the Nurgle green and decay just kind of goes together, same with grey and fur).

And you may be charging too little. Yes, you read that right. People will assume that means a lack of quality, as in shoddy work. Quick family story-my grand father was an artist, doing old jobs in LA to,feed the family and his passion. During the Depreesion he took an ad out in the LA Times promoting portrait work, $50 a painting. And then waited and waited. Then one week the phone starting ringing off the hook. My grandfather took the bookings and wondered what had changed. He read the ad and found the Times had made a mistake and added a zero to the price. At $50 no one wanting a portrait, but at $500, well that said quality and skill and professionalism, all qualities someone who can afford a portrait wants in a painter. So my father ate well that summer and learned a valuble lesson. Looking at the other post you linked to, you are charging about $5 a figure, and the figures probably cost half or more of that. Unless you can paint 15-20 an hour, you are too low. If you can paint 15-20 an hour, the go full army commission work.

And at those prices, I would stop selling pre-painted figures and start doing comission work. Websites are free these days and you can advertise for nothing to the whole world. Quick low cost painting service will get you work, postal charges not forbiding!

[Calimero]

… but it's mostly the block color "toy soldier" style... today consider a wash and highlight (even if just a drybrush) to be a standard part of figure painting.

… http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2012/01/with-liberty-and-brush-dipping-for-all.html

… I recommend brushing on a coat or two of Winsor Newton Galleria Matte Varnish.

They do have a "toy soldier look". I like how clean this style is… Someone on LAF compared it to Hergé’s ligne claire style… That being said I’m ready to change things if it helps me to sell figures. BTW, thanks for the link and tips on the varnish!

Miniatures are like art, it's always nice to see different interpretations of the same mini.

Thanks Oldben1, I appreciate the comments. I think the figures you ask me to paint for you give me the chance to try new things, out of the "purely historical" realms

The picture quality...either appear too glossy or the colours look off...your "yellow" French Foreign Legion for example  

…Maybe you are supplying items that aren't in demand this month? Perhaps painting miniatures for the next "bandwagon" game.  Ie. It seems everyone (except me) is playing Frostgrave...so paint some medievals, or skeletons...? Or 1 or 2 point sets for SAGA.

Ah yay… the famous yellow FFL… My camera seems to have a mind of its own. There were the yellow FFL and the "blue period" of LPL 9¹… I try to set back the white balance on it but it never last long.

I would like to paint figures for Frostgrave and other fantasy games. I plan to. I got A LOT of figures from the last 2 Reaper Bones campaign that I would like to paint and sell. The problem is I don’t have the rules and no "army list". I’m kind of lost as to what buyers would want for their games.

¹ http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=77485.0

And you may be charging too little. Yes, you read that right…

And at those prices, I would stop selling pre-painted figures and start doing commission work.

I will raise my prices then!

Seriously taking better pictures would help. As for commission work, it was a small part of the figures sales I’ve done in the past. Maybe 1/5^th… Nowadays it’s about 2 times the sales I’ve done on the "pre-painted" market.

[eilif]

They do have a "toy soldier look". I like how clean this style is… Someone on LAF compared it to Hergé’s ligne claire style… That being said I’m ready to change things if It helps me to sell figures. BTW, thanks for the link and tips on the varnish!

You're very welcome.  Now that you mention it, your style does remind me of Tintin. I hope business picks up for you soon.

[Oldben1]

I've got another commission in mind already!

[Calimero]

I've got another commission in mind already!

Always a pleasure, Oldben1

[Calimero]

Going thru the net, it seems like selling is a little slow lately... even for unpainted figures. Some manufacturers seems to have an hard time selling their stuff too!

[dbsubashi]

Well, we have the Reaper kickstarter, the forgestarter, and gnickstarter all either kicking off or about to kick off. Additonally this is the big US " show" season, with lots of manufacturers about to release new games and models for Origins and Gencon. A very expensive summer for some of us 

[Figouze]

I like the way you paint. it is a cartoonish painting style.
This goes well with pulp figures and they sell well.  

It may be a good idea to add 1 or 2 layers of paint but you will take 2 or 3 more time to paint.
So, you will have to increase the price for the time used... Painting for 15 minutes or more than one hour per miniatures is not the same thing...  


I hope you will go on with your painting style ! It is a pleasure to see your posts.

 

[Calimero]

Thanks for the comment, Figuouze.

As promised I’ve try to paint some 20mm Britannia SBS using the "wash" technique;





Cheers!

[gary42]

Splash some matte varnish on them and call it a day!  Looks great!

[Calimero]

Thanks for the comment.

They do HAVE matt varnish! Crapy photography skills and all that... make them look more shiny that they really are 

[gary42]

Ah...  That old chestnut:)