Saturday 4 May 2013

Oldhammer, Trade and Diplomacy

I am sure many of you are now well aware that I am starting to indulge in a little lead trading. Its not something that I have dabbled in before, preferring trawling eBay to locate miniatures for my collection. Too be honest, my collecting on this online auction site has been largely directionless. I have, until relatively recently, been influenced by two factors; price and old school. If the miniature is cheap and was produced by Citadel between the years 1985 and 1992, I'll put a bid on.

Any range, any time, any where!

I also used to indulge in what I called 99ping. This is when you complete a search, such as 80s undead Citadel, and put a bid on everything available for 99p in the hope that in seven days time I will be the owner of some really cheap miniatures.

Sometimes this can have remarkable results. Other times you end up winning one out of one hundred auctions. It also results in a rather eclectic collection. Now in the pre-Oldhammer days this was a very satisfactory approach. I thought I was the only Third Edition fan left in the world, so the idea of actually needing to build a coherent ( and by this I mean aesthetically coherent, not army book coherent ) old school army was not necessary. I just wanted to collect all the models I couldn't afford back in the 80s. 

Now the Oldhammer Scene has grown beyond all of our expectations, with even members of the Golden Age Citadel staff joining the movement to discuss the period in question, collecting, for me anyway, needs to be a little more focused. I see trading as a major change in the way I collect, and I expect that it will grow to become the way I source the majority of my collection. 

There are three very good reasons for my change: 

 1) Trading one to one with other collectors broadens friendships and helps secure the sinews ( and thereby the ethos ) of Oldhammer. 

 2) It is much easier to actually get what you want, in my experience anyway, and requires far less effort than trawling the net late into the night.

 3) Its much cheaper with just postage to pay. Happy wife then! 


Battle Lords and Odds and Ends. The result of a recent trade with a fellow, and very generous, Oldhammerer. You know who you are!
This got me thinking about the ethics of trading. In many ways, ethics are a personal thing. The set of values that you choose to adhere to during your life. These principles are most likely going to be based on two factors: your own feelings and the values instilled in you by your community as you grew up. Some folk seemed to get quite preoccupied with how much their particular model is worth, much like the unwritten 80s schoolboy rule of Panini sticker collecting 'the silver stickers are worth two normal stickers'. Or should I say how much they think the miniature is worth. Others prefer straight one to one trades only. I am strongly in favour of the second category. One miniature swapped with another of a similar size. In part, this comes from being part of a community of enthusiasts, rather than the facelessness of unknown traders online and part in the belief that any lot that starts at 99p will find its price. 


A trade in process. Old Citadel for new (well, slightly less old). It would have taken me weeks, if not longer, to source many of these. 
Eventually, I plan to create a Realm of Chaos 80s ebay account to buy and sell miniatures, as currently I share one with my wife, and I intend that every lit starts with a 99p. So what are yoyr views about trading or selling miniatures? 

Do you have a set of principles that you try to adhere to or are you a ruthless tradesman eager to turn gold into lead? 

 Orlygg.

16 comments:

  1. A bit OT but in your battle lords pic who is the chap on the left of the top row? I dont recognise from that angle. What's on his base?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh! I am a little confused about this mini. I was planning to email you about him actually as I was unsure myself. The tab reads LAWYER and is stamped GW 85. I assumed he was from one of the townsfolk sets. Do you know more Steve?

      Delete
    2. Whoops. That's top right! Its not the Lawyer we are talking about, is it! That's what happens when you blog and care for the 10 month old at the same time. Sadly, that model has no tab, its been cut off. Its white metal and much more recent than the others. I am fairly sure that it is not citadel.

      Delete
    3. Interesting - his design looks about the 1980s, possibly Ali Morrison style. Feel free to email me a pic of him.

      Delete
  2. Generally I prefer the 1 for 1 trade but sometimes this does not work. For example I would not trade a lichemaster for a clanrat but usually it's common sense a rarer mini for a rare one back.. price means little to me...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, though I'd be unlikely to trade a rare mini, that would go to ebay. Bartering is its own reward sometimes, but not always...

      Delete
  3. Hey Orlygg, I am glad you approached this subject, I am new to trading miniatures and my brain is turning to mush, I think the biggest downside of trading within a community is trying not to insult the person who you are building relationships with and you are trading with, that is why I have always tried to swap one for one. I have done several trades on the BLOOD forum and all have been successful except for two, where the persons involved have offered 'pawn stars' type offers thinking I am desperate or quoting ebay price of what I am offering against ebay price of what they are offering, their arguement was that what I wanted was in 'vogue' and thus I should offer more. I would love the community to draw up some trading guidelines to help on the marketplace. I had considered the like for like size but this is where I ran into the ebay comparison issue.
    cracking post
    J

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think trading is about trust. And the more you trade with the same person, the more trust will develop. If anyone tried to pull a 'fast one' one me I think I would be very reluctant to continue with the trade, and I certainly would not trade with them in the future. Reputation is the most important factor here. After all, Oldhammer is about fair play and the shared experience, not the 'WIN! WIN!! WIN!!!11 attitude that prevails in other scenes. This attitude should be transferred to trading in my opinion.

      Delete
  4. Brilliant post. I fully agree with the ethical trading way of thinking.
    Glad you liked the battle lords.

    Eve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I got the Lords yesterday. I have yours all packaged up and hope to get them out to you next week. I live bloody miles away from a post office! ): I'll email you a little later about it. Cheers!

      Delete
  5. I have to say i'm not a fan of 1 for 1, i prefer to sell my stuff and then use that money to buy off ebay/other people.

    When i do trade figures for figures i always have a set price of what's it's worth in my head. A number of factors go in to how much i feel a item is worth from how much i've seen it sell for too how scare it is too track down said item.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. I doubt I'd trade a miniature that I'd consider rare. I'd sell that online. eBay is now real judge on price in my opinion. When I was collecting the Goodwin Nurgle champions, I saw some of them sell for £20-£30 pounds plus one day, and for a few quid the next. I guess you are right in your 'gut feeling' of what a miniature is worth to you.

      Delete
  6. Trading among other enthusiasts is a great idea, but as has been said, there is the perception that some minis are worth more than others (which they probably are, due to rarity, etc). As for ebay, I detest the place because everyone there seems to have more money than I do! And if you were to start listing everything for 99p, it's highly likely unscrupulous ebay traders will simply harvest all your lots by bidding 99p on them and then relist those minis for ten times that amount. :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have sold online for years with my 99p view and have never had it let me down. In fact, I feel that it encourages bidders when they see the low price. Last summer, I bought a full set of WFRP 2nd Edition books at a car boot for £20. Listed them all for 99p online for three days. I made over £280 pounds profit on the books. Nothing annoys me more than the ludicrous 'Buy it Now' prices that you see, and that the fools relist week in week out at the same price, clogging up the results of the honest collector!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I must say, after reading your post I really must organise my trading. Now that there is a vibrant Oldhammer community specifically interested in the period and ranges we are collecting, it should be possible to find most of the models one is looking for without having to post one of your kidneys to ebay. I've had great success sourcing models on the blood forum, from simple trades to folks actually just offering models gratis, which is mind-numbingly generous.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I guess I fall somewhere in between...I certainly prefer trading or selling in forums over ebay...I've never had a deal go sour on a forum...can't say that about ebay. I do typically trade one for one...but if my figure is worth twice as much I'm not afraid to point that out to my prospective trading partner...a conversation usually evolves out of that and we find the place where we are both happy with the deal. I'm also not afraid to say "no thanks" if someone is asking ebay prices for a figure on a forum...thats just BS.

    ReplyDelete