Coollinesartwork Questions

[AKA Rick]

Pretend the pieces they have for sale simply don't exist, and just walk away and move on.

[Terry Doyle]

When I first started collecting OA they had 2 panel pages from a book I was trying to put together. The price they gave me was perhaps 30-40% higher than other pages from the book that I'd bought elsewhere. I gladly paid their asking price. They weren't significant pages to anyone except me, and they weren't particularly expensive. I'm confident that the 2 pages have more of less doubled in value since then... Not that I have any intention of selling them.

 

More recently I inquired about a few other pages that had been languishing on their website for a few years, and I experienced their wildly inflated pricing. The prices they quoted were so far out of whack it was beyond humorous. It actually angered me.

 

I then inquired about doing a trade and was offered about 50% of the market value of the pages I offered in trade.

 

I replied with a very fair counter offer - knowing full well that it would be rejected - at which point they simply ceased all communication with me. No reply to that email, or to any subsequent emails. Radio silence.

 

Last time I entered into exploratory talks with Steve Donnelly was a few months ago. He had a piece of art I was interested in that, a year earlier, had appeared on Mike Burkey's site priced about $8,500 (and Mike's no shrinking violet when it comes to asking top dollar). Steve was now expecting $30,000 for the art. No big surprise to me, here, only a feeling of self-disgust on my behalf for being so stupid as to 'enquire'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[staffman]

I only inquired about a piece once from them. It was a nice cover and they wanted trade only for it, but I asked anyway if they would take cash and was quoted $8950 for it. The cover price was over twice what every other dealer would have charged for it so I passed. I always thought that the price was weird too. How do you come to $8950? Is that supposed to fool me like the grocery stores try to do with their $3.99 pricing to get people to believe it's lower than $4?

 

Anyway, I've always had a bit of a mistrust of people who don't post prices for things they are selling. Too used car salesman for me. I'm glad that I was seeing everyone's advice for these guys before I started getting too stupid with my money and them.

 

So I saw Sean did some price discovery with them as well as Terry and others, but has anyone sealed a deal with them? Did you immediately regret it afterwords or are you good with what transpired?

[koollectablz]

The only time I inquired about an item I was quoted a price that was so far out of whack i genuinely thought he'd made a mistake with the decimal place.

 

They also lied direct to my face about the piece being 'restored' by re-adding margins that had previously been trimmed by the owner when he was younger. Even when i sent back the link to the CAF page where it's shown trimmed and the owner describes doing it.

 

So yea.... Avoid. Any piece they have that you want, its best to just assume, like others have said, that its been destroyed in a fire or whatnot.

[vodou]

...has anyone sealed a deal with them? Did you immediately regret it afterwords or are you good with what transpired?

I did. All cash, no trade deal.

 

It took near three years start to finish mostly due to non-responsiveness on their part and quibbling over PayPal fees. (There was no way I was sending them a check, money order or friends/family gift payment.) With any other professional dealer this thing could have been hammered out, paid, and shipped for within 48 hours. At the time ING was promoting those absurdly high interest rate savings accounts to build expand customer base. I made double the PP fees in interest during the excruciating stretch between agreeing on a price and nailing down payment terms. Absolutely every aspect of the transaction was painful, frustrating and overly expensive in their favor. The packing was criminally careless (on a close to 5k purchase) and I'm lucky the art arrived at all and in good shape.

 

Never again.

 

Never ever again.

 

As long as I live.

[Sideshow Bob]

...has anyone sealed a deal with them? Did you immediately regret it afterwords or are you good with what transpired?

 

I overpaid and knew it going in. But I bundled a couple pages that I knew were overpriced. Got the price moved from somewhere near criminal to just wildly outlandish. Negotiations took about three weeks.

 

Packing wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.

 

Very happy with the pieces (couple of Newton Batman pages with Deadshot and Penguin) that I just couldn't seem to unearth anywhere else.

 

I guess what was actually shocking was that a bunch of pages/covers (including ones he recently picked up) that I inquired about were sold. So he is moving inventory, just at a snail's pace but with what seems to be awesome per-piece margins.

 

I would deal with him again, knowing it was going to be painful, but eyes wide open.

[Matches_Malone]

...has anyone sealed a deal with them? Did you immediately regret it afterwords or are you good with what transpired?

 

 

I have as well...over 10 years ago. Items were over priced, but I was able to do a bundle deal for 5 pieces, all cash, no trades, and it worked out OK. No regrets whatsoever.

 

I've inquire about other pieces since then, but never came to an agreement. Its hard to work something out when you are so far part in price.

 

However, I have found that some prelims are price quite fairly.

 

 

 

[J.Sid]

I've done one deal with them. Went surprisingly smooth and I think it was fair for both parties.

 

About a dozen other attempts have all ended after the price inquiry phase though.

 

They have some amazing stuff, and they really don't "need" to sell anything.

 

[Terry Doyle]

They have some amazing stuff, and they really don't "need" to sell anything.

 

It certainly appears that way, though it seems a little strange that (to all intents and purposes) he offers artwork out for sale (whether via his web-site, eBay offerings, or CAF listings). If it's never going to be realistically priced, why bother?

 

Sure, he has some amazing stuff, but there are too many other outlets for quality OA that can prove less time-wasting and more realistic to pursue.

 

Most of my past discussions with Steve have been initiated by him (usually with regard to items from my own collection that he wants me to trade away). Even with trade involved, I've found his expectations to be totally unrealistic.

[vodou]

If it's never going to be realistically priced, why bother?

I can think of two excellent and intertwined reasons:

 

1. Many people run small businesses "at a loss" to deduct those losses against their other highly taxed income and/or gains. So all the eBay fees, table and room charges, travel expenses, mileage, all tax deductible. Probably the phones, internet, home "office" too. And anything else you can get away without being audited. Never have to "make" even $1 of profit either, though you would be tempting the audit if you did this perpetually as a loser. To do this, all one has to do is establish a "business" not a hobby (as defined by the amount of activity you do, clearly taking SDCC tables and flying to Comic Art Con in NJ qualifies), file returns as a sole-proprietor and start tallying the deductions. This works for Federal taxes but also sky high CA state taxes too. I'm sure the math is very attractive.

2. And then, taking the above into account, be available to make deals but only when they're so lopsided in your favor you'd be a damn fool not to

And that very occasional activity justifies #1 to the taxmen. Bonus: All the trades...fly under the radar.

[Terry Doyle]

Interesting angle, never gave that idea any thought before.

[Terry Doyle]

Anyone know what, exactly, Steve Donnelly does for a living outside of his OA shenanigans?

 

Loan shark, perhaps?

 

[comix4fun]

Anyone know what, exactly, Steve Donnelly does for a living outside of his OA shenanigans?

 

Loan shark, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

We should probably ask his brother.

[staffman]

If it's never going to be realistically priced, why bother?

I can think of two excellent and intertwined reasons:

 

1. Many people run small businesses "at a loss" to deduct those losses against their other highly taxed income and/or gains. So all the eBay fees, table and room charges, travel expenses, mileage, all tax deductible. Probably the phones, internet, home "office" too. And anything else you can get away without being audited. Never have to "make" even $1 of profit either, though you would be tempting the audit if you did this perpetually as a loser. To do this, all one has to do is establish a "business" not a hobby (as defined by the amount of activity you do, clearly taking SDCC tables and flying to Comic Art Con in NJ qualifies), file returns as a sole-proprietor and start tallying the deductions. This works for Federal taxes but also sky high CA state taxes too. I'm sure the math is very attractive.

2. And then, taking the above into account, be available to make deals but only when they're so lopsided in your favor you'd be a damn fool not to

And that very occasional activity justifies #1 to the taxmen. Bonus: All the trades...fly under the radar.

 

Jesus....

 

Guess I need to start my own business. Anyone interested in stick figure drawings?

[Terry Doyle]

Anyone know what, exactly, Steve Donnelly does for a living outside of his OA shenanigans?

 

Loan shark, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

We should probably ask his brother.

 

What for . . . interest rates?

[comix4fun]

Anyone know what, exactly, Steve Donnelly does for a living outside of his OA shenanigans?

 

Loan shark, perhaps?

 

 

 

 

We should probably ask his brother.

 

What for . . . interest rates?

 

 

Usually any question posed to them results in the response of having to ask the other brother.

[vodou]

Jesus....

 

Guess I need to start my own business. Anyone interested in stick figure drawings?

Clear it all with an accountant (of course), but if you do go this route or a variation...you can deduct a lot of your collecting/fannish "lifestyle" from your regular W-2 income that would otherwise be taxed at 100% (less usual 1040 deductions). If you subscribe (or even casually buy, save your receipts!) to comic art magazines, comics, order art books from Amazon, eBay, computers, software, CAF premium fee, supplies if you're an artist, etc etc etc...anything that's in service of "the business" is deductible, whether you're profitable or not. Stuff you're probably buying now anyway with no tax break. Just make a fair effort to sell some stuff (list on eBay with high prices, deduct the listing fees) or take a $50 table at the occasional Holiday Inn one day show...and you're off to the races. And who knows, maybe you'll even make some money too!

[Kevn]

Jesus....

 

Guess I need to start my own business. Anyone interested in stick figure drawings?

Clear it all with an accountant (of course), but if you do go this route or a variation...you can deduct a lot of your collecting/fannish "lifestyle" from your regular W-2 income that would otherwise be taxed at 100% (less usual 1040 deductions). If you subscribe (or even casually buy, save your receipts!) to comic art magazines, comics, order art books from Amazon, eBay, computers, software, CAF premium fee, supplies if you're an artist, etc etc etc...anything that's in service of "the business" is deductible, whether you're profitable or not. Stuff you're probably buying now anyway with no tax break. Just make a fair effort to sell some stuff (list on eBay with high prices, deduct the listing fees) or take a $50 table at the occasional Holiday Inn one day show...and you're off to the races. And who knows, maybe you'll even make some money too!

 

You cannot run a business at a loss for more than a couple of years. I forget the exact number of years, but if you claim a hobby as a business, and write off expenses, you MUST show a profit within (I think) 3 years or you have to go back and pay the taxes you avoided. If you're in the art field, AND if you get 1099's, then you can deduct a hell of a lot of stuff. I work in animation, so I deduct like a demon when I work as an independent contractor. However, I cannot deduct nearly as much when my income is all on w-2s as an employee (technically, you can only deduct expenses that your employer expects of you but for which they will not pay). The IRS has strict rules about this stuff.

 

People get away with a lot at lower income levels, but I suggest doing some serious research before you go this route unless you want to roll the dice on a painful audit.

[vodou]

You cannot run a business at a loss for more than a couple of years.

Clear it all with an accountant (of course).

[DocR]

I've done deals with them. Always paid a healthy price and got the art I wanted. I would say that at the time that art that seemed double market value has appreicated to the point where it is now a gain. Obviously you can't buy stuff over market value and expect to not lose money but I find if you buy quallity you will usually be ok especially if you plan for longterm holding.