http://www.coolstuffinc.com/buylist_main.php?pa=vbl&gn=swmini

This is the price being offered by coolstuffinc.com for each piece.

Quite true. There are no canonical prices for anything. But the above list will get some sort of ballpark figures anyway.

There is also: http://www.abprices.com/Products/Game/Star_Wars_Miniatures

Gives you an idea of retail prices (sometimes lags a bit behind on updates).

I usually ignore their "average" prices (usually some crazy high price somewhere skews it).
You can get a good median price just by glancing at the well known stores that have them in stock.

But yes, this is just a ballpark for comparison, nothing more.

I prefer to value a piece by how much it costs to buy, not how little a store will pay for your figure.

No doubt that you can find a good deal using E-Bay and such but it's not a fair place to gauge pricing. E-Bay is like the pawn shop for minis. For me I use ABprices plus a few stores.

The trade value should really be the open market value that ebay would provide, but there currently aren't enough auctions to establish consistent values for pieces.

Since that's not an option, I don't see much difference between using the retail price or the buyback price. If it's a trade, the actual cash value is irrelevant - only the relative values matter. If the ratios are the same either way, it makes no difference. (Maybe they aren't - I didn't check.) Also, I don't know of a site that lists their entire inventory for sale on a single webpage, but you can get it all listed together on the buyback lists at CSI and MM. So less clicking and more Ctrl-F.

But really, all you get is ballpark values for trading anyway no matter which way you go.

@OP
I think i posted elsewhere (maybe?) my thoughts on determining values for minis for trade. For arguments sake, lets eschew the aesthetic/subjective preference dimension and the distribution rate v. production run size dilemmas...

1. Find you Cost Per Mini In Lot Rate (CPMIL).
This is found via dividing the cost in dollars (of the total lot), by the total number of minis IN that same lot.
For example, I have bought a lot of minis for $40. There are 20 minis in the lot, therefore: the cost per mini is $2 per mini.

2. Compare the CPMIL rate with the known rate for boosters of the same or similar lot of minis. NB: this is usually around $15/7 = $2.14...

3. If your present CPMIL rate is less than the known booster rate, youve scored a bargain! (generally). This is especially true for VR/R lots...

---
Rares and VR's tend to follow a slightly different model: User pays.
I go by comparing CPMIL's and if the minis are desirable. I tend to value Rares and Very Rares as part of lot; not as standalone figures with extraordinary CPMIL breaking value
Its interesting to see where and how value accumulates in minis; they accrue interest very slowly... exponentially? Time will tell

Hope this helps.

Agreed. That's very helpful. Troll and Toad lists prices for both as well. Which is why I prob use those two the most when checking prices.

Here's a really good example of why I think it's best to use multiple sources and not rely on one price.

I just went on e-bay and searched "star wars miniatures". On the first page I got results for a Shaak Ti, Jedi Master from The Force Unleashed with a buy it now of $11.25 plus $1.99 shipping (total of $12.24). The seller: strikezoneonline. So I do a quick check of their price listed on their own website for that same Shaak Ti, Jedi Master and I get a price of $9.88 plus $1.11 shipping (the most comparable choice available). So on their own website you can get the piece for a total of $10.99 which makes sense since e-bay will be taking a cut.

Typically most strikzone prices are more expensive than that of coolstuff but in this case they are cheaper for this individual mini ($11.99 plus .99 shipping at coolstuff). However take another item from that same 1st page, Luke's Snowspeeder, selling on e-bay for a buy it now of $10.42 plus shipping. Once again the seller was strikezone and once again it can be purchased cheaper straight off their website. Meanwhile you can buy Luke's Snowspeeder from coolstuff for $4.99 plus shipping. Big difference in that case.

Now that is an example of a company (strikezone) who has both an online store as well as an e-bay store whose prices on e-bay are rightfully higher due to e-bay's cut. Obviously though you are going to find a high volume of mini's on e-bay that are from private sellers and not retail stores. There are plenty of deals to be had on e-bay from private sellers but for more in demand miniatures the price frequently goes close to (or even exceeds) what you can find them for from an on-line retail store.

I've also seen sellers who do a really poor job of presenting their items and use poor photos and descriptions that omit key info about what is being sold. Many of these auctions get missed by would be buyers because they can't immediately tell what is for sale. Those are great opportunities to find good buys on e-bay. But again, that kind of sale price isn't indicative of what the actual value is.

I like e-bay for finding deals but for me there is way too much variance in price to use them as a reliable way to determine value, particularly when it's clear that some of the prices you find are jacked up specifically to account for the cut e-bay takes from the seller.