art purge

Simplyrob · 04-07-2015, 06:13 AM

so, I've been at this awhile and realized that in the long haul, the only real art that maintains its value, IMO, is gonna be OA. sure, some artists work will always have value (some commissions), but, its been my experience that most art we commission only has a value to us. once we exchange that money with the artist, gone. maybe thats just been my experience because there isn't such a huge invincible following. theres a buzz around the book right now, so, I've decided to get rid of my commissions, well, a fair amount of them. luckily, I've already decided which pieces ill keep, but, for the most part, I'm purging my commission collection, at cost. do you guys ever do this also? btw, holding onto the OA for a bit more.

joefixit2 · 04-07-2015, 07:31 AM

At this point, I really only have a sketch book that I get sketches from artists I really want a piece of artwork from otherwise, the main focus is OA so no need to purge for myself. Good luck!

Underdog07 · 04-07-2015, 07:32 AM

100% agree with your point. I have sold a handful of pieces over the last 5 years. Decided to try to sell 20 pieces at the start of this year and have sold 1 so far. Good luck with your sales.

J-M-T · 04-07-2015, 08:04 AM

I believe it depends on the kind of commission you own. Commissions from high profile artists could retain their value.
Some commissions in my collection got a lot of offers from other collectors to be honest.
It would also depends on the characters too.
If you have a commission of a Spider-man by Humberto Ramos for example, it would be easier to sell that rather than a Deathlok by him, I think.

Ghost9 · 04-07-2015, 08:35 AM

Rob, I'd like to take a look at what you're selling. Do you have the pieces posted to your CAF page? Link?

In a sense I agree. However, from a buyer's perspective, I'm often willing to try to buy a commissioned piece that I love rather than take a chance on the same artist who may not produce as good work as what I can already see. So, I think there's definitely a market for second hand commissions. I do agree that artist, character, etc do matter as far as ease of selling goes.

MMBORNAGAIN · 04-07-2015, 08:40 AM

it can be tough. yes I have sold alot of my commissions over the years.lol...I have found that I probably had to sell for less than what I paid ... good luck buddy... im sure youll do ok

**JadeGiant** · 04-07-2015, 09:56 AM

Good luck with your sale. Also, good luck at getting cost for your commissions as they do not generally retain the value that was paid to get them done. You may score at cost or with a premium on a few but I would say overall, the 20 pieces might be a tough target to recoup all investment. I say this based on my own experience and what I have commissioned in the past. Your experience could be different - good luck!

carlito1978 · 04-07-2015, 10:26 AM

I've sold a few and made a little off of the ones that I've sold. I've tried selling a few others and no biters for what i was willing to part with them, which was below cost.

imo you probably can recoup cost or squeek out a profit if:

-you either bought the commission pre 2011 when prices were reasonable
-you have something from an incredibly hard to get artist
-you have something from an artist that underprices his art to market
-or you get something that is cream of the crop on par or better than their published work

i found that with the pieces that i tried to sell where there was limited interest i was better off just holding on to them instead of getting back a fraction of the cost.

Simplyrob · 04-07-2015, 01:54 PM

Yeah, I guess I'm not in a rush, so, I won't be slashing prices just yet. I posted a bunch in an Invincible FB group and there's a lot of buzz, but, yet to see a penny. I even offered to throw in a commission with each purchased (a good way to get rid of some of the crap)(of which I have a lot). I think I've got some great artists pieces (Perez, Portacio, Ramos, Ottley, Rodriguez), some really cool art. We shall see.

Ghost, you have PM.

snappahead · 04-07-2015, 01:59 PM

I think everyone should stick to commissions. All of us should buy tons and tons of commissions. With artists like Chris Stevens out there, why buy published stuff? Sure, it might look nice and it might be a good investment, but will it have the blood, sweat and tears of Chris Stevens? I think not.