Easter Island Mosaic - Craigslist Bay Area - Tiki Marketplace

B boutiki Tiki Socialite The fly-over states Joined: Jun 03, 2002 Posts: 497	B boutiki Posted posted on Wed, Nov 15, 2006 9:58 AM Cheeky, I saw that thread this summer when we got ours. I'm very familiar with 1st Dibs as Amy and I also deal in vintage modern furniture and design. There is a lot of great stuff on there, but it's kind of become a problem. See, when someone has something they want to sell, say of their dead aunt's, they go on-line and do a search for that item. They will often come up with some results from 1st Dibs which they then assume is the value of their item. They often seem to have no understanding of the marketplace and pricing and value in general. They think that because a high-end modern furniture boutique in New York, LA, or West Palm Beach is asking $4000 or $5000 for a Knoll sofa, (which has usually been reupholstered in expensive fabric) that the dirty, worn out old one they are selling out of the dead aunt's apartment is worth the same. What they seem to fail to understand is these shops are catering to wealthy clientele, and it's usually their designer who is buying it (i.e. shopping with someone else's money) and that designers usually get a 20% discount off the price, if not more. These dealers have a lot of overhead, rent in the ritzy neighborhoods, staff, advertising, etc. They often have to pay a fair piece for an item, then have it refurbished or restored to make it saleable. Therefore, they have to charge more. People these days don't seem to understand the way the market is stratified. I realize that eBay and the internet in general has leveled the playing field to a large extent, but the price you can ask (and hopefully get) is often determined by context. If you have plenty of scratch, you can go and shop places where the items you want are easily accessible– be it eBay, antique malls, modern design shops, auction houses. If you don't, then you have to roll up your sleeves, get out there and scrounge at thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales– hell, I have a friend who has found some amazing things in the trash cruisin' alleys around Chicago. But it's a crap shoot and you often will come up empty-handed. Though, when you do find something, hopefully it will be priced according to the venue. Too often these days when I'm at a flea market and I ask the price of something, it's too high. I either put if back (if they are way out of line) or ask if they can do better. The response is frequently, "I can get X on eBay, or that 'books' for X" and I have to wonder, if they can sell it for more on eBay, why don't they? They could save their time and mine. I did not get up before dawn and slog through the mug to pay eBay prices. If I was willing to do that, I'd be home in my pajamas with a hot coco in front of the computer bidding away. As as for "book" values... just because some dope put a dollar sign next to something in a book somewhere does not mean it's worth that to me. It's the very reason we refused to put any kind of pricing in Tiki Quest. I'd assumed it's common knowledge that something is only worth what someone will pay for it. And that changes day to day. Forgive my rant, but it's kind of a pet peeve of mine. Things are only worth what the market will bear, and there are very different markets. If the seller of the mosaic was interested in getting a fair price for that piece, I'd suggest that he run it on ebay with no or a low reserve and let people bid it up to the price it's really worth. He might even do better than he expected, you never know. The emotional component of auctions ("I want that! They are not going to outbid ME!") can really effect the outcome. If he wants to get the kind of price the 1st Dibs dealer put on theirs, he might think about opening a shop in the high-rent district, stocking it with quality merchandise, and building a wealthy client base. But that's just my opinion. -Duke

Cheeky,
I saw that thread this summer when we got ours. I'm very familiar with 1st Dibs as Amy and I also deal in vintage modern furniture and design. There is a lot of great stuff on there, but it's kind of become a problem. See, when someone has something they want to sell, say of their dead aunt's, they go on-line and do a search for that item. They will often come up with some results from 1st Dibs which they then assume is the value of their item. They often seem to have no understanding of the marketplace and pricing and value in general. They think that because a high-end modern furniture boutique in New York, LA, or West Palm Beach is asking $4000 or $5000 for a Knoll sofa, (which has usually been reupholstered in expensive fabric) that the dirty, worn out old one they are selling out of the dead aunt's apartment is worth the same.

What they seem to fail to understand is these shops are catering to wealthy clientele, and it's usually their designer who is buying it (i.e. shopping with someone else's money) and that designers usually get a 20% discount off the price, if not more. These dealers have a lot of overhead, rent in the ritzy neighborhoods, staff, advertising, etc. They often have to pay a fair piece for an item, then have it refurbished or restored to make it saleable. Therefore, they have to charge more.

People these days don't seem to understand the way the market is stratified. I realize that eBay and the internet in general has leveled the playing field to a large extent, but the price you can ask (and hopefully get) is often determined by context. If you have plenty of scratch, you can go and shop places where the items you want are easily accessible– be it eBay, antique malls, modern design shops, auction houses. If you don't, then you have to roll up your sleeves, get out there and scrounge at thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales– hell, I have a friend who has found some amazing things in the trash cruisin' alleys around Chicago. But it's a crap shoot and you often will come up empty-handed. Though, when you do find something, hopefully it will be priced according to the venue.

Too often these days when I'm at a flea market and I ask the price of something, it's too high. I either put if back (if they are way out of line) or ask if they can do better. The response is frequently, "I can get X on eBay, or that 'books' for X" and I have to wonder, if they can sell it for more on eBay, why don't they? They could save their time and mine. I did not get up before dawn and slog through the mug to pay eBay prices. If I was willing to do that, I'd be home in my pajamas with a hot coco in front of the computer bidding away. As as for "book" values... just because some dope put a dollar sign next to something in a book somewhere does not mean it's worth that to me. It's the very reason we refused to put any kind of pricing in Tiki Quest. I'd assumed it's common knowledge that something is only worth what someone will pay for it. And that changes day to day.

Forgive my rant, but it's kind of a pet peeve of mine. Things are only worth what the market will bear, and there are very different markets. If the seller of the mosaic was interested in getting a fair price for that piece, I'd suggest that he run it on ebay with no or a low reserve and let people bid it up to the price it's really worth. He might even do better than he expected, you never know. The emotional component of auctions ("I want that! They are not going to outbid ME!") can really effect the outcome. If he wants to get the kind of price the 1st Dibs dealer put on theirs, he might think about opening a shop in the high-rent district, stocking it with quality merchandise, and building a wealthy client base. But that's just my opinion.

-Duke

Post #266890 by boutiki on Wed, Nov 15, 2006 9:58 AM