Post #93459 by AlanSumac on Sat, May 29, 2004 2:42 AM

Dear Kha_O and all others that have jumped to conclusions before asking me any of the facts....

FYI, if you notice my activity on e-bay, 99% of my activity is buying, not selling and it's not all tiki.

Pieter Agle, (Shag's brother) and business manager, is aware of what happened with me with the Shagmart auctions on line, (I met with him in New York the other week at Shag's latest opening). I offered to sell any of my extra items back to him at the price that I paid, but he indicated that he couldn't just place one or two items on line that way which I understood.

I didn't expect to get any of the items online so I asked friends to try to purchase for me in case I didn't get anything. Much to my surprise, I got everything I asked for, and some of my friends got one, two, or none of the items, some of which they kept and some of which they sold back to me. Having them left over, (which I didn't expect in the first place), left me little options.

I even held a Tiki swap night at Otto's Shrunken head by arrangement with the owner of Otto's, to try to sell the goods, at the price I paid plus shipping but NO New Yorkers at Otto's that night were interested in buying items above $ 20.00.

Furthermore, I own "One Enchanted Evening", and "Desert Polynesia" for myself along with many Hawaii Kai mugs which I collect and countless tiki items. I even just traveled 2700 miles to attend Tiki Oasis in Palm Springs.

I have to say that I resent the fact that I received defamatory remarks on this board when no one bothered to ask me any questions first.

Many of the items I have had to re-list several times at an expense of $ 4 - $ 6 each as they all do not sell right away, so along with the e-bay fees and paypal fees and the original shipping costs,the profit that you claim I am making is extremely inflated.

I don't need to make great sums of money this way and find it offensive that I am being accused of something that happened as an overbuy due to items that were put on the internet and which sold out within 3-4 minutes. Wouldn't you ask your friends to help get you something you wanted for your collection if you knew there was a very strong chance you would wind up with nothing!

I collect very valuable 19th century French trunks solely for my own use that cost in the thousands. I hardly need to make the small profits you have stated in your remarks.

For the writer that found the need to track my activity and the profits (he/she) claimed I made, I assume you have may have more going on in your life than to track my purchases and sells! THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

Any of you can choose to believe what you want, you are more than welcome to meet me in NY and see that I am quite serious about my tiki collection and passion for tiki.

For those who have jumped to conclusions, let me leave you with the idea of being hanged by your peers (& collectors) without being given any information from the party you are accusing and harrasing.

Furthermore, should any of you buy a Shag print, or other print, painting or mug that has been traded several times on ebay (such as which I have done in order to obtain some of the art and Hawaii Kai's collectors mugs, I have a choice to pay the price that is offered or not participate in the auction or a gallery sale.

Arent' we fortunate that we are Americans in a society that allows freedom of choice.

Peace,

Alan

P.S.- The tiki vendors at Tiki Oasis were selling multiple items at the event, they have no idea who they are going to and how they are being sold. (I assure you many stores and individuals are profiting from the goods sold there which I am NOT in agreement with).

Why don't you also go after all of the Ebay people that are selling the Tiki Oasis IV mugs that went on line the day after the event. We were all allowed to buy 2 of these. I only bought one, as that's all I wanted for myself and it didn't dawn on me to buy a second mug (a limited edition of 150) which people are selling on e-bay as I am writing this.

[ Edited by: AlanSumac on 2004-05-29 02:52 ]