Pimpcron: Make Money With Warhammer!
Pimpcron has a few business ideas for the aspiring hobbyist. Enter at your own risk.
Hey everybody. This is the Pimpcron. More than anybody else, I know the importance of a little hustling. A side hustle can be a fun thing, and if you can incorporate your favorite hobby, even better. Here is a big list of ways to make money in this hobby.
Putting It Together $$
Despite the fact that assembling models is supposed to be part of the hobby and part of something you enjoy, many people will pay you to assemble their models. For obvious reasons, not everybody likes every aspect of the hobby and this is a niche service that could be provided. I know in our local gaming circles there are many people who have paid or traded with someone to assemble their models for them. Unfortunately, this service is really only local in most cases and has not spread to the Internet. So finding a price point to price out your services will be much harder.
Taking a Dive $$$
This service could be treated as therapy for a player. Are they having a rough day at work? Marital issues? Just got fired? They should pay you to take the fall in their game and let them win. More authentically, a friend who knows Player A has been having a rough time, could pay you to take the dive against Player A to make them feel better. Tournament’s would also have a clear reason for payment in taking a dive, though that’s pretty unethical.
Painting $$$
This is an obvious one and probably the most commonly known. Painting commission services are a semi-big industry and you can find out what people charge online. I am not going to cover this in depth because I’m sure all of you know about commission painting. Also keep in mind, that many commission painters will also assemble your models if you pay them for that.
This makes my eyes water.
Waterboy $
If all of your buddies are busy playing a game and you are going to get a drink, you could always take an order for drinks and gather the money and then flee the store without buying any drinks. No, that’s not a long term strategy for money making. But what you could do is offer drinks for sale or charge everyone 10% extra for going and grabbing their drink for them.
I don’t know, I’m not sure I like this service.
Sell it, bruh $-$$$
eBay is probably even more well known then painting commissions, and there is a million different things you could do to sell on eBay. I used to have quite a little business going by buying lots of armies and breaking them up and selling them. Then when I had broken even, I would keep the rest of the models that were left over. This is a great way to start and expand armies if you know what you’re doing and have the chunk of cash up front to buy an entire army online. My crown jewel of army lots that I bought has to be my Ork army that I bought for like $400. When added up it was over a $1000 worth of merchandise. The vast majority of my Ork army is made up of this lot, plus I sold off enough to break even. And I still have more in a drawer somewhere I never got around to painting.
Many of you would believe in flat Earth before this banner.
Shaping Mountains $$-$$$
Terrain making is arguably the most artistic and unique service that is commonly found online. There are people that will make and ship you entire boards of terrain, or make custom pieces. You can find these people all over Etsy and eBay as well as other places. For the most part, it is mostly just labor in this market and the price varies greatly from person to person. I have seen people get a reputation for good terrain and they can charge a decent price for their terrain, while other times I have purchased absolutely gorgeous terrain online for super cheap.
Dice Wrangler $
After the 5th time that my dice roll under a table, I would gladly hire a local child by the hour to fetch my dice from under the table. Most of us are too out of shape, fat, and tired to keep crawling under these tables to find these dice. I have several friends that will literally not even try to find their dice if they drop them. The other option and the flip side to the service is that you could grab their dice and hold them ransom until they pay you a fee. Capitalism!
Battle Reports $$?
This is one of the cases where I know there is a market for it and I know that people do it, but there is really no way to know how much money there is to be made. Battle reports are very prevalent and I’m certain you know what they are. But I am just as certain that the actual profitability of battle reports varies greatly from person to person. If you are Joe Blow starting a battle report channel, I’m certain you will not be making the amount that the “established” channels do. But if you keep at it, it could be lucrative.
Grievance Airer $$$
There are many people that play Warhammer and of course some of them are rich. Just like the other time honored parts of our hobby such as assembling and painting, you can also outsource your whining online. For a fee, you can hire people to complain on your behalf on Facebook and on the Warhammer Community page. We all accept that complaining about this game is a huge part of the hobby, but not everybody has the time or interest to do it. That’s where you come in!
Bits Seller $$?
This job almost seems to have gone the way of the dodo. It used to be a huge market before GW clamps down on bitz sellers. But you can still find them on eBay and they are a valuable service. Seems to me like appraising the bits accurate enough to make money would be a real headache though. It seems like some bits would always just be laying around and never purchased.
The Smuggler $
What you do is when a friend has to show his receipt to his significant other, you have a plan. You buy a different item and sell him your receipt. Unethical, yes. But a life saver, yes. That way your friend can continue their unhealthy spending habits at the expense of his partner. And you charge him a percentage of how much grief you saved him.
Indy Mini Sculptor $$?
There is surprisingly a huge market for 3rd party miniatures. Nearly every day I see Kickstarters sprouting up for independent sculptors. Whether it is digital or actually hand sculpting, many people are into 3rd party hand sculpted miniatures. There are tons of Facebook groups and people that do this and it seems to be a thriving community. Unfortunately people are tight lipped as to exactly help profitable it is but it does seem like they are quite popular.
Let me know if you have found other (legal and ethical) ways to make money!
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