On posting photos

[edwest]

There has been one complaint that my posting of photos during an auction MAY increase the price. Who knows? I'm willing to be reasonable. If anyone agrees that I should NOT post during auctions, cast your vote here.

On a personal note, I am surprised, Very surprised, when people talk about prices for photos being "too high." Compared to what? The Official Luftwaffe Photo Price Guide? It doesn't exist! Wake up people!!

Finally, if I had a Luftwaffe photo to sell, put it on ebay and asked $100 for it, and it sold: Does that mean I'm a bad person? That I, and I alone, have now raised prices for all Luftwaffe photos to come? Should I "not be allowed to do this"? Should a comic book printed during the 1960s cost $10,000 (according to the Comic Book Price Guide which actually DOES exist)?

Remember, it is an auction, Not a retail store.



Ed

[John Manrho]

Dear Ed, please post the pictures before end of auction. Sometimes it gives me the opportunity to bid on pictures I missed. Bidding until high prices will be done anyway. These people are visiting Ebay very day anyway.... furthermore, the demand will determine the price, not the occasional visitor of Ebay...

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ed,

I agree with John. I think, though, that there are a class of collectors that are, indeed, driving the prices sky high, making many photos inaccessible to the average enthusiast. Recent prices seem to be much higher than, say, a year ago. Bidding against someone who is willing to spend whatever it takes is no fun.

But, as you say, it is whatever the market will bear. Ironically, I am told by authors that the market for Luftwaffe books is shrinking. So, if these collectors are paying premium prices to publish, they just may find that their dreams of subsequent publishing profits are just that, dreams.

Regards,
Richard

[Andy Mac]

Keep posting Edwardo - your postings putting up the price is a crock. One photo might go for a fiver and another for a hundred bucks. A photo is worth what someone will pay for it.

Later!

[Ruy Horta]

It may spoil a bargain or two for some of the collectors, but that is compensated by giving more people a chance at giving it a go and buy something they like. Personally I think the latter outweighs the former.

You might ask a provision though

[Del Davis]

My initial reaction, Ed, when you started posting photos was that this exposure was driving up the prices of photos since I saw more activity on items that I was bidding on once you posted. I no longer believe that that is true. I have observed the same escalation on photos that you have never posted.
The correct value of a photo is what a buyer is willing to pay for it and like many others I am amazed at what some collectors are willing to pay. I only wish that I had their resources.
If nothing else your postings allow all of us to view images that we might not otherwise have had an opportunity to view because they will never in fact be published in our lifetime. The image is far more important for many than owning the individual photo. I doubt if the timing of your posting here has much effect on the final price. So post away!

[John Vasco]

There was a post on the old board a few months ago suggesting that a 'collective' (for want of a better word) might be formed to bid for the photos that come up on e-bay. The problem is getting the whole thing together, breaking cover on e-bay nickname anonymity, and agreeing on how to proportionalise a) payment and b) who gets the original and who gets copies. More people on this board bid against each other than is probably known.

Some bidders are known to some people, and those bidders do help researchers with unpublished photos for future Lw projects that will reach publication. I know that for a fact, without naming names.

Getting down to what has pissed people off in recent times, is the fact that one bidder appears to have the financial capacity to outbid everyone, and they always come in with about 30 seconds to go. Well, that is market forces at work. I hope that whoever they are, their collection will eventually surface in print, cos if it does, it will be one hell of a work. The price of a photo is nothing compared to the price of a 1958-1960 Gibson Les Paul 'Burst' guitar - you're looking at between $200K to $250K! Crazy. But that is a market force at work driven by collectors.

Ed, keep posting details of the e-bay auctions, as that allows people to see what is on offer.

Richard, the problem with 'the average enthusiast' is that their photos usually end up never seeing the lilght of day again, if that is how they are so inclined. But that is their prerogative and their right. And if collectors are also authors, then there is no illusion about making a profit from research and having the the fruits of that labour published. Would to God it was a JK Rowling profit venture for Luftwaffe authors!

And people, there are going to be some interesting works surfacing in the next 5 years, Ken Merrick's being one for sure. And new photos will continue to be featured. Believe me, I know.

Hope I haven't rambled, and the foregoinig is of some small interest.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear John,

I think we can all agree that eBay is the largest, most efficient garage sale in the world today. Without it, we would still be scrounging through antique stores buying Prussian glass. The six million people with Prussian glass collections will hoard them, display them, and when they die, they will either be trashed or put up for auction, perhaps on eBay instead of at an estate sale right on the old homestead.

Each of us has a pet passion and, to each, eBay has been a godsend to find that there are a whole slew of people, say, who collect "War of the Worlds" memorabilia. Unfortunately, for us Luftwaffe nutters, we end up with 2 people who love the Ju 160 and are bidding at each other's throats for anything that comes along. Sometimes you can get cooperation, other times, not. In those cases, the person willing to shell out the most, money be damned, willl be the victor.

What they do with it, much as what all those Prussian glass collectors do with it, is up to them. Sure, like you, I hate to see something that really matches my interests slip out of my grasp or get buried in a collection never to be published. But, as Ed infers, that's life.

I think the closest we've currently got to a JK Rowlings best seller is the long-awaited camouflage and markings book by Ken Merrick. Somewhere, I believe, I've read that 1700 copies are already on order. For a book that isn't even out yet, that's a best seller for us.

Regards,
Richard

[edwest]

I'd just like to add my opinion that the photo links I post may also provide a piece to the puzzle of Luftwaffe history. A while ago, on TOCH!, I posted a link to a Stuka photo and someone posted that it had helped him in his research. That's what I'm interested in.


Ed

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ed,

Good point. That's exactly what's happened for me with a number of your posts. Sometimes an aircraft will have been photographed by a dozen different G.I.'s. Linking those photos together can tell a whole new story. For instance, with enough photos and helpful brain goo, it was discovered that the Allies were taking apart assembled Me 262's after the war at Scheppach. Imagine the delight in connecting the photos of the aircraft assembled and subsequently disassembled!! With enough photos and enough views, the whole surroundings started to be defined.

So, even if we don't win the original, having that low res. image can certainly be of help in our research.

Regards,
Richard