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Retail Prices

Carried over conversation from here:

There's a big difference between by being ripped off and paying retail. For instance If a newbie bought some posters from you're online store Dave, they would be paying retail prices, not necessarily paying too much. The tough part is buying posters that have never been auctioned or have never sold online before. When this happens I research what the US posters in that title have sold for in the past..
No one said the phrase 'ripped off' he said over spent. I would doubt any newbie to the hobby has never overpaid for a poster in his/her early days - it's part of the learning process. You buy, you get excited, you buy more, then you wonder if there is anyone else as weird as you and so you hunt out other people of a like mind, you find them (here) and listen to their experience - the goods ones point you in the right direction and you learn, the others are called the Poster Price Police and serve no purpose at all.

I truly believe there is no such thing as "retail price" in this hobby simply because what governs the price is demand not margin. I have no issue with people bench-marking against databases (eg EMP and HA) to get a guide, but that is the price they sold it for and as that was at auction and simply because of that reason alone there is NO guarantee that is what the next one will sell for (sometimes only a few weeks later).

I get offered posters from time to time, almost all sellers have done their own research and I can assure you that the seller's expectation of the price I should pay them is rarely based on EMP, almost always it is either the highest eBay prices they can find or at an extreme level Dave Lieberman (and I am not criticising his prices at all). Conversely if I am selling one that they think the price is too high and want to tell me so to see if they can get the price down, they invariably quote EMP prices.

It's a good topic, it often gets discussed at some level or another (and ends up a heated or muck throwing one); IMHO there is no wrong answer, just as long as you know Reggie my friend, there are some answers that are less right than others... ;)

PS:  if a person buys from my online outlet he invariably worships me, showers me with gifts or offers up a virgin sacrifice in my name, you know, the usual stuff...

Comments

  • I hear you Dave, It is a good topic indeed. You just wait for fresh meat to enter you're shop and start buying lol.  :D
  • "the seller's expectation of the price I should pay them is rarely based on EMP"

    "if I am selling one that they think the price is too high and want to tell me so to see if they can get the price down, they invariably quote EMP prices"

    Then doesn't that mean that a smart shopper (who waits until an item sells for a low price) gets the best deals at EMP?




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  • Bruce said:
    "the seller's expectation of the price I should pay them is rarely based on EMP"

    "if I am selling one that they think the price is too high and want to tell me so to see if they can get the price down, they invariably quote EMP prices"

    Then doesn't that mean that a smart shopper (who waits until an item sells for a low price) gets the best deals at EMP?
    I think any buyer who waits until an item sells for a low price gets a good deal, regardless of source...

    No offense Bruce, but for EMP in general I would rephrase it as "you can always get good deals on EMP, but you can also overpay if you aren't savvy"  

    The best examples or right at the end of the auction when a poster you started off bidding at $5 turns into $18 when you could have bought the same poster on eBay for $12 incl ship...  It is even worse when you don't find posters to combine with the shipping and you get hit with another $12...  

    The other example are some of the $300 - $1000 posters... If you wait around for them to be auctioned off on eBay with a low start price, you can get them for 60% - 80% of what you would pay on EMP...  Of course you need to know your stuff to feel comfortable bidding on the eBay.  I would say I have only picked up one fake poster over the last 3 years or so and it was because I thought it was real even though it said reproduction...  And then I bought that Eva poster...
  • edited October 2014
    Bruce said:
    Then doesn't that mean that a smart shopper (who waits until an item sells for a low price) gets the best deals at EMP?
    Not really, because they (the person I am discussing prices with) are simply highlighting the prices that suit their argument; are you saying that the prices are cheaper each time a piece comes up for auction or that the price an item sells for is the cheapest on the market at that time it sells? I know you are not. Like I said I am fine that people use HA or EMP's databases to price guide, I'd guarantee most dealers do too, it serves a purpose and the market and for that I am grateful.

    However, there is no such thing as a "smart shopper" when it comes to auctions, how can there be? It's an auction, there is no 'shopping', there is no prior knowledge what the price will be before the auction - it's just luck if the price turns out to be in your ball park.

    A "smart" shopper is my wife who buys a pair of shoes for $300 and proudly explains to me she just saved $200 because they were on sale...but forgets to tell me she spent the $200 she saved accessorising the shoes...


    I hear you Dave, It is a good topic indeed. You just wait for fresh meat to enter you're shop and start buying lol.  :D
    The thing about fresh meat is one uses a knife to cut it and that can leave a Scar(face)...come on down Reggie :P
  • When i bought a few posters in early 2000, prior to a long hiatus, i remember having two large volume copies of Warren's? Movie Poster Price guide. This was my baseline's for prices. As i've learned more the past 2 years, i think there are those that buy retail, and those that buy through auction. 

    For those that love the art, the feel of paper, the "savvy" or patience it takes to wait for the lower prices, and those who are determined to build a diverse collection, auction seems to be the way to go. 

    Experience seems to go a long way in overspending. I bought a OS of The Paleface, and eventually found out in the next 9 months, that it was one of the higher prices paid in the last 5 years. I've seen it come up again, often linen backed, and almost reach the price i paid. Lesson learned. As for Ebay, i haven't ventured into those dark waters yet, maybe i'll get some time next year. 
  • edited October 2014
    If the poster is rare, or if I had lost it at auction as underbidder with little or no chance to find it on ebay in the next 5 ..or..7..years then, paying a retail price for that sort of poster might be an option I will be "happy" to consider, particularly if the price was within my "underbidder" budget. Bruce, you sold one last March. My dream poster..and i gave it all. And didn't win...i need to find one!!
  • I have paid retail price just once, and that was for an extremely rare german A0, for a rare film. If that same poster would have been auctioned, I'm sure it would have been a lot cheaper, but I just couldn't take the chance of not having it. A few years have passed and still haven't seen other copy of it. I'm happy I paid retail for that one.
    There was another rare poster I had on sight from a dealer's site. An argentinean one sheet, also very rare. Price tag was $1000. I thought several times about selling a bunch of posters to get it, but never did. Poster was listed on the site for a few years and one day, gone. I asked the dealer and he told me it was bought by a museum, so there's practically no chance it will be for sale again. I regret not buying that. Badly.
    For more common stuff, I'm happy to wait until one comes up at a more affordable price.
  • I think that's the key point for me too Matias. You nailed it for me. Sometimes you have to go for it otherwise you might not get it at all. If it is a rare one. Retail price is OK imo.
  • I truly believe there is no such thing as "retail price" in this hobby simply because what governs the price is demand not margin.

    Dave's comment is spot on here.

    I think the title of this thread needs to be changed....why? 

    Because being a cheeky bastard, I might start a thread titled "Wholesale Prices".   


  • Daveos selling at wholesale prices?
  • I'll sell at wholesale prices if you are buying...

    One Cool Hand Luke Daybill... $5 
  • edited October 2014
    ALL my prices are wholesale and one careful owner! And I only sell one of a kinds...these may look the same but they are very different and unique, some say rare!

    image image image image image

    Posters from the Twilight Zone...

    image


    Also, I have a bridge for sale, PM me for how to pay.

    image


  • I still can't work out if that blob is meant to be a spider? Seems to have 8 legs. Has to be a candidate for worst art for sure.
    For local collectors the biggest factor lately has been the falling AU$. Anything selling in US$ is adding around 15% to the total. Hard to get a bargain with that sort of premium.
  • The international currency of collecting is USD$ - if you trade in it the world over then it doesn't matter.
  • David said:
    The international currency of collecting is USD$ - if you trade in it the world over then it doesn't matter.
    I don't get that logic. All Aussies are dropping 15% out of their wallets on any transaction in $US.
  • Swings and roundabouts Mark. Since mid/late 2010 until early/mid 2013 the dollar was trading over par with the USD$ - I didn't hear anyone crying about it then, nor I doubt did anyone lift their poster purchases simply because of our dollar went further. 

    Most countries of the world ONLY do international trade in USD$ it is because of the relative stability of the USD$ long term.

    I doubt I would sell anymore posters if I sold them in AUD$ or USD$ - 50% of my purchases are within Australia. 
  • what a coincidence David.. we both seem to have gotten into the real estate business at the same time, because I have 2 bridges for sale

    image
  • Charlie said:
    I'll sell at wholesale prices if you are buying...

    One Cool Hand Luke Daybill... $5 
    I said wholesale not blackmarket!
  • As for the two dickheads selling bridges....who's gonna have a big enough backyard to buy one?
  • Too many clowns I reckon..

  • Matt said:
    As for the two dickheads selling bridges....who's gonna have a big enough backyard to buy one?
    maybe this place
    image
  • Maybe a faded memory of the facts but didn't England sell the USA London Bridge which was not the Tower Bridge as I think they thought they were getting?

    Something like that?
  • David said:
    Maybe a faded memory of the facts but didn't England sell the USA London Bridge which was not the Tower Bridge as I think they thought they were getting?

    Something like that?
    that was some guy in Arizona who bought a bridge, had it dismantled it brick-by-brick and shipped to Arizona where he rebuilt it on his property where I believe he had a replica built of London Tower that I think is a hotel

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)
  • I want those bridges! But where are you gonna a tube that big? drat  Yazoo ? oh nevermind those guys are dicks lol deals off :)
  • David said:

    Posters from the Twilight Zone...

    image


    Not sure which is more mind melting = this one or the Bruce one...
  • I could use one of those bridges to get to the other side of my pile of posters...
  • edited October 2014
    Matt said:
    As for the two dickheads selling bridges....who's gonna have a big enough backyard to buy one?
    My mistake..I forgot about Paul.

    Paul, you know they're going to sting you on delivery charges!
  • It would be worth it to see those useless Royal mail Twats struggling with it... 
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