Used Models, Part 2

I was waiting for a friend to give him some free stuff, and musing on why I’m ok giving away some stuff but not ok with the deep discounts that folks are forced into to sell their barely used models. I’ve given away a ton of stuff – I once gave away an entire 1500pt Ork army! I haven’t done anything that big recently, but whenever I’m looking at something I don’t want in my house anymore, I have an internal debate about selling vs gifting. So what’s the difference between giving it away and selling it for cheap? I’m thinking about a few things.

I’m thinking about the value of things. How it the item valuable to me? Is it worth money to me?

Here’s a summary of a few items I’ve gotten rid of recently:

• Tyranid army. It still has value to me, although not as much as it once may have. I could play it again, but I’d rather have the free space in my apartment. I wanted money for it.
• Dark Eldar Warriors. 10 models, they don’t take up a lot of space. I spent a lot of time painting them and was really happy with them, and wanted to get a reasonable amount of money for them.
• Confrontation Orcs. I basecoated them years ago, played with them once and they’ve been in a case since then. As well, even if I felt I wanted money for them, they would never sell. I can either throw them away, or gift them to someone.
• A couple books and magazines. These would be worth money to me, except that I got them for free! After I’m done with them, I can either recycle them (and recycling isn’t as great for the environment as re-use is) or give them away. The next person has the same options, but now they’ve been used by at least 2 people, increasing their value/cost-to-make ratio.
• Ancient models from when I was 15. These have nothing but sentimental value to me. I took a few photos to remind myself of them and prayed someone would want them. No monetary value at all. I’m surprised I managed to give them away.
• Princess Acadia from Drake. This model had value – it’s brand new, it’s gorgeous…but it only cost me $7. Sure I could try to cost recover the $7, but that’s the kind of money that isn’t worth my time and effort.
• A model that I had just received free from another friend or tournament prize. Again, brand new, gorgeous models. I gave away an ork plane, a Seamus crew, a resin ork model. These things have no cost to me because they were free, but they take up space and I can’t see myself using them. At least not anytime soon. Whereas in each case, the eventual recipient assembled and painted the model immediately.

There is a decent amount of joy that comes from giving hobby stuff away. If you give it away, and it has value, then you are making someone else’s hobby life better. And that feels good. This is an expensive hobby, and people love getting free things.

 

You all definitely have a ton of models in your closet. Go open that closet, find some models that you’ll never use again and find someone to give them to! Your closet will thank you, your hobby guilt over having to many models will thank you and best of all your friend will think you’re the coolest person on the planet! (at least until you crush him while he’s using the models you gave him…:P)