What's a fair price to charge to paint Miniatures?

[Sanackranib]

painting

I'll offer up a somewhat dissenting alternative - if painting miniatures is your hobby, you shouldn't charge anything.

If it's your hobby, you'd be painting something anyway, right? If the person you paint for pays for the miniature itself, the other costs (paints and time) are things you'd spend anyhow.

This person is giving you a chance to do something you enjoy more cheaply than you'd normally would, as you'd usually have to pay for the mini out of your own pocket. He's giving you something, and you're gonna make him pay to do it?

That would be fine except I have a couple hundered of my own miniatures that need paint, also the investment in paints and brushes was al,ost entirely my own. lots of my collors are old and either thined down or hardening. so If I were to get into it as a "business" I would have to invest in paints, blades and brushes. I am not planing to do it as a business and on the adverage it takes me between 2-4 hours (I do use some inks) and a lot of the time is waiting for paint to dry so it doesnt take that much extra time to do 2 at once

 

[MGibster]

This person is giving you a chance to do something you enjoy more cheaply than you'd normally would, as you'd usually have to pay for the mini out of your own pocket. He's giving you something, and you're gonna make him pay to do it?

But I'm giving him a mini that he might not be able to paint. Seems to me everyone is the winner.

Marc

 

[Umbran]

Well, most published authors also enjoy writing, and if they weren't getting paid, would still probably be writing, just as a hobby. And like miniature painters, authors, with a few exceptions, have to have a normal day job to make the ends meet. See where I'm getting at?

Yah, but the analogy tends to fall apart, in that the total amount of work involved in painting a mini is counted in hours of labor. Good writing of any length takes much, much longer.

I don't think "several" people really cont as "a business". Compared to the "couple hundred" Sanackranib has of his own to paint, "several" don't really amount to much.

The question really is - how much painting were you planning to do? If these several make you spend significant money on paints and brushes, then charging for that is reasonable. But one mini doesn't take triple a mini's jcost to paint, if you're painting many minis...

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Umbran's argument reminds me of those people who try and get artists to draw their characters for free. Respectfully, it's a crock. If you want the benefit of someone's labor, whatever form that labor should take, you should be willing to pay for it. Period.

And the author analogy doesn't break down. Short stories can be written in much shorter periods of time, even less poems.

 

[Gizzard]

Try also CoolMiniOrNot.com. The minis that are displayed and rated are also hooked to the relevant EBay auction. This makes it easy to sort the minis by skill level; something which is not possible on EBay directly.

As far as price goes, depends on your talent level. I saw something fabulous go for over $270 yesterday and today I sort of randomly picked this which is a very clean job and currently $140. Even a rather mediocre figure seems to go around $10-$25.

Tangetially - the idea that mini painters might give away minis at cost is hopeful, but not very likely. Lol. If I enjoyed painting my mini, I will enjoy looking at it later, I will enjoy showing it to my friends, perhaps I will even enjoy playing D&D with it. I might consider selling it to finance my hobby, but I doubt I will randomly give figures away. To me this new, painted mini is worth much much more than the pewter figure I bought originally. I wouldnt sell any of my stuff for even triple, frankly - I just like the little guys too much. ;-)

 

[Umbran]

Umbran's argument reminds me of those people who try and get artists to draw their characters for free. Respectfully, it's a crock. If you want the benefit of someone's labor, whatever form that labor should take, you should be willing to pay for it. Period.

And the author analogy doesn't break down. Short stories can be written in much shorter periods of time, even less poems.

Yes, and we see how much professional poets get paid, huh?

No, it isn't a crock, because you seem to be forgetting a very important conditional phrase in my original post:

"...if painting miniatures is your hobby..."

The difference is in your intended goal.

Dr. Midnight, another poster on these boards, is an artist. I would never try to con him into doing art for me for free. I know that he's trying to earn a living doing artwork. I'm not about to steal time from him that he'd otherwise use earning his wages. If he volunteered to do a piece of work for free, as a present, I'd jump at the chance, 'cause I love his work. But if I ask him to do it, I'd very well expect to pay.

Liquide is another poster on this board who does artwork. He is perhaps less polished than the Doc, but some of his stuff is nice. But as far as I'm aware, he does his work for fun and to improve his skill. To him, I might turn and ask if he'd like to try a sketch for a character I had planned.

I, myself, paint the occasional mini. If someone came to me, handed me a mini, and asked me to paint it, I'd agree without a second thought. Minis are pricey these days. The guy is offering me a chance to engage in an activity I'd normally do anyway, just for fun, but is making it somewhat cheaper.

The difference lies in your stated goals in undertaking the art. If the purpose is to earn money, then treat it like business, and charge. Just be ready to have people say it's not worth the $$. If the purpose is to have fun paintintg, then don't charge. You're more sure to get "repeat business" if you don't charge, thus supporting your leisure activity, withe the addition of earning the warm-fuzzy feeling you get out of makign someone happy with a gift.

 

[NiTessine]

Oh, and then there is another reason I have to charge for the miniatures I paint...

I saw how they treated the other miniatures I'd painstakingly painted for several hours. The players had just chucked them in the same pile with the rest of his army, and transported them all without any protective material, in a suitcase. It was revolting. So, I figure that if they've actually paid for the miniature, they'll show it a bit more respect.

 

[Sanackranib]

painted figures

I "encourage" my players to either paint them therselves or pay to have it done for the same reason . . . well sort of. they tend to treat mine better if they have done the work or paid someone else to.

 

[thalmin]

Shortly after I started playing (20-some years ago) I painted some figures for myself. Others in the game liked what I had done and asked me to paint some for them. Realizing that time spent painting their figs was time I couldn't spend on mine, I agreed, but at a price. $2 a fig, which they provided. Soon I was swamped with requests, so I started to raise my asking price, except for my friends. Until I discovered that one of my "friends" was taking the figs to school and selling them for $15-20 each.
Talk about killing a hobby.

(I am about to paint my first fig in about eighteen years. For myself.)

 

[Painfully]

When I started painting I offered to paint the minis for my gaming group for free. I was still learning, and as long as I could practice new things I was happy to paint. Now, considering the time and financial investment I make to get good brushes and new paints (and, I admit it, more figures too), I charge about $10 for the average Reaper figure. But these are for minis made to be on the tabletop and actually gamed with. Showpieces are much more time consuming and prices have to be adjusted accordingly.

If I were a buyer, I would look closely at how well the painter can blend their colors, how realistic the flesh tones appear, do the colors look natural, are there freehand designs put onto the figures, and so on. Since you are planning on using eBay, just set your bid low and let the audience determine what your mini is worth.