[Query] Best Selling Painted Miniatures?

[jazman84]

Not sure where this thread belongs, if this is the wrong spot, I apologise.

A friend of mine is quite a good painter and it is his passion. He'll paint anything and love it. I have quite a chunk of disposable income and we were discussing me buying a bunch of stuff for him to paint to a high quality and then sell it on to people who have more money than time to assemble and paint an army that looks great on the tabletop.

Anyway, I'm looking for some opinions on what would sell best and sell for the most. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Dave Fraser]

Hard to say to be honest.

For AOS painted armies, even at a high tabletop standard, are generally not selling for a significant premium over retail price, obviously there will be exceptions to this but seems to be fairly commonly seen.

Painting individual models to a really high end level can result in people being prepared to pay a premium to pick up display models.

There is obviously a market out there for commission painters but getting yourself known and established is the challenge.

[Kugane]

Shadespire warbands might work, and I would check winning tournament lists and paint HQs from those lists. But as Dave stated, it is hard to actually turn a profit if  you aren't established and well known.

[Sharkbelly]

I've been painting stuff--and selling some of it on eBay--for many years now. It seems like most of the time, you don't get much out of it. 

You might be able to get some money out of some projects, though. Especially if you are willing to let them sit for sale for a while.

[Kyriakin]

If you are an elite painter, the price is high.

But the drop-off below that is massive, and unpainted will usually be worth more than models painted by someone who paints to a "above average tabletop standard".

[Lysandestolpe]

What these people said is accurate. It takes a lot to make that go around as most of us who work painting figures for a living gets so specific lists or model compositions and often times some form of instructions or need to make paintjobs match, etc. The only reason I sell off a painted army is when its had 1-2+ years worth of shelf life and I need some cash for a new project. And I usually only charge retail price for the models. So the work comes for free, bought as is.