What Keeps You from Buying a Piece 5X Your Normal Budget - Aside from Money? 1 1

[PhilipB2k17]

Well, I assume you mean "What keeps you from buying a piece of art you REALLY LIKE, that is 5X your budget, aside from money?" Correct? Because if I don't like the art, then the price is irrelevant.

In my case, it would probably be if there is another piece or pieces that I like equally as much, or even more, that I can get for the same money or less. For example, if the piece in question was, say $25,000, and my normal budget is $5000*, would I rather spend the $25,000 on that one piece or on 5 pieces I like just as much, if not more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Purely for purposes of illustration. 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 12/2/2023 at 5:01 PM, malvin said:

For the longest time I had a mental block spending more than $500 on comic art (this was during the days of a decent cover being $500'ish). The mental block was just an internal limitation, as I would have no problem spending $1,000 if it was 10 $100 pages.

I don't really know how I broke it, but I think once I accepted that it was ok to spend more than $500 on one piece it wasn't a problem. These days I still have a comfort zone (e.g. up to $5K) but have spent more than that when it was meaningful to me.

Malvin

I had a similar mental block. I broke it when I realized that the pages I really wanted were out of reach at the price point I set in my head, and that I could probably afford more. 

[Sideshow Bob]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:13 PM, Kryptic1 said:

The few times I’ve gone well above my normal price range I’ve found that my enjoyment of the art doesn’t increase in proportion to the cost.  It would be tough for me to find a piece I would enjoy more than five smaller pieces for the same price.

Living in a Manhattan apartment, display space is at a premium. So for something to make it up on the wall, it has to be pretty damn good. Unfortunately, my idea of "pretty damn good" is widely shared, so I've had to go to that 5x well a couple times to get display-worthy pieces. But since I get to see those pieces every day, rather than the pieces that are stuck in a portfolio on a shelf, I get infinitely more enjoyment from the pieces that I had to pay up for and which represented a new price point plateau for me. The pieces in my portfolios are pretty much in a holding pattern of getting framed with a paired piece (a related splash/cover/interior to be found someday...) or destined for the auction block or private sale.  I'm more likely to buy a 5x piece of high quality once a year than 5 cheaper pieces throughout the course of the year.

Bob

[Bronty]

Limiting oneself arbitrarily to a really low number is one way to end up buying a buncha krap you'll just resell later.

[Will_K]

I've thought about the original question.  My interpretation is: other than price, what would stop me from paying 5X my original (theoretical) budget for a single piece ?

I've recently gone about 5X what I thought would be a reasonable and/or high auction closing price.  For me, as the bidding went higher and higher, my only consideration was that something similar or better (from the same book) could be gotten for less. 

But, the bidding also blew past 2X, 3X and 4X.  So there you go.  And yes, I won it.

As has been mentioned, there was a spill over Jim Lee X-Men -> Jim Lee Batman -> Jim Lee Superman.  In previous topics there was a similar spill over re: Ditko Spidey -> Romita Spidey -> Andru Spidey.  I get it.  But those wouldn't have applied in my situation.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Will_K
(from the same book)

[Twanj]

What made me make a 5X purchase was that I loved it and had to have it.

I've since come up to that limit 3 times for other purchases, but haven't really gone over for a single piece. But have gone 1/3 over for 2 covers at once.

I've been thinking about some others but I don't quite love them enough yet

[Michael Browning]

You never regret the pieces you buy, but you sure do regret the ones you don’t buy so go big.

[dirtymartini1]

Great question. I’ll have to ask my brother and get back to you.

[gumbydarnit]

On 12/5/2023 at 3:21 AM, dirtymartini1 said:

Great question. I’ll have to ask my brother and get back to you.

My brother said market dynamics have now changed, the piece you want is now 10x.

Edited December 5, 2023 by gumbydarnit

[christosgage]

Depends what you mean by "aside from money". If money isn't a factor because I'm rich, then nothing! I'll take it. If you're wondering what other factors are involved, yeah, it's about what else I could do with that money. Not just what other art I could buy (though that's part of it) but could I take a trip, buy a new car (mine's 15 years old), contribute to a retirement fund, and for those who have kids (not me) there are a whole new bunch of considerations. Now, if my budget is $500 and I come across a piece I really love for $2500, I might try to find a way to swing it. But if my budget is 5K and I see a piece for 25K it's not gonna happen. It's like when I was a student and had no money at all and the Kirby estate was selling his 70s art for $200-250 a page. I knew it was a great buy. I loved the art. But it might as well have been a million.

[eastbayrudy]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:30 AM, Xatari said:

After several years of squeezing every dollar into comic art, this year I finally purchased a few other toys that brought joy to my everyday life in the form or two new guitars.  During the pandemic I sold a lot of my guitar collection and even a 90s Acura NSX in order to move all funds into art.  I don't regret it for a second, but I also decided to take a breath and recoup some of the things I gave up along the way.  

Wow you got rid of an NSX! That is still my dream car till this day! 

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/4/2023 at 10:04 AM, Bronty said:

Limiting oneself arbitrarily to a really low number is one way to end up buying a buncha krap you'll just resell later.

I'd like to add:

IF you can resell later.

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:24 AM, christosgage said:

Now, if my budget is $500 and I come across a piece I really love for $2500, I might try to find a way to swing it. But if my budget is 5K and I see a piece for 25K it's not gonna happen.

I think for the most part money is somewhat relative. A typical scenario is the guy who can spend $500 likely has the same percentage of disposable income as the guy who can spend $2500 - it's just a matter of one's economic scale compared to another. The guys spending $25k on a piece aren't forgoing other expenditures to pay for it and put them in the poorhouse for a year, they just have a larger influx of money to work with - so they can buy a piece of art and still keep their powder dry.

The curiosity I have is when you're just peeking out from your normal limit. Let's say the money is mostly there. The desire is there. But what keeps people from pulling the trigger? Thinking it's overpriced? Out of their comfort zone? Are they buying at the top of the bubble or is there room to grow? Or even inexperience in buying art that is outside their typical budget?

[shadroch]

You are doing it all wrong.  The idea is to find great pieces at 1/5th your budget, not 5X it.

 

[FlyingDonut]

Its just money. You can always get more.

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:47 PM, shadroch said:

You are doing it all wrong.  The idea is to find great pieces at 1/5th your budget, not 5X it.

If my budget is $1000 and the goal is to find a great piece for $200, not $5000 - that's actually quite easy. It might not be of the same artist, or the same publication, or the same level of quality or detail, or the same character or the same vintage as what I'm looking for - but it'll be a great $200 piece of art. I've done that often, but sometimes you want to find a certain piece by a certain artist, perhaps even published in a certain era - and that's where the question comes in.

[vodou]

On 12/7/2023 at 12:10 PM, Dr. Balls said:

...but sometimes you want to find a certain piece by a certain artist, perhaps even published in a certain era - and that's where the question comes in.

[Will_K]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:07 AM, FlyingDonut said:

Its just money. You can always get more.

I think I've referenced this a few times.  I once attended an auction of "unclaimed" properties (e.g. rugs, furniture, prints, tabletop statues, etc) at a hotel.  A few times, the auctioneer said something like "you'll never make a rug but you can always make more money".  It was a great way to rationalize one's spending.

[shadroch]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:10 AM, Dr. Balls said:

If my budget is $1000 and the goal is to find a great piece for $200, not $5000 - that's actually quite easy. It might not be of the same artist, or the same publication, or the same level of quality or detail, or the same character or the same vintage as what I'm looking for - but it'll be a great $200 piece of art. I've done that often, but sometimes you want to find a certain piece by a certain artist, perhaps even published in a certain era - and that's where the question comes in.

If your budget is $1,000 and you want to spend $5,000, figure out what $4,000 worth of spending will you cut.  What are you willing to sacrifice for the near future?

In the end, it's just bookkeeping. Maybe move a couple of minor pieces to fund part of it.

[Dr. Balls]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:25 AM, shadroch said:

If your budget is $1,000 and you want to spend $5,000, figure out what $4,000 worth of spending will you cut.  What are you willing to sacrifice for the near future?

In the end, it's just bookkeeping. Maybe move a couple of minor pieces to fund part of it.

Yeah! Exactly! I do have a plan like that in place for just the right piece - and you’re right: it is just a matter of bookkeeping when you go beyond the budget. Cut back here and there to give yourself the extra you need.