Common Poster Subjects > The Dealer/Auction House/Seller/Buyer Round Table

Avid collector, unable to sell

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movieposterman:
Hello! I am new here. I have a question and hope I can get some information.

I have been an avid collector of posters for over 15 years. I have posters for many of the major movies released during that time amounting to 1,000s of posters. I have collected these as my personal hobby. Occasionally I would sell one here or there. However, I have been blocked from continuing to sell. For example, I sold a few on eBay but got a "Verified Rights Owner" notice. I also tried to use the service Stripe, but was blocked as they claimed sale of these items is against their "Prohibited and Restricted Businesses" policy. Clarification requests from these companies that blocked me is met with automated responses and their decision is final.

As I am a hobbyist, I don't sell posters to make money, I sell the ones I don't want in my collection to others who would hopefully appreciate them. So I would only sell them at a price to cover expenses like shipping. Because I want to continue my collection, I need to make space for new posters and I can't keep the ones I don't want in my collection. I'd hate to just throw them away. My question is, what do others do to sell and is there a way around or alternatives to the problems I've described?

Thanks cheers

Neo:
Welcome aboard MPM  welcome1

That's an interesting issue.  I had that happen once with another item.  It was a fancy item that the company tries to prevent folks from selling it on eBay because the company sells it at a ridiculously overpriced amount.  Sellers on eBay would probably acquire them either from someone who bought them or maybe they had bought them at the crazy price from the company and now they're trying to recoup some of the money they spent.  Anyway, this company reports each of those as violation of their intellectual property or something, and the company sent me a message with nonsense legal talk like that, and eBay removes the listings.  Once the listings were removed, as you said, eBay would flag them instantly if the sellers tried to list them again. Of course this is completely not valid, per the first sale doctrine, folks are allowed to sell this item.  I even explained this to eBay but it was no use.  Personally I sold it on Amazon and had no issues with Amazon.  Anyway, good luck.  Maybe you can just start a new account, and change the item title and description a little, and sell it through that account.  Hopefully no one will contact eBay about it again and it won't get automatically flagged again.

PS: here's a thread from a lawyer who talks about the first sale doctrine and how it applies to movie posters: https://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,4205.0.html

movieposterman:
Hi Neo, thank you! I have never tried to sell something on Amazon. I'll look into that. Are there any known alternatives to a service like Stripe that would not shut me down?

I can't create another account since they require you to provide your information and will know it's me creating a new account. You can get permanently banned doing that and I don't want to risk being blocked from acquiring new posters for my collection as well.

Thanks for the link about the first sale doctrine. I explained that in my disputes to the companies, but they don't care if it's legal or not. I think they just want to avoid a lawsuit even if me and them are on the winning side. Besides, I probably never made them more than a few pennies a month since I sold maybe one poster every month or two for basically the price of shipping. I'm nothing to them. It is just discouraging that a loophole like that is exploited and there is nothing that can be done.

Neo:
No problem.  I don't know much about Stripe.  What other companies are you talking about?  If you don't mind me asking.

eatbrie:

--- Quote from: movieposterman on February 24, 2024, 03:59:51 PM ---As I am a hobbyist, I don't sell posters to make money, I sell the ones I don't want in my collection to others who would hopefully appreciate them.

--- End quote ---

This!   notworthy.gif notworthy.gif notworthy.gif

I don't sell, I have never sold and don't plan on selling, so I apologize for my ignorance, but people sell posters all over Ebay, as dealers, as collectors or just to make a quick buck.  I don't quite understand why YOU, specifically, would be blocked, especially if it's just here and there.

Also, if your posters are worth more than $30 individually, maybe you could send them to Bruce.  Just an idea.

T

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