I used to regularly attend the Christies Sth Kensington auctions in the 90s when I was in England and purchased and consigned quite often. I would not only bid on the movie poster auctions but also on the entertainment memorabilia auctions of autographs, etc and picked up some great items.
I stopped receiving catalogues in about 2000 and always found it strange that someone who is likely to place regular bids in all of their auctions will not be sent a catalogue. I seem to remember someone telling me that the policy was not to send anyone a catalogue unless they had won an item in the previous auction. I'm not sure that this is the best marketing strategy because, surely, the actual bidding is more important irrespective of whether you actually win anything. Lets say someone places a bid/s of $10,000.00 on item/s but loses out to a higher bidder/s. Surely its worth continuing to send out catalogues to that person despite the fact that they didnt win anything in the previous auction. I often only hear about Christies auctions after the event so havent bid for a long time. I always receive a catalogue from Heritage and always place a number of bids. I know that it probably costs a lot for Heritage to send out so many catalogues but I'm sure it is worthwhile. I think that if Christies sent out a catalogue to everyone on the MoPo list they would be very happy with the results as there are plenty on this list who would place bids. I'm not sure if Christies have improved their postage system in the last ten years but they could certainly improve their marketing. Regards John JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA PO Box 92 Palm Beach Qld 4221 Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:29 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] Christies London Results ADVERTISE I was promised that Christies will send me the South Kensington catalog (I have virtually all of them and won many posters in their auctions)....and I never received it....the chief person for this auction told me in two emails that she sent it....but nothing....I will actually send her another email now....they have not done any promotions in the US.... Philipp -----Original Message----- From: Robert D. Brooks <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 6:30 pm Subject: Re: [MOPO] Christies London Results ADVERTISE Hey Mopo: I've been complaining about this crap for literally decades, yet nothing ever changes. Whenever there's a major poster auction, this seems to be the thought process behind it: 1. Let's not tell anyone about this auction. It's so unbelievably amazing that poster collectors will actually come to seek us out in order to bid. No need to publicize or bring in bidders (why should we spend a penny of our oversized consignment fees on marketing, when eBay doesn't bother???). We're making 6 figures on this auction, why waste two minutes writing an email to large groups of potential bidders? 2. Where are the Women, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Forbidden Planet one sheets going to be in this auction? Let's screw with everyone and put an Invasion of the Saucermen 6sh up for bids - ha, just kidding, let's go with the one sheet again... 3. Instead of getting rare posters that people actually want, let's just fill the auction with silent posters, classics, horror/sci-fi & James Bond... Oh hell, let's just go with nothing but Bond... 4. We gotta have a couple newer posters for all our bidders under 60, but let's not go with anything unusual - just the Godfather, Taxi Driver, A Clockwork Orange and Dirty Harry one sheets. Maybe if we're feeling nice, we'll throw in a Pulp Fiction... 5. We're American, so let's screw all our foreign bidders! Let's not mail the catalog until less than a week from the auction. That way, no one outside of the States will be able to bid unless they know of the auction in advance (see #1) and jump through additional hoops. 6. Let's make it as impossible to bid as possible. Let's make all our bidders jump through even more hoops and have to pre-register or get 8 levels of approval to bid. We wouldn't want just anyone being allowed to bid... Of course, there are a couple exceptions, but those really prove the rule... Cheers, Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Evan Zweifel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:06 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] Christies London Results ADVERTISE Bummer dude! Actually, someone actually mentioned this last week -- more of an "oh by the way" than a "check this out!". Unfortunately there is no motivation for anyone to share this information (except for the auction house and the consigners), as more bidders will only result in higher prices! Better luck next time. Evan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael B" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:09:58 PM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain Subject: Re: [MOPO] Christies London Results ADVERTISE nice to see the results. i wish i had known of the auction......... i thought MOPOers were supposed to alert us of all the auctions......... THE THIRD MAN insert sold for 690. seems a good price.......AND IT IS ON MY "WANT LIST" ---- I would have have been had i known of the auction. Anyone have the insert for me? i saw a few great values. if you don't advertise, you don't sell !!!!! michael Worried about job security? Check out the 5 safest jobs in a recession . Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. Get the Radio Toolbar! Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] 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: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
