Do restored ponies have an increased or decreased value?

[kingluke]

Hello everyone,

Recently I got a nibble baby ribbon. She had no tail and her marks were faded.

I gave her a new tail made from doll hair I bought and repainted her symbols.
The paint job is pretty decent though not perfect.

I also got a 7 tales starlight with reddish dyed and cut hair. I'm going to reroot her back to her original colour as best as I can.

This begs the question, do restored ponies have increased value because they are restored? Or do they have lower value because they aren't as original as they were when they weren't restored?

I'm not looking to sell, just curious.

Cheers,

Luke

[Taffeta]

It depends on the potential buyer and their personal criteria for a pony. Some will pay more for a restored pony, some will pay more for a damaged original pony. Some will wait it out for a mint original one. It really is subjective.

I am probably in one of the last 2 categories. I have a no reroot, no restoration rule with very few exceptions. But there are others who would be much happier to have a pony with a nice reroot job rather than a haircut, even if the hair isn't original.

[kingluke]

It depends on the potential buyer and their personal criteria for a pony. Some will pay more for a restored pony, some will pay more for a damaged original pony. Some will wait it out for a mint original one. It really is subjective.

I am probably in one of the last 2 categories. I have a no reroot, no restoration rule with very few exceptions. But there are others who would be much happier to have a pony with a nice reroot job rather than a haircut, even if the hair isn't original.

Thank you for the info. I guess I'm on the spectrum of not minding a good restoration.

[MintyMyndi]

Just do what makes you happy with your collection, then disclose if you decide to part with them. If I were to restore a symbol, I'd take a sample of paint from it and make a very deliberate-looking mark (such as a heart, mini-symbol, my initials, or "RP" for repaint) under a hoof to mark her as repainted. That way if she leaves your hands without your input, she's got evidence of restoration.

[Elfpony]

It depends on the relative rarity/cost of the original pony, as well. A pony that’s quite rare could lose a lot of value from being altered in any way, and it’s a sliding scale (in that a mint pony might be worth $500 on the market, while the same pony with a bad haircut would go for $300 but a rehair might only fetch $200, depending on who is buying at the time).

It’s also important to mark somehow that an alteration has been done. Any of my alternate rehairs in my collection are marked under their feet, acknowledging that some day my collection may pass on to other hands and I may not be there to oversee the process or will have otherwise forgotten these details.

Elf

[kingluke]

Marking restoration is smart. I will do that. Thanks for the tip.

[dragonfly]

Generally speaking a restored pony will not increase in value over a mint condition original. They’re a good option between a lesser quality original and a mint or near mint which are expensive or hard to find. If done well, restorations will be worth more than  bait / poor / fair condition originals. It is etiquette to always label a restoration as such and if possible the materials used, what the restorations were, and what was restored. Exceptions might include restored Nirvanas.