The going rate for painting mini's

[Jeremy757]

I paint mini's for my friends all the time. Im very good at painting mini's. But normally Im only asked to paint a couple of minis at a time at my leisure so I have never bother charging my friends to do this.

Now one of my friends recently has come to me with a set of about 15 minis that he has asked me to paint for him with a deadline of one month to paint all the minis. He offered to pay me to do it. One month seems like a lot of time but its not since I only have about an hour or so to do this kind of thing a day.

Anyway, My question is how much is the going rate for painting mini's. Im not looking to make any big bucks or anything or take advantage of my friend. Just looking to compensate for time and materials, especially since this is taking up most of my free time. What is a fair price?

 

[Lalato]

Hi Jeremy757...
There really is no standard rate for painting minis. Rates are all over the board depending on size of mini and quality of the paint job.

The easiest thing to do is to figure out how much your time is worth. Let's say it's a nice even number like $10 per hour. How long will it take you to paint 15 minis... If your answer is 6 hours... then you simply charge $60.

I hope this helps...
--sam

 

[Jeremy757]

Hi Jeremy757...
There really is no standard rate for painting minis. Rates are all over the board depending on size of mini and quality of the paint job.

The easiest thing to do is to figure out how much your time is worth. Let's say it's a nice even number like $10 per hour. How long will it take you to paint 15 minis... If your answer is 6 hours... then you simply charge $60.

I hope this helps...
--sam

Yeah that was kind of what I was figuring. But I wanted to here some other people chime in. Thanks for your imput.

 

[Invictikore]

I know this is going to sound kinda cheesy, But check out Ebay, look at some of the painters and see what they are getting for each of there minis. That would be the price I would charge if I didn't horde every mini I have painted!

 

[Neo]

For myself I probably wouldn't charge a mate at all... if they insisted on paying then I'd tell them to get the beers in or buy me some pending rulebook release etc..

Though I guess really it comes down to two things, how much do you like painting miniatures and how much time do you think it will take you to paint them. If it is a significant amount of time and drain on your love of painting then I'd probably say no or offer to do them as and when but for free.

If you don't mind painting them however and could probably get them done reasonably quickly then if he "must" pay I'd charge per figure as opposed to per hour.. per hour just seems a bit mercenary where friends are concerned.

As has been mentioned Ebay is a fairly good means of gauging the relative value others hold for your work. Paint a miniature and put it up for sale.. see how much you get and then consider half that the mates rate per figure

 

[pogre]

I charge close friends $12.50 per figure. This comes to less than $2 per hour for me. Most of my 28mm stuff sells on ebay for $25-$60.

 

[Jeremy757]

For myself I probably wouldn't charge a mate at all... if they insisted on paying then I'd tell them to get the beers in or buy me some pending rulebook release etc..

Well normally I wouldn't. I have painted plenty of free minis for him. But like I said He plops down a stack of wargame minis (about 15 total of various size) and tells me I need these painted in like 4 weeks and Im willing to pay you to do it. So I said okay. To do his minis I have to stop painting the ones in my collection that im working on.

 

[Jeremy757]

I charge close friends $12.50 per figure. This comes to less than $2 per hour for me. Most of my 28mm stuff sells on ebay for $25-$60.

I actually told him $50 so I guess I wasn't to far off base.

I didn't know that painted minis could sell that well on ebay. The thought never occured to me to try and sell any of mine on ebay. How well do they sell? How many do you sell a month?

Im a very good painter, so Id be curious to learn more. Maybe you could direct me to some relevant threads about the subject.

 

[pogre]

I actually told him $50 so I guess I wasn't to far off base.

I didn't know that painted minis could sell that well on ebay. The thought never occured to me to try and sell any of mine on ebay. How well do they sell? How many do you sell a month?

Im a very good painter, so Id be curious to learn more. Maybe you could direct me to some relevant threads about the subject.

Just to be clear - I sell a single figure on ebay for between $25-$60. If you are charging him $50 for 15 figures, you are way undercharging him. If you are charging him $50 per figure - more power to you!

Just search ebay for +painted +miniature in the toys and game section. You will get a decent idea of what your painted stuff will bring. I only sell stuff when I want to buy something, like more minis. If you are in interested in selling stuff on ebay send me an e-mail and I will let you know which figures sell the best and why - and no the answer is not just hot half-naked babes.

I have a couple of miniatures on coolminiornot and they are hovering around a 7 on their 10-point scale if that gives you a guage of my ability. I think coolminiornot is pretty harsh on all non-Rackham stuff, but that is a different rant

 

[nyrfherdr]

Trust Pogre!

I'm a good painter, but Pogre leaves me in the dust.

Charge whatever you are comfortable with. It is very common to undersell yourself to friends when strangers are going to try and milk you for whatever price they can squeeze.

The earlier advice still makes sense. How much is your time worth?
Then decide how much time it takes you to do a mini. Don't forget miniature prep time, assembling, removing flash and basing. Add in a little bit for materials and you now have your average price.
Using the math above for $10/hour 30 minutes to prep and 1 hour to paint a standard mini (like a character) you have $15 per mini. More for larger or more detailed paint jobs. Add a few cents for materials if you like and you're set.

By the way... I don't paint to deadlines because my real job is too demanding. I also paint for friends and usually work out a trade, instead of cash. I don't need the money, but feel that unless the mini is a gift, like for a birthday or Christmas, there should be some kind of return.

Anyway... Do whatever you feel comfortable with. You have to decide if you want to treat it like a business or not.
And always trust Pogre!

Game ON!
Nyrfherdr