For what it's worth, I'll share this.
A couple months back I picked up two paintings by a named artist (based on reading stories here!). Finding past sales to value them with was difficult -- some real low, some high-- because everything is in the eye of the beholder.
I sent pics to several auction houses and dealers and asked them for an auction evaluation. Some said the value was under $1000, so thanks but they'd pass. But these were paintings of Texas and I found a Texas auction house that wanted them and gave me an estimate of $600-$900 each. This was consistent with what a dealer had told me, but he said he'd pass at the moment.
I put both paintings on ebay for $1000 or best offer, and sold one quickly for $750, which was exactly in the middle of the auction estimate. Figure 15% for ebay and paypal, so I netted $640 or so.
The second painting got no action. I lowered my price to $900 but would go no further because I knew I'd be selling it at auction and I didn't want to drive the market down.
I sent it to the auction house. It sold Saturday for $900, netting me about $650 after their 25% commission and the cost of shipping it to them.
The auction house was easy to work with, I didn't have to worry about returns, and they sold my second-best painting for more than my best painting brought on ebay.
Your mileage may vary.
A couple months back I picked up two paintings by a named artist (based on reading stories here!). Finding past sales to value them with was difficult -- some real low, some high-- because everything is in the eye of the beholder.
I sent pics to several auction houses and dealers and asked them for an auction evaluation. Some said the value was under $1000, so thanks but they'd pass. But these were paintings of Texas and I found a Texas auction house that wanted them and gave me an estimate of $600-$900 each. This was consistent with what a dealer had told me, but he said he'd pass at the moment.
I put both paintings on ebay for $1000 or best offer, and sold one quickly for $750, which was exactly in the middle of the auction estimate. Figure 15% for ebay and paypal, so I netted $640 or so.
The second painting got no action. I lowered my price to $900 but would go no further because I knew I'd be selling it at auction and I didn't want to drive the market down.
I sent it to the auction house. It sold Saturday for $900, netting me about $650 after their 25% commission and the cost of shipping it to them.
The auction house was easy to work with, I didn't have to worry about returns, and they sold my second-best painting for more than my best painting brought on ebay.
Your mileage may vary.
