Deal falls through, Value questions

[parlourguy]

Reworded a bit, I am looking to see if my estimate of values was way off.

 

I had arranged to buy 3 pieces of art from a seller at this page

www.obviousart.blogspot.com

 

He had agreed to sell me the cockrum starjammers page, and the 2 submariner pages for $500 plus shipping. I checked out CAF and saw that a starjammers page (presumably from the same story) sold for $73, that there was not alot of recent activity with Don Heck Submariner pages (some sold in the past for about $100), and that buscema pages were all over the place from about $200-$300 ($300 for a splash or partial splash). I figured at $500 I was getting a fair price.

He emailed that these were way underpriced has now changed the prices and wants $250-$325 each.

I had my money order returned and I am done with him.

 

Is he right? Are these worth that much? Or is this someone checking out ebay and seeing the (riduculous) buy it nows on some of the pieces?

 

I am new to the art game and don't want to start offending people with low offers in the future.

 

thanks for any input

Randy

 

[irchooker]

I'm not going to say anything bad about Cliff Meth. He's the go to guy for raising money for old and sick comic artists; he's certainly given a lot to the community.

 

 

[comix4fun]

Being unique items, people tend to have their own ideas about value. Normally, they don't necessarily relate to market data. A lot of it is emotional.

 

The Submariner pages are probably $250 or more each. That sounds about right.

 

The Starjammers is a different story. To a lot of collectors it's a series that doesn't matter much to them and they would probably value that around $100-150. Given that it's Cockrum people might not be so ready to let it go without a premium attached.

 

 

[parlourguy]

Not looking to slight the guy, I know he has done alot for the community. I got my money back and have no interest in the pages now.

Just trying to ascertain whether I was way under in my offer.

Any help here (or a PM) would be great

thanks

Randy (trying not to step on toes)

[comicartcom]

did he agree to sell them at a price??

did you send him payment??

 

if the answers are "YES".......

 

then he is a very unprofessional dealer, regardless of any other altruistic pursuits

[parlourguy]

Hi, is the CAF marketdata maybe not the best bet to go with then?

I know these are definately unique pieces, but is there any better resources for values?

thanks!

Randy

[TStrong-migration]

Randy, I don't think your questions were insulting or meant to slam the seller. I think you were offered a fair deal on the pieces but the seller changed his mind. To me, that's odd but mostly because these weren't stellar pieces.

 

I think it may take a couple of months but you'll find their like or better on Ebay and I wouldn't be surprised if you pay less to get them. Panel pages don't inspire strong bidding unless the artist is extraordinary.

 

PS: CAF marketdata is a terrific way to go.

[theloveforart]

i would have to agree with comicartcom if you had already sent payment and he backed out then he was very unprofessional, also personally $500.00 was overpaying for those pages.

[irchooker]

To clarify, I don't think you were slamming him. I'm just not willing to say anything bad about him, such as 'he's a terrible dealer'.

 

I'd go with Chris' values and if one piece of CAF data shows a lowly price point on a Starjammer page, that's not a market. If Cliff overvalues the Starjammer page, which I believe is his last Cockrum piece, it's because was very, very close with Dave, helping him the last few, difficult, years of his life.

[thehumantorch]

i would have to agree with comicartcom if you had already sent payment and he backed out then he was very unprofessional, also personally $500.00 was overpaying for those pages.

 

The price/value of the art doesn't really matter once a deal is agreed on. A deal is a deal and a man's word is his honour.

[comix4fun]

i would have to agree with comicartcom if you had already sent payment and he backed out then he was very unprofessional, also personally $500.00 was overpaying for those pages.

 

The price/value of the art doesn't really matter once a deal is agreed on. A deal is a deal and a man's word is his honour.

 

 

OP was asking about whether the offer he made was in the realm of market value. That's why we are talking about it.

 

C

[thehumantorch]

i would have to agree with comicartcom if you had already sent payment and he backed out then he was very unprofessional, also personally $500.00 was overpaying for those pages.

 

The price/value of the art doesn't really matter once a deal is agreed on. A deal is a deal and a man's word is his honour.

 

 

OP was asking about whether the offer he made was in the realm of market value. That's why we are talking about it.

 

C

 

Fair enough. Seems like a fair price.

[r1982rhoads]

Wasn't there a line in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome that goes like: "Bust a deal, spin the wheel!" ?

 

As already mentioned, if both parties agree on a transaction, it should be honored/completed. This sort of thing has happened to me a few times in the last year. It really is unforgivable...set a price, sell it, move on.

 

 

[dopy02]

Wasn't there a line in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome that goes like: "Bust a deal, spin the wheel!" ?

 

As already mentioned, if both parties agree on a transaction, it should be honored/completed. This sort of thing has happened to me a few times in the last year. It really is unforgivable...set a price, sell it, move on.

 

 

"bust a deal, face the wheel."

 

[CollectingFool]

Personally I would have honored the deal and would be a little annoyed it happened to me. However, I understand the situation and would give this guy a pass. I think he was right and his new prices are more in line with what a dealer would charge.

 

As I said, because of the situation this wouldn't bother me as much. I did have a known dealer agree to sell me a piece on his site. We closed the deal and I submitted the money through PayPal. Six hours later I get an email from the guy telling me he refunded my money because someone else contacted him and offered him $50 more than I paid (I paid the list price and it was about $400). What was the excuse he gave me for screwing me over like this? "My wife would kill me if I didn't do it".

 

Ruben

http://www.collectingfool.com

[comix4fun]

Personally I would have honored the deal and would be a little annoyed it happened to me. However, I understand the situation and would give this guy a pass. I think he was right and his new prices are more in line with what a dealer would charge.

 

As I said, because of the situation this wouldn't bother me as much. I did have a known dealer agree to sell me a piece on his site. We closed the deal and I submitted the money through PayPal. Six hours later I get an email from the guy telling me he refunded my money because someone else contacted him and offered him $50 more than I paid (I paid the list price and it was about $400). What was the excuse he gave me for screwing me over like this? "My wife would kill me if I didn't do it".

 

Ruben

http://www.collectingfool.com

 

 

What a pansy.

To screw his reputation for $50?

 

[artdealer]

My dealing(s) with him were not been good and would never recommend him to anyone.

That being said, he pulled a "Donnelly".

A crappy thing to do and should be held against Meth should anyone want to do business with him in the future.

 

Mitch I.

[westform]

I know it is easy for me because I am not in your shoes, but if I were you I would look on it as a second chance. What happened to you isn't right, but since you are new to the hobby, my advice would be to put that same $500 towards one piece that would really be an eyecatcher. I think you could buy one Subby page that you would be proud to frame and look at every day for that price, instead of collecting a number of lesser pages. Of course, I am speaking for myself, and you may want to become a guy who collects volume, but I would count my blessings here.... in other words, 500 clams is more than fair for those pages... take your money and run!

[Spider-Variant]

Well, regardless of what the pieces were worth, if I had sent payment in on an agreed upon deal, and had this pulled on me, I would not be happy.

 

 

Wonder if he had another buyer?

 

And yes, I don't know the seller or had any other dealings with him.

 

I guess I would invite him over here to hear his side of the story.

 

 

[Spider-Variant]

I know it is easy for me because I am not in your shoes, but if I were you I would look on it as a second chance. What happened to you isn't right, but since you are new to the hobby, my advice would be to put that same $500 towards one piece that would really be an eyecatcher. I think you could buy one Subby page that you would be proud to frame and look at every day for that price, instead of collecting a number of lesser pages. Of course, I am speaking for myself, and you may want to become a guy who collects volume, but I would count my blessings here.... in other words, 500 clams is more than fair for those pages... take your money and run!

 

Dan I will always applaud your positive take on these situations. You always come across as very level-headed.