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"Fresh To Market" Phenomenon
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26 posts in this topic

I had a discussion with a fellow collector buddy about the "Fresh to Market" phenomenon. Is it a thing? Does a piece being offered for the first time ever make it more appealing? Whether it be in auction or other public venue such as CAF or a show? If a piece has never been seen, like the Claremont X-Men page coming up in Heritage, will it command a higher price than a page that has been available? And on the other side, how about pieces that have been in collector galleries but never officially for sale?

I personally feel it makes a difference and prices can often be higher if a piece is fresh to market. Thoughts????

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I’m on the fence with this phenomenon leaning both ways. “A” material is always going to perform well no matter what. And then it’s a matter of who or who doesn’t show up for auction, regardless of “freshness.”
 

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If you mean "fresh to market" as in do collectors value a piece more highly if they are the first aside from the artist to own it, I would say no. I've heard there are a few that feel this way, but that seems patently silly to me. If there's a piece I love, I want it regardless of who owned it previously. In fact, previous owners may make it more desirable if it came from a particularly noteworthy collection or individual.

Now, I do think there is a slight premium for pieces being "fresh to market" if the piece has been held privately for many years and suddenly appears on the open market. Since art is one-of-a-kind, many will view this as their once in a lifetime opportunity to own the piece before it disappears once more unto the nether. There's a certain hype and excitement to such a reveal that heightens buyers' sense of irrationality. That said, I believe this effect is mostly only relevant for top shelf pieces. No one is going to get irrational over a random panel page with numerous available comps. I also think good art is good art and something spectacular is going to demand a premium regardless of whether it was kept private or not  

I think a piece being on CAF and NFS won't breed irrationality in the same way. I feel like most hold an odd sort of implicit notion that those pieces are somehow obtainable. Maybe the owner won't sell, but that's today - there's always tomorrow.

At the end of the day, it's all about the buyers and the level of irrationality they're willing to court to obtain the art they want. "Fresh to market" can heighten that irrationality, but ultimately there must be an innate desire for a piece across buyers for that effect to translate to any sort of impact.

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9 hours ago, AnkurJ said:

I personally feel it makes a difference and prices can often be higher if a piece is fresh to market. Thoughts????

A slight angle - how about pieces that haven't been seen at all, and offered quietly to a select collector or two?  Is there a premium paid for keeping pieces out of the Hobby's view?

(Not paranoid at all, nope not me)

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10 hours ago, Nexus said:

It is. But not as much as it used to be.

I think if there is anything that hurts a piece, it is less about fresh to market, as stale-to-market from being flogged religiously all over every marketplace available. We have all seen the pieces put up for sale on eBay, and CAF, and Heritage, and CLink, etc. That even may have had 7 or 10 owners in the space of 2 or 3 years. Or have been for perpetually for sale for 2 or 3 years.

It can create a stigma around a piece, and people wonder what is wrong with it, or just are afraid of feeling stuck with it.

The reality is if there is such a piece and someone wants it enough to keep it, there’s no reason they can’t and shouldn’t buy it (assuming it hasn’t been through the Coolines art factory), but that stigma can stay on a piece for a few years. It does eventually fade. Especially as new people come into the market unaware of its past, or past sentiments about it in the collecting community.

Time heals all wounds, as they say. So long as it’s not time it’s been available for sale.

Edited by ESeffinga
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The “Fresh to market” price premium is only an emergent property that comes from the heightened publicity surrounding a piece that’s never been seen publicly before. It’s the “oh wow. Never saw that before” factor. 
 

A “fresh to market” piece from some run of the mill artist and title that noboby gives two hoots about is not going to sell for a premium. 

Edited by PhilipB2k17
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6 hours ago, NelsonAI said:

The "fresh to market" label certainly did not seem to help the recent sales of 2 McFarlane Spidey covers.  :whistle:

 

No need to be sour. You had the chance to make an offer on the second one but chose not to. It didn’t stop the gossip though. 

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When a piece really is fresh to market, there is no track record of what people previously paid for it. I know I would not be anxious to pay, say, a 30% premium for art I could have had for that much less just 6 months ago. Since each piece is unique, it’s actual market value can’t be calculated when it is fresh to market. So, the theoretical sky’s the limit. In that sense, it is a thing.

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