22 réponses à ce sujet

[Beocat]

Well, same as last time. Keep the Ebay talks confined to this thread.

http://www.ebay.com/...ME:B:SS:US:1123

This auction makes me nervous. I haven't compared signatures, but I also cant tell if the number is photoshopped censored, or if that is actually on the litho. I kind of wonder how much it'll go for now regardless since the whole Mass Effect scandal went down. Any thoughts?

[vometia]

Seems to be some strange artefacts around the signature, but I'm no expert at spotting forgeries and it's likely just the result of an over-compressed jpeg.  My instinct is that it's probably legit, not least because the speculators have moved on: the Mass Effect market isn't what it is after the ME3 fiasco as well as the glut of unloved lithograph releases in the later days.

[vometia]

I'm not sure if the buyer of this Citadel lithograph is now either very unhappy or still blissfully unaware that they've been conned: it's clearly an unlimited edition mini-litho but the seller is falsely claiming it's the limited edition one from a print run of 500 (wasn't it originally 300-400 anyway?)

[stardazzled]

I'm BACK.

 

Yes, you're quite right there, vometia. 400 it was.

 

The first auction: It may be a lithograph that was numbered or signed wrong, and then sold extra or kept and is now sold. You know, rejections or sub-standard-goods. I remember Jed to have mentioned one time where there were double numbers or numbered but not signed. Something like this. (Either the marker is real because the covering power is not the same everywhere or my eyesight has gone real bad and someone used an electronic pencil and a tab and a new paint program that can recreate the illusion of water-based ink.)

[vometia]

Yay.

 

My eyesight is also quite bad, because I'm so bloody old.

 

This one I'll still put down to dishonest though, because I'm suspicious like that.  I see that the latest litho (or giclee or whatever it is) has been selling for a fair amount.  I'm somewhat disappointed that I missed out, though I feel slightly lithographed out anyway.

[Dsurian]

Sooo - awkward, but I've come to the conclusion that I've bought too many Litho's and don't really know what to do with them. I've already spent ~$2000 in professional framing (~$250ea. on ~7) and don't particularly have the interest, money, or the wall space to frame the others. I could sell them on the forums, though as much as I loath that place now, I'd prefer not to. Alternatively, I could sell them on ebay with a spiffy brand new account, though how could I manage this without pissing off all of you? 

 

Jfyi, the one's I'd likely be selling would be the ME3 "Mako", and the overly large DA2 "Kirkwall Gate", ME2 "The Team", and ME3 "Earth Alliance". I'm playing with the idea of also selling ME3's "Aria" and "Reaper Attack", but as I've already framed those, I doubt I'd want to go through the trouble. Presumably, I'd charge a relatively fair price (as in, what I originally paid + shipping + my prep time), and describe them as what they truly are - original, signed, numbered, mint condition, etc.  ...so, do I have y'alls permission? 

 

P.S. - missed "Saga"... 

[Beocat]

Lol.... I believe most of our ire comes from the sellers who buy multiples on release day for the express purpose of ebaying them for tons of profit off the unfortunate ones that didn't make the queue fast enough. You've actually enjoyed yours as art is intended to be so I really have no issue with it. Once it is yours, you really have the right to do with it as you wish. I think most of us just loathe those who treat them like cash cows instead of as art. Anyone else want to chime in on this one?

[stardazzled]

Mako - here! Should be the only litho with a white passepartout that I'm missing.

 

(anything else when my brain is not boiling - 95° F - those Mass Effect or Dragon Age tees are very handy in summer)

[Dsurian]

Just gonna list here everything I'm planning on selling:

 

22x39's

• "Kirkwall Gate" - DA2, numbered and signed (243/500, Matt Rhodes)
• "The Team" - ME2, numbered and signed (264/500, Benjamin Huen), *special edition*
• "Earth Alliance" - ME3, numbered and signed (413/500, Derek Watts)

 

18x24's

• "Cerberus" - ME2, signed and numbered (20/500, Derek Watts)
• "Dead Reaper" - ME2, signed and numbered (340/800, Derek Watts)
• "Mako" - ME3, signed and numbered (329/500, Alex Figini)
• "Aria" - ME3, numbered (188/500), *professionally framed*
• "Reaper Attack" - ME3, numbered (194/500), *professionally framed*

 

Mini's (12x16's)

• "Unitology" - DS2, 'unlimited'
• "Dementia" - DS2, 'unlimited'
• "Low Gravity" - DS2, 'unlimited'

 

...and I'm planning on holding onto the rest of my collection: 5 ME2 Character Mini's, 2 DA:O Mini's (Price of Power, Archdemon - framed), 4 ME2 18x24's (Normandy SR-2, Citadel, Illusive Man - framed - and Saga - unframed), and 1 Fo3 18x24 (The Monument - framed). It seems like I should have more, but I guess not...so many others I wish I had gotten.

 

I did discover Cerberus and Dead Reaper - completely forgot I even had those. Stardazzled requested I set aside Mako for her, so I won't be actively pursuing that (@star - didn't you need Earth Alliance once upon a time?). Sooo...does anyone have any other requests before I go through with this?

 

Not sure how to price some of these. I'm guessing maybe ~$80 for the 18x24's and ~$100 for the 22x39's (including shipping)?  ...and I've put ~$350/ea towards the two framed ones, but I literally have no idea how I'd ship them...maybe take them to a professional packager?  ...then all the mini's - if memory serves, I won the Dead Space 2 ones in a Facebook giveaway, so not only am I not sure how much they'd normally cost, I'm also not sure how many were even printed (surely they technically aren't 'unlimited' anymore). Some advice would be appreciated...

 

Btw, aren't the larger ones supposed to be 22x40? - came up a bit short when measuring. And I also couldn't confirm the artist for 'Mako' - googling provides this Alex guy, but the signature is pretty weird (a capital 'B' with a circle around it)...?

[Dsurian]

...And they're currently live! Haven't listed Aria and Reaper Attack, as I still don't know how to ship them properly, but maybe next week...

 

*Edit* 1st week update (since I know y'all care so much!). The good news? I sold 3 at a decent/unexpected profit, all to one buyer which made shipping easy and relatively inexpensive. In hindsight, I probably should have included a 'Buy It Now' option to keep their price less ridiculous, but at the time I thought that would encourage pro-eBayers into just flipping them (a moot point - see 'bad news'):

• Cerberus for $75; what I asked for, and a decent sale concerning how many are listed.


• Dead Reaper for $180; more than twice what I asked for, and I really wasn't expecting this - that printing was #/800! ...also, I knew an Israeli collector who really wanted it, and I edited the listing to suit him, which is probably why it got so high - I really wish he won.


• The Team for $215; again, more than twice what I asked for. In the description, I even referenced the smaller unlimited variant still being sold by THBS for $25 - figured that might hurt my chances. And again, at least two actual private collectors were interested in this as well, neither of which won it unfortunately...

So, the bad news? ...the buyer appears to be a sniping pro-eBayer, who actually went through the trouble of creating an alternate/expendable account just to bid on these, likely to appear as an 'innocent newcomer' as I included a note in each description saying I wanted to sell to private fans/collectors (did he think me an idiot? - I don't know). Unfortunately, this likely means their soul interest is just flipping the prints for a profit...making him literally the worst person I could have sold these to. So, I contacted eBay before I shipped them out, looking for a way out, and was informed that the only reasonable choice I had was to use an option called 'second chance offer' to sell it to one of the other bidders for less, but as long as the original buyer didn't do anything wrong (as in not communicating, failed to pay, etc. - which, of course, no problems), I would likely receive negative feedback from him for doing that...which pointedly wouldn't matter much to him (if what I believe to be is true - throwaway account, etc etc), but given how much the feedback would mean to me given how new and inexperienced my own account is, I regretfully didn't go that route...and now I feel bad.    ...in the end though, he was simply the highest bidder, and him living just a couple states away and buying multiple prints made life much easier for me.

 

---------

 

In other eBay related news:

 

• A pro-ebay-er is selling an unsigned Omega and Illium ...kinda sketchy - weren't all those signed? (Edit: Just realized they're the mini's - in which case, he's also asking WAY too much money... *le sigh*)


• Someone else is selling that tiny Normany Litho you get with the ME3 CE (i think) for entirely too much money!


• ...and someone listed all their mini's, yet calling them 'limited editions', while also not very clearly pointing out exactly how small they are - example ...at least they're priced appropriately.

[vometia]

I think you did at least as much as could be reasonably expected to sell to a genuine buyer.  Unfortunately the blight that is the professional buyer is a tricky one to avoid, but the entirety of the blame lies with them (and if there's any more blame to go round, Ebay, for not doing more to prevent it, but they don't care as long as they get their commission).

 

And some of those listings sound pretty dodgy.  Misrepresentation of goods shouldn't happen at all, and should certainly be rarer than it is.  Ebay has always been a bit of a minefield for genuine buyers and sellers alike, and it's certainly not getting any better...

[Beocat]

Research everything first. There's little reason not to.

[Dsurian]

Research everything first. There's little reason not to.

...should I have researched what the goin rate for the Lithos were beforehand?  Thing is, only way I can reasonably do that (afaik) is compare it to other sales on eBay, and there were no other active/apparent sales for Dead Reaper or the oversized The Team... :/ ...and as my original plan wasn't to make a profit, but just get my money back, any research for this particular reason would be kinda moot.

 

Did you mean something else by that? 

[Beocat]

It was in response to Vom's comment

[vometia]

I agree that things should be researched and that caveat emptor is a good warning, though I think it's a bit sad when it's almost expected that some people are very likely to missell stuff if they think they can get away with it...  In spite of being a grumpy old cow, I have a strangely naive and optimistic view of human nature and I'm regularly disappointed!  Having said that, I'm more frequently not disappointed, and I think it's better to avoid becoming too cynical.

[Dan Matrix]

I'm tired of Ebay, I listed a figure and a seller who was obviously looking to flip it messaged me and offered $100 less then my price. They also wanted to do it outside of Ebay. Just no, I was tempted to answer very rudely but held back.

 

I also sold a figure recently for a great price then I realized Paypal is holding my funds for 22 days since I have a limited selling history. I can't do anything about it either since my shipping didn't have tracking. Just such a pain. 

[Beocat]

I errrr, have no experience with selling. My name change fixing on ebay and PayPal is too much of a pain to bother with so I just don't do either anymore and that eliminates practically all potential temptations of the buying and selling kind. My husband does, but again seems like a lot of work lol. If I don't want something anymore I'd personally rather just give it away.

[Dsurian]

Meh...been shipping things fairly regularly for several years now, and I found my first few sales on eBay to be not that bothersome. For any US citizen, I'd suggest using PayPal shipping (pointedly not through eBay) - here is the link. Not only will this practically guarantee the cheapest shipping, almost every option comes with free tracking - at least through the USPS. < 13oz? - First Class; 4ish-day delivery, $2-$3, free tracking. > 13oz? - Priority; 2-day delivery, free tracking, free $50 insurance, cost dependent mostly on distance, but likely $5-$10. It's a wee bit different when shipping up to you fine Canadian fellows, but if it's < 3 lbs., it should cost <$10 via USPS. Btw, finding all this out on my own is why the shipping prices for THBS still don't make much sense to me - even within the states...maybe the warehouse they are using is ripping them off?

As far as Canada Post...yeah. They need to work on whatever it is they're doing that requires so much money. For a package <1 lb., I've seen it cost anywhere from 6-16 CAD when crossing into the States...which just boggles my mind. That 16 CAD package even had tracking, which is utterly useless beyond the border, which begs the question - what is the added cost going towards?

@Dan: Yeah, thankfully I always try to use tracking, so I got my money within a week concerning my first sales, but I originally found your point to be somewhat disturbing as well...cuz I looked into all the aspects of buying/selling on eBay, and I never once saw anything about holding funds hostage...at least not until after-the-fact. The most surprising thing to me was the incomprehensible fee's: eBay charges nothing to the buyer, and small-time sellers don't really have to worry about any fees...except when they successfully sell something, in which case eBay takes a small-ish percentage. A small fee makes sense, but at ~10%, especially when considering how much trading goes on, it's a LOT of money. Then, when you finally do get a payment (practically required through PayPal), PayPal applies a 'mystery' fee to that as well (presumably for the 'trouble' of transferring money, but they never say). Problem? They're the same company!!! ...so they're charging you twice for the same transaction, and pretending it's all legitimate because it's happening on two separate fronts. So, as I've found out, the life of an eBay seller kinda sucks...kinda helps explain why everything is inflated so much. :/ ...and yeah, keep getting messages from Ebay'ers asking me to reserve one of my Lithos, just for me to politely decline and then watch the day they requested pass-on-by and the Litho still up for sale - silly people requesting stupid stuff.

@Beocat: ...name changing issues? - I changed my eBay username relatively recently, but it was fairly painless. And how do you 'give stuff away'? - like, the Litho's... if I weren't a member of these forums, I'd have no idea who or how I would simply give them away...

Litho Sales Update: That opening week really got me excited, but a month+ later with no sales has left me a bit speechless. Contacted Stardazzled and she's no longer that interested in Mako, so I went ahead and listed that...along with my framed Reaper Attack and Aria - both for $300 and free shipping (don't worry, I'll likely still lose money on those). For the unfamiliar, you can see how many page views and how many people are 'watching' a listing of yours...plenty of this kind of activity on all my listings, but no one's buying. Might get luckier later this month, tho...

[Beocat]

I am actually trying to network when I go to conventions (gaming, anime, comics) as those places have the highest concentration of people with my interests. This way I make new friends, get to gush with other people who 'get' me about new releases and so forth, and really not waste the opportunity. Last year's Animazement was a bust though. My neck was so bad and I was in so much pain I just went to the talks and events that I had circled and missed multiple obvious chances to network with a few people that I kept running into. This year I plan to be heavily medicated so that doesn't happen again lol. Going back to the hotel room early to ice my neck was really awful.

[erik212]

Hey all. I'm slightly surprised to see the amount of lithos you guys are trying to get rid of, but I too have been considering the purpose of my collection. I basically have everything between citadel and dead reaper, but they're all in mylar sheets and under my bed because I keep moving and don't want to invest in framing them and putting them up. I can't even say that I have all the ME lithos because I just kind of stopped caring once the huge runs started happening, as I remember us discussing on the old forum.

 

I guess I'll just hold on to them for a while, I kind of wish I bought the recent Liara, but as you guys said in the main discussion thread, the artwork is a bit meh. It sucks, because I talked to Derek Watts at PAX Prime a few years ago and he showed me and said a nicer Liara litho would come out, but oh well. I got the Saga litho as a way to close out my collection...I may care again when the new Mass Effect game comes out, or Shadow Realms, but I'm kind of left feeling conflicted over all this.

 

Just thought I'd share my thoughts in this thread since it seems others have gone through similar experiences. I don't think I'll ever sell my lithos on ebay (due to reasons similar to what has been discussed here), but if a friend or someone I knew wanted one quite badly, I'd probably sell it for close to buying price. Collection is just too expensive for me, and I also forever live with the fact that I didn't pick up Illium #1 on ebay when it ended up selling for under $100.

 

@Beocat - I have a real life friend that I deeply talk video games / fiction with, it's really interesting to share ideas with and listen to someone else, preferably with slightly different taste in media. How are you going about your networking? After parties and such? I generally find the average convention goer pretty unapproachable inside the expo building, as they're usually with friends (as am I), so meeting new people is very hard. Then again, other than the one PAX Prime I went to (which was amazing), I only go to Anime Expo in LA every year, and I must say that the average attendee (representative of average anime fan?) is really not a person who I am compatible with, personality-wise. I don't even watch that much anime, due to really only being interested in sci fi and a very narrow range of drama, while according to an AX poll one year, comedy was by a huge margin the most popular anime genre of the attendees. I'll never really accept Japanese comedy, as I believe too much is lost in translation in dialogue and puns, and slap stick is veeeeeeery unlikely to appeal to me. Basically the only comedic anime I've ever liked is GTO.

[Beocat]

I'll message you Erik

[Dan Matrix]

@Dsurian I know, I used to use my family's account which is well over 1000 rating now to buy and sell. I actually have alot of selling experience but deciding to make my own accounts has been a pain. The holding the funds is quite annoying I actually forgot about it. My 1st sale they did it then I went back to the family to sell lol but of course I forgot recently. The bullshit is like you said it mentions this policy nowhere and even when I was digging for info help I could barely find anything. I do remember my first sale had tracking but I still had to contact paypal and demand they release the funds after it showed the delivery was completed.

 

I'm not doing to bad though sold a figure for $100 that I paid $25 for years back and just sold another 2 for $70.  Any idea at what point they stop doing this holding your funds? I have 4 sales now over a year, something like that.

[vometia]

More Ebay dishonesty (surprise!), I'm seeing a number of the regular DA:I card decks being mis-sold as the tarot cards. There's a big price difference at present (though the unwary will still end up paying ~3-4 times what they actually cost new) but I guess it won't be too long before someone tries to get away with pricing them as if they were the actual collector's item...