How to Price Painted Figures?

[Bailey]

I know a lot of people sell their painted figures, but considering the range in both quality of the work and scale of the figure it's difficult for me to determine what a reasonable price is. Plus a lot of sellers don't post their prices. I don't have much experience selling figures and it's always hard to step back and judge your own work, so I could really use some advice. I hope it's not bad form to ask this, but I'd like to know how people would price these figures.

Let's take 3 examples:

1) A 54mm Andrea figure

2) A 28mm fantasy figure

3) A 54mm mounted Pegaso figure. I'm not currently looking to part with this one, but perhaps a little bit down the road...

What do you think is a fair and reasonable price range for each of these figures? If you prefer you can PM me with a response or just reply to the posting here.

 

[theBaron]

If you haven't gotten any replies yet, or even if you have, I would also look at online auctions for finished figures, and note the initial bids and closing bids, to give you an idea of what some buyers are willing to pay.

On a tangent, the Andrea figure bears a strong resemblance to Harvey Keitel, I think.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Bailey]

I have looked at some of the current posts on ebay, though I'll have to do some searching and see if I can find past auctions.

On a tangent, the Andrea figure bears a strong resemblance to Harvey Keitel, I think.

Yes, I thought the same thing. Here I think it's just a coincidence, but they did another figure that was supposed to be him from the Duellists.

 

[Tecumsea]

Hi, I have bought a lot of figures and it varies from painter to painter-once or twice I have been asked silly money by people who just chance their arm and I don't bother to reply and some very sensible prices by some top painters who value the relationship and repeat business. Having said that I also recognise that much higher prices are available in the states where the collector market seems much bigger so many painters are happy to feed this demand. I rarely commission pieces because I like to see what I am buying, however I have two commissions currently out with painters I trust to give 100%.
At the end of the day you can ask what you like depending on how you value your work, how quickly you want to move pieces on and how many collectors you can find who are anxious to buy.
Bear in mind that if you are going to sell abroad you need to be sure that your pieces will travel unless you are going to take them personally. Are they soldered, glued, pinned securely if they are white metal? I have on a few occasions had pieces arrive in a box complements of Royal Mail.

Keith

 

[Alex]

for russian made figures, I usually pay 100 to 150$ for standing napoleonic 54 mm figures and up to 250$ for mounted ones.
now if you are talking about knights with a lot of patterns painted, it can go up to 300$ for standing knight with painted banner and up to 500$ for a mounted one.
hope this helps
cheers
alex

 

[brian]

Where about on e-bay can you find painted figures as I was going to sell a couple of mine but wasn't sure in what category they were in?
Brian

 

[Helm]

Usually in the model section Brian
Steve

 

[theBaron]

To give an example of an eBay auction for a figure, here is a listing that just showed up in my feed:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/54-mm-Russi...-Guarde-/221425244597?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

I would say that this is of average studio quality, for the Russian makers. But hopefully this helps begin to establish a baseline.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Tommi]

I post my completed figures on my personal web site and have a commission price list with set prices for scale of figure etc. I have never had an issue selling figure this way although I do have several long term regular clients. Sometimes prices become negotiable if there is more than one piece to be commissioned.

http://tommi-miniatures.moonfruit.com/

Cheers
Tommi

 

[pmfs]

For you to get an idea, my figures and considering the time painting them my prices are:
scales:
54mm figures from 175 euros till 225 euros include: wood base, nameplate, groundwork, box and shipping with tracking number.

More info here: http://scalesandhistory.blogspot.pt/p/hello-i-have-now-total-availability-to_4915.html

cheers