Questions for Bruce-EMP

Bruce · January 21

How eBay's blunder turned into one of eMoviePoster.com's BEST decisions EVER!

I read an article today in EcommerceBytes and it reminded me of one of the BIGGEST blunders eBay EVER made (and how it led to one of my BEST decisions EVER)!

What am I referring to? This article says that "eBay's purchase history only goes back 7 years". But it didn't have to be that way!

I started selling on eBay in 1999 and by mid-2001 I was one of their largest sellers. On June 30th and August 1st of that year I held my entire annual major auction on eBay, shocking the entire hobby!

The auction was a giant success, taking in over $600,000 and the collectibles department took in over $1 million that week (for the first time ever and over half due to me alone) and that made the top people at eBay want to know more about me.

So much so that they invited to visit their headquarters (all expenses paid, and by myself), and I jumped at the chance, because I wanted to give them advice.

I went there, and was introduced around as their #1 collectibles seller, and was even introduced to Meg Whitman (Pierre was no longer around).

The best part of the day was when I was introduced to a man named "Jerry" and I don't know what his title was, but I was told that if I got lucky he might talk to me for five or ten minutes, becaue there was always a long line of people waiting at his door.

But I was also told that if I told him something helpful, Jerry had the power to make it happen! I was ushered into his office and he started by showing me some pins they had made to send to sellers who reached various milestones.

He asked what I thought of them and I (ever blunt to a fault) told him I thought they were stupid, and I would much rather have a discounted rate for reaching a milestone, and that the pins were kind of insulting.

He said "That's what I told the people who came up with them!" and I knew I had found a kindred spirit. We ended up talking around an hour about all things eBay, but the part I was most excited to tell him was this.

At that time, you could only see past results going back 30 days, and I asked him if they could retrieve ALL the old results. He said "yes and no", that while they WERE still on their servers, it would super hard to retrieve them.

I said, "Then start with right now. After every auction ends, move it to an "eBay Archive Site" and make it accesible to dealers and collectors. At first it won't mean much, but after five or ten years, you will have the ultimate Price Guide to EVERY kind of collectible".

He said, "You're talking about millions of results a month and zillions of images. That would cost a ton to maintain."

I said, "But you can charge for access to it. What dealer or serious collector wouldn't pay a monthly fee to see tons of results for everything in their collectible area?".

He said, "You may be right, but they have so much else going on that I could not get it going" and I thanked him and left (and because I had stayed so long, there was a massive line at his door!).

BUT THAT GOT ME THINKING! If it made sense for eBay, then why did it not also make sense for eMoviePoster.com?

And that is how our Auction History at https://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archive.html was born! At first it only had 2002 results, but I had employees manually enter results from earlier years (especially all my major auction results) and we were off to the races!

And now we have 2,099,771 results and 2,046,546 images and EVERY movie paper collector the world over refers to it constantly, and surely it has contributed mightily to our success!

And of course eBay ended up mostly turning its back on collectibles anyway (a pale copy of Amazon) but had Jerry listened to me, the company might currently be the foremost seller of collectibles (and I might still be a seller there)!

Charlie · January 26

Bruce we had a question pop up in another group regarding photos of lobby cards. Are they taken like regular posters or do you scan them? Just curious…

Bruce · January 26

Single lobby cards are ALWAYS scanned. 2 or more are always shot with a camera.

darolo · January 27

It's just as well you left eBay Bruce. With their ever increasing seller fees (which will eventually rival that of auction houses) you would need to charge a buyers premium and higher fees for consignors also.

Bruce · January 27

darolo said:

It's just as well you left eBay Bruce. With their ever increasing seller fees (which will eventually rival that of auction houses) you would need to charge a buyers premium and higher fees for consignors also.

I agree. eBay's rate are SO high that it makes little sense for consignors to sell there themselves (and do ALL the work, including mailing every item separately), when they can instead send their $50+ items to us and do NO work (beyond sending a single package).

And don't get me started on other auctions! Sending 100 $50 posters to an auction with $49 minimum buyers premiums would result in $5,000 in sales, $4,925 going to the auction and $75 to the poor consignor!

dedeposter · February 1

Might be a bug in the latest software update.

I clicked on My Watch List on the web page on my laptop (I don't currently have any items in MY WATCH LIST, then it took me through to the Mobile Site. Screenshot below, not where I expected to be.

Charlie · February 1

Same. Wondering if it’s a new look or a glitch. Also has matt@emovieposter.com at the bottom.

Bruce · February 2

"Might be a bug in the latest software update."

Yes. The update is on AuctionAnything, the company that hosts the auctions.

But eMoviePoster.com has to synch a lot of stuff to their data, and they messed a lot of that up with their update.

We are rushing to get it all fixed, but its complicated!

More on this tomorrow.

Thanks for understanding. The silver lining is that the first auctions don't close for 9 days.

dedeposter · February 2

Thanks for the update...and the headache!

Bruce · February 3

Our auctions have been updated and now view differently for faster loading!

FIVE DAYS AGO, WE SENT ALL OUR REGISTERED USERS AN EMAIL THAT INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING:

1) https://www.auctionanything.com/ is upgrading their software for better loading speed, and for better viewing on mobile devices
2) THE BIDDING PORTION OF OUR SITE WILL BE "DOWN" FOR 4 TO 8 HOURS VERY LATE THURSDAY NIGHT TO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING TO UPLOAD THE ABOVE UPGRADE
3) When the https://www.auctionanything.com/ bidding portion of our site comes back online Friday morning, the individual auctions will look "different" but those are planned cosmetic changes and our site has NOT been "hacked"!

HERE IS AN UPDATE ON WHERE THINGS NOW STAND:

AuctionAnything ended up taking 2 days to complete their update,. with the auctions returning online Saturday. We very much apologize for this, although it was completely out of our control.

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀?

Because this means that we (unlike EVERY other major auction) can't see the "secret" maximum bids our bidders place on our auctions (but every other auction can). THIS is why, when you enter a supposed secret high maximum bid on so many other auctions, somehow another bidder "magically" bids to just under your maximum.

This never happens in our auctions, because they are hosted by a third party, so we can't see what you bid (and besides, we would never do this anyway, because we want only 100% honest auctions!). A few years ago, AuctionAnything.com added a mobile version of their auctions, for the ever-growing number of people who access the auctions through their cel phones. Over that time they had to maintain two completely separate versions of the same site, which was time-consuming and costly.

Now Auction Anything has consolidated the two versions into one, which means that our auctions have a really new look. This is now in place, and, if you have not done so already, please go to our current auctions (see them all at https://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/all.html ) and click on any auction, and you will quickly see the differences.

At first, the auctions seem very different. But honestly, the changes are purely cosmetic. Some things are in slightly different places, and some are different colors, but pretty much everything that was there is still there! And behind the scenes, the auctions will load far faster than before, which is a big plus.

There is one significant change, and that is that the "bid box" is now near the top of the page, right below the time left area (which is more prominent and green). This is very good for people who bid on lots of items, because it means they won't have to scroll down past the movie description and condition description to get to the bid box, saving them a lot of time.

But because bidders will have only the condition grade above the bid box and NOT the condition description, some may not look closely at the condition BEFORE placing their bid, and then regret their bid, and if this happens a lot, we may have to move the bid box back to the bottom of the page. Time will tell!

IMPORTANT! This changeover will surely have some "hiccups" and if you find any problem with the new "look" of the auctions, let us know, so we can get it fixed. And please give yourself a chance to get used to them, because we feel sure you will soon get used to them, and like the quicker loading and the more conveniently placed bid box!

To sum up:

1) https://www.auctionanything.com/ upgraded their software for better loading speed, and for better viewing on mobile devices. The auctions were supposed to be offline for 4 to 6 hours, but it ended up lasting 2 days, and we apologize, but they returned online Saturday.
2) Our auctions have a really new look!

See them at https://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/all.html We also created a new logo for our home page!
3) The changes in the auctions are purely cosmetic changes and our site has NOT been "hacked"!

Please give yourself a chance to get used to the changes, because we feel sure you will soon get used to them, and like the quicker loading and the more conveniently placed bid box!

We also created a new logo for our home page (it is live), and we will make other changes to it as well over the coming weeks.

𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗘, 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 #𝟭 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦!

Bruce · February 8

There was a major disconnect between our site and the Auction site on the Watch List. We think all the Watch List issues are now resolved.

Wherever on our site you click "Watch" or on a "Watch List" link it should show your Watch List accurately.

There also was an issue with a small number of users logging on, and getting an error message. In those cases the error message was the mistake, and all those people had to do is refresh the page and they are logged in.

If ANY of you find ANY problem of any kind (but especially logging in), please send an email to matt@emovieposte.com and describe the problem in words and inlclude a screen shot if possible, and be sure to say what browser it was on, and what device (phone, laptop, or desktop).

Of course we most want to resolve EVERY problem anyone has prior to the Tuesday auctions closing in 2 1/2 days.

Thanks very much and we apologize for all inconvenience.

Bruce · February 24

A big change at eMoviePoster.com! Our auction that runs from August 16th to September 3rd will be our very last "every four week" auction!

THEY WILL BE REPLACED (9 days later) WITH OUR NEW "MONTHLY" AUCTIONS!

This is not a giant change (12 sets of auctions a year compared to the old 13), but it WILL take some "getting used to"!

OUR AUCTIONS EVERY MONTH (starting in September) WILL ALWAYS END ON THE VERY FIRST TUESDAY OF THAT MONTH (with the other two sets of auctions ending the Thursday and Sunday directly afterwards).

This results in 4 times a year of there being NO auctions at all for 9 days (compared to the current 2 days, which still happens the other months).

To make it easy to see how this works, we have updated our Auction calendar (at the left of our Home Page) to reflect these changes.

And you'll notice that we added all the dates for 2027. I am committing to next year, but with the likelihood that starting 1/1/2027 we will raise our minimum value to $100 (from the current $50).

Having 9 days off 4 times a year may SEEM like "no big deal" but if you are an avid collector you can schedule vacations during those times, and not worry about missing ANY auctions!

dedeposter · February 27

The main page looks off centre when I visited it today. That large gold strip on the right is odd isn't it? Or is this a change?

Image: https://vintagemoviepostersforum.com/uploads/editor/px/nvdsmyvflcd5.png

Bruce · March 1

Peter

What browser are you on? Our site definitely views best in Chrome. But tell me which one and we will see what we can do.

After decades of trying to make our site view correctly on all browsers, we are going to more actively push for regular users to start using Chrome (either solely for our site, or for all browsing).

The same goes for emails. The oldest emails are the worst (hotmail, yahoo, and a few others) and now the microsoft domains have started blocking emails from small companies like ours. We have tried working with them for decades, but the far better solution is for our customers to get a gmail account (either solely for our site, or for all emailing).

Switching to Chrome and gmail will almost surely solve any problems, not just with us, but with almost all smaller businesses.

Thanks for reporting this, and remember it is always valuable to email me directly at bruce@emovieposter.com

dedeposter · March 1

Thanks Bruce, I hate Chrome and despise that some websites only work on it so it forces me to use it, (but that's just me hating their data collection).

Safari is my default browser, and just tried both, that issue was only on Safari, currently running

Bruce · March 1

Thanks Peter. We'll try to fix it there.

John · March 6

Bruce said:

Peter

After decades of trying to make our site view correctly on all browsers, we are going to more actively push for regular users to start using Chrome (either solely for our site, or for all browsing).

The same goes for emails. The oldest emails are the worst (hotmail, yahoo, and a few others) and now the microsoft domains have started blocking emails from small companies like ours. We have tried working with them for decades, but the far better solution is for our customers to get a gmail account (either solely for our site, or for all emailing).

Switching to Chrome and gmail will almost surely solve any problems, not just with us, but with almost all smaller businesses.

I understand what you are saying but I think that is exactly what google wants - everyone using Chrome and gmail. I have concerns about the amount of control google has over business and this is just another example of where things are going.

Duke · March 6

I do not have a question, but did want to share. I just bought this recently off your site, and restored it, it looks great for a poster that was in rough shape.

Thanks

Bruce · March 8

You should never use the small image to show what we sold.

After the auction, all we leave online is the medium size image, but that still is FAR better than the small image, as seen here:
https://www.emovieposter.com/gallery/inc/archive_image.php?id=5126621

It looks like you did a very nice job. But is the "whiteness" due to bleaching or color correction of the image?

Duke · March 8

Washing and bleaching.

Bruce · March 18

JUST ADDED! Go to https://www.emovieposter.com/online/previews/20260322April/ to see a complete preview gallery of ALL of the 576 items in our April Major Auction that starts March 22nd! Each thumbnail image in this gallery links to a single supersized version of that image).

The gallery includes the auction title, including the lot numbers, so you can see the exact order in which they will be auctioned. It also includes the exact overall condition grade that is on each auction.

What this complete preview gallery DOESN'T include is all the images from each auction, and you CAN'T read the written condition information about each item's condition (or the film's description) until the items go "live" on the 22nd. Of course that info will be included in the actual auctions!

But by seeing the "super-sized" images and the overall grade you have much information about the the exact condition of each item long in advance of the auction, so you can better prepare your bidding strategy when the auctions go live (starting at 3 PM CST on the 22nd).

Charlie · March 27

Public enemy wow! That Riffraff is beautiful too! Great lineup Bruce.

darolo · March 28

Reading the auction description of the Public Enemy window card, it states that the image of it should've been used on the one sheet. It actually was though, there were 2 one sheets and this image dominates one of them. In fact when you Google the movie that poster is the first image pictured.

Bruce · April 2

You are correct and I was wrong and I have fixed it.

But 2 points:
That one-sheet has a similar image, but there are notable differences.
The only existing one-sheet is mostly recreated

Bruce · April 5

Exactly one year ago, near the beginning of April 2025, I (Bruce Hershenson, owner of eMoviePoster.com) announced that "I will continue running this business (just as I have for the past 36 years) through the end of 2026, at the very least!".

I did this to both reassure our bidders and consignors that we would not be "going anywhere" for AT LEAST twenty months, but also to let long time collectors know that, if they were planning on consigning the portions of their collection that qualify to us, they should start giving it some serious thought!

Now that a year has passed, and the end of 2026 is "only" nine months away, I want to update the above, and tell you all what I am tentative planning for 2027 and beyond, so that all of you reading this can better incorporate our plans into your plans (again, especially those of you who are reaching an age where you are considering possibly liquidating some or all of your collection).

Here is where I am at currently (but with the world so ever-changing, especially in regards to shipping companies, I can only say what I am currently thinking and not make iron-clad promises):

1) I much prefer the current "leaner" eMoviePoster.com, where we now hold auctions every four weeks (soon to morph into once a month, a slight change), whereas we (for a long time) used to hold every week auctions. I also much prefer the new minimum values, where currently ALL consignments must be solidly $50 minimum ($100 for lesser condition, and $200 for linenbacked).

Both these changes have given me "a life" where I can do other things besides working on my business, and I can take lots more trips!

2) I also DON'T want to sell the business or shut it down. I feel I am too big a part of what makes us special, and if I leave, it would not remotely be the same. And I don't want to shut it down, because of the 71,000+ bidders, the 3,500 consignors, and most of all, the 18 employees!

As long as it can not completely dominate my life, I am fine with continuing, for the foreseeable future, which strikes me as a giant win for just about EVERYONE (except our "competitors" who sorely want us to disappear, because we keep making them look bad!).

3) Sadly, because shipping costs (and all other expenses) have gone up so much, as have many other costs, the economics of selling $20 and $40 single items just aren't there any more for us, which is why we have raised our minimums to where they are now.

If this continues in the same direction, I will likely raise our minimums to solidly $100 minimum for "very good" or better condition ($200 for lesser condition, and $300 for linenbacked).

4) This raise would likely occur at the end of the year, but I can't rule out for sure that it may come sooner. So PLEASE those of you with consignments that DO qualify NOW, but would NOT qualify at the higher minimums, REALLY TRY TO SEND THOSE TO US NOW, so your items WILL be auctioned and you don't miss out.

And if you have been considering consigning your entire collection, you have a much greater chance doing so NOW than next year, when we will likely be much more selective in what we accept (and we DO often accept lower value items when they are a part of an entire collection that includes LOTS of great items).

5) Notice that we ONLY raise our minimum values for consigning, while OTHER auctions keep raising their fees and their buyers premiums. I don't know how they sleep at night with what they charge ($49 minimum, 25% or 26% buyers premium).

And those exorbitant fees explains why they spend fortunes trying to get new consignors (and note that 99% of their ads are spent on getting consignors, and they hardly advertise for buyers at all).

6) The one thing we can't count on is some "X factor", like shipping costs becoming prohibitively high, or other factors completely out of our control. But unless something completely unexpected happens, all of you can count on there being an eMoviePoster.com in your life, for 2026 and beyond (but it may be a much "leaner" company that runs far fewer auctions)!

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