How to find mini's to paint without creating waste?

Hi all!

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I've loved painting mini's even since my boardgame geek ex had a ton for me to paint. However, because of the ex part I am now mini-less.

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For the last couple of months I've offered to paint them for free minus shipping (marketplace, boardgame forums, Reddit etc) and nobody has shown any interest so far unfortunately.

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I know you can buy mini's and I could, but after painting they'd just go to waste because I don't have space for them.

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How do y'all go about finding mini's to paint and what do you do with the finished ones?