Todd Nauck WARNING about a ebay listing !!! Must read !!!

[A-DONIS]

Well it would all depend.

 

I know that most artists have agents, which control their commission list. And I know for a fact that boardies who offer these services here have made arrangements prior to conventions. But just like everything else in life, it's all done on a first come, first served basis. If the artist chooses to take 10 spots from one person, the it's his own right to do so.

 

I'm not going to name, or point fingers, but there are multiple people on the boards that are guilty of the above mentioned practice. But rather than getting mad or blasting away, I'd prefer the "next conversation" method, or the mail in option.

 

With that being said, what the ebayer did was wrong and unprofessional. You never take a commission list without contacting the artist first.

 

What we do here on the boards is probably the best and safest way to get sketches done.

 

In a way, we're a professional safe haven for collectors.

[AKA Rick]

The best way for an artist to control the situation if they don't like it is to:

 

1) Don't take advance lists prior to the show, meaning nobody with press, dealer, exhibitor badges before the show doors open. I know many artists already do this.

 

2) Don't do commissions in sequential order of "first come first served", cherry pick through the list on what characters they (the artist) wants to do, since it is a creative process and they should feel inspired or motivated anyway. This also gives the artist an "easy out" to reject/refuse, professionally and politely any requests from people or of subject matter they quite frankly don't feel like dealing with. It also gives them the liberty to hook-up fans they feel are deserving who don't have the time to wake up early to stand in line, wait and rush to see an artist, but are nonetheless still huge fans.

 

3) Insist on personalizing the artwork (Tony Moore of "The Walking Dead" does this) with dedications. If a fan is a true fan, it's an added bonus. I do understand some true fans don't want their name on the piece, and others may want the ability to resell a piece if it turns out sub-par to their expectations (and it does happen, and the should rightfully so, be able to sell a commission they paid $300 for, for less or more and whatever the market can bear), so in those cases maybe the artist charges a premium for "unpersonalized" signatures (so this concept is also transferable to signing comics too).

 

4) Insist on taking a photograph of the finished piece with the recipient, so then they can at least identify who is reselling the art they do, so they can have a point of reference to then decide if they want to continue doing commissions for that person in the future or not.

 

5) Don't do convention commissions or sketches at all. If it's such a source of grief and stress, just stop.

 

6) Become a competitor to those resellers, and artists should start their own eBay accounts and selling direct to consumers via auctions before conventions as well as throughout the year.

 

I know this is a big issue for certain artists who do want to charge minimal fees for fans to get a souvenir from their convention experience and want to please as many fans as possible. So, I do get it that those who do this as a business are effectively ruining what was intended by the artists to be a goodwill gesture. I think the resellers are what ruined the convention experiences of getting free sketches and affordable commissions, since the left artists paranoid of exploitation and also are wolves in fan-sheep's clothing hogging up the lines and lists, taking away opportunities from the fans.

 

It's hard to ignore there are entrepreneurs out there and there's nothing wrong, illegal or immoral about doing that, so long as they're forthright and not doing the whole "I'm your biggest fan" and lie, cheat, steal into opportunities bringing friends, kids, etc to get more than their fair share or taking away other peoples opportunities. It's the artists right to refuse service to any customer. I know the artists and fans talk and point fingers at certain, as they call 'em "flippers" who are known to go in for the sole purpose of reselling, so within the community, there is a blacklist.

 

However, keeping in mind, there are some artists who quite frankly do not care about the profiteering nor having any hard feelings about it. They simply set their prices and are happy with what they receive and need the money to supplement their income.

 

Some artists have a hard time just getting a single request or filling their commission list, so they don't have any concerns for reselling.

 

Some may in fact think the reselling is good for them since it creates a benchmark of valuation and a certain increase demand if auctions close high. I believe that's what happened with Neal Adams and why/how he went from doing free sketches to then personalizing them and charging as high as he does now, figuring to offer them up at what the eBay resellers were getting, so it gave resellers no incentive to buy to resell since the profit margins were effectively eliminated. I think that's how commission prices went from under $50 to $100 to $200 to $300 and now it's commonplace at $500 (or more) for some of the mid/top level artists at conventions.

 

Some artists are charging for their signature autographs too. I'd say to that, an artist could have a policy of assigning a limit to the number of books, maybe qualify that with "no multiple copies/duplicates" and also the autograph is free if personalized and if unpersonalized each signature is at $x rate whether that goes to a charity or into their pockets.