Greetings,

I've been thinking about something I've never really considered: selling my finished dioramas. Up till now I've just torn off pieces I thought could be used again and trashed the older stuff, but it sure would be nice to recoup at least what I have into them in materials.

Is there a market for this? Is ebay the place to do this? I have, as an average, about $150 in materials in each one. Is this too much to ask as a starting point? I would think a buyer would pay shipping? By the way, these pieces were feature articles on this site.

Any experience in this area from dio builders or others would be most welcome. I hope I've put this in the right forum.....

Thanks,
Barry

Hi there

I have considered this also; I know that vehicles sell on e-bay for a fair amount. My reasoning for this is that maybe they are used for wargaming or scratchbuilding.

How would you post out the diorama to the buyer? I suppose you could wrap all of the idividual pieces....

Let me know how you get on if you decide to do it.

Stu

Here is my very personal take on this.
I think ebay is the way to get to your market. I surf ebay every day and see completed dioramas on quite often.

As far as having watched or bid on any - never have, never will. The thought of having basically a stranger package up an award winning diorama is either fiction or expensive! Think about your explosion diorama and how much time and energy you would want to put into carefully packaging that so it isn't hurt in the post. As a customer I would cherish one of your dioramas on my shelf - however (no offense) I wouldn't pay for the time and effort and materials it would take to ship the piece so that it arrives unhurt.

My brother worked for UPS and the stories scare the yoohoo outta me on shipping a completed piece.

This is totally biased and I know that some dioramas have been bought and sold on ebay - I choose not to be in one of those transactions.

Barry,
I really think the best bet is to sell them at the shows you attend. This lessens the chances of damage during shipping although it also shrinks your pool of potential buyers. But again, folks at shows you attend probably know of your reputation in the hobby and can appreciate your work.
I only know of one person who makes his living selling commissioned dioramas and out of necessity he has to be a salesman, promoter of his 'product' 100% of the time. He has successfully promoted his work as fine art which really boosts the price (after all, this really is fine art...you just need others to recognize this point) He usually spends a great amount using a museum courier service to transport his dioramas to their new owners. He still has occasional issues with breakage.
You have the talent and the reputation, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to sell your work for top price! If you are selling for the price of materials, someone will be getting a great bargain!
Want to trade some dios? I got some dust gatherers here I'm considering parting out

Cheers,
Charles

Hi guys,

I never thought about this before, never paid attention to what the story was. I sure don't want to make a pain in the neck out of any kind of transaction, and you bet, shipping is a major problem as I know very well from personal experience. It just seemed that if I could make back the cost of materials it would be a way to "pay my way" so to speak. But I think I'll just keep clearing out the old stuff as my little case in the model room gets full.

Sounds like it just ain't worth the hassle.

Thanks for the reality check.......

Barry