krunchyfrogg
Explorer
A friend of mine has very little experience with Ebay, but wants to sell some oil paintings in his possession that he claims to be worth over $500.
Anybody have any advice?
Anybody have any advice?
[ot]Ebay tips?
- Thread starter krunchyfrogg
- Start date
MerakSpielman
First Post
Intelligent buyers will want proof of a paintings value. Have your friend get the paintings appraised by a third party, professional appraiser. He should get the value in writing, and include the document with the paintings.
Don't start the bid at $500. Nobody will bid on anything that expensive. You can set the reserve at $500, but don't expect anybody to reach it. People buy on ebay so they can get good deals. I.e., they want to get things cheap, for less than they're worth.
If these are your friends work, he could be deluded as to their value. Sure, he might have spent loads of time and work on them, but ultimately, the value of art is only what somebody is willing to pay for it. It has no intrinsic monetary value, despite how hard it is to create.
That said, I would never buy art over ebay. Fraud would be almost too easy.
Don't start the bid at $500. Nobody will bid on anything that expensive. You can set the reserve at $500, but don't expect anybody to reach it. People buy on ebay so they can get good deals. I.e., they want to get things cheap, for less than they're worth.
If these are your friends work, he could be deluded as to their value. Sure, he might have spent loads of time and work on them, but ultimately, the value of art is only what somebody is willing to pay for it. It has no intrinsic monetary value, despite how hard it is to create.
That said, I would never buy art over ebay. Fraud would be almost too easy.
krunchyfrogg
Explorer
It isn't his work. This guy is moving to Florida (from Jersey), and doesn't want to take it with him. He isn't really an art fan, and I understand this was left to him.
Thanks for the advice, I hope he can work something out.
Thanks for the advice, I hope he can work something out.
haiiro
First Post
In that case, he should definitely search for similar items on eBay to see what they tend to go for, whether they go at all, what the trends and patterns of bidding are (things like no one bidding on items with starting prices above X, all bidding at the end of the auction, etc.), how others list their items, and so forth.
Also, he should specify reserving the right to refuse bids from members who have negative feedback (and check the bidders to follow through on this).
If the artist is well-known enough, he should also Google his work and see what online sellers (if any) tend to charge.
Or the short answer: do some homework -- it tends to pay off.
Also, he should specify reserving the right to refuse bids from members who have negative feedback (and check the bidders to follow through on this).
If the artist is well-known enough, he should also Google his work and see what online sellers (if any) tend to charge.
Or the short answer: do some homework -- it tends to pay off.
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Another problem he might have is how good is his name? When I first started, I had no feedbakc or comments or course so the more expensive stuff didn't go.
Djeta Thernadier
First Post
Hmmm. I agree about getting it appraised by a third party, get that in writing, and don't start the bid at 500.
I used to sell on Ebay a lot, often figurines and other items of value to certain animation collectors. You never know what a piece will sell for. I had what I thought was a really valuable Disney snow globe sell for $15 once, and also, what I thought was a relatively worthless porcelin Disney figurine of a raccoon sell for over $100 to someone in Japan (who paid me in US cash, and sent me a box full of Tokyo Disney goodies to show their appreciation).
So it all depends on the person whose eye it catches.
Another thing I have to mention is that art, framed, esp. is a BIGHUGEROYALPAININTHEBUTT to ship. Art, of any kind is very fragile, sensitive to the elements and boxing it up is going to cost you depending on the size of the piece.
I tried to ship a framed poster once. It was a nightmare. The materials required to pack and ship something that akward in size are costly and the person buying the poster didn't belive me that it cost as much as it did to ship and was really nasty to me. The frame cracked in shipping, even after I had it professionally packed, ripped the poster and I had to reimburse the person.
Your friend might be better off trying to sell the paintings at a local flea market, art show, or even by taking a for sale ad out in your local paper. For his own sanity.
Or if he's feeling generous, and the paintings are appropriate, maybe donating them to a school or library, who I'm sure would be very happy to have them.
Hope this advice helps.
Sheri
I used to sell on Ebay a lot, often figurines and other items of value to certain animation collectors. You never know what a piece will sell for. I had what I thought was a really valuable Disney snow globe sell for $15 once, and also, what I thought was a relatively worthless porcelin Disney figurine of a raccoon sell for over $100 to someone in Japan (who paid me in US cash, and sent me a box full of Tokyo Disney goodies to show their appreciation).
So it all depends on the person whose eye it catches.
Another thing I have to mention is that art, framed, esp. is a BIGHUGEROYALPAININTHEBUTT to ship. Art, of any kind is very fragile, sensitive to the elements and boxing it up is going to cost you depending on the size of the piece.
I tried to ship a framed poster once. It was a nightmare. The materials required to pack and ship something that akward in size are costly and the person buying the poster didn't belive me that it cost as much as it did to ship and was really nasty to me. The frame cracked in shipping, even after I had it professionally packed, ripped the poster and I had to reimburse the person.
Your friend might be better off trying to sell the paintings at a local flea market, art show, or even by taking a for sale ad out in your local paper. For his own sanity.
Or if he's feeling generous, and the paintings are appropriate, maybe donating them to a school or library, who I'm sure would be very happy to have them.
Hope this advice helps.
Sheri
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