Comic Art Live May 2024 3 3

[Matches_Malone]

On 5/12/2024 at 6:49 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Anyone know what the highest prices paid were yet? A lot of expensive stuff seems to remain unsold.

Top Six. But Im sure prices were negotiated to a lesser amount. 

 

[Matches_Malone]

On 5/12/2024 at 6:49 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Anyone know what the highest prices paid were yet? A lot of expensive stuff seems to remain unsold.

Which means they will try to sell them at a higher price the next time around.

[Andahaion]

On 5/12/2024 at 5:05 PM, Fischb1 said:

You cut out the part where I told you I already had a higher offer. You offered me 5250 on a piece that I already have a 6k offer on.

Also, when you sent me your calculation based on what I paid and what you think it should go for (which is a weird way to try to buy something that belongs to someone else), you failed to include the taxes and shipping and extra fee I paid (by paying comiclink with a credit card). So, in all, you offered me 5250 on a piece I paid nearly 4700 for.

I didn’t intend any malice or ill will, apologies if you were offended.  To this point I didn’t mention you or the page, and tried to keep it generic enough to just convey my perspective.  Negotiating online can be difficult/challenging.  I wish when I made an offer based on what I honestly believed to be the selling price from last December that I had a better understanding of all the fees (i.e., credit card fees, tax, shipping, etc).  If you’re all in is actually closer to $4700-$4800 then I would have likely offered closer to $6k; and then maybe going over the top of the $6k offer you had.  My thinking was really nothing more than trying to give a seller a grand more on a piece that sold five months ago (based on my understanding).  That’s all.  Then again, I can also see how you may have quickly dismissed my offer (and not gotten into the details) as perhaps a ‘lowball’ offer, which maybe it was.  But again, that was not my intent.  Thank you. 

[Fischb1]

On 5/12/2024 at 10:01 PM, Andahaion said:

I didn’t intend any malice or ill will, apologies if you were offended.  To this point I didn’t mention you or the page, and tried to keep it generic enough to just convey my perspective.  Negotiating online can be difficult/challenging.  I wish when I made an offer based on what I honestly believed to be the selling price from last December that I had a better understanding of all the fees (i.e., credit card fees, tax, shipping, etc).  If you’re all in is actually closer to $4700-$4800 then I would have likely offered closer to $6k; and then maybe going over the top of the $6k offer you had.  My thinking was really nothing more than trying to give a seller a grand more on a piece that sold five months ago (based on my understanding).  That’s all.  Then again, I can also see how you may have quickly dismissed my offer (and not gotten into the details) as perhaps a ‘lowball’ offer, which maybe it was.  But again, that was not my intent.  Thank you. 

I appreciated your offer (and all offers)! We're all working with different budgets and price-points and we all value pages in different ways. I didn't take it in any negative way and thought it was a positive interaction. It's just when I saw your post on here that I switched into defensive mode. I should have just let it be. No hard feelings and I hope all is well! 

[Dr. Balls]

On 5/12/2024 at 4:04 PM, Fischb1 said:

Yes! I sold 4 pages. And I'm sad to see each of them go. But I'm putting it all towards a bigger purchase!

I’m looking forward to seeing what this eventual piece will be. 

On another note, I saw the classic Grifter/Shi artwork at $20k, but only on the recap video - did anyone happen to see who the seller was? I can’t find it now that the event is over, would love to see an image of that on CAF.

[Benedict Judas Hel]

Well, now that CAF Live is over, I can offer my personal experience.  There were about half a dozen items that interested me (but not enough to pay the posted asking price) and saved them for later hoping that a seller would reach out for a possible deal.  Alas, none did.  But that didn’t really matter as I was able to secure a piece I really wanted out right!  It was a piece that was more expensive than what I usually pay for examples from the same series but it was actually 2 consecutive pages (concerning the same character) and it was from someone I had bought from before and always love doing business with (Fisch B.!).  He was gracious enough to accept timed payments in order for me to be able acquire these pages as well as offering me a discounted price at the same time!  He has done more to increase my personal collection than any other single person.  Thanks again, Fisch!

Edited May 13 by Benedict Judas Hel

[BVladimirHarkonnen]

Picked up a Toth I had seen a time ago and lost track of, wanted a nice example for a while and this was pretty neat. 

[Grant Turner]

Bought a fun carmine infantino Nova page for $300!  Happy to have it

[Fischb1]

On 5/12/2024 at 11:00 PM, Benedict Judas Hel said:

Well, now that CAF Live is over, I can offer my personal experience.  There were about half a dozen items that interested me (but not enough to pay the posted asking price) and saved them for later hoping that a seller would reach out for a possible deal.  Alas, none did.  But that didn’t really matter as I was able to secure a piece I really wanted out right!  It was piece that was more expensive than what I usually pay for examples from the same series but it was actually 2 consecutive pages (concerning the same character) and it was from someone I had bought from before and always love doing business with (Fisch B.!).  He was gracious enough to accept timed payments in order for me to be able acquire these pages as well as offering me a discounted price at the same time!  He has done more to increase my personal collection than any other single person.  Thanks again, Fisch!

Always a pleasure, Benedict! 

[RICKYBOBBY]

On 5/12/2024 at 8:24 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I’m looking forward to seeing what this eventual piece will be. 

On another note, I saw the classic Grifter/Shi artwork at $20k, but only on the recap video - did anyone happen to see who the seller was? I can’t find it now that the event is over, would love to see an image of that on CAF.

@AnkurJ

[Xatari]

On 5/12/2024 at 3:15 AM, Dr. Balls said:

It’s good to hear more people thinking like this.

I agree.  If true, it means, I can buy first appearance art for less.  Please send any first appearance art for sale my way.  Happy to take a look.  I am being 100% serious.

That said, I also believe the surge of first appearance collecting represents more of a shift in the collecting style of recent entrants to the hobby rather than a blip on the OA radar.  No need to yuck another's yum.

[pestonaccio]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:00 AM, Benedict Judas Hel said:

Well, now that CAF Live is over, I can offer my personal experience.  There were about half a dozen items that interested me (but not enough to pay the posted asking price) and saved them for later hoping that a seller would reach out for a possible deal.  Alas, none did.  But that didn’t really matter as I was able to secure a piece I really wanted out right!  It was piece that was more expensive than what I usually pay for examples from the same series but it was actually 2 consecutive pages (concerning the same character) and it was from someone I had bought from before and always love doing business with (Fisch B.!).  He was gracious enough to accept timed payments in order for me to be able acquire these pages as well as offering me a discounted price at the same time!  He has done more to increase my personal collection than any other single person.  Thanks again, Fisch!

I have sold two pieces and have the other 4 saved by many collectors.

how can I reach out to them? My booth is closed and the only options I can see are - leave a feedback, - see your emails, - my saved artwork. Am I missing something?

[John E.]

On 5/13/2024 at 1:29 AM, pestonaccio said:

I have sold two pieces and have the other 4 saved by many collectors.

how can I reach out to them? My booth is closed and the only options I can see are - leave a feedback, - see your emails, - my saved artwork. Am I missing something?

Click on “Leave Feedback.” At the top of the page you should see a site map with “Booth Setup” in red. Click on that and you should be taken to your booth. Your pieces should have a number with “saved” in red. Click on that and you should have access to sending the watchers an email. 

[MyNameIsLegion]

I watched most of Bill's CAL recap:  He admitted that Mother's Day weekend was not ideal, and was moved to that weekend to not conflict with another art show, but he won't do that again. I would also say he was competing with College Graduations on Saturday, and for the comic nerds that beat the odds and pro-created that was also a scheduling conflict. I know of at least one dealer that was juggling that. So Bill should stick to the next weekend, and if anyone else schedules a conflict, well too damn bad. 

• Some grumble that the site does not allow converting CAF classifieds into CAL listings. Well, that was by design, to keep it fresh, and I'm glad Bill pushed back on that. 
• He mentioned there is some way to go the other direction and convert the CAL listing to a classified. That might need a little FAQ, I know some aren't sure how. 
• Booths for sellers will stay up for 60 days before they are wiped.
• some of the improvements to the email notifications were in anticipation of the CAF Mobile app, with the intent  of that being live by the time CAL #10 roles around in November! That's huge.
• Saved sellers: It came up in the recap, but I think the site already saved sellers, and since the seller ID"s don't change, I had them marked as saved from previous CAL events. That was good for some, but annoying for others if they didn't participate (I had some saved with zero pieces in their booth) Maybe there needs to be an option to view previous saved sellers or not)

Some suggestions:

• Post con- or maybe End of Day 1 or Day 2- post an award for the Booths : Collectors and Dealers that sold the most art, to encourage them to actually sell stuff and close a deal. That then highlights they are a good seller worth watching.  You can have multiple categories: Most sales, highest sales, etc. this in turn encourages the sellers to not put Zero on the sold pieces (though that has gotten better, maybe 10 did that) 
• I think more could be done with the stats in general to highlight the most popular items in booths, most visiting booths, most popular searches etc. Make those real-time like they do in the main site. That builds a sense of urgency and excitement.
• Sunday Art Drop: Premium should have an hour early access like Saturday. It's not that hard to code.
• CAL sales should be part of CAF sales history feature.

I bought one piece from a long time Premium CAF member. We hadn't done a transaction in a dozen years although I always watch his gallery and he watches mine. I was pleased to make that one buy for that reason and pick up a cool SA page for a decent price for a character I've never had before that I had been coveting a representative piece. 

 

Edited May 13 by MyNameIsLegion

[pestonaccio]

On 5/13/2024 at 12:33 PM, John E. said:

Click on “Leave Feedback.” At the top of the page you should see a site map with “Booth Setup” in red. Click on that and you should be taken to your booth. Your pieces should have a number with “saved” in red. Click on that and you should have access to sending the watchers an email. 

You saved my life, thanks!!

[PhilipB2k17]

Here’s the irony. I didn’t find anything worth going after on CAL, but I did wind up cutting a deal on another page that wasn’t offered in CAL. 

I’m still working on the details, but I’m happy with it. 
 

 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 5/13/2024 at 6:49 AM, MyNameIsLegion said:

I watched most of Bill's CAL recap:  He admitted that Mother's Day weekend was not ideal, and was moved to that weekend to not conflict with another art show, but he won't do that again. I would also say he was competing with College Graduations on Saturday, and for the comic nerds that beat the odds and pro-created that was also a scheduling conflict. I know of at least one dealer that was juggling that. So Bill should stick to the next weekend, and if anyone else schedules a conflict, well too damn bad. 

• Some grumble that the site does not allow converting CAF classifieds into CAL listings. Well, that was by design, to keep it fresh, and I'm glad Bill pushed back on that. 
• He mentioned there is some way to go the other direction and convert the CAL listing to a classified. That might need a little FAQ, I know some aren't sure how. 
• Booths for sellers will stay up for 60 days before they are wiped.
• some of the improvements to the email notifications were in anticipation of the CAF Mobile app, with the intent  of that being live by the time CAL #10 roles around in November! That's huge.
• Saved sellers: It came up in the recap, but I think the site already saved sellers, and since the seller ID"s don't change, I had them marked as saved from previous CAL events. That was good for some, but annoying for others if they didn't participate (I had some saved with zero pieces in their booth) Maybe there needs to be an option to view previous saved sellers or not)

Some suggestions:

• Post con- or maybe End of Day 1 or Day 2- post an award for the Booths : Collectors and Dealers that sold the most art, to encourage them to actually sell stuff and close a deal. That then highlights they are a good seller worth watching.  You can have multiple categories: Most sales, highest sales, etc. this in turn encourages the sellers to not put Zero on the sold pieces (though that has gotten better, maybe 10 did that) 
• I think more could be done with the stats in general to highlight the most popular items in booths, most visiting booths, most popular searches etc. Make those real-time like they do in the main site. That builds a sense of urgency and excitement.
• Sunday Art Drop: Premium should have an hour early access like Saturday. It's not that hard to code.
• CAL sales should be part of CAF sales history feature.

I bought one piece from a long time Premium CAF member. We hadn't done a transaction in a dozen years although I always watch his gallery and he watches mine. I was pleased to make that one buy for that reason and pick up a cool SA page for a decent price for a character I've never had before that I had been coveting a representative piece. 

 

Next weekend is Lake Como. So that would put a big crimp on higher end art and a lot of artists and reps. It’s also the Spring date for the Motor City Comicon. 
 

my advice would be to do a CAL to coincide with the one in Orlando for those who can’t go. And another one in the Fall. 

Edited May 13 by PhilipB2k17

[John E.]

This was my 8th CAL and I sold zero. Even when I thought I wouldn’t sell anything at a previous CAL I still did, so this is a first. Since my 3rd CAL my inventory has dwindled and, with the rise of the cost of art, it’s not been worth trying to replenish the stock with impulse buys. Although art has been more affordable at auctions this year.
 

I saw some booths that did really well and some returning exhibitors who sold one piece or nothing at all. One thing I’m not reading as much here on the Boards is “I sold a lot which emboldened me to go on a CAL spree.” Before Sunday’s art drop, less than 6% of art was sold. Halfway through Sunday about 45 of the 1000+ plus pieces dropped on Sunday had sold. By my count, 460 pieces were sold throughout the weekend with one hour to go before the show ended. 

I spent hours going through all 118 pages of Saturdays art drop and found nothing that tickled me enough to pay the asking exorbitant prices. I apologize to the community for posting what I did as it just added to the bog of 6000 pieces to sift through. Friday night I went to bed thinking I wouldn’t participate, then I waken up at 6am to scan and post art. I wish I had sat this one out as a seller. 
 

The overall experience of the show is really positive especially with all the improvements Bill and his team have implemented. Although this show quickly drifted away from the spirit of “fresh to market and priced to sell,” where else are you going to get access to 6k pieces of art in the comfort of your home for little to no cost to you?

[malvin]

I've attended all the CAL as an exhibitor and a buyer. 

This was the first one where I didn't buy anything. I don't necessarily think its all due to aspirational pricing, but me buying less:

1. I've managed to check off a lot of my want list, and don't want to add any more examples at current market prices

2. My PayPal balance was zero at the beginning of the show (that's basically my art budget) so I had to make sure I really want it before I buy anything with "real money"

3. The Saved keyword features indirectly made me buy less. Before I would type out search words I could think of and look at all galleries. With the emailed key word matches, I was only searching other additional keywords I could think of, and didn't look at all galleries

Selling wise, it started slow but I ended up doing ok (6 pieces paid, 1 on time payments, and 1 inquiry post CAL). They weren't big and for some I just made back what I paid, but I rebuilt my war chest that will le the buy art on impulse again

Malvin

[Latverian Tourism Board]

This was my first one not buying or selling anything. To be fair, I didn’t expect any sales, though. I pulled off a massive trade the week before, so it was all small-ball stuff left to sell. No milkshakes to bring the boys to the yard. 😁 I was going to have 7 to sell, including Buscema Surfer, a Layton Hercules, a Buscema Avengers, and a great Kirby Demon Jason Blood/Klarion page.

Still, there was a lot of cool art to see. One Kirby Thor splash with the Radioactive Man that I drooled over all weekend. And I got to stay in my pajamas the whole time! 😍 (Spidey, of course.)  Some prices were pretty high, but I saw a lot of great deals, too. Harren’s monster pages are just too cheap, imo. Someone got a page for $275 that was simply excellent work! Overall, kudos again to Bill.