Alan, your analysis was bang-on. There is no right or wrong way to
buy or sell on Ebay and yes, there are still some terrific items
being offered on Ebay. Those who insist otherwise are just
disingenuous. FRANC
-----Original Message-----
From: MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Alan Adler
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 3:42 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [MOPO] Ebay Prices
Howdy -
My friend Claude mentioned me again so I feel compelled to give my
thoughts on Ebay and pricing in this stream -
I feel like a lot of buyers are jaded these days -
They want good stuff - they value what they have - but they want
to buy too cheap - always with the eye of a quick flip - not so
much with an eye to the long run.
If many of these folks (not everybody / so limit the cards and
letters) were selling they would ask what they themselves might
label "high" prices if in someone else's auction or ad.
It's human nature to MANY AND NOT ALL to value what you have and
downgrade what you don't have.
When I first started selling posters I peddled mint Psycho inserts
for $10 and Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Half Sheets for $25.
People said my prices were high - that the stuff was just trash.
So, I stopped listening and began to price a poster at what my
instincts tell me it is worth at the time - perhaps even leading
the market price if it is rarer than I think folks believe it to be.
I currently see crudely printed / low print run early adult
material in this way.
I compare comps - but you can't always trust them - high or low.
Sometimes if a poster goes for a lot at a big auction -
I take that into consideration - maybe somebody knows something i
don't.
I follow up with a high price and just drop it if no one agrees
with the big sales.
But in general I start my prices at the high end rather than the
low end because I don't want to throw anything away -
Just because it is on Ebay doesn't mean you have to start it low -
I price an item at what I think is right and lower it to a point
if I am wrong - most always offering a BIN for those who want to
close on the item sooner rather than later.
But maybe I value some of this stuff more than most people - I
wouldn't have taken thousands of posters out of the trash if I
hadn't seen the beauty in them.
I've loved these images all my life and when i sell, it is with
knowledge that this old friend will not be coming my way again.
The hard nosed may call it sentimentality - I call it provenance.
Condition - once again folks seem a bit jaded.
If a great poster has a sales comp at VG and mine is Mint -
I am going to ask more - And not just because better grade comics
sell for more than lesser grade comics.
Someday, after we are all long-gone -
Condition will mean a bit more than I feel it does now to our art
form -
or perhaps it does mean a lot but people feel they have the right
to buy Mint at VG prices as long as there is a comp to back it up.
In the end - for me - condition does count.
Regarding Ebay - I believe there is still great stuff on Ebay -
It is still a very viable marketplace.
I make my living there.
I have sold great stuff for less than I wish I had - who hasn't?
I see stuff selling for great prices there and wonder if some
folks might be too blinded by prejudice to buy something cheap on
Ebay.
But I am selling and will be selling more gold from my private
collection of over 50 years on Ebay and off-Ebay.
I am not a big horn tooter - maybe just a little one.
But the condition on a great deal of my material is extraordinary -
Its one owner stuff - driven only to church on Sundays!
Out of poster storage buildings into my hands and kept carefully
for decades.
I list my ads and my titles and prices stand for themselves.
But the proof is in the pudding -
The folks that buy from me are happy.
I've got over 6,000 positive transactions -
and with the luck of the poster gods have never gotten a negative.
That speaks for the integrity of my pricing, grading and in the
end, the value of the purchase.
Sometimes I make mistakes - screw up on a grading or get something
wrong -
(Thanks all for bearing with my senior moments)
- but all who know me and have bought from me know that I stand
behind my material -
and always make good on the sale -
Customer Satisfaction is truly important to me.
All of this stuff is just paper after all -
Value added because more than one of us loves a poster's key art
or loved the movie when they saw it 51 years ago when we were 9
years old.
Art is a viable market, but it is truly in the eyes of the beholder.
Choose right and you can sell for more in the future.
But choose what you love and pay what you are comfortable with and
you will be happy forever.
Now to business -
I've been selling material for over 35 years now -
And have finally gotten to the rarest of the rare in my collection.
And I will be rolling out some super hot stuff in the time to come.
I've just listed some lobby cards from some super 1950's titles -
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE
RODAN
GODZILLA
ROBOT MONSTER
Take a look at my material -
I have larger sized paper on all those titles for sale -
But the best of my material is not cheap -
You may not be able to turn it in a week or sell it at Heritage in
three months.
But if you have some holes to fill in an important collection -
And are willing to pay the going rate given grade and rarity -
even though it may not be in a high-profile auction with buyers
fees -
Then I may just be your man.
In the end -
Thanks to all my pals and customers out there -
And thank you to the bounty of the Universe for entrusting so much
good paper into my hands.
http://stores.ebay.com/Museum-Store-Gifts_MOVIE-POSTERS
Buy and Bid with Confidence and Enjoy!
Alan Adler
Museum of Mom and Pop Culture
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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