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Comic art auction house "controversies"...
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9 posts in this topic

32 minutes ago, grapeape said:

...I wonder how much manipulation from 1993-2020 has assembled a skyscraper of original art pricing out of straw?

100% of prices moving beyond 90s prices plus some marginal inflation allowance is due to The Internet and Online Payment Clearing with buyer protections.

Even with eBay prices were stagnant until X.com which became PayPal.

Every other aspect/explanation is sideshow to the above.

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Vodou I agree with your remarks and thank you. I remember the times where I routinely paid above FMV for art simply because I was positive (intuition) the future for comic art was beyond the imagination of those selling art back then. How many times I heard, “you paid how much?”

Early ebay was great no?

That was the mid nineties to about 2005. I did very well on any resells and I still have many pieces I acquired from back then.

I would not be so cute today. I look for pricing mistakes or an overlooked auction. I sure as hell avoid these over heated bidding wars today😢

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1 hour ago, grapeape said:

 

Buying art is not for the faint of heart.

🍇 🦍

That’s only true if you buy as a partial investment. I don’t, so I don’t care if it goes up or not. In fact, I would prefer if it goes down— and stays down. So many people here spend too much time and effort worrying about whether something was a “good buy” instead of a nice piece, that I think they get distracted about what this hobby is really about— the reliving of childhood memories and/or an appreciate of illustration (probably in that order). My childhood memories aren’t worth that much, and that’s how I spend. But boy, this stuff can be a blast. The other interesting part of the hobby is the other hobbyists. I don’t see many knuckledraggers here. And that’s not about the money, either. 

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1 hour ago, grapeape said:

Early ebay was great no?

 

Mixed bag.

Remember no pictures? Remember really blurry pictures? Remember check or money order only? Remember "cash in envelope" only? Remember no seller communication? Remember no tracking? Remember getting ripped off out of state and being SOL - not worth the expense and time to legally pursue in another state via Small Claims Court?

I remember all that and more; I have a long, wide, memory.

Now the good news is I also remember almost every deal being better in person than I expected at time of order, except for a few, and only being completely ripped off once. Most people were honest, to a fault, and I built a mid seven figure collection on mid five figures. All good ;) 

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Mitch and Scott Dunbier have some really solid comments on everything in terms of too much skin in the game for the consultants, taking up too much of the listings and shutting out other consignors. And surprisingly? a widely unprofessional display of the art (broken glass or frames?)

Read the article. Prices realized and unsold auctions. Overvalued estimates   that sold way under or not at all.

 

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Yes eBay had some quicksand no doubt. Cash in envelopes? 😂

I had one bad experience where my high bid disappeared in twenty dollar increments until I lost by $5. Within five minutes I was offered the page by the seller because the winner “changed his mind.” Terrible shill. The buy would’ve been off the record outside eBay. Guy actually berated me. “You want it or not.”

I regularly visit the CAF page where the page resides. Wild Wild West but I scored some great deals.

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