A couple times a calendar month, someone in a Star Wars Miniatures forum posts a pic with the question, "How much can I become for these?" The image is unremarkably a broad shot showing the entire collection as a jumble of pieces of various sets and rarities; very little is clearly discernible. Sometimes the pieces are nonetheless in tackle boxes or storage boxes. I cringe just a piffling when I see the first respond in the thread proverb just, "PM sent."

I somehow doubt that the start message in their inbox says, "Hey, it looks like yous've got some really valuable pieces here, let's see if we can get you the best value." So, this blog post is here to help you evaluate your drove, why you want to sell, and the best way to motion it along.

Why are yous selling?

Sorting Star Wars Miniatures 01

Like with whatever collectable trading game such as Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40K, and others, why you're selling your collection has a large begetting on how you're going to sell it. Some sellers don't take a lot of time or energy on their hands, and they need to move a collection quickly. Whether it'due south considering of a sudden financial burden or a want to gratuitous up storage, expediency is more important than price. Others have more than fourth dimension and energy to put the piece of work into getting the most money for the loftier-value pieces in their collection. In the stop, there is always a trade-off between time and energy and price. So, you lot have to decide whether to invest the piece of work to get the highest return, or put in less effort for conveniently moving your collection.

Getting the highest return

Getting the most coin for your drove involves endeavour and an attention to particular, but the labor pays off. Get-go, organize everything, sorting all of your stat cards and minis by set. The stat cards have a set icon on the bottom left. All minis have their set icons stamped on to the bottom of their base of operations along with their number, rarity symbol, and faction. Organizing past prepare helps potential buyers quickly locate what is on their want list. This document tin help you translate the figure and card symbols.

Identify every mini with its stat card. A mini with a card will be worth more to a buyer than an orphan carte or orphan mini.

Next, create a sell list spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets. Make certain the document is publicly viewable in the cloud (with restricted editing, of course). This will help you track your inventory and help prospective buyers quickly find items on their want list. List your minis by ready, and list the figure proper noun, the quantity you take, and your asking price (more on cost later). Also, keep a column for notes if you accept promo figures or an orphaned mini or carte du jour.

As you sell your minis, keep your listing upwardly to date past removing sold figures or past changing their quantities. Updating a shared document online is the all-time option, especially when you lot have shared your sell list in multiple forums.

Spreadsheet of Star Wars Miniatures sell list

Merely how do you determine pricing? Value in the collectibles globe is a subjective term, and prices fluctuate over fourth dimension. Gorging collectors keep spreadsheets of eBay sell prices over a period of months to track trends in the marketplace. A far simpler mode to commencement is to check marketplaces that keep a regular stock. Bank check the sell prices for vendors such every bit Cool Stuff Inc. or Troll and Toad . Price your minis at to the lowest degree 10% to 25% lower than the sell prices of established vendors. Call back that your buyer volition be paying shipping, and you'll have to make your price worth their while, especially because they are likely to get free shipping on large orders from vendors.

Vendors only update their pricing periodically. If yous desire to have a more accurate read on the current market place, and are willing to put in more than fourth dimension, eBay tin can aid. A mutual newbie error is to check current listings. There are always unsold items with wildly inflated prices. They may be listed and relisted for months until someone is desperate or impatient enough to pay top dollar. Instead, do an advanced search for minis you lot wish to sell. Check the box for "Sold listings." This will give you a 90-24-hour interval snapshot of the range of prices buyers are actually paying for the pieces. Checking the box for "Completed listings" can provide an idea of what sold and what didn't. Sometimes toll is the relevant factor, and sometimes not.

Once yous have your spreadsheet complete with prices, postal service a few pictures to garner attending as well as a link to your sell listing on Star Wars Miniatures – Purchase, Sell, Trade & More , and Star Wars Miniatures Facebook groups. There are thousands of users between these two groups, and both are active with ownership, selling, and trading. The forums at Bloomilk.com are besides even so active with trades and sales.

Selling for convenience over toll

If you're selling in bulk, you're trading convenience and speed for money. If you're willing to put in a piffling bit of endeavor, you lot can get to the buy lists for Cool Stuff Inc. and Troll and Toad . You however have to practice the work of knowing what you have and sorting them by individual pieces. But yous have the convenience of having 1 buyer for your high and mid value minis (though they may not want some of your Eatables and Uncommons). The general trend in collectables is for vendors to purchase from you lot for about l% of their intended auction toll.

If you desire the whole lot sold in one batch you lot maximize the speed, but it lowers the toll. When dealing in bulk the buyer is getting the inconvenience of minis they do not want for the do good of those they've been hoping for. So strategize how you sell your lot.

Take several photos of your minis. Make sure you can meet the breadth of your collection, and make sure that high value minis are clearly visible. If you don't know which are more valuable, make certain that the Rare or Very Rare figures are front and center in your photos. Named characters are often more valued than mooks. Also characters that but had ane or 2 iterations made (such as Revan, Grand Admiral Thrawn, or Darth Talon) accept a chance of being more valuable than one of the 12 different versions of Darth Vader made during the game'southward line.

Here are some example exercise'south and don'ts for photos

Jumble of Star Wars Miniatures

Higher up is a simple don't. Buyers can see that you have minis, only nada stands out. There are a few Very Rares in the mix, but it is hard for others to really run into what y'all take.

Tackle box of Star Wars Miniatures

This might be arguably ameliorate, but it is however a don't. The minis are organized, but not by whatever style recognizable to anyone merely the person who put them in the tackle box fifteen years ago. A smashing eye tin option out a few Rares, but naught makes those pieces stand out.

Sorted Star Wars Miniatures

This photo has the rarest pieces in forepart. Common and Uncommon pieces behind them are grouped with duplicates. The photo is relatively articulate at full resolution, and is fairly piece of cake to browse. If you take several shots like this, showing different segments of your collection, you make it much easier for buyers.

Sorted Star Wars Miniatures with stat cards

This variation makes some trade-offs. The do good is that the buyer sees that you've held on to the stat cards. Is there one for every piece? Probably not, but at least yous know the pieces aren't all orphans. The liability in this shot is that the Common pieces aren't equally crisp and aren't quite as easy to browse. If y'all want to show that you have a large collection of stat cards, it may be all-time to accept a few divide photos establishing them as part of your collection.

Very Rare Star Wars Miniatures with stat cards

This variation is the best way to solicit attention to your Rares and Very Rares. It shows the buyers which of the rarest pieces even so take their stat cards. The down side of this shot is it tries to practise too much. At that place should have been another shot showing the Commons and Uncommons, and the binder of cards should have been a divide image.

Spend the time thinking about the best way to highlight different sections of your collection. The more the seller can run across in your collection, the improve they are able to identify the more sought after pieces that brand buying majority worthwhile. Y'all can then solicit bids from users in Star Wars Miniatures – Buy, Sell, Trade & More , and Star Wars Miniatures Facebook groups, or post the lot on eBay. In the end, it is difficult to determine an objective price for a bulk collection. Y'all will have to decide how much it is worth to you, and discover a buyer that is willing to pay it.

This post was co-authored by Mike and John Kuzins, Lead Pastor at Hope Hill Church in Woodbridge, VA. Special thanks to Matt Sem, and Nick Ferguson for their revision suggestions.

For podcast episodes discussing Star Wars Miniatures, check out Mike's Geek Out in Episode 35: Peace Talks, Cloak & Dagger, and Cinematic Sword Fights , and the Zombie Apocalypse Strategy of the Calendar week in Episode 39: On Time with Ken Mondschein .