ok i am new to online buying and wondered about ebay
1. is ebay a good idea for getting cheap figures in your opinion?
2. has anyone had any really bad experiences with ebay?
3. what are the chances of broken figures as i am new and not too good at repair jobs?
also is there a better place to ask this question on this site?

1. Ebay is definitely the best place for cheap minis.

2. I buy most of my minis (and not just minis) there now and have so far never had a bad experience. But even if you did, ebay and paypal are usually quite good at sorting problems/scams.

3. Never had a broken mini arrive, unless I've bought one that said it was broken already knowing I can fix it (because then they're even cheaper!).

And for the record, I'd say this section of the site is fine for such a question considering you are indeed a beginner

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Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Jake

Hi
I havent had too many bad experiences but it depends on what you are buying. I tend to go for unpainted and unprimed plastics as I had a bad experience with some painted plastic fellowhip in that I managed to met one of the figures when trying to strip the paint. However, that was me not the seller! Look carefully tat the descriptions and ask questions if you want and also scout around. Some sellers are really overpriced in what they sell. It is a great place to get figures though. I got an attack at Weathertop with a broken ringwraith for 1o pounds, a warg attack set brand new and sealed for £8. Look for some of the shops on there as well. They are pretty cool.
In the end, it is up to you but I tend to never spend more than £15

Hope that helps

I have to say, I hate getting used figs. New int he Box is OK but I have had a lot (in fact, I think most) of the open figs I have ordered arrive broken in some fashion, to say nothing of the pain in the butt involved in paint stripping.

Have bought a bunch of other stuff on ebay though and it is a very positive experience. Out of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of purchases I have only had a single bad transaction, but it was EPICALLY bad.

Over the last 6 months I have bought probably 1000+ minis from Ebay. Out of 50+ packages only 1 package didn't turn up and the seller refunded the money no questions asked. I only buy from sellers with 100% (or very close to it) positive feedback.

I usually only buy metal minis second hand - and mostly they have already been stripped of paint. The only issue I have had with breakages is mounted minis with plastic horses that are already attached to the base. I find they commonly break just above the hoof that is fixed to the base (especially if only 1 leg is fixed). I've never had a breakage of a metal mini.

Bottom line for me - Ebay is a great place to get good stuff cheap. Set a limit for what you want to pay (I always compare with GW prices and set a limit of say $10 less than I would have to pay for the mini new) and only deal with traders with a long history of sales and 99-100% positive feedback.

Don't know if its OK for this forum, but I can provide the names of some of the dealers I trust.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

I think it would be fine to say some good sellers.
Some one's that I have used that are good are: lolober68, room_101, big-boyz-toys, maelstromgames.
I would also add, make sure you check what the shipping and handling cost is, and add that to the cost of the auction. Count the total cost it will be for the item to get to you, if you just count the auctions cost and ignore the shipping cost you could easily overpay.

Ebay is fine if you buy not painted.
Painted is ok if you dont mind stripping.

Agreed with avenger, check shipping as some people do stuff like "£2.00 plus £3.50 shipping" so by the time the auction has ended its as much as buying new from GW (let alone maelstrom or wayland)

Tips
1. Read description fully
2. Look at photo carefully to see it matches the description
3. Check postal charges
4. Rubbish painted figs go the cheapest, I've never stripped a figure in my life and see no real need to do so. Just touch up the paintjob and give a coat of wash and they will look fine.
5. Don't get carried away in the closing stages of the auction, bid your max a few mins from end of auction and stick with it.
6. Ebay is great, have had no problems.

What's the best deal anyone's got on ebay? I once got a set for £20 that would have been £170 from GW! I also recently got a set for £25 that would have been £140.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

That's another thing, I have decided on price ranges for myself, and I won't bid more than that. For instance, for painted plastic guys I only pay about 1/2 price of new. For metal warriors I go with no more than 3$ each, for metal hero's it's about 5$ each. If there's something in an auction I don't want, I won't pay for it, which normally means I won't win as other people want all the figures and are willing to pay for it, but oh well. For nicely basecoated plastic I normally go about 2/3ds of new price, but even nib stuff I won't pay full price for, there's always the (slight) risk of something going wrong, so if I'm going to pay full price I'll just go to GW and get the item right away, and in garuanteed good condition.
Of course I will sometimes pay more for something I really want, or less if it's something I don't want that much. I so think it's pretty important to figure out 'levels' like I have, so you aren't just spending like crazy, and spending all your money on something you might not want, and then not having enough for something you wanted more.

(My best deal was just a couple weeks ago 2 nib (sealed) wood elf boxes for $44 canadian. From GW one box would be $39.50 plus tax (essentially $44), so I got it in the same condition (nib) for half price, I'm pretty happy with that.)

ok wow thanks, sounds like i'll be using ebay more in the future

Ebay is a life saver for cheap stuff, all I ever do is shop on ebay for models

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A new power is rising

I agree to always factor in the cost of postage - some sellers can charge a lot. My favourite sellers include lolober68 (they wrap every individual mini in bubble wrap!), the_last_nazgul, room_101, glipe. Probably my best deal was a uruk-hai battering ram with crew for <$5 Aust.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

wow, nice one i'll see if i can find some of those names. does anyone else know of any other good ebay dealers?