How do I go about selling my Eldar on Ebay? (NOT AN ADVERTISMENT!)

[TheDeathJester]

Before we begin let's be clear, this IS NOT an advertisement, I will not engage in any Transactions, Trading or accept any offers via Inbox or replies to this question. The army will go up at a time of my choosing, if you're lucky enough to find it coincidentally then well done you.

It's a question, Nothing more.

How do I go about selling my Eldar Army on EBay?
I tallied up all the models on Games Workshops Website and it's all £605 to buy new.

Of course my Eldar army is fully Assembled and Painted to a semi-professional standard,
So I will take being second hand into consideration, should I set a start bid of 50% of its "buy new" price (£300) off or 75% (£150)?

Should I set a buy now?

I know that lower starting bids will generate interest, but I don't want to just "Give" it away?

I need a bit of input here guys, what would you do?

[Wolfshade]

You could set a reserve price.

Most ebayers would actually pay more for unpainted models, certainly when I buy from ebay I do after all the first thing I would do is strip to repaint.

[John Bower]

You could set a reserve price.

Most ebayers would actually pay more for unpainted models, certainly when I buy from ebay I do after all the first thing I would do is strip to repaint.

Ah see I;m in the opposite camp there; I purposefully looked for painted orks to save me the time and trouble. It really does depend on the individual buyer but you're right; set a reserve that is close to what you think it's actually worth (to you). I highlight that; to you

People will only pay what they think it's worth and armies do tend to sell for quite good money most often in my experience. Well painted models do seem to fetch more on the whole as counter to Wolfshade's opinion some people don't have the time or inclination to paint an army so want it already done for them.

If you set a reserve or 'buy now' make sure you can be 'offered' that way it gives people a chance to haggle a few quid off and you don't have to accept them; especially silly offers.
Whatever you do mate, don't let it go for less than you're prepared to; you may want rid of them but you don't want regrets afterwards either. Also why not ask your club? Nobody on there willing to take it off your hands? Perhaps split it too, sometimes you can get more that way.

[Wolfshade]

Well painted miniatures do, I do agree, but be aware of some "pro-painted" stuff, and they seem to be more individual charaters or entire armies rather than individual squads as often the don't "fit" in.

It seems that the OP is saying that the paint job is "table top" standard, rather than being pro painted.

But beware some "pro-painted" jobs, like these "stormtrooper" space marine gems:

http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu49/BrandonCracker/BADPAINTJOB.jpg

Yes, these were listed as "pro-painted"....

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Wolfshade, thanks for hurting my eyes.

[Wolfshade]

Oh please note I am in no way suggesting that the image is in any way related to the original posters work.

AX :) You are welcome. It was either these beauties, or decent painted black marines on plastic necron legs for £20 per pair, or 15 strong really quite well painted space wolves for a mere £325 (I kid you not). As an aside there is a FB group dedicated to the worst of the pro-painted.

[Reldane]

the models might be less than golden deamon standard but the picture quality is exceptional.

as to TheDeathJester's question; I would recommend looking at other armies of similar size and seeing how well they sell it might take a little time but it will give you a better idea than asking here. I would doubt that the value of the models new will have too greater impact on what you can get for them, instead how well they are painted, how popular the models you are selling are how competitive the army as a whole is are all more likely to have an impact on the potential sale price

[clively]

Before doing anything else: research. Go to ebay and look for groups of armies similar to yours. See what they were originally listed at, then watch them until the auction ends to see what they finally went for.

Pay attention to the individual units as well. Some people don't want a full army, they just need particular units. Bear in mind that you might end up getting more out of it, but at the same time you might end up not selling particular models.

Make absolute sure you understand shipping costs. This means proper packaging to ensure the models arrive intact (bubble wrap/foam/whatever). Also when shipping ONLY send using a tracking number.

Next, realize that people who are shopping on ebay are looking to get a deal; and not everyone will want your particular paint job. Looking at the numbers, yes it's £605 retail, but a lot of people who buy online are already looking at a 20% discount for stuff still in the box: that's £121 off right there. Consider that the majority will likely strip the models once they've received them and you're looking at a much lower price due to the effort involved... If I was to guess, I'd say they'd sell for maybe half what you paid.

On the flip side, if the paint job is really good (totally subjective) then you could probably sell them above retail. However the pool of people willing to do that is much smaller, generally tournament types, so hopefully the force you've assembled is tournament ready. There are certainly those who buy close to retail and have them shipped directly to painters. However these guys usually have a very definite idea of what they want the force to look like OR are expanding a group they already own.

Hope that helps.

[DWest]

Ah see I;m in the opposite camp there; I purposefully looked for painted orks to save me the time and trouble.
I would think that Orks, IG, and Necron Warriors would sell better with (decent) paint on them, as who wants to spend more time painting identical, disposable jerks. Maybe lesser Daemons as well. Eldar and Space Marines/CSM would probably sell better unpainted as everybody has their own color scheme (White Scars might make an exception). Tyranids I would also see as going better unpainted, as most people don't standardize there either.

Thoughts?

[hyudun]

Before doing anything else: research. Go to ebay and look for groups of armies similar to yours. See what they were originally listed at, then watch them until the auction ends to see what they finally went for.

You can just set search filters to only show sold listings, so no need to wait and you get more data points immediately.

[Defenestratus]

Ahhh another poor Eldar player who has been shamed and ridiculed into selling his army even though he's played eldar for 20+ years but is all of a sudden seen as a WAAC gamer and has been branded with a scarlet "E".

I know your pain...

[Captain Bubonicus]

Eh, he might just need some quick cash for meth or women. Both will kill you, given enough time.

[40kGamer]

Ahhh another poor Eldar player who has been shamed and ridiculed into selling his army even though he's played eldar for 20+ years but is all of a sudden seen as a WAAC gamer and has been branded with a scarlet "E".

I know your pain...

If you survived the brand from the Fortuned Falcon blitz of 4th you can ride out the current Serpent silliness of 6.5!

[Ben_S]

If you're in no hurry to sell (as I assume from your comment on timing), then I'd say start off with a higher price - you can always reduce it later if they don't sell. If you put them up Buy It Now with a low price, and they go quickly, then you won't be able to ask for more.

[-Tom-]

If you're in no hurry to sell (as I assume from your comment on timing), then I'd say start off with a higher price - you can always reduce it later if they don't sell. If you put them up Buy It Now with a low price, and they go quickly, then you won't be able to ask for more.

And I think they tend to do an offer thing where if you list it and it doesn't sell, you can realist it for zero fee.