Purchase of the year! 2 2

[NicoV]

1 hour ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

C) This story will only make it harder to find such deals in the future. 

Why? If such a seller does not know that this "piece of paper" is worth way more than $800, I guess he does not read this kind of board 

[Greenlake]

22 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

Fascinating thread.  About 10 years back, a boardie hit the BIN of  $200 for  an ebay listing.  It was an Action #10.  Multiple  people notified the seller, it was worth way more  He honored the deal without hesitation.   The book graded a 3.0 and sold for 20K on Comiclink.  

There's a wide range of values on the board. Many people are just fine with the dealer who lost his professional licensing for stealing from grandmas to fund his comics venture, even ignoring the likelihood that his lack of morals could harm them.

Personally I know I'd be too wracked with guilt if I didn't tell the seller what it was worth.

[J.Sid]

18 hours ago, J.Sid said:

I'm trying to realistically put myself in the buyer's shoes.... Hmmmm.

Who am I kidding. I'd have bought it. And if he's a dealer who didn't do his any homework, then shame on him.

[gumbydarnit]

Greenlake, I want you buying anything I sell... but you have to tell me what it's worth BEFORE I sell it to you ; )

 

[Andahaion]

I had no idea that cover was worth upwards of $50K, so I suppose I can legitimately claim that I would not have bought it.  

[comix4fun]

8 hours ago, Matches_Malone said:

I would have done the same, but since the cat is out of the bag,  I would put it up for auction and split the profits with the seller. 

That would work if whomever bought it did so for resale and not for long term collecting purposes.

While that might work for someone who bought it for the former it certainly isn't a solution for someone who purchased it for the latter. 

[malvin]

1 hour ago, NicoV said:

Why? If such a seller does not know that this "piece of paper" is worth way more than $800, I guess he does not read this kind of board 

exactly, that point made no sense.  There will always be people uninformed out there.

Malvin

[stinkininkin]

It's been intimated on this board and I have heard directly that the buyer is not happy I posted this information.  When I learned about the sale, it was NOT presented as confidential, and the fact that the art was clearly displayed (not pulled out of private sale portfolio for example) and purchased in the open on the floor of a dealers room led me to seeing the whole thing as just an interesting convention story.  I never said or implied the buyer did anything wrong and I was more focused on how in this day and age the seller did not take a minute to do due diligence (and I even said while the responsibility lies with the seller, I still felt bad for him).  That said, I apologize to the buyer for outing something which I have come to find out was not something they wanted outed.  Never my intention to turn an amazing convention purchase into something less than amazing.  This hobby should be fun, and I never wanted to take the fun away from anyone.

Edited September 3, 2019 by stinkininkin

[batman_fan]

Someone offered something for sell and someone bought it for the asking price. The deal was done. If I were the buyer I would be ecstatic.

[delekkerste]

2 hours ago, Bronty said:

The difference between our opinions is that you’re presumably batting this sort of thing at this scale around as a mental exercise and I’ve lived it and know others that have.    You’d think the sellers would be grateful, but that’s not what happens typically.   Nobody wants to know they’ve made a mistake of that magnitude and if you throw them 5k it’s a bandaid on a gunshot wound:  it’s not helping.

Yeah, if an artist sells a piece of his directly for $1K and then the buyer resells it for $6K and kicks him another $2K because he's a big fan, then the artist is probably appreciative of the gesture.  A clueless dealer who finds out that he sold the piece for like 2 cents on the dollar is going to feel totally different about the buyer kicking in a few grand out of pity; even a relatively big contribution probably leaves him feeling regret.  And, of course, the buyer doesn't know the dealer from Adam and isn't under any obligation, moral or otherwise, to do so anyway.   

[grapeape]

There is no moral ambiguity here. Unless there are details to the story we’re not privy too this was a legit transaction. 

Here’s what I would love to see from a car wreck, busy body observer perspective. To the lucky buyer. Please Please Please 

1) Flip this quickly in 2020 HA auction or

2) list it today for buy it now $100k on eBay and trigger all the saints on the chat board.

The quicker you flip it the sooner we know

1) What a great deal you made or

2) What a greedy Bum  you are

Then we can move this thread to FLIP OF THE DAY and eat popcorn while the haves and the have nots squabble over what’s acceptable.

Look I can think of a few instances where the buyer might be a cad. This ain’t one of them.

I don’t know the buyers intentions either. Did he just land a Grail he intends to keep?

Would the puritans like to let us know what the proper amount of mourning time the buyer has to observe before he can sell this find?

Heres a proposition 

I am offering the buyer $16000 cash right now for the cover. The offer stands until Sunday at midnight. It’s not 50 k but it’s cash and I’ll relieve you of any guilt you might feel for paying the seller the price he asked for.

Oh and two more conditions: You have to split the16k I give you with the convention seller. And donate a thank you fee  $1600 to the comic artist.

To the seller I’m not heartless. I truly wish you knew what you were doing before you sold this. I honestly pray no one tells you and you can go about life clueless and happy.

For the buyer cheers man! This is what many of us dream of. For what it’s worth the prudent thing probably was to keep this one buried for a bit before revealing. That being said it’s yours and you do what the heck you like. 

This could have been worse gang. Los Bros de Nor Cal could’ve have crossed the border and found the Swamp Thing.

Instead this goes down as one of the great stories of recent times in our hobby.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by grapeape

[batman_fan]

So what is the threshold on getting a good deal?  If you get something 20% cheaper than the real value are you a dirtbag?  How about 1/2 the value?  How about 10% the value?  To me it is all arbitrary. Seller sold it, buyer bought it. If it is legit, buyer did very well. 

[Marwai]

By going public, it has just limited his options.  People are treating it as if he literally stole the art. 

If he sells right away in a public forum/auction, this story will go even wider to comic news websites...Capital Gains, the seller will find out and may seek a lawyer, and you'll just get internet hate for the dumb reason of not sharing your profits.  Did the guy who bought all those Peanuts strips have to go back and pay the ebay seller more?  Did the guy who bought the Justice League 21 cover go back and pay more?  Did you ever overpay for art from an artist, dealer, or in auction 20 years ago and now it's worth 10x more?  Do you feel the need to go back and pay them more now?       

If he sells privately, he's just going to get low offers.

Best route, keep it.  Never put it up on CAF.  It will just get you praise or scorn comments. 

If you really just wanted the money, consign with a dealer who doesn't give a and is willing to take the hate.  Learn not to tell on how much you paid for something from now on.

 

      

Edited September 3, 2019 by Marwai

[PhilipB2k17]

I'm guessing about 50% of the reason why people with valuable OA don't advertise it is so they can do private sales and cheat the Taxman out of his cut. And, this will make it harder (not impossible!) to get this kind of a deal in the future, because anytime this kind of thing happens, the deal will spread like wildfire in the dealer and the collector community and make all the dealers and sellers that much more cautious. 

[Will_K]

Some years from now, could the art be used as a charity donation to offset capital gains ??

[Matches_Malone]

2 hours ago, comix4fun said:

That would work if whomever bought it did so for resale and not for long term collecting purposes.

While that might work for someone who bought it for the former it certainly isn't a solution for someone who purchased it for the latter. 

It sucks, but that  someone should have been more cautious after making the purchase.  
I learned about this purchase a few days ago, and  Im not one to keep one's ear to the ground in regards to the  transactions that take place in the OA world. 

I don’t know the buyer, and I dont know the seller, but I guarantee the buyer knew immediately  what he got away with.  Hence, don’t tell a soul.   But since he did, and now everybody knows, a rectification should be made,  or Swamp Thing #37  will forever be known as the one that was stole from grandmas’ drawer.  

IMHO…Put it up for auction…split the profits…and move away from the stink. I think both parties will mutually gain.
 

[glendgold]

 

2 minutes ago, Matches_Malone said:

It sucks, but that  someone should have been more cautious after making the purchase.  
I learned about this purchase a few days ago, and  Im not one to keep one's ear to the ground in regards to the  transactions that take place in the OA world. 

I don’t know the buyer, and I dont know the seller, but I guarantee the buyer knew immediately  what he got away with.  Hence, don’t tell a soul.   But since he did, and now everybody knows, a rectification should be made,  or Swamp Thing #37  will forever be known as the one that was stole from grandmas’ drawer.  

IMHO…Put it up for auction…split the profits…and move away from the stink. I think both parties will mutually gain.
 

A dealer sold something at the price he'd set.  Words like "rectification" and "stole" and "stink" indicate you hate capitalism, apparently.  I do, too, but until the workers seize the means of production, it's just you and me, pal. 

 

 

[comix4fun]

Just now, Matches_Malone said:

It sucks, but that  someone should have been more cautious after making the purchase.  
I learned about this purchase a few days ago, and  Im not one to keep one's ear to the ground in regards to the  transactions that take place in the OA world. 

I don’t know the buyer, and I dont know the seller, but I guarantee the buyer knew immediately  what he got away with.  Hence, don’t tell a soul.   But since he did, and now everybody knows, a rectification should be made,  or Swamp Thing #37  will forever be known as the one that was stole from grandmas’ drawer.  

IMHO…Put it up for auction…split the profits…and move away from the stink. I think both parties will mutually gain.
 

I'm sorry,  what?!

This was a dealer, with a booth, at a major national show, who is in the business of buying and selling collectibles who priced all of his items freely and without manipulation from the buyer. 

That seller set a price, as he did for all items in his booth. When the buyer asked the price and was given the price he then paid that price. 

This isn't a doddering senile grandfather who opened his door to some predator, who misled him on the valuation of his items, or forced him to sell something he wasn't going to sell, or gave him a false valuation or price, or even who negotiated him down from a higher price. 

There's no "stink" other than to people who are conflating what really happened (an adult collectibles dealer who voluntarily and freely and without manipulation or influence priced an item he owned and sold it for that price)  with what they are characterizing as having happened (elder abuse or stealing).

Frankly, and given the facts laid out here, I can't see where anyone would decide the fill in the gaps with nefarious descriptions of the buyer's actions...because they aren't present. 

 

[Marwai]

4 minutes ago, Matches_Malone said:

I don’t know the buyer, and I dont know the seller, but I guarantee the buyer knew immediately  what he got away with.

Not always.  Can't tell if it was in a frame.  I've seen people buy something for a steal and flex about it in front of everyone only to find out on their own later on that it was an unpublished version.  By then, it would have been more humiliating to go back and get your money back than to just write it off.  

[stinkininkin]

12 minutes ago, Matches_Malone said:

It sucks, but that  someone should have been more cautious after making the purchase.  
I learned about this purchase a few days ago, and  Im not one to keep one's ear to the ground in regards to the  transactions that take place in the OA world. 

I don’t know the buyer, and I dont know the seller, but I guarantee the buyer knew immediately  what he got away with.  Hence, don’t tell a soul.   But since he did, and now everybody knows, a rectification should be made,  or Swamp Thing #37  will forever be known as the one that was stole from grandmas’ drawer.  

IMHO…Put it up for auction…split the profits…and move away from the stink. I think both parties will mutually gain.
 

Wait, what????  Stole???  Rectification???  Stink???  This is