In the last month or so I have been steadily adding more to the site including some of the classic titles like Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Day the Earth Stood Still with more coming soon. I will also be adding some magnificent linen backed Movie posters and hopefully, some choice Hitchcock titles to add to the growing list. I have added a few new categories and listed a few hundred lobby cards in recent weeks.
Hopefully, the site will always be more than just a place to buy movie memorabilia. I currently have a number of Exhibitions with more to come and also plan to add much more reference material.
The Major Auctions
Heritage has another auction in progress as I write this Newsletter. The buyers premium has crept up to a hefty 19.5%. When you add this to freight charges etc this can add a significant amount to purchases and it will be interesting to see how this affects the overall sale results. Buyers premiums and consignment fees have risen with many other auction houses and this may well have an impact on how collectors buy and sell their posters. Ultimately, rare and unique material will always sell but consignment fees appear to be also on the rise and it will be interesting to see whether the major auctions can continue to produce high quality merchandise.
eBay
The major issue with eBay still revolves around fee increases with eBay Stores and restrictions on eBay store searches where items are less easily found than before. The rationale behind the changes was to weed out many of the items that had little chance of ever selling. The problem with that is that you can never tell what might sell. There have been many occasions when I have sold very obscure lobby cards to collectors who collect on a particular little known actor or genre.
However, it was true that many sellers had loaded up their stores with high volumes of stock working on the theory that the more you list the more you will sell. This theory worked reasonably well under the old fee structure but the new fees have moved the goal posts and many sellers have now closed their stores. This ultimately means that there is less quality material on eBay.
eBay have been trying to encourage sellers to move their listings to what they call their "core" business – auctions. eBay auctions were a great way to go for sellers in the late 90s but they are now producing lower and lower prices with higher fees and that is a recipe for disaster for many sellers.
The fact is that it is very difficult to run a successful business on eBay. The fees mount up and the workload is high. Many dealers are turning to their own websites or selling privately and having reasonable success. There has also been a small re-emergence of retail outlets with very promising results.
I currently have over 3000 listings in my eBay store so, although I am not thrilled with the way the policies are evolving, I still have a reasonable commitment to continuing as an eBay seller for the time being.
Jazz Radio
I started as a presenter on 94.1FM on the Gold Coast a couple of months ago on Monday afternoons between 12 and 3pm and Wednesday evenings between 6 and 8pm. Although we do play a lot of jazz we also play smooth jazz, ballads and generally good music. In most cases the presenters choose their own music and this makes for a wide variety from the 30s jazz and swing to smooth and acid jazz. My programme has a movie theme with many tracks that are movie related and I have a regular movie quiz on Monday.
Last weeks question was the first week we didnt come up with a winner….
Which movie did Charles Aznavour sing "Dance in the Old Fashioned Way"?
I have included a category of Jazz/Musicals movie posters on my site and will be looking to find more interesting posters with jazz related art.
Guides, Reviews and Blogs
eBay recently introduced Reviews, Guides and Blogs along with a new "My World" page. These appear to have been a reaction to sites like MySpace and Wikipedia where a huge amount of information is held and exchanged in one place. I see some future problems with the guides as spelt out here….
However, some excellent information can be found in the guides and I have compiled a reference point for Australian Movie posters with a number of guides here….
If you find them useful, I would appreciate a "yes" vote. If you think there are any mistakes or there is anything I should add please email me.
Exhibitions
I have added an exhibition of RKO posters to my existing exhibitions of Hitchcock and Richardson Studio posters. I will also add a John Wayne exhibition in the fairly near future but unexpected events in the last few months have slightly delayed the release.
The Festive Season
With Christmas rapidly approaching, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy and Safe Christmas and New Year. Hopefully there will be some great Movie Posters in the stocking.
