Hi Again People of the Warhammer world/universe!
Well, what can I say for today’s post?!?!?!?
It is something that is a really annoying thing.........Pro Painted on eBay!!!!
Now, this hobby isn’t the cheapest by far certainly when you consider the fact that all we are doing is collecting-assembling-painting toy soldiers! When a box of 5 mounted riders can cost you £61.50(!), you begin to understand the sheer costs involved at times!
Well, as I said previously, I entered the worlds of the GW hobby back in the 1st ed days of 40K and recently fantasy and since then I have found the GW prices to continually go up and up (as we all have) well above the prices they should expect. So what are people doing to combat the continual rise of GW prices? Shop on eBay!
Why not? You can get some really fantastic things on eBay and sometimes some real steals. eBay is also a real money saver (depending on the auction etc.) if you collect horde armies and the like. However, in stating the virtues of eBay there is also one major problem out there that we must be aware of.........PRO PAINTED!!!
The legalities of such a statement are very wide ranging and could be interpreted in many ways. For example I was having this discussion with a friend who said that due to the fact that I do commission painting for people, I could be classified as a pro-painter. This is both true and false I added. It is true that obtaining money for commission work means that I could be professional in this field but also at the same time, I do not obtain a living from painting other people’s models! If I did, I wouldn’t be able to survive for one thing!
But the continual increase of the pro-painted miniature on eBay has become a bit of a problem in my honest opinion. Included in this blog are some examples of 'pro-painted' advertised miniatures on eBay – some are very good and the tag of pro painted is true and I would think about bidding/buying the miniature and some are laughably NOT pro-painted!
It seems that people think they can act in a GW way and overprice for what they are actually selling. Of course I understand that some of you would definitely be saying “well if people are prepared to pay the rate wanted then why not?....” which I agree, although I would like to think that if people are reading this and maybe not too sure about something pro-painted on eBay, they might err on the side of caution!
Also it must be stated that some professional painters do indeed advertise on eBay.
It is nice to get a large profit for something you are selling, but basically painting something to a standard which is definitely not professional and then selling it as professional, is really not on.
There was a wonderful thread on the Dakka Dakka forum entitled ‘Your heart sinks when.....’ which someone replied “you see pro-painted on eBay”!
How very true!
Cheers
Caveat: Please be aware that the pictures supplied on this post come from various postings on eBay and are not mine, some have been stretched for make them legible which might affect the quality of the photo and that I am not disrespecting the sellers in any way. As stated, some of the pictures and painting qualities shown I would say was professional.
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