You are only in part I of your mini/major auction, and I'm already at the edge of my seat to see what will be in parts II-IV. That In a Lonely Place French 1-panel and Italian Grand Illusion are incredible!
However, I
REALLY wish you would start offering previews of items in your mini/major auctions. I recently bought the same Bogart 1-panel at a different auction, but I would have had serious second thoughts about bidding there if I knew you would be listing one. Additionally, many of the posters in your mini/major auctions tend to go for serious cash... cash that can be difficult to arrange with only a weeks notice. I know you regularly criticize HA for their high BPs and house bids, but one thing they do right is to build excitement around their Sig auctions. I've bought several posters in their sig auctions that I probably normally wouldn't feel as comfortable bidding on. They often list their sig items online for 2+ months--basically as they roll in and are photographed. Then internet bidding is open for several weeks before the live auction. This has given me plenty of time to really obsess about certain posters! I also have plenty of time to start the process of setting aside funds or other posters to sell (or tell myself I'll sell
) to pay for them.
BELIEVE ME, YOU WANT YOUR BIDDERS TO DO THIS!
I'm glad you started posting a schedule of your upcoming auctions (I think that was at my request as well). However, the
contents of your auctions still tend to catch me off guard. I realize it isn't feasible to have previews of all your auctions, but this is something you should definitely do for your mini/majors. It will come as no surprise to most people here to find out that I'm willing to pony up some big bucks if there is a poster I really want... but make no mistake, I'm not an impulse buyer. With your mini/majors I usually feel caught off guard and under the gun for time. In those situations I tend to back off as opposed to going all in.
I realize 2-3 week preview periods won't be of use to everyone. I'm sure some of your buyers have deep enough pockets and can throw around big cash on a week's notice. However, I don't see a downside to adding them. It will give you more time to attract both more big buck buyers and small time buyers who need some time to budget for big purchases.
I know you've started posting a single image 'teaser' of some of your items, but it isn't quite good enough. Your teaser for this mini/major was a bunch of Argentinian posters. And while they are all quite cool (especially the Kane), Argentinians don't really float my boat so I was all prepared to sit this one out. I really think a full item-by-item preview would be great for buyers and great for your sales. Please consider adding them... by your next mini/major if possible!
Thanks for listening to me ramble... if others agree, please let Bruce know!
