Post #21319 by TheMuggler on Wed, Jan 29, 2003 7:09 PM

The issue is not the eBay scalpers, the retailers, the galleries, or the online ordering system -- the issue is Shag.

So long as Shag decides to limit the number of prints so severely, he will continue to inflate the value of them. Shag's first prints were runs of 500, and now they are 150, despite the fact that his fan base has expanded exponentially.

The danger in this kind of marketing (and it is a form of marketing more than anything else) is that you run the risk of facing a huge backlash. The grumblings of complaint here on Tiki Central are the early stages of this backlash, just as the folks here were among the first to embrace his work. Rest assured that if this practice continues, the backlash will affect the value of the prints, as well as the value of the originals and his reputation as an artist. Backlashes do not discriminate, and they cast a wide net.

I understand the desire to have a signed and numbered limited edition lithograph, but would anyone here NOT buy a Shag print because the run was 1500 instead of 150?

Another solution would be to announce the print and take pre-orders with deposits until a certain date (one per customer, as usual), and after the date closes, the number of pre-orders is the number of prints in the edition.

If Shag wanted to keep the S/N editions at 150, he could offer a larger number of unsigned "posters" of some images for less money, that way people who want to buy a print for the art and not its perceived collectable value could afford to pick one up.

I hope Shag realizes that despite whatever intentions he may have with such limited runs, the demand for his prints is very high and if he continues to underproduce them, his fans will eventually get angry and they won't just turn their backs on Shag, they will spearhead the backlash.

I hope he figures this thing out before that happens.

-Mike