Which major HONEST dealers have the HIGHEST and LOWEST prices overall?

[Bruce]

I used to buy a TON from dealers (from 1982 until 2002 or so) but in recent years I buy very, very, little.

So I am truly unfamiliar with most of the top dealers, in terms of price and service.

I see lots of threads on who gives good and bad service, but I am curious.

Which full-time major dealers (among those who give good service and don't sell repros) have the HIGHEST prices overall, and which have the LOWEST prices overall.

Of course, auctions don't count, because the bidders set the prices (at least they do in honest auctions!).

So how about some names? It might help newer collectors quite a bit.

Bruce

[Dr Hackenbush]

My guess would be that Cinemasterpieces & Posteritati would be at the high end.  Good luck trying to get collectors to divulge their low priced "go to" dealers.  Nothing shuts them up and turns them into Golem, protecting their "precious", faster than that

[Zorba]

  Good luck trying to get collectors to divulge their low priced "go to" dealers.  Nothing shuts them up and turns them into Golem, protecting their "precious", faster than that

 

I have seen that pattern 

[Cj]

Posterati is not all that bad when they run their sales. I have bought from them a few times when they have sales.

I have never bought anything from Cinemasterpieces but I think I will start looking into his auctions. It would be nice if he would runs a sale every now and then...hint...hint...

Cj

[Disheveledamethyst]

Essentially anything on Cinemasterpieces will have the highest priced posters you can find on the web. $65 for a trash poster, $255 for a mildly popular one, and over a thousand if the poster is sought after.

When it comes to low end prices, there are a lot of them. The biggest problem is these dealers never have what I want. I have fifteen dealer websites bookmarked that I've picked up from lurking MoPo and this forum and every time there's a new poster I want I give them a check. Unfortunately, they never have what I'm looking for. Ever.

I've only bought a very small handful of posters from dealers. Everything else has always come from eBay, which in my opinion is the cheapest you will ever find your paper.

[erik1925]

Benito in Spain, always has extremely high prices. He always has posters as BIN on Ebay. He has a lot of beautiful and vintage, foreign material for US titles but a buyer will pay the price handsomely.

Dominique Besson also weighs heavily on the higher priced end of the scale. Again, beautiful and often rare items, but there have been times I have cross checked with other dealers on an identical poster. Dominique is usually much higher. But a good and knowledgeable dealer, notwithstanding.

Jeff

[eatbrie]

Posterati all the way.  I have never bought from them, and never will.  Anyone who charges that much for what is essentially free printed advertisement is a thief in my book.  What makes me sick is to see these crooks bid and win posters at your auctions, Bruce, when you know they will be reselling the same items for 5 times what they paid.  Truly despicable.

T

[CSM]

In answering this we first have to qualify "major, "honest" and "dealer"...

[eatbrie]

Well, I'm the son of an art dealer.  Actually, my family has been in the art dealing business since 1840.  So I have met a lot, A LOT of art dealers in my life.  My dad was honest, to the best of my knowledge, his partner was not.  In general, Dealer and Honest do not belong together.  Personally, I do not see Bruce has a dealer, since he lets the market speak.  A dealer, in my book, is someone who buys something with the intent to resale it and make a profit.  So far, so good.  What really bothers me is when the so-called profit are ridiculously beefed up and buyers are taken advantage of.  Which is what Posterati does.

T

[erik1925]

Well, I'm the son of an art dealer.  Actually, my family has been in the art dealing business since 1840.  So I have met a lot, A LOT of art dealers in my life.  My dad was honest, to the best of my knowledge, his partner was not.  In general, Dealer and Honest do not belong together.  Personally, I do not see Bruce has a dealer, since he lets the market speak.  A dealer, in my book, is someone who buys something with the intent to resale it and make a profit.  So far, so good.  

What really bothers me is when the so-called profit are ridiculously beefed up and buyers are taken advantage of.

T

Based on that comment, T, Cinemasterpieces would also have to be included; discussions of his "high, beefed up" prices have been the subject of discussion or commentary both here and on NSFGE on many occasions.

[guest8]

I have seen that pattern 

When it comes to low end prices, there are a lot of them. The biggest problem is these dealers never have what I want. I have fifteen dealer websites bookmarked that I've picked up from lurking MoPo and this forum and every time there's a new poster I want I give them a check. Unfortunately, they never have what I'm looking for. Ever.

And I think we are seeing it again .. wanna share the 15 or so site you have bookmarked ?

[AdamCarterJones]

T - by your own admission, you get most of your gear for free anyway.
Everyone has to make a living. If you don't like it, no problem, but from you said it shows you don't understand.

If Posterati charges x amount for a poster, and CineMasterpieces charges x amount for the same poster, but Joe Bloggs charges a cheaper amount for the same poster, then logic prevails in buying from Joe Bloggs. However, dealer experience (communication), dealer knowledge, dealer/seller regard and dealer clientele are all factors that come into play - and you must remember, a lot of the dealers who have 'high' prices sell from bricks and mortar, not just the internet.

I for one am becoming increasingly preferred to Bruce's auctions and the Heritage Auctions as opposed to ebay and the like.
Sure ebay can be a hell of a lot cheaper, but listen, Bruce & Heritage know how to talk to their customers; they also know how to package items.
I received a poster last week that I won on ebay. The seller is a major collector, so you would think the packaging would be pretty good, right? Wrong. Poster bunged into tube with nothing else. The poster was mint; now, the edges are damaged.

I find there is much less hassle involved with Bruce and Heritage, and dealers, compared to ebay.

The movie studios don't buy from ebay; most buy from Christies (probably the most expensive).
My point being that if someone wants to buy from Bruce, Heritage, Christies, Posterati or CineMasterpieces, then what's the problem?
The sellers don't force the public to buy - rather the buyers purchase from where they feel most comfortable.

As far as I am aware, Bruce is a dealer.
Correct me if I am wrong, Bruce, but don't you sell your own posters direct from the website?
And have your own archive?

[guest8]

T - by your own admission, you get most of your gear for free anyway.
Everyone has to make a living. If you don't like it, no problem, but from you said it shows you don't understand.

If Posterati charges x amount for a poster, and CineMasterpieces charges x amount for the same poster, but Joe Bloggs charges a cheaper amount for the same poster, then logic prevails in buying from Joe Bloggs. However, dealer experience (communication), dealer knowledge, dealer/seller regard and dealer clientele are all factors that come into play - and you must remember, a lot of the dealers who have 'high' prices sell from bricks and mortar, not just the internet.

I for one am becoming increasingly preferred to Bruce's auctions and the Heritage Auctions as opposed to ebay and the like.
Sure ebay can be a hell of a lot cheaper, but listen, Bruce & Heritage know how to talk to their customers; they also know how to package items.
I received a poster last week that I won on ebay. The seller is a major collector, so you would think the packaging would be pretty good, right? Wrong. Poster bunged into tube with nothing else. The poster was mint; now, the edges are damaged.

I find there is much less hassle involved with Bruce and Heritage, and dealers, compared to ebay.

The movie studios don't buy from ebay; most buy from Christies (probably the most expensive).
My point being that if someone wants to buy from Bruce, Heritage, Christies, Posterati or CineMasterpieces, then what's the problem?
The sellers don't force the public to buy - rather the buyers purchase from where they feel most comfortable.

As far as I am aware, Bruce is a dealer.
Correct me if I am wrong, Bruce, but don't you sell your own posters direct from the website?
And have your own archive?

My only argument in this case would be that the top end dealers with the highest prices prey on certain types of buyers .. Ones where money is not an issue they want a simple, fast and trusted dealer to buy from and dont mind paying for those services. BUT, then on the other hand Ive seen many times where a new collector stumbled upon Daves site and bought a poster thinking that a poster from the 70s/80s would be hard to come by .. Just to realize after being in the hobby for a little while that they are every where and about 75%+ cheaper than what they paid .. "a lesson learned the hard way" and then you have the casual buyer that just wants one or two for a movie room .. and its the same scenario as the new collector except they dont learn that they over paid so they go on assuming that the poster is worth $1,000 and is still appreciating So in a way they take advantage of the lazy and the uninformed .. and as proven in this thread once again buyers will warn you against bad sellers but seem to refuse to share the good ones (as far as low prices are concerned) with the masses. 

[Dr Hackenbush]

I just realized I wrote "Golem" instead of "Gollum", for feck's sake

[AdamCarterJones]

I just realized I wrote "Golem" instead of "Gollum", for feck's sake

 

My only argument in this case would be that the top end dealers with the highest prices prey on certain types of buyers ..

I don't believe those sellers prey on anyone.
The buyer approaches them, right?

.. and as proven in this thread once again buyers will warn you against bad sellers but seem to refuse to share the good ones (as far as low prices are concerned) with the masses. 

I buy privately most of the time, so the good sellers and dealers I know of have already been discussed on this forum by others on more than one occasion.

[jayn_j]

I am totally with Adam on this one.

Actually, new people coming in are likely to stumble upon ebay or one of the repro houses first.  Posterati or Cinamasterpieces is going to be a shock to the casual collector.

That said, they have their place.  So does Bruce.  So does the ebay swamp.

I buy almost exclusively from Bruce because I am willing to bid a bit more with the confidence that I am going to get exactly what is advertised, that it will be authentic, that it is going to arrive in the same condition as it was shipped, and that there are no hidden fees, hassles or gotchas.  When it gets too pricey, I drop out, but that is fully my decision.
  (Edit: also, I don't have the time or inclination to search out every poster I am interested in for forgeries/reproductions, so I also pay a premium for Bruce's reputation to do that work for me)

I don't think the folks who buy from Cinemasterpieces or Posterati are collectors.  My guess is that they are corporate, decorators, and individuals who are looking for 1 or 2 pieces that are perfect and which can be mounted with no apologies.  They are not interested in theater used, linen backing or any of the geek stuff we talk about.  They just want the best with a minimum of hassle.  The point is that they are not us, and we don't tend to be customers.

[Dr Hackenbush]

I buy almost exclusively from Bruce because I am willing to bid a bit more with the confidence that I am going to get exactly what is advertised, that it will be authentic, that it is going to arrive in the same condition as it was shipped, and that there are no hidden fees, hassles or gotchas

+1

[Zorba]

And I think we are seeing it again .. wanna share the 15 or so site you have bookmarked ?

 

Unfortunately I only have one reasonably priced dealer that I trust enough to mention and he gets mentioned here quite often.
The others are either mid priced or have been mentioned as bad sellers so Im not going there.

Like I have said in other threads I have over payed for quite a few of my posters. Not dave over pay, as thank God I researched a little before going crazy, but still could have gotten far too many of my posters for less.

That is why I mentioned that pattern. Going through all the threads, it was hard as hell finding some of the mid level price guys that I could trust. With my paranoia I still dont really trust anyone 100%  

P.s> I am still a newb at 18 months so I am not the first guy who should be recommending dealers.

[Zorba]

I buy almost exclusively from Bruce because I am willing to bid a bit more with the confidence that I am going to get exactly what is advertised, that it will be authentic, that it is going to arrive in the same condition as it was shipped, and that there are no hidden fees, hassles or gotchas
 

+1

Include me in that...

I have bought 50%+ from emovie for those reasons.

Then when you see the high priced guys bidding there its classic.  

[Dr Hackenbush]

With my paranoia I still dont really trust anyone 100%

It's the Greek in you lol

[Harry Caul]

And I think we are seeing it again .. wanna share the 15 or so site you have bookmarked ?

I tried to conduct a pretty exhaustive search at one point... My "dealer" sub-folder in my list of poster bookmarks has 69 entries! I think I've bought from and/or sold to about 7 of them.

They run the gamut from the Walmarts to the Barneys.

[tstatum]

I do use Dave's site to convince my wife what a Great "deal or steal", I got on a poster.

[Zorba]

I do use Dave's site to convince my wife what a Great "deal or steal", I got on a poster.

 

Have actually done that with gf 

[Zorba]

It's the Greek in you lol

 

And proud of it!

[Harry Caul]

I do use Dave's site to convince my wife what a Great "deal or steal", I got on a poster.

I do that all the time as well... but in my case I've actually sold a few pieces through his site and have been the beneficiary of those prices!