Oil Paint

I have a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. Once, at a wedding in college someone asked me what I was studying. I told her proudly "drawing and design" and she responded: "Oops, you're gonna be poor!"

Haha, I can laugh about it now. Well today that degree made me some money, and hopefully this blog post will help some other folks make some money too. Let's share the wealth:)

I hit up Family Thrift this morning with a budget of $15. But when I ran across a bag of NEW quality water soluble oil paints marked at $24.99 I blew the budget. I recognized these paints as being worth probably $150-$200 depending on the colors.

There are many different levels of quality in art supplies. I see "starter kits" pretty frequently while thrifting, and 99% of the time they will not make you money in resale. But there are certain brands and key words to look for when you see art supplies that could bring big money.

Quality Brands to look for:

Grumbacher
Rembrandt
Winsor Newton
Holbein
Williamsburg
Gamblin
Faber Castell
Daniel Smith (water color)
Golden (acrylic)
Liquitex (acrylic)
Prismacolor (pencils)
and believe it or not Bob Ross brand

These are the biggies, there are others - so if you come across something that has a quality feel to it or is made in USA or Europe, give it a quick look-up.

What types of supplies to look for:
(the below are all linked to sold items highest to lowest)

Oil paint
Acrylic Paint
Water color
Brushes
Colored Pencils
Soft Pastel
Oil Pastel
Ink
Inking markers (used for manga and illustrations)

Used items do sell if there is still product left!

What to look for on the products:

For resale purposes, avoid anything marked, basic, beginner, student, novice etc. unless you have a good feeling about it (a huge lot of liquitex basic for $2 for example)
Professional, or artists quality are worth the most
Most quality brands are not made in China

I really wish I had known about buying and selling supplies on eBay when I was in school, I could have saved tons of money!!!