July 5 Dealmakers of Comic Art SUMMARY 3 3

[Twanj]

11 minutes ago, John E. said:

My observations seem to confirm this. I’ve seen stale inventory from one dealer move to another dealer’s site (likely due to trade) with a new markup, then, sold. It’s like they have a different audience, or someone is more comfortable buying from one dealer or another. Or maybe it’s their “marketing” reach. Will Gabri-el somewhat talks about this in one of the early CAF shows. 

Right, we 100% know it happens. And there's nothing wrong with that, people should be informed buyers tho.

We've seen other dealers buying outright from RomitaMan & Anthony on Dueling Dealers so those were good enough "deals" to resell.

And then you can see unsold inventory shift from one dealer to another. For instance, something I was recently following from Anthony for X was going unsold on ebay and popped up on Moy's site for 1.5X (still unsold).

I don't think we've seen dealers buying from the Dealmakers yet? But I've only skimmed thru some episodes.

 

PS - great summary @Race, thanks!

Edited July 7, 2021 by Twanj

[vodou]

59 minutes ago, Twanj said:

How does dealer to dealer "trade" (?) work?

"Art" is an unregulated market. I'm not advocating* for or against that, just the way it is.

For the smart folks this means: caveat emptor.

For the rest? Open your wallets wide (suckahs)!

 

Now to the question above: No regulation = no title or chain of custody exists for any of this stuff, except transaction receipts and bank records where they exist and are retained.

"Trade"...how big a pile of "transaction receipts and bank records" do you think there is for this "activity"? Yeah. In the absence of made-public financials and third-party audits, I'm going to suggest both Occam's Razor and the unattractive friction of IRS reporting and payments may apply here and leave it at that. With all this in mind...why would anybody ever think the legal ownership for any of these dealer-to-"dealer" trades ever really changes, not the onesies here and there but in the aggregate, particularly among the "volume" folks, so much "trading" (scans moving from one site to another, to another, to another, for years?) and so little "selling" (a financial transaction that leaves a paper trail of some kind, even if it's only a financial institution withdrawal to "cash" and then that cash is not re-deposited later back into that same originating account) that results in those same pieces being subsequently posted with pride on CAF or somewhere on social media by unaffiliated (with the "dealers") parties.

Think I'm a skeptic? Well yes I am. Caveat emptor.

 

*this is really just for @bluechip  

[Superhero]

Well done summary.  Seems like they are just testing the waters to offload inventory that is subpar.  It's the same collector(s) each time buying pieces and at least one recently appeared on a rival show....coincidence or are these the only collectors that are actually buying?   

Edited July 7, 2021 by Superhero

[artdealer]

2 hours ago, Twanj said:

I'm not familiar with their collecting habits but is anyone buying art for themselves to enjoy like me?

Seems like a ton of "recycling" and shell game going on.

No, more like the mating habits of black widows. 

[artdealer]

1 hour ago, Twanj said:

I don't think we've seen dealers buying from the Dealmakers yet? But I've only skimmed thru some episodes.

 

PS - great summary @Race

That you know of. 
But I’m sure there are shills bidding, or “claiming” for dealers. 
Myself excluded. 

[Unstoppablejayd]

3 hours ago, John E. said:

My observations seem to confirm this. I’ve seen stale inventory from one dealer move to another dealer’s site (likely due to trade) with a new markup, then, sold. It’s like they have a different audience, or someone is more comfortable buying from one dealer or another. Or maybe it’s their “marketing” reach. Will Gabri-el somewhat talks about this in one of the early CAF shows. 

They 100% have different audiences as well as buyers comfort levels with each.  I know plenty of OA collectors that will not deal with Dealer A for whatever slight or transgression happened but have no problem buying from another... so move the stuff around and it may sell . I also know for myself there are just to many places you need to look for stuff.. Heck I missed that piece from @artdealer because I do not frequent his site as much as others... Now I am bumping mitch to the top of the heap! (After I close on the house lets talk a decent FM piece!)

[artdealer]

7 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

They 100% have different audiences as well as buyers comfort levels with each.  I know plenty of OA collectors that will not deal with Dealer A for whatever slight or transgression happened but have no problem buying from another... so move the stuff around and it may sell . I also know for myself there are just to many places you need to look for stuff.. Heck I missed that piece from @artdealer because I do not frequent his site as much as others... Now I am bumping mitch to the top of the heap! (After I close on the house lets talk a decent FM piece!)

We can talk about Miller art possibly next year. 
No more for sale this year. 

[Unstoppablejayd]

1 hour ago, artdealer said:

We can talk about Miller art possibly next year. 
No more for sale this year. 

ok... Thanks for the update

[mtlevy1]

Cool Recap!

The FF page was a Thing "Clobberin' Time" page so was tempting...

There were about 100 - 150 people watching the last dealmakers

One plus was it was fast - entire show with recap was just over an hour

Last month, they had a better show where I picked up a low-end Sook page from Glen with Batman and a Byrne Hulk 319 page with some awesome inked sketches on the back from Bechera so I watch all the shows...never know what might pop up.

I do wonder why folks don't bring more "A-" art and just price it strong and see what happens...

Mark

Edited July 7, 2021 by mtlevy1
Added

[vodou]

15 minutes ago, Bill C said:

all the art