Listing better art...higher start price, low start, or BIN?

Sal, I like your Eaton....

here's my Gertrude Ward....along the same lines...



& this one was in the family since before I was born.
I gave it to my wifes SIL ...when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It cheered her up .

 

yeah that Eaton is really good, he (i think?) has a pretty strong following

 

i like those both komo

 

Nuff, is that the group portrait that you were researching? Did you ever find out who the artist was? I remember that one too, because it was so beautiful.

 

Yes. It was attributed to an Irish artist, but I never could locate the finished work.

 

Did you already sell it? PM me if you didn't

 

@verybrad
I didn't read this whole thread so maybe I missed it if you mentioned it. The link you provided is for a person who buys estates.
It looks like he has a gallery, has been in business for 15 years. So he already has a clientele base. That would explain his sell through.

http://samuelcollection.com/

 

I said above that I did not know his personal circumstances. I just threw him out as an example of someone selling art very consistently on ebay over the years. I am sure he has built up a good clientele through his consistency. I somehow doubt that there is a lot of crossover between his ebay business and the B&M clientele but I could be wrong.

I also guess the question becomes which came first, the ebay business or the brick and mortar? I don't know the answer to this. His website states that he has 15 years experience as an art consultant but makes no mention of when the gallery opened. I see that he has been on ebay since Jan. 2006. Either way, he has built a nice business selling art and I am sure that ebay has been an essential component to this. His website mentions 30K works in inventory. That is a lot of art to amass in 15 years or so.

 

Komokwa: that second picture looks like it owes a lot to Clarence Gagnon.

 

The Eaton looks like a photograph, love both of these
I always thought you kind of have a following

 

Lionel Caplan 1953....I think he was a cousin of my fathers, & ya...I see the vibe, but growing up with it in the house....it was just very Quebec slice of life.

 

well, i put everything up. you can see it at Salvatorparadise

I feel good about it all. After researching and researching and studying prices on ebay I feel the prices ought to fall into an area I can be happy with. I did list for 10 days, which I don't do a lot but I did want maximum exposure...

 

Were you happy with the results? I know I slipped in and got a couple works I thought to be bargains. There were others that I thought you maybe did beyond expectations with. In particular, I thought the Chinese worker painting did rather well.

 

Hey there, Curious where you will get boxes for these paintings? That's what I HATE about shipping paintings....finding boxes for them!

 

Sending approx $1K on the two paintings he posted at the start of this thread and them only selling together for $800+,......I know I sure as heck wouldn't be too happy with those results.

Both of those pieces IMO should have been listed at a BIN/obo price in the low four-figures in-order to have achieved maximum results.

Hopefully he's in the black with the others?

 

Didn't realize he paid that much for those as I thought he said somewhere he had little in any of these. Going back, I do see where he said he paid that much. The portrait is where the money was lost on these two.

Hopefully, he made some money somewhere. I know he did not make it off me. I bought the McConaha and the Barnett. I bid on one of the Japanese block prints but did not win it. The only one I really planned on bidding on was the McConaha but jumped on the other two as they were ending.

Here is the Chinese painting I thought was probably a good result. Hopefully, there was some profit there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6714-Old-Ch...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

With so many different sizes, I make my own boxes out of thick card board, foam core !!, or the plastic corragated boards those nasty politicians put on street poles at election time.
Occasionally I get lucky.
For our New Years eve party we ordered food platters from out grocery store , and they came in 18 x 18 x 5 inch ,strong cardboard boxes.
Perfect for small framed works ....& lots of other flat items.
I knock em down so they don't take up much room.

 

I also meant to respond to the box question. I do make many of my own boxes and use boxes that large appliances came in for raw materials. I also buy paintings and receive boxes that way but also scrounge any boxes I can find that may be of use down the line. If I am in a pinch, I buy the picture/mirror pack boxes from U-haul. There is one that is good for a lot of paintings. For larger paintings they have a 4 piece box that fits together to create about any size.

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Mirror-picture-boxes/Mirror-Picture-Box?id=8697

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Mirror-picture-boxes/Four-Piece-Picture-Mirror-Box?id=6692

I see that they also have this one but I have never bought it before.

http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Mirror-picture-boxes/Large-Mirror-Box?id=8696

 

Thanks komokwa and Brad. Think I'll go Brad's route, buying the U haul boxes, because it seems easier than finding thick cardboard (where do you buy cardboard like that, komokwa? I don't think I've ever seen sheets of it for sale. ) I can't believe how cheap those U haul boxes are....very reasonable.

 

Sorry Moon, like Brad I use flat tv boxes, and large appliance boxes.
When I'm not up to my arse in snow around here, those are easy to pick up.
I have a huge telephone exchange building 3 blocks away...the stuff they trash is worth hundreds , from foam, and foam lined boxes to hard anti static bubble bags for electronics ..some 18 x 24......it's wild what they toss !