How Much Are Finished Gunpla Worth?

Imagine you’re browsing through a garage sale or Facebook Marketplace and you come across a box full of Gunpla models. These are not unbuilt Gundam kits still in their boxes. They’re already built, but you can still display them. It might make you wonder, how much are finished Gundam models worth? Is it worth selling your Gundam models after you build them?

You might be disappointed to find out that a Gundam kit that has already been built is worth only a fraction of its upfront cost. Or this answer might not surprise you at all: after all, the primary reason we buy Gunpla kits is for the enjoyment of building them.

What are finished Gunpla worth?

This article comes from a reader question. The reader sent me a link to a Facebook Marketplace item near them, similar to the example I’m using in this article, and for the same price as the example (I have removed all location information for the seller’s anonymity.) The listing was for several finished HG Gundams.

“Is this worth more than $30? I’m guessing the value is in kits more than assembled models.”

Reader, you are 100% correct. The value is absolutely in the unbuilt kits. When you buy Gunpla, you’re buying an experience: building Gunpla and displaying the Gunpla you built yourself.

So when a listing of 4-5 pre-build Gunpla comes up for sale for $30, I’d question if anyone will even spend $30 on it. That $30 might be better spent on a new kit that you can build yourself.

Let’s move on to a related question that has an even more surprising answer.

Can you get paid to build Gunpla?

We’ve already found out that pre-built Gunpla don’t retain their value. So that means making some extra income as a Gunpla builder is a no-go, right?

Not necessarily.

In fact, there is a market for custom Gundam builds, with a few caveats. First, these Gundam kits are usually made-to-order by the buyer’s request. Second, before you think about selling your services as a Gunpla builder, you need to be really, really good.

I spoke to two Gunpla builders I know about making money building Gundam models. The answers I received were across the board.

One told me they built an HG Zaku for a friend in exchange for dinner.

“I built the PG millennium falcon on the clock at a previous job for the boss, so that was like $15 an hour for two or three days of work,” that same builder told me.

“I did full custom paint jobs for a Master Grade and a Perfect Grade and I earned $200 each,” said another.

You might be surprised to find out Gunpla industry professionals don’t get paid to build the examples in their shops, as we learned from Nick Minarik of Gundam Planet.

“People will walk in here, look around at the display models, and then be like, ‘I wish I got paid to build Gunpla.’ And it’s like, ‘Yeah, me too!’” Nick told us.

Got a bunch of Gunpla that you no longer have room to display? Putting them up for sale is probably not worth your time. Instead, you might want to consider gifting them to friends, repurposing them for repairs or custom builds, or sending them to a recycling center that accepts polystyrene plastic.

What do you do with your finished, unwanted Gunpla? Have you ever sold your built Gundam kits? Let us know in the comments.