Is it safe to sell art to sell art to comicartfans members?

[Seether]

I know with ebay one has ebay to moderate and see if a piece was sold, paid for, and shipped appropriately. How safe is it selling art to some random comicartfans member who messages you? Who moderates it if you go through a trade and one party doesn't actually ship the art and a trade was part of the payment? These are things that are holding me back from selling and trading on the site.

[OAFan-migration]

Asking for a reference might help. I've had great luck with CAF. The standard is money first, then the art gets shipped upon full payment.

[Seether]

What if it's a strait trade?

[comicdonna]

Have a person you are mutually comfortable with act as a mediator.

[drewincanada]

I would think that you can get a feel for someone's credibility by (a) the length of time they've been a CAF member, (b) the extent of their collection, and © if they're active on this board or the comicart-l yahoo list.

 

If it's someone I've never heard of, who has a sketchy collection (not a collection of sketches), and who has only been on CAF for a few months, I'd be leery.

 

In that case, I agree that you can ask them to provide the names of a few other better-known CAF members who can vouch for them.

 

Andrew

[mister_not_so_nice]

Depends on who you are selling to. Some folks on there I wouldn't have a problem shipping them art before I received payment. Some folks I wouldn't deal with under any circumstances.

 

You could ask the "buyer" for references as someone else stated.

Or come to an agreement and put the piece on eBay with a B.I.N. and the buyer can purchase it there.

 

The options are limitless.

[mtlevy]

Always had great success with CAFeers....you can also ask them for their eBay name

[Terry Doyle]

What if it's a strait trade?

 

If the other guy's name happens to be Richard Rae, Vince Greck or Captain Australia - give him/them a miss.

[MyNameIsLegion]

Always had great success with CAFeers....you can also ask them for their eBay name

 

I've done dozen's of dealers with CAF'ers, and one of my earliest was with mtlevy (Sonja for Ms. Marvel) (thumbs u We exchanged references I believe, and spoke on the phone at least once. the majority of comic art collectors that have been in the hobby at least 10 years are pretty well known, and have an established reputation online, via CAF or the venerable comicart-l yahoo group.

 

If it's trade with a dealer, I wouldn't worry about it. If it's trade with a private collector, especially in the United States, I wouldn't be too worried. If it's trade with anyone overseas, I would be a bit more cautious. Dealing with unknown foreign collectors has more risk, not just with the individual, but the integrity of their postal service. I've always been the most queasy sending art to the IFS (Italy, France, Spain) The IFS have iffy postal service, akin to dropping a package into the grand canyon from 20K feet in the middle of the night. I got torched for this opinion before by some collectors that took offense, but I stand by it- and if you did take offense, that means you're one of the good guys, but your national postal service sucks. Canada. UK, Australia, (except Richard Rae, the bung-hole of the entire continent) NZ, Germany, no problem.

 

Regardless, always ship art fully insured (which is easier when it's domestic) and insist the other party does as well. If shipping USPS, insist they put signature confirmation in addition to insurance. Despite the postal regulation that insured packages over $200 must be signed for, sometimes the mailman will leave it on the doorstep anyway (budget cuts in the USPS have made them a bit more iffy than they used to be, though still the envy of the world when it comes to mail delivery) Keep those tracking and insurance slips, and email those numbers to the other party, which always adds a layer of trust and transparency. Then they can track it themselves.

 

Also, and this is a recent lesson learned, don't use the self serve Kiosk at the post office for shipping insured art. They don't update the tracking status of those packages online. Take it to the counter and have one of the postal clerks process it.

 

Worst comes to worse, as mentioned, have both send the art to a mutually agreed upon third party, especially a dealer you are friendly with. Maybe buy a page of Sad Sack art from their inventory for their trouble.

[chrisco37]

I've always had good luck selling to CAF members. If I get contacted by someone I don't know, I usually ask a few of the guys here if they know that person or not. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.

[Eric Seffinga]

I've done so many deals with CAF members over the years, I've lost count. And more importantly to me, I've made some really great friends along the way.

[Baron]

I've gotten just OK transactions, got everything I bought but shipping quality varies (just like eBay).

 

One purchase that irked me was buying a OA page during the Virtual Comic Con and the seller placed the art in a plain flat priority box, flat, no bubble wrap, and the page not even in a plastic sleeve or paper bag. Needless to say it came bent in the corner, thankfully it didn't arrive during a rain storm or that page would've been a goner.

[P Keel]

My first OA cover bought off of ebay was sent in a bubble mailer envelope.

[Ferran Delgado]

I've had more problems with art dealers than with fellow collectors from CAF. But it's always recommended to be careful with it, and if possible, ask for recommendations.

[Koa]

I always pay in advance so it seems safe for the seller