The Artist's Choice Sale has started 0

[jjonahjameson11]

Hi, all:

I'm posting the following note on behalf of Spencer Beck/The Artist's Choice

Well, having suffered through the convention season, family health crisis after crisis, exceptionally long hours at my day job and three bouts with the flu that is going around ...

THE ARTIST'S CHOICE ANNUAL SALE  is finally underway ( although two months late ).

 

Discounts range from 5% up to 50% off some top artwork. Don't delay, order today as orders are already rolling in.

 

ALSO, although not fool proof … we have removed a huge amount of artwork from the website that previously has been sold or returned to the artists. We are aware that it was a nuisance and apologize for any past inconvenience.

 

ALERT : For those that are new to the sale. Due to the massive volume of orders we receive for literally THOUSANDS of pages of artwork … it usually takes WEEKS to get answers to everyone. It is not unusual to take up to a month to get an answer depending upon where your order fell in the line. As all order are answered in the order they are received ( with the rare exception of something I know for a fact has not been ordered and it is easy to grab ) please be patient and aware of the possible delay. Please DO NOT email the same order from multiple email addresses. It causes tremendous amounts of duplicated work and wastes time for everyone. This happens every year and all it does is cause delays and frustration. Thank you.

 

Finally, although it will take some time for everything to happen ... 2019 has lots of NEW things in store for THE ARTIST'S CHOICE with well over a dozen convention appearances ( more than ever before ) new artists being added, LOTS of new artwork, scans for everything online, new options of items to purchase like signed books ( old and new ), commissions and so much more coming this year. We hope you will join us for the ride.

 

Get your orders in now ... the email is SpencerBck@aol.com.

 

Thank you for 33 years of your ongoing support and patronage.

 

Spencer R. Beck

The Artist's Choice

http://www.theartistschoice.com

[thehumantorch]

Thanks for this, will head over to his site now to take a look.  I picked up a lovely Hulk cover by Eaglesham from his sale a few years ago.

[Brian Peck]

New art with no links, old art with broken links bet there is still art up that was sold 10 years ago. Same bloody useless site, what is the point of looking for art. How many more decades will it take for this site to up to date with working with all the art for sale?

Edited January 28, 2019 by Brian Peck

[vodou]

12 minutes ago, Brian Peck said:

New art with no links, old art with broken links bet there is still art up that was sold 10 years ago. Same bloody useless site, what is the point of looking for art. How many more decades will it take for this site to up to date with working with all the art for sale?

Yeah...I lost steam after three minutes of frustration. It's just so much easier to buy art anywhere else I can think of, and there is always more art I want than money I have to spend.

[Pete Marino]

One of the pages I wanted to ask about is in the featured Comic Link auction that starts next month, I guess I don't have to bother with that one.

[malvin]

28 minutes ago, Pete Marino said:

One of the pages I wanted to ask about is in the featured Comic Link auction that starts next month, I guess I don't have to bother with that one.

One of the pages I want I already own! 

It was sold by a different dealer 

Malvin 

[Brian Peck]

20 minutes ago, Pete Marino said:

One of the pages I wanted to ask about is in the featured Comic Link auction that starts next month, I guess I don't have to bother with that one.

I just don't understand why artists still sell thru that site. What percentage of art on that site have already been sold? 20%? 40%? 60%?

 

[MyNameIsLegion]

 

Here's is a direct quote from Spencer's FAQ on his site:

I spent about 5 minutes looking at the site, which I had taken a peek at a couple of weeks ago for the first time in over a year. Very little seems to have changed beside adding the poorly coded sales notices. This is a complete dumpster fire.  what happened to to the promised new modern website that Spencer promised sometime last year? a 3rd grader could do a more competent job running this site. That is not a snarky exaggeration, that is a fact. Spencer is alway making excuses about how busy he is, but he does not take responsibility for how much this is his fault. It takes him 2 months to respond to emails because the site and inventory is not maintained worth a damn. basic online shopping cart technology has been standard for 15 years.  There's no excuse for having to work through redundant orders on a first come first serve basis via email. He wastes his time, his customers time, and ultimately does his artist a disservice by doing such a poor job representing them. I'm sure he's a great guy, works hard at his day job, loves cats---well, that swell, but you're not gonna get a medal for it, because so do the rest of us, as do many of the artists represented, so suck it up and fix it or quit and save everyone the frustration and disappointment. Even Blacklinefever's site is better maintained than The Artist's Choice, and it might just be the only site that's more antiquated than Spencer's.

[MyNameIsLegion]

1 hour ago, Brian Peck said:

I just don't understand why artists still sell thru that site. What percentage of art on that site have already been sold? 20%? 40%? 60%?

 

According to the website- it's updated daily and is 98-99% accurate! 

[Rick2you2]

7 hours ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

According to the website- it's updated daily and is 98-99% accurate! 

Ah, but the stuff you aren't looking at is 100% accurate. Then it averages out.

[Bird]

8 hours ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

 

Here's is a direct quote from Spencer's FAQ on his site:

I spent about 5 minutes looking at the site, which I had taken a peek at a couple of weeks ago for the first time in over a year. Very little seems to have changed beside adding the poorly coded sales notices. This is a complete dumpster fire.  what happened to to the promised new modern website that Spencer promised sometime last year? a 3rd grader could do a more competent job running this site. That is not a snarky exaggeration, that is a fact. Spencer is alway making excuses about how busy he is, but he does not take responsibility for how much this is his fault. It takes him 2 months to respond to emails because the site and inventory is not maintained worth a damn. basic online shopping cart technology has been standard for 15 years.  There's no excuse for having to work through redundant orders on a first come first serve basis via email. He wastes his time, his customers time, and ultimately does his artist a disservice by doing such a poor job representing them. I'm sure he's a great guy, works hard at his day job, loves cats---well, that swell, but you're not gonna get a medal for it, because so do the rest of us, as do many of the artists represented, so suck it up and fix it or quit and save everyone the frustration and disappointment. Even Blacklinefever's site is better maintained than The Artist's Choice, and it might just be the only site that's more antiquated than Spencer's.

Spencer and I got into it about 10 years ago over these very same issues. His response at one point was "its only comic books". I told him that no, it was money and customer service.

Different decade, same fustercluck!

[vodou]

30 minutes ago, Bird said:

Spencer and I got into it about 10 years ago over these very same issues. His response at one point was "its only comic books". I told him that no, it was money and customer service.

Different decade, same fustercluck!

Assuming that's a direct quote (or pretty darned close): YIKES to the artists that depend on Spencer's end to make up for slow months getting work assigned from publishers. I bet he wouldn't say that to their faces, eh?

[Mephisto]

I think my favorite thing on the Website is the “We Now accept Credit Cards” yet in the placing an order section of the website there is a whole diatribe paragraph about why credit cards are not accepted and on the that same page above this paragraph there is two sentences stating credit cards now accepted. 

[miraclemet]

Holy , was just browsing and realized that pages I bought almost 10 years ago are still listed as available!

[vodou]

1 hour ago, Mephisto said:

I think my favorite thing on the Website is the “We Now accept Credit Cards” yet in the placing an order section of the website there is a whole diatribe paragraph about why credit cards are not accepted and on the that same page above this paragraph there is two sentences stating credit cards now accepted. 

 

14 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

Holy , was just browsing and realized that pages I bought almost 10 years ago are still listed as available!

Two best posts of 2019, possibly already for the entire year...check back with me next January

Meanwhile, this whole thread should really be in marketplace but because it was posted by a friend of Spencer's instead of Spencer himself...we see it here. Quite the gray area that is.

[comix4fun]

Given that this was an announcement on behalf of a site and representation, and not a thread started to wail and moan (which have their place to be sure).....

Perhaps complaints about the website mechanics, website inventory, ancient axes being ground down to the nub (complete with anecdotal hearsay pulled from all relevant context), and all the general piling on should be refrained from given that we're speaking of inconveniences and inaccuracies in inventory maintenance (within a thread posted at the request of the site/business owner) and not malfeasance, dishonesty or other poor behavior of a more nefarious or intentional kind. 

While this thread may indeed belong in the dealer/marketplace section, I don't believe that discharges our responsibility towards the propriety of our commentary given the setting and the nature of the original post. 

Simply, maybe everyone shouldn't be threadcrapping on a website's announcement (that already takes note of inventory issues and other potential problems with the site) as it is counter to how this forum is organized. There are times and places for complaints. 

Side Analysis: There are a whole mess of 1st world problems being laid bare here. 

[vodou]

16 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

Side Analysis: There are a whole mess of 1st world problems being laid bare here. 

The difference between doing business with the Third World versus the First World is primarily one of assumed professionalism, the anticipation and expectation of. Thank you for bringing this up. If Spencer was doing business out of Venezuela, I would cut him a lot of slack, being that scoring food daily is now a full-time job distraction from work as the domesticated pets have all already been eaten. But...

Back in the First World, if any of us was the boss and somebody was working under us in this general manner (second "it's just comics" job or not), I think we'd long ago have fired that person...no? That the business owner is the responsible party (the buck stops here!) really says it all. If it was my business, as one actually is, I'd either do it right (professionally) or not at all. Reputation and quality service matters, "just comics" or not.

[eewwnuk]

1 hour ago, miraclemet said:

Holy , was just browsing and realized that pages I bought almost 10 years ago are still listed as available!

Is it part of the sale now though? 

[comix4fun]

Just now, vodou said:

The difference between doing business with the Third World versus the First World is primarily one of assumed professionalism, the anticipation and expectation of. Thank you for bringing this up. If Spencer was doing business out of Venezuela, I would cut him a lot of slack, being that scoring food daily is now a full-time job distraction from work as the domesticated pets have all already been eaten. But...

Back in the First World, if any of us was the boss and somebody was working under us in this general manner (second "it's just comics" job or not), I think we'd long ago have fired that person...no? That the business owner is the responsible party (the buck stops here!) really says it all. If it was my business, as one actually is, I'd either do it right (professionally) or not at all. Reputation and quality service matters, "just comics" or not.

Spencer is extraordinarily professional. Don't confuse perfection with professionalism and don't confuse personality differences with professionalism. To suggest otherwise is placing personal preference and urges pointing towards feelings of entitlement ahead of reality. 

Frankly, you don't know how his business works. The assumptions that discrepancies between the site mechanics and inventory accuracy are due to a lack of professionalism, care or ability are just that..assumptions. Here's an example: You don't know if he retains all the inventory in his personal control, or if the artists do, or if it's a mix. You don't know how often those artists inform him if they've sold, traded, or taken a piece off the market. You don't know if the attribution of title, issue, or other identifier was mislabeled by the publisher or artist leading to errors in categorization and inventorying that lay undiscovered until someone searches for that item. 

Finally, I'd be wary of re-quoting commentary attributed to Spencer posted by someone who's admitted, repeatedly, that he'll never give up the ax grinds against Spencer. Even if the words are remotely accurate, they lack context (most likely intentionally), and are coming from a source who admits his own bias. I know if makes it easier for you to go on the attack but you're sacrificing something important in the exchange. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by comix4fun

[Bird]

3 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

Spencer is extraordinarily professional. Don't confuse perfection with professionalism and don't confuse personality differences with professionalism. To suggest otherwise is placing personal preference and urges pointing towards feelings of entitlement ahead of reality. 

Frankly, you don't know how his business works. The assumptions that discrepancies between the site mechanics and inventory accuracy are due to a lack of professionalism, care or ability are just that..assumptions. Here's an example: You don't know if he retains all the inventory in his personal control, or if the artists do, or if it's a mix. You don't know how often those artists inform him if they've sold, traded, or taken a piece off the market. You don't know if the attribution of title, issue, or other identifier was mislabeled by the publisher or artist leading to errors in categorization and inventorying that lay undiscovered until someone searches for that item. 

Finally, I'd be wary of re-quoting commentary attributed to Spencer posted by someone who's admitted, repeatedly, that he'll never give up the ax grinds against Spencer. Even if the words are remotely accurate, they lack context (most likely intentionally), and are coming from a source who admits his own bias. I know if makes it easier for you to go on the attack but you're sacrificing something important in the exchange. 

Chris I long-ago gave up the ax and as I’ve mentioned repeatedly I told him who I was and we shook hands in person but as soon as I got home he started with the keyboard warrior thing again