any low CAF email offers?

[NightGallery1]

I'm glad this topic came up. It's a nice opportunity for me to vent a little bit.

 

A few months ago someone contacted me about a piece in my collection that's listed NFS and asked if I was interested in selling. I explained that unless something hit the market that knocked my socks off and I needed to raise some fast cash I wasn't interested.

 

Well, two weeks ago, a friend (and a fellow collector of screen-used props) called to let me know that they were selling an item they knew I would be interested in adding to my collection. I contacted the individual who had asked about the art and told him that it was for sale but I would also be notifying two other people who had expressed interest in the past. A couple of days later the party emailed to let me know that he had looked the item up in the Heritage archives and he couldn't possibly afford to make a decent offer (to his credit, the amount that he felt would have been appropriate was very close to what I had in mind). A day later, the other two people contacted me. One said he was out of work and was unable to make an offer of any kind. The other said he had just made a big grail purchase and didn't have the funds on hand. Hey, what are you gonna do? Times are tough... no big deal... I'll work something else out.

 

A few days went by and the last individual that had said he was tapped out as a result of a big purchase emailed me again. This time he wanted to know if I would sell him another piece (which was also labeled NFS) from my collection. I explained that it really wasn't for sale unless I was offered crazy money. He responded by asking if I wanted to trade it for something he owned or he could offer me market value. Huh?

 

Wouldn't a decent offer on a piece that's not for sale start some 25% - 30% above FMV? Why waste someones time?

 

While I'm complaining.... about 6 months ago I was looking through the CAF galleries and spotted a page I've been looking for to complete a story. It was listed For Trade, so I emailed the owner and asked if there was anything in my collection that he liked which was of comparable value. He said he wouldn't consider cash for it and that he would only trade for a specific page that was owned by another CAF member. His suggestion was that I buy the page and trade it for the one I wanted. Check. Just for the heck of it (I'm a sucker for punishment) I located the page he was talking about. Not only wasn't it for sale, but the owner also wanted to be buried with it when he died.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Meeley Man]

I'm glad this topic came up. It's a nice opportunity for me to vent a little bit.

 

While I'm complaining.... about 6 months ago I was looking through the CAF galleries and spotted a page I've been looking for to complete a story. It was listed For Trade, so I emailed the owner and asked if there was anything in my collection that he liked which was of comparable value. He said he wouldn't consider cash for it and that he would only trade for a specific page that was owned by another CAF member. His suggestion was that I buy the page and trade it for the one I wanted. Check. Just for the heck of it (I'm a sucker for punishment) I located the page he was talking about. Not only wasn't it for sale, but the owner also wanted to be buried with it when he died.

 

You gotta admire that guy for being a true fan of the art, to have it buried with him. Sadly, there are too few of his type around anymore.

[Khazano]

 

 

I'm watching the Bianchi/Bermejo/Djurjevic types with interest because they started out by asking thousands of dollars for their cover artwork. Their artwork, often very nice artwork, and it's their right to do so. I'm curious if the resale (auction house/eBay/etc) market will support the initial price tags.

 

All three artists have reps who, while nice guys, have a tendency to price gouge. I highly doubt, considering all three artists cover work is now 3k plus, that any of it will hold its value unless the owners are willing to wait 10-15+ years.

 

IMO, Bianchi and Bermejo should be asking between 1 and 2k for covers (series dependent) while Djurevic art is practically a bunch of prelims which I wouldnt pay any more than a couple hundred dollars for..