I agree with Wil and yes, the thread was about what members future plans are when the time comes to move their collections on.
Lawrence, I think we are most certainly preserving film history. When I have large quantities of posters for individual titles that no one wants, it makes sense to reduce the quantity. It still leaves me with a considerable amount of posters for various titles and has absolutely no effect on film history.
I have boxes of unsaleable posters in very poor condition that I keep purely because they are rare. I have over 50,000 images of posters on my website alone and leave them on the site even when they are sold so others can view them. It costs a considerable amount of money to maintain a large website and the more pages and images you have, the more it costs. Many people lift images from my site and load them on to social media. Unfortunately, some of the institutions in Australia that have large collections do not display images. Much of their collections are kept in storage indefinitely due to limited resources and no one ever gets to see them.
Getting back to the main theme of the thread, another problem for people with large collections in Australia is that the smaller auction venues are generally unlikely to achieve reasonable returns. Some of the venues are incredibly slack and just seem to want to turn stock over at any price without taking care with poor quality photos and inaccurate descriptions. They are good places to pick up bargains but I wouldn't risk selling anything through any of them.
That leads to very few options for Australian collectors who want to sell their collections.
First of all, yes I know that you and John certainly wouldn't dispose of the majority of the Richardson and RKO posters. I was only referring to the small amount of minor 'b' grade titles pictured previously and the following The Big Chase as being examples of the type of designs I am thinking about that would possibly be disposed of if they were in multiple numbers,
Thank you Wil and John for explaining all the problems involved in disposing of multiple unsellable film posters in your collections.
Am I correct in my thinking that a majority of the posters are sexploitation, very poor artwork designs, duotone posters, and "b' grade titles in either damaged or multiple numbers. It would appear that the options apart from not being able to sell them, or donate or give them away really presents you with a definite problem.
A thought has crossed my mind that you could add a free bonus poster of one of your better quality artwork multiple owned posters with a customer's larger order as a good will gesture.
Regarding my collection presently in storage, there is no plan in place at present, but I am thinking of probably disposing of them in one transaction as the way to go.
I've spent the past 3-4 days trying to file one sheets and I'm not even through the B titles. It's tiring! Apart from the odd eBay and private sale, I'm not a seller, just a collector but by buying big collections I have ended up with big numbers, including a lot of junk. A lot of rolled and/or flat one-sheets are going to recycling. I sent a carload to my in-laws' farm bonfire last year. I doubt i will ever sell 50 copies of Armageddon, A Bug's Life, Big Hit, Austin Powers, Negotiator, etc! I maintain an excel file, including sales results that I find, so my kids will have some idea of what is worth what. I've also detailed contacts for selling the good stuff. I'm now 64 and work will probably dry up in the next couple of years, so I will have more time to dedicate to reducing the bulk and removing the rubbish, but I can't see myself unloading one-only copies. i still enjoy going through them, just not the rolled one sheets! I'd love to buy another big collection, but mainly for good, older, folded stuff.
First of all, yes I know that you and John certainly wouldn't dispose of the majority of the Richardson and RKO posters. I was only referring to the small amount of minor 'b' grade titles pictured previously and the following The Big Chase as being examples of the type of designs I am thinking about that would possibly be disposed of if they were in multiple numbers,
Thank you Wil and John for explaining all the problems involved in disposing of multiple unsellable film posters in your collections.
Am I correct in my thinking that a majority of the posters are sexploitation, very poor artwork designs, duotone posters, and "b' grade titles in either damaged or multiple numbers. It would appear that the options apart from not being able to sell them, or donate or give them away really presents you with a definite problem.
A thought has crossed my mind that you could add a free bonus poster of one of your better quality artwork multiple owned posters with a customer's larger order as a good will gesture.
Regarding my collection presently in storage, there is no plan in place at present, but I am thinking of probably disposing of them in one transaction as the way to go.
I have seen those nice B Grade posters you have pictured turn up in various places but I don't have multiples of them. I guess someone must have them. The multiples I have cover a wide range of titles from silent to present day and cover all genres. I have had multiples of some very good titles including a huge stack of Dementia 13 daybills - both horizontal and vertical styles. I sold most of them years ago pretty cheaply but have kept a few of each.
Multiples are not confined to Australian posters of course; I have stacks of US one sheets and Lobby cards for minor titles and you see lots of others turn up in bulk lots.
I've spent the past 3-4 days trying to file one sheets and I'm not even through the B titles. It's tiring! Apart from the odd eBay and private sale, I'm not a seller, just a collector but by buying big collections I have ended up with big numbers, including a lot of junk. A lot of rolled and/or flat one-sheets are going to recycling. I sent a carload to my in-laws' farm bonfire last year. I doubt i will ever sell 50 copies of Armageddon, A Bug's Life, Big Hit, Austin Powers, Negotiator, etc! I maintain an excel file, including sales results that I find, so my kids will have some idea of what is worth what. I've also detailed contacts for selling the good stuff. I'm now 64 and work will probably dry up in the next couple of years, so I will have more time to dedicate to reducing the bulk and removing the rubbish, but I can't see myself unloading one-only copies. i still enjoy going through them, just not the rolled one sheets! I'd love to buy another big collection, but mainly for good, older, folded stuff.
Yes, there is always a large amount of junk in big collections. I have always found it hard to be ruthless and trash the ones posters that are damaged and / or worthless but the mountain of posters just keeps growing.
A thought has crossed my mind that you could add a free bonus poster of one of your better quality artwork multiple owned posters with a customer's larger order as a good will gesture.
Something I have done on a number of occasions. Although what the recipient will do with a B grade daybill they didn't seek out themselves (given framing costs will significantly outweigh the gift) will very likely be place it in a draw and forget about it, or simply file it in the recycling.
I still enjoy going through them, just not the rolled one sheets!
Ditto. As my personal collecting tastes moved back to the pre-war period, I very rarely look back through my 80s-2000s rolled one sheets. To save space I transfered most of them from plan drawers for the house move into jam packed wide tubes. Unrolling them again will likely never happen and in years to come the tubes can head to the States for auction as they are.
I maintain an excel file, including sales results that I find, so my kids will have some idea of what is worth what.
That'll be a fun conversation for whoever they approach to sell!
I've lost count of the number of times recipient's of deceased estate collections quote what their father or whoever paid for a particular poster and you have to explain how trends change and more often than not it's worth significantly less than what they paid decades ago (which you know is falling on deaf ears!).
A thought has crossed my mind that you could add a free bonus poster of one of your better quality artwork multiple owned posters with a customer's larger order as a good will gesture.
Something I have done on a number of occasions. Although what the recipient will do with a B grade daybill they didn't seek out themselves (given framing costs will significantly outweigh the gift) will very likely be place it in a draw and forget about it, or simply file it in the recycling.
My thoughts are that what percentage of film posters are framed by their owners? A very small amount I am sure is the case. The majority of posters owners don't frame and display their posters in their homes when they own large numbers of posters in their collections. If the free poster you include is decent enough it should be appreciated by the recipient.
I have included freebies in packages for a long time. However, it only makes a small dent in reducing surplus stock.
Sure it doesn't help you much, but hopefully the good thing that comes from this is the freebie posters that you do send will hopefully find a permanent home.
With Bruce tightening up on what he will accept for future auctions it certainly will make it harder for anyone contemplating selling off their collections of film posters in one bundle. Let us be real in thinking that for anyone having a large collection it must include some titles of little value these days.
To sell off complete collections to any dealers one would imagine to do so successfully one would have to have included in the package some standout posters, enough to entice a dealer to take all the posters including those of little or no value.
Unfortunately not everyone has a King Kong, Frankenstein or Dracula original poster in their collection that could do the trick in surely sealing a deal.
It certainly appears that for a lot of titles that would have brought a decent price years ago it is no longer the case. This I believe is mainly due to multiples of titles since turning up and flooding the marketplace. Also a new generation of younger collectors are not seeking to collect older vintage posters from the Golden Years Of Hollywood and the past, unless they be famous well sought after classic titles, particularly Universal horror and other classic horror and science fiction posters.
With Bruce tightening up on what he will accept for future auctions it certainly will make it harder for anyone contemplating selling off their collections of film posters in one bundle. Let us be real in thinking that for anyone having a large collection it must include some titles of little value these days.
To sell off complete collections to any dealers one would imagine to do so successfully one would have to have included in the package some standout posters, enough to entice a dealer to take all the posters including those of little or no value.
Unfortunately not everyone has a King Kong, Frankenstein or Dracula original poster in their collection that could do the trick in surely sealing a deal.
It certainly appears that for a lot of titles that would have brought a decent price years ago it is no longer the case. This I believe is mainly due to multiples of titles since turning up and flooding the marketplace. Also a new generation of younger collectors are not seeking to collect older vintage posters from the Golden Years Of Hollywood and the past, unless they be famous well sought after classic titles, particularly Universal horror and other classic horror and science fiction posters.
Comments are most welcomed.
Yes. Every collection I have been offered over the years has a significant percentage of low value items. The largest collections, that required a truck to transport them, had multiples of many titles and a huge number of posters that were of little to no value. The owners usually said that I had to take the collection as a whole. One collection included 500 VHS tapes of 40s and 50s serials along with hundreds of older posters. Part of the deal was that I had to take the VHS tapes whether I wanted them or not. I actually still have them stored away but they take up a lot of space.
Older posters that had value years ago have less appeal now, particularly Westerns. I am finding that 70s -90s posters are in greater demand these days.
I've lost count of the number of times recipient's of deceased estate collections quote what their father or whoever paid for a particular poster and you have to explain how trends change and more often than not it's worth significantly less than what they paid decades ago (which you know is falling on deaf ears!
Another thing that many people dont take into account is the fact that condition plays a huge part in the value of posters. One of the large collections I recently purchased included a lot of older Australian 3 sheets. All of them had issues including tears, stains, multiple tape marks that had gone brown, heavy creasing, etc etc. Whilst some were very rare, the condition meant that they would be extremely difficult to sell. The owner of the collection thought that condition didn't matter and that it added to the authenticity. I hear that a lot too!
All of them had issues including tears, stains, multiple tape marks that had gone brown, heavy creasing, etc The owner of the collection thought that condition didn't matter and that it added to the authenticity. I hear that a lot too!
He sounds like the many Antiques & Collectables shop dealers that I've purchased from over the years. In their eyes it's all 'patina' and adds to authenticity and therefore $$$. Trying to explain how the cost of restoration very often outweighs the end value also falls on deaf ears.
My number one problem with consignors is ones that try to include a fair amount of low value items with their better items.
I refuse to do this. What is funny about it is that the low value items generate a TINY amount of income, so little is lost by leaving them out.
Such people are spoiled by the fact that there WAS a time when I took anything and everything, but that was in the days of large boxes that cost $3 to ship by Priority Mail.
To such people I always reply, "Only send items that meet our minimums, or send nothing".
And if I don't receive enough consignments with the new minimums, I will retire. BUT I AM NOT SEEING ANY SIGN OF THAT!
HAS lifetime guarantees on every item - IS eMoviePoster.com HAS unrestored and unenhanced images - IS eMoviePoster.com HAS 100% honest condition descriptions - IS eMoviePoster.com HAS auctions where the winner is the higher of two real bidders - IS eMoviePoster.com HAS up to SIXTEEN weeks of "Pay and Hold" to save a fortune on shipping - IS eMoviePoster.com HAS real customer service before, during and after EVERY auction, and answers all questions - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS 25% or 26% "buyers premiums" of any kind (but especially the dreadful "$29 or $49 minimum" ones) - NOT eMoviePoster.com HAS "reserves or starts over $1 - NOT eMoviePoster.com HAS hidden bidder IDs - NOT eMoviePoster.com HAS "nosebleed" shipping charges - NOT eMoviePoster.com HAS inadequate packaging - NOT eMoviePoster.com HAS no customer service to speak of, before, during and after any auction, and answers almost no questions - NOT eMoviePoster.com
Comments
Lawrence, I think we are most certainly preserving film history. When I have large quantities of posters for individual titles that no one wants, it makes sense to reduce the quantity. It still leaves me with a considerable amount of posters for various titles and has absolutely no effect on film history. I have boxes of unsaleable posters in very poor condition that I keep purely because they are rare. I have over 50,000 images of posters on my website alone and leave them on the site even when they are sold so others can view them. It costs a considerable amount of money to maintain a large website and the more pages and images you have, the more it costs. Many people lift images from my site and load them on to social media. Unfortunately, some of the institutions in Australia that have large collections do not display images. Much of their collections are kept in storage indefinitely due to limited resources and no one ever gets to see them.
Getting back to the main theme of the thread, another problem for people with large collections in Australia is that the smaller auction venues are generally unlikely to achieve reasonable returns. Some of the venues are incredibly slack and just seem to want to turn stock over at any price without taking care with poor quality photos and inaccurate descriptions. They are good places to pick up bargains but I wouldn't risk selling anything through any of them.
That leads to very few options for Australian collectors who want to sell their collections.
Thank you Wil and John for explaining all the problems involved in disposing of multiple unsellable film posters in your collections.
Am I correct in my thinking that a majority of the posters are sexploitation, very poor artwork designs, duotone posters, and "b' grade titles in either damaged or multiple numbers. It would appear that the options apart from not being able to sell them, or donate or give them away really presents you with a definite problem.
A thought has crossed my mind that you could add a free bonus poster of one of your better quality artwork multiple owned posters with a customer's larger order as a good will gesture.
Regarding my collection presently in storage, there is no plan in place at present, but I am thinking of probably disposing of them in one transaction as the way to go.
Apart from the odd eBay and private sale, I'm not a seller, just a collector but by buying big collections I have ended up with big numbers, including a lot of junk.
A lot of rolled and/or flat one-sheets are going to recycling.
I sent a carload to my in-laws' farm bonfire last year. I doubt i will ever sell 50 copies of Armageddon, A Bug's Life, Big Hit, Austin Powers, Negotiator, etc!
I maintain an excel file, including sales results that I find, so my kids will have some idea of what is worth what. I've also detailed contacts for selling the good stuff.
I'm now 64 and work will probably dry up in the next couple of years, so I will have more time to dedicate to reducing the bulk and removing the rubbish, but I can't see myself unloading one-only copies. i still enjoy going through them, just not the rolled one sheets!
I'd love to buy another big collection, but mainly for good, older, folded stuff.
Multiples are not confined to Australian posters of course; I have stacks of US one sheets and Lobby cards for minor titles and you see lots of others turn up in bulk lots.
Rick said: That'll be a fun conversation for whoever they approach to sell!
I've lost count of the number of times recipient's of deceased estate collections quote what their father or whoever paid for a particular poster and you have to explain how trends change and more often than not it's worth significantly less than what they paid decades ago (which you know is falling on deaf ears!).
To sell off complete collections to any dealers one would imagine to do so successfully one would have to have included in the package some standout posters, enough to entice a dealer to take all the posters including those of little or no value.
Unfortunately not everyone has a King Kong, Frankenstein or Dracula original poster in their collection that could do the trick in surely sealing a deal.
It certainly appears that for a lot of titles that would have brought a decent price years ago it is no longer the case. This I believe is mainly due to multiples of titles since turning up and flooding the marketplace. Also a new generation of younger collectors are not seeking to collect older vintage posters from the Golden Years Of Hollywood and the past, unless they be famous well sought after classic titles, particularly Universal horror and other classic horror and science fiction posters.
Comments are most welcomed.
Older posters that had value years ago have less appeal now, particularly Westerns. I am finding that 70s -90s posters are in greater demand these days.
I refuse to do this. What is funny about it is that the low value items generate a TINY amount of income, so little is lost by leaving them out.
Such people are spoiled by the fact that there WAS a time when I took anything and everything, but that was in the days of large boxes that cost $3 to ship by Priority Mail.
To such people I always reply, "Only send items that meet our minimums, or send nothing".
And if I don't receive enough consignments with the new minimums, I will retire. BUT I AM NOT SEEING ANY SIGN OF THAT!
HAS unrestored and unenhanced images - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS 100% honest condition descriptions - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS auctions where the winner is the higher of two real bidders - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS up to SIXTEEN weeks of "Pay and Hold" to save a fortune on shipping - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS real customer service before, during and after EVERY auction, and answers all questions - IS eMoviePoster.com
HAS 25% or 26% "buyers premiums" of any kind (but especially the dreadful "$29 or $49 minimum" ones) - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS "reserves or starts over $1 - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS hidden bidder IDs - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS "nosebleed" shipping charges - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS inadequate packaging - NOT eMoviePoster.com
HAS no customer service to speak of, before, during and after any auction, and answers almost no questions - NOT eMoviePoster.com