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William Henry Hunt, Still Life of Grapes and Holly in a Pewter Mug, c. 1863 & My Thoughts on Auctions, Pt. 3

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Artwork Details

Title:	William Henry Hunt, Still Life of Grapes and Holly in a Pewter Mug, c. 1863 & My Thoughts on Auctions, Pt. 3
Artist:	None Specified
Media Type:	Paint - Watercolor
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	133
Likes on CAF:	0 1
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	6/19/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

We now frequently hear that there is no end in sight to escalating comic book pages. I would guess that very few CAF members are happy about that prospect. It is not as if there are many actual collectors who are behind the high prices or have any prospect of improving there collections under such circumstances. As I said in connection with animation art, I (and undoubtedly many others) have no desire to collect at the bottom of the market -- if it comes down to only collecting convention sketches, commissions, or Sabrina the Teenage Witch and love comics originals, I'm not going to collect at all. It is not good for the hobby for the price situation to continue.

It appears that most observers believe that all the high prices are based on actual demand and the advent of new collectors entering the market. That is absurd. I don't care how many Marvel movies are released -- those who like characters and comic based scripts just don't go out and spend over $100,000 for a piece of Marvel art. I don't know if there are more than a handful of bidders who are paying these prices, but if they are all rich speculators or those involved in building their own narrative art museum in Los Angeles, the chances of them continuing to buy over a prolonged period are extremely low. Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg , who both bought expensive animation art, both dropped out after a year or less. Moreover, with the exception of a very small number of truly historic pages, there is just too much original comic art out there for high prices for the vast majority of pages to continue for long, especially since the higher the prices, the more supply will come onto the market. Prices are, to a large degree, self-limiting.

There are many ways through which auction prices can be manipulated. I am not saying that anything illegitimate is necessarily going on, but past history certainly shows that auction prices are not always the result of true demand. Even the largest, international auction houses have been involved in illegal conduct. In the 1980s, Sotheby's and Christie's in New York were found guilty of colluding to maximize their income. Until the late 1970s, there were no buyer's premiums. Auction houses made their money by commissions paid by sellers alone. But major consignors started demanding smaller commissions or they would go to a competing auction house who would give into their demands. The major houses knew that bidders had no similar bargaining chips, since, if they wanted to buy a particular piece, they had to bid in the auction which included that piece. So a 10% non-negotiable buyer's premium was introduced, which allowed the auction house to negotiate all the way down to a 0% seller's premium while still having the certain 10% from the buyer of each lot. But the major auctioneers got greedy and entered into an agreement that neither would negotiate the seller's commission, making it impossible for consignors to save money by playing one major auction house against the other. When New York went after both Sotheby's and Christie's for their anticompetitive agreement, people lost their jobs and a lot of money was paid.

The best form of auction for buyers is one with a live audience that is attended by the buyer. This limits the options of an auctioneer to manipulate the bidding. The very worst are auctions which are exclusively online with the bidder submitting a maximum amount that he is willing to pay. There is nothing to ensure that the auctioneer will be honest and not take advantage of the fact that there is money on the table which can be taken maximum advantage of. Even f the bidder places bids in response to what they assume are other legitimate bids, there is nothing but honesty that truly ensures that the bidding is based on real bids.

Even if there is no outright fraud on the part of auctioneers, there are other ways by which auctions can be manipulated. When eBay was new, dealers and others would often bid up the prices on items being sold by their friends. The consequences of being stuck with the item if no other bidder raised the amount were fairly small. Even with live or other online auctions, it is easy for one dealer to buy pieces of art for very high prices while the owner of those pieces buys the art consigned by the dealer who is bidding up the prices of his co-conspirator. If an auctioneer knows a bidder to be someone who pays high prices, they can take a chance of bidding them up. In the event that the bidder gives up and the auctioneer gets stuck with an item, they can tell the consignor that the high bidder didn't pay and suggest that the item be re-offered in a later sale. Or worse, they can suggest that the consignor, who might be in need of money, accept a lower price, ostensibly from a bidder that had dropped out, and then the auctioneer buys, on their own account, the piece for that significantly lesser amount. Continued

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About the Owner

	C E
Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	C's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Rob Stolzer
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 6/19/2021

Craig, I am so enjoying your auction/marketplace memories, as well as your thoughts on the current market and trends. I am also loving the watercolors you are posting. Many thanks for posting such wonderfully vibrant photos of the artwork.

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