Are OA prices out of control? 7 7

[fsumavila]

On 6/4/2024 at 10:08 AM, Xatari said:

I have shared this before on other threads, but this is how I go about my collecting these days and pass along the same feedback to a lot of my new friends entering the hobby. It helps eliminate accumulating too many pages that I’ll have trouble moving later on if my taste changes and also ensures my pages tend to be a bit more liquid if a nicer examples comes along as @Unstoppablejayd mentioned. Flexibility is key in this hobby as one never knows when a coveted piece becomes available. 
 

I guess I could add a third circle to indicate affordability as that is dependent on each prospective collector. 
 

 

When it comes to selling art from my collection, I've done (by far) the best with the OA I bought because I loved it and that was the main reason for buying it in the first place.

Just about all the various Dazzler covers & panel pages I've had over the years have all been resold at a profit when I needed funds for another purchase or for various life reasons. The art I bought because I thought it was "a good investment" has been far less profitable. So consider me a fan of this POV. Because my tastes in comic art are mainstream enough that if I buy what I enjoy, others will want it ...even if it takes a few years.

[1classics]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:14 AM, Xatari said:

I agree. I am much more critical of my buying and went into the year thinking, “This may be the year I sit on the sidelines”. Ended up already grabbing half a dozen big pieces from my running list of character to own. 😂 

Yeah I said the same over a year ago “that I’m going to slow it down” but only seem to ramp things up from time and time again. Maybe the 2nd half of ‘24 I really will slow it down and be on the sidelines, but wait there’s deals coming in this next auction! LOL! 
 

In all seriousness, I still find this far more fun than putting money in an index fund and told to not watch it or pay attention to it. Or any other investment for that matter, though we’re reminded buy what you love and don’t look at it as much as an investment vehicle. I still agree with the overall sentiments of buying what you love, but I’m sorry if you’re spending anywhere north of 20k+ on a piece of art, it’s an investment vehicle and let’s hope it goes up over time and not down, but I guess only time will tell.

Edited June 8 by 1classics

[Xatari]

Some great comments above! Man, Dazzler art would have been awesome! 

Also, $20k+ art is something I never thought I would consider, yet here we are now. I have a few pieces that fall into that category. 😬 

When I first started collecting, it was all modern stuff, but I slowly started working my way backward. That is a slippery slope. 

[Readcomix]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:17 PM, Xatari said:

 

When I first started collecting, it was all modern stuff, but I slowly started working my way backward. That is a slippery slope. 

Just like buying books off the rack to eventually buying Golden Age. 
 

We never had a prayer.  

[Xatari]

You’re so right. 

[batman_fan]

As prices continue to increase for a large amount of OA you have some choices

1.  Spend the same but buy less, maybe that means one piece every year or two.

2.  Shift what you buy to match your budget

3.  Start beating the bush for other venues to buy pieces.  Art gets put for sell on various sites that aren’t so well watched and there may be some better prices.

4.  Quit buying artwork and transition to Beanie Babies and Pogs

 

[Benedict Judas Hel]

On 6/11/2024 at 9:08 AM, batman_fan said:

As prices continue to increase for a large amount of OA you have some choices:

4.  Quit buying artwork and transition to Beanie Babies and Pogs

 

Or Funko POPs…

[batman_fan]

On 6/11/2024 at 10:24 AM, Benedict Judas Hel said:

Or Funko POPs…

Very good point !

[gumbydarnit]

Dunno, seems like the prices are dropping on the the "I could settle for that" type of pieces. The last 2 HA weekly auctions had 3 pieces I had my eye on, and was REALLY close to hitting bid on one - I almost regret not making a run on it, things are looking up for possibly purchasing a C level piece here or there. 

Edited June 13 by gumbydarnit

[1classics]

On 6/13/2024 at 5:52 AM, gumbydarnit said:

Dunno, seems like the prices are dropping on the the "I could settle for that" type of pieces. The last 2 HA weekly auctions had 3 pieces I had my eye on, and was REALLY close to hitting bid on one - I almost regret not making a run on it, things are looking up for possibly purchasing a C level piece here or there. 

Yeah but doesn’t mean that extra bid or 2 doesn’t mean you’re gonna win it. I have that thought too, I should’ve thrown one extra bid and it would’ve been mine. Sure, there’s a chance, but more than likely the person on the other end may still want it more than you. I’ve recently sat there and kept bidding to the point of over my range and still lost it. Other cases you luck out on that next bid or two, toy Just never know…

[Gary Strange]

There’s art dealers out there (specifically in a YouTube video about the OA Art Expo) asking $200-$500 for scribbles and roughs. I can’t get over that. Are we at that point that JRJrs pen doodles on a napkin is going to fetch a buyer at those price points?

Edited June 14 by Gary Strange

[Michael Browning]

On 6/14/2024 at 1:30 PM, Gary Strange said:

There’s art dealers out there (specifically in a YouTube video about the OA Art Expo) asking $200-$500 for scribbles and roughs. I can’t get over that. Are we at that point that JRJrs pen doodles on a napkin is going to fetch a buyer at those price points?

The dealer's ploy is to sell a famous artist's sketches for a couple hundred bucks apiece because they know people can't afford to pay the thousands he charges for his pages, but they can pay $200 if they want something by him badly enough. You sell four or five in a night and that's a decent amount of cash. It's the reverse of what the dealer philosophy was a couple years ago: I don't want to sell a lot of small pieces, I just want to sell one big cover or page and I'll sit on it for years (while raising the price higher and higher each year that it doesn't sell) until someone comes along and buys it. Nowadays, many dealers are scrambling for sales because all the sales are happening in auctions (we also see a lot of art rotated out from dealer site to dealer site like it's sold all those times and the prices keep going up on those, too, when, in reality, the art hasn't sold).

[Hockeyflow33]

On 6/15/2024 at 12:38 PM, Michael Browning said:

Nowadays, many dealers are scrambling for sales because all the sales are happening in auctions (we also see a lot of art rotated out from dealer site to dealer site like it's sold all those times and the prices keep going up on those, too, when, in reality, the art hasn't sold).

It ends up being a cycle too as a whole bunch of the inexpensive pages from the auctions end up on the dealer sites...never to be sold again haha 

[Bronty]

On 6/15/2024 at 12:38 PM, Michael Browning said:

The dealer's ploy is to sell a famous artist's sketches for a couple hundred bucks apiece because they know people can't afford to pay the thousands he charges for his pages, but they can pay $200 if they want something by him badly enough. You sell four or five in a night and that's a decent amount of cash. It's the reverse of what the dealer philosophy was a couple years ago: I don't want to sell a lot of small pieces, I just want to sell one big cover or page and I'll sit on it for years (while raising the price higher and higher each year that it doesn't sell) until someone comes along and buys it. Nowadays, many dealers are scrambling for sales because all the sales are happening in auctions (we also see a lot of art rotated out from dealer site to dealer site like it's sold all those times and the prices keep going up on those, too, when, in reality, the art hasn't sold).

Is providing what your customer wants really a “ploy”?    If you were a dealer what would you do?    

[Michael Browning]

On 6/16/2024 at 4:23 PM, Bronty said:

Is providing what your customer wants really a “ploy”?    If you were a dealer what would you do?    

Sales tactic, then.

[Michael Browning]

On 6/16/2024 at 9:44 AM, Hockeyflow33 said:

It ends up being a cycle too as a whole bunch of the inexpensive pages from the auctions end up on the dealer sites...never to be sold again haha 

It usually happens with cover art that doesn't sell at Site A and then it gets marked as "sold" and appears on Site B, where, after a few weeks it gets marked there as "sold" then it ends up on Site Prime, where it actually originated, but was "consigned" to the other sites and now it's twice what it was to begin with.

[Michael Browning]

On 6/16/2024 at 4:23 PM, Bronty said:

Is providing what your customer wants really a “ploy”?    If you were a dealer what would you do?    

You know what, I won't ever be a dealer, so I'm not sure what I'd do. I rarely sell or trade away anything nowadays, so that is hard to answer.

[The Voord]

On 6/13/2024 at 10:23 PM, 1classics said:

Yeah but doesn’t mean that extra bid or 2 doesn’t mean you’re gonna win it. I have that thought too, I should’ve thrown one extra bid and it would’ve been mine. Sure, there’s a chance, but more than likely the person on the other end may still want it more than you. I’ve recently sat there and kept bidding to the point of over my range and still lost it. Other cases you luck out on that next bid or two, toy Just never know…

Totally agree.

Personally, when it comes to an auction scenario I'm actively participating in . . . I just write a figure down on a piece of paper in front of me that's my absolute top bid I'm willing to go.  If I lose out, at least I can walk away and take some comfort in the fact I gave it my best shot . . . and not be plagued by 'would have . . could have . . should have' niggling doubts once the results are in.

Edited June 18 by The Voord

[jjonahjameson11]

"Are OA prices out of control?"

not sure if they're out of control from auction houses, but they are definitely out of control at convention (Baltimore, Heroes, NYCC) 'charity' auction.  Yes, i understand that some/most of the funds raised goes to worthwhile causes, the fact remains that people pay stOOpid money at these things, far more than similar pieces would sell at clink, ha, cc, ebay, etc.

[Rick2you2]

On 6/17/2024 at 5:48 AM, The Voord said:

Totally agree.

Personally, when it comes to an auction scenario I'm actively participating in . . . I just write a figure down on a piece of paper in front of me that's my absolute top bid I'm willing to go.  If I lose out, at least I can walk away and take some comfort in the fact I gave it my best shot . . . and not be plagued by 'would have . . could have . . shoud have' niggling doubts once the results are in.

I’m not that controlled. I generally shoot the moon unless something else has a priority on my available funds.