Trading is the most fun aspect of original art hobby

[matewan1990]

Do many of you ever make trades? And, if so, what do you think about trading in comparison to buying original art?

I'm curious what other art collectors have to say, because I love the art of a trade. I started buying art a little over five years ago and purchased quite a few nice pieces. I ended up trading those pieces for bigger and better art and, in turn, traded those pieces for bigger and better art. Now, I'm not saying I burn people, just that I've been able to take a few smaller pieces and traded them for larger pieces and in almost every trade, both parties have been extremely happy with what they got.

I just finished a trade deal to get my Jim Aparo World's Finest cover.

My favorite comic art dealers/collectors with which I make trades are Jim Cardillo, Jim Woodall, Tom Fleming, Will Gabri-El and Mike Burkey. These guys are all great to deal with and each trade has been very pleasant.

Guys like those make these deals so much fun.

I've actually found pieces of art that I thought were grails, then, after I get them, the trading itch takes over and I end up letting the grails go for something else I want.

Do any of you like to trade?

[Sharkey]

It depends on the pieces involved. But if they have something you want, and you have something they want, why not trade?

 

I do like to trade instead of pay cash, especially for big ticket items. The part I find difficult is letting something go!

 

Trading straight up and partial cash/partial trade deals are very, very common in the art community.

[micmack]

Being new to the art "worth" game, I would have a hard time finding a value to go by. I've seen a number of ads with "trade/offers" but I wouldn't know what to offer (other than a cover most likely would start at 1 grand and up).

[spider9698]

When I first started collecting, many dealers and collectors would only give up their piece with partial trade. It made things difficult as I was starting with nothing in my own collection. Over time, as I started accumulating pieces, it made doing deals much easier. That being said, often times cash will get a NFS (not for sale) piece to become available. As my friend says: "Cash is king"

[fable]

I remember seeing an Original art price guide in a store once - how are the prices estimated? For individual one of a kind piece, it really is hard to judge worth. Are there any obvious guidelines, maybe by specific artist or time period? If one artist does a great page 8 and a lesser page 9, is it worth half, a third, or is it really an individual assesment between seller and potential buyer?

[matewan1990]

Being new to the art "worth" game, I would have a hard time finding a value to go by. I've seen a number of ads with "trade/offers" but I wouldn't know what to offer (other than a cover most likely would start at 1 grand and up).

 

Most experienced dealers know what certain artists' work sells for and most are very nice when it comes to give estimates on your art. But, beware — many dealers will tell you a price and then jack up that price to double and triple the amount after they've acquired the art from you for pennies. So, if you want values that are accurate, find two or three dealers you buy from and ask for their honest opinions. However, it's not always a good idea to ask the dealers with whom you are trading. And covers don't command $1K and up all the time. I found a Jonah Hex cover from an artist recently and he sold it and the splash to that issue to me for way less than $1000. Covers from the 1980s are fairly cheap and 1990s covers are very cheap, unless you're buying Frank Millers or Jim Lees or Todd McFarlanes. But, look for 1980s covers to take a jump just like the 1970s covers did. As the kids of the 1980s get older and have more disposable income, we tend to buy things we fondly remember, much like the children of the 1970s are doing. Eventually, it'll also happen to the 1990s covers and so on...

You should look at dealers' web sites to get an accurate estimate on your art.

[Sharkey]

I remember seeing an Original art price guide in a store once - how are the prices estimated? For individual one of a kind piece, it really is hard to judge worth. Are there any obvious guidelines, maybe by specific artist or time period? If one artist does a great page 8 and a lesser page 9, is it worth half, a third, or is it really an individual assesment between seller and potential buyer?

 

I found that comic art price guide to be worthless. It's a great idea, but it's old news by the time it's printed and the current prices paid for art, as well as some artists getting hot or cooling off aren't reflected. I believe Weist tried to gauge it by the Sotheby's auctions and other reported auctions.

 

I'd buy Kirby and Ditko pages, covers, and splashes all day long at the prices quoted in that guide.

 

Part of the problem with a price guide for art is that there is only one of each page, cover, splash, etc. And because each page is dramatically different in its composition, it's nearly impossible to put a "price" on art in general. You can say "Kirby FF splash pages sell for ____$" but believe me there's going to be a big difference between the splash page for FF 5, 25 or 26, or 31, or 92. Same goes for interior pages.

 

And to make it complicated, all it takes is two collectors who REALLY want the same page to bid something up to a crazy price. You can't extrapolate a trend based on that because each page is one of a kind and may sell for a lot of money if it has sentimental value to a couple of collectors.

 

With one of a kind art pieces, it really is a case of the piece being worth whatever another person is willing to pay for it.

[heartened]

Trading is very common in the original art market partly because we, as collectors, hate letting go of our art. If we're going to let a hand-picked, one-of-a-kind piece leave our collection, we oftentimes want to get another one-of-a-kind piece as part of the deal. After all, if we just wanted cash, we wouldn't have been buying/collecting all this stuff in the first place.

 

Now, this statement works mainly for collectors, but I'm sure for many dealers cash is truly still king. That's because a dealer may not be attached to the piece for any sentimental/personal reason. But, if you're a collector and someone wants to get something out of your personal collection, their best bet is to tempt you with something else that's equally nice. And, that something else usually isn't cash unless it's an insane amount of cash.

 

Best,

[comicartfan]

I agree with alot of what is being said. I had that problem of when i was starting out in OA that I had nothing to trade. Then when i accumlated some pieces, i found myself trading towards bigger pieces....or having to sell those pieces in order to buy the others....same thing. Either way, whether i am trading or selling to buy, i am having to give something up that maybe i really don't want to....

 

I have run into a situation where now i don't want to sell anything or trade anything in order to get other pieces. i have "cleaned" up my collection and I have been buying items that i have to intention of selling....