Dave
you have made a mistake in this post. Heritage does indeed sell items
that they own. They have a whole warehouse of stuff from which they
sell and at the Profiles auction they spent a stack of jack for
posters to sell. In addition they get contacted by people who wish to
sell and not wait for auction
also, you didn't mention my own 99 cents auctions.
while I do sell on consignment from only a couple of sources, most of
what I sell I own. I spend my own money on collections with the
intent of selling virtually all of it in my auctions. so everyone who
sells at auction is not a consignment house
Bruce also sells some stuff he owns, or he used to at least. However
in Bruce's case, his consignments are likely in the 90%+ area
Sean also sells what he owns
now to Claude's basic statement.. He is correct to a great degree
that there are many sellers who have "pie-in-the-sky" expectations.
here are some of those
http://cgi.ebay.com/Robin-Hood-1922-Original-Movie-Poster-Half-Sheet-RARE_W0QQitemZ320355952361QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a96b3e6e9&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
http://cgi.ebay.com/This-Gun-For-Hire-1942-Orig-Movie-Poster-Arg-1SH-RARE_W0QQitemZ320357604362QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a96cd1c0a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
http://cgi.ebay.com/FUNNY-FACE-MOVIE-POSTER-AUDREY-HEPBURN-FRENCH-BRINI-ART_W0QQitemZ130314624035QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e575b5c23&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
hilarious price here
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bullitt-Original-Movie-Poster-Steve-McQueen_W0QQitemZ190317756833QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c4fd281a1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
this one is hilarious
http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-ELVIS-WILD-IN-THE-COUNTRY-MOVIE-LOBBY-POSTER_W0QQitemZ320389285856QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a98b087e0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A3%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A50
every one of these is priced with nothing to do with reality,
especially the last 2
then you have the guys like Stuey Holstein whose obvious intent is to
find people that he can literally sting at levels that generations
from now will still not get to his prices (he is mostly in comics).
The obvious keyword here is "intent". While Brek is correct that
people can ask whatever they want, if you want to remain in business
for a long time, you have to have some contact with reality. I do not
like the feeling that I have cheated someone and that after they find
out what has been done to them, they want to shoot me.. There are
people who revel in cheating others and fleaBay is an obvious
showcase of such people
there was a guy selling a Falcon Takes Over 1sh in nice condition. He
had it at $395 which is like top retail for the title (I need it
as a Raymond Chandler piece). It sat on fleaBay for 8 months. I
finally offered him $250. I never heard from him and the following
day it was removed from fleaBay. He didn't even askif I would pay
$300. (I wouldn';t anyway, but an email would have been nice) the
guy was a comic book dealer who bought a load of posters from someone
and used Jon Warren's price book. So he had all kinds of whacked
prices. he wasn't looking for pie in teh sky, but the prices were all
at the top except for those items that had outstripped Warren's price
guide which was done years earlier. Jon is a dear friend, but his PG
was non-reality.
There are the innocent fools, and there are those who take everyone
for fools. Who they are is always obvious to those in the know.
Rich
At 06:42 AM 6/28/2009, Dave Rosen wrote:
I'm not going to defend sellers who ask, as you say, "ridiculous"
prices. But I will say that comparing them to Bruce or Heritage may
be a bit apples-and-oranges.
The sellers you refer to (though I don't know specifically who
you're talking about) are retailers who purchase inventory, then
offer it for sale. Thus their return has to cover the cost of the
item plus overhead before they see one penny of profit. Bruce and
Heritage are consignment sellers. They have overhead, certainly, but
do not have cash invested directly in the items they sell.
Thus, when they auction stuff off starting at 99-cents or a dollar
(really $15 in Heritage's case) they are, in a sense, gambling with
someone else's money, the people who consign their posters to them.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, that's the nature of the
business. That's just the way consignment works. It means they can
start their auctions lower and take the risk that the lower starting
price will attract more bidders.
It works most of the time, but occasionally items do slip under the
radar and sell at prices that are much lower than the average market
price. Bruce and Heritage can afford to take that chance,
particularly because they sell thousands of posters and are popular
online "destinations" and have a client base in the thousands. Most
other sellers are much smaller and can't affordto take that chance.
The other comment I have to make is, if the prices truly are
"ridiculous" then the items will not sell and the prices will come
down. That's market economics, I don't have to explain that to you.
So your choice is to buy somewhere else (if you can find what you
want there) and/or wait till the price comes down.
It's that simple.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:twoni...@aol.com>Claude Litton
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 8:55 AM
Subject: [MOPO] ebay poster prices
I have been searching ebay almost daily since 1997. My areas of
search are US originals Pre-1940 through 1960. I collect mainly
posters in the upper price brackets. In the last few years the
amount of listings by too many sellers with ridiculous prices has
proliferated to the point where the only thing certain is that not
only don't they sell but more and more are joining the pack.
The prices are so high that you can't even make a serious offer
because it will be so low that they will either ignore you or send
you a snide retort. My reaction has been to totally ignore these
sellers but it has become a nuisance due to the number joining
them. There are some on mopo who do this but I am not referring to
Todd who uses his million dollar posters to get people to look at
his other posters for sale. I am talking about those who price all
their posters at ridiculous prices.
I don't even look at ebay daily any longer but wait for Bruce and
Heritage to offer what I want. (This is a good opening for Bruce to
comment.) I am still trying to understand their motives. Just look
at a one sheet of "Three Sons", a poster sold by Bruce for $56
recently and priced at 10 times that on ebay. Let's face reality -
People who are going to spend $500 and up on a piece of paper will
know their item, will research it and will be careful about their
money. $20 is an impulse purchase. $500 is not. Can anyone
explain these ridiculous sellers' motives?
CJL
----------
Make your summer sizzle with
<http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000006>fast and
easy recipes for the grill.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
