Anyone with valnstevez experience...

[micmack]

So I go against better judgement and bid on one of their auctions, knowing full well problems could arise. So I win the auction (not a high priced item) and submit a request for invoice (since they don't supply address with which to send payment to).

 

Well its been 2 days and I haven't got a reply back with an invoice. Is this typical and what is the usual wait time to get a response?

 

Thanks

[comix4fun]

So I go against better judgement and bid on one of their auctions, knowing full well problems could arise. So I win the auction (not a high priced item) and submit a request for invoice (since they don't supply address with which to send payment to).

 

Well its been 2 days and I haven't got a reply back with an invoice. Is this typical and what is the usual wait time to get a response?

 

Thanks

 

 

Anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks.

But it is not the reply with an invoice that would worry me if I were you...it is the actual shipment of the art and that, when they decide to actually ship the piece, that it is the same piece you paid for......

 

Good luck and God Speed.

Chris

[micmack]

Thanks Chris, I should be a bit more patient (just got the invoice). Now the real fun can begin

 

ps. Nice to finally meet you at the NY Con !

[matewan1990]

I made a trade with Steve Donnelly last year that took a while, but worked out fine in the end. They're not dishonest, just slow about returning messages. One trade offer I made Steve for a piece of art he's got was one he liked, but he didn't email me a reply until something like six weeks later, and, by that time, I'd already traded the piece away that I'd offered him.

But, you definitely have to have patience when it comes to dealing with them. Sometimes they get back to you immediately, sometimes it takes days and weeks.

Mike B.

[pkveronese]

Hey Micmack,

I e-mailed them about an eBay auction this weekend and they mentioned that they were at WonderCon. That might be part of the delay.

[micmack]

[Sharkey]

Hey Micmack,

I e-mailed them about an eBay auction this weekend and they mentioned that they were at WonderCon. That might be part of the delay.

 

 

Yes, the infamous "Donnelley Brothers" were at Wondercon and they had a booth art display that was out of this world. I shoulda taken a picture of it

 

Tons of covers -- a triple booth with the whole back display nothing but covers and splashes (mostly covers), binders and binders full of art, it was amazing. They had nice stuff too -- quite a bit of Silver Age I was interested in.

 

Prices seemed iffy (nothing was marked -- you had to ask, and when I asked the answer was "well, the price is about [insert any number] dollars." I wasn't really impressed with someone making up prices as they went along. That turned me off. But their selection was pretty dang nice.

 

I haven't dealt with them before.

[irchooker]

Prices seemed iffy (nothing was marked -- you had to ask, and when I asked the answer was "well, the price is about [insert any number] dollars." I wasn't really impressed with someone making up prices as they went along.

 

And there you have it. The way it's always been. The way it always will be. The only thing missing from your story is 1) having one of the brothers NOT know the price, tell you to wait while they find out ... ... ... and an hour later you're still waiting; or 2) when told the price, pull out the cash to purchase the page and then be told, 'that's for trade only'. Now, if you wanted to then try and trade to acquire the piece in question, we could add: 3) waiting an entire convention weekend to find out if your trade offer is accepted, waiting... waiting... and not finding out an answer.

 

I've never had ANY luck with them, but many others have.

[Mister Trent]

I've never actually concluded a deal with the Donnelly brothers, but I've gone the route of exploratory talks.

 

First time, I was the high bidder on one of their auctions for a Science-Fiction paperback cover rough. The reserve wasn't met, and I received an e-mail in the wake of the auction offering the art at a higher price than my maximum bid (I had heard this was a ploy often used - have an unreaslistically high reserve, then try to do a deal outside of eBay with the high bidder). I replied advising that I'd bid to my maximum, which was all I was willing to pay - nothing more.

 

In recent months, I enquired after a few covers on one of their CAF Galleries (not sure, right now, if this was Steve or Rich?). One of the covers, TALES TO ASTONISH # 92 was available for sale (as opposed to 'Trade Only'). I enquired after an asking price, but was met by silence (I suspect it was expected of me to do all the running around making offers?). I sent a further e-mail re-iterating that I needed to know an asking price before deciding wether or not to take up the offer.

 

Further silence . . . so I left it at that.

 

I can't work that way. I like to know where I stand. I can't deal with uncertainties.

 

It's not just about buying or trading art. I like to have pleasant memories attached to my art acquisitions - where I not only feel vibes of nostalgia and aesthetic appreciation for the art . . . I want to be reminded of how the artwork came into my possession, and I'd prefer those memories to be good ones.

 

Business practices of people like the Donnellys is a big turn off for many of us.

 

I'm sure they do okay for themselves, but I'm also sure they've lost quite a few sales by not being straight shooters . . .

[Marty B]

Uggghhh,

 

Where do we start? First off, I don't think there is any malicious intent on their part. They are not out to scam anyone.

 

BUT .... these boys need some customer service training!!

 

I have bought four pages of low priced art (eBay deals that no one bid on) from the various eBay accounts (valnstevez.aol, arrrjayallen.hotmail, and coollinesart).

 

They DO NOT respond to email. Maybe they are not as Internet connected or savy like some of us but if you email me at work I will get back to you withing 12 hours MAXIMUM. Steve takes forever. Weeks sometimes.

 

The first page it took weeks to clear up shipping costs to Canada and then the item never arrived. I had to file negative feedback just to get his attention. I got a full refund and the page never did show up for me to send back or repay.

 

The next two pages never arrived and we tried to arrange two alternative pages. He sent me a link showing some choices and I choose two. Apparently the two I picked were too expensive (so why tell me to pick any two?) Anyways, that got resolved by me getting two replacement pages.

 

Fourth page was from "Dan" and it took forever to get shipping costs arranged again. When I wrote person_without_enough_empathying about it I got a response back that was basically "What's yer problem, buddy" but worded nicer. I apologized and said I must have jumped the gun and panicked about poor service thinking this was the same "donnelley's" and gave a quick description of the problems I had previously. Page arrived quickly but was send from Steve! I was pissed he acted like he had no idea.

 

So, it's taken me three transactions to learn some of their eBay accounts but I have all three blocked from my searches now. If they treat me so bad buying $30 pages you can bet I wouldn't buy a $100+ let alone a $1000+ page from them.

 

Ubie X

[Sonofahungryghost-migratio]

I just completed a deal with Rich Donnelly, for which I posted an art day a little earlier. I was a little weary at first from reading some threads on this board and elsewhere, but it was a very smooth transaction.

 

Rich responded promptly to my emails -- only delays occured when he attended WonderCon. This was not an ebay purchase, and the piece was (at least for me) higher end -- I don't know if that helped.

 

I would not hesitate to do business again.

[micmack]

Well, going against the grain, the Donnelly's came through this time. Got the page in a very timely fashion. Will be posting it on my CAF site soon. A nice copper age New Mutants page with {Warpath/Thunderbird II} 's 1st apperance.