eMoviePoster.com

Sometimes we get consignments and have everything that was sent auctioned in two months time, and have completely paid for the sales within three months. Other times it can take a full year to get the items sold. What causes this difference, and how can YOU increase the likelihood your items will be auctioned quickly when you send consignments to us?

First and foremost, we auction items by size and type, so if you send items that are all of a single size, then those items can all go into the very next auction of that size, so if you send say, 20 folded one-sheets, or 20 lobby card sets, then that helps immensely. If instead you send 20 items that are from lots of difference countries and are lots of different sizes, then they will need to go into many different auctions, thus increasing the time until they are all sold. Note that we don't mind if you do this! We just want you to understand that this slows down the process.

Two of the main things that delay items being auctioned quickly is when people send posters that have been rolled a long time, or a big jumble of stills that include repros mixed with originals, and lots of unidentified ones. On the rolled posters, we must leave them flat under weight for a few months before we can get them auctioned, because dealing with rolled posters that are not flat is a nightmare, and after those few months they stay flat, but again we just want you to understand the reason for the delay.

On the "jumble of stills", the only person here with the expertise to separate originals from repros is me, Bruce! So that delays those a lot, because it can be VERY time consuming to sort out a large group, and I have only so many hours in a day to work! You might say, "Why not train someone else to do so?", but I know that most of the still dealers (even the very longtime ones) are not that knowledgeable about telling originals from repros, and it is only because I have auctioned well over half a million stills and greatly studied them that I can tell them apart, so this is something I must do alone!

It is similar with unidentified stills. Because I can recognize almost all old time actors (even the obscure ones) I can often identify stills that almost everyone else can't (I am also greatly helped by having the greatest database of "still code" numbers of anyone). But again, I can't delegate this to anyone, so I must do it myself!

But HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON THAT DELAYS CONSIGNMENTS FROM BEING AUCTIONED QUICKLY! It is when people send items that are worthy of single sale jumbled with items that can only be auctioned in bulk lots (items that will only sell for a few dollars each). This most often happens when someone sends a large box of folded one-sheets (or a tube of unfolded ones), but it also happens with all other sizes.

Sometimes every one of the posters is worthy of single sale, and then we can put them ALL in our next auction of that size, and that is that. But other times, perhaps half of the posters are worthy of single sale, and the only half can only go in bulk lots, but they are all jumbled. When that happens, someone here must separate the posters into each type.

Now I COULD give this job to someone else, but if I did, they would have to look up each item individually, to see their values, and that would take a very long time. Because I have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of poster values, I can sort posters into single sale and bulk lot WITHOUT looking them up, which allows me to do so in a fraction of the time. But again, I have only so many hours in a day to work, so when we get a group of posters that need to be sorted in this fashion, it delays them.

SO IF YOU WANT YOUR CONSIGNMENTS AUCTIONED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, DO THE FOLLOWING:
1) Try to only include single sale items in a shipment (if you are familiar with poster values). If you send bulk lot items with them, make sure they are clearly marked.
2) If any of the items are unidentified (usually some stills or some non-U.S. posters) then, if you know the title of the movie they are from, attach a post-it note to that item, giving that information.
3) Speaking of stills, try to separate out repros from originals!
4) Send us ANY additional information you may have on any items, and always try to attach a post-it note to each item, giving the information (try NOT to write it on a list we have to then cross-reference).

Of course, if you don't know poster values, or you don't know how to tell originals from repros, or you have a jumble of all types of items, it is still absolutely fine to send them! We just wanted you to know why it would then take longer for us to auction your items.

AND YOU HAVE ALSO NOW LEARNED HOW I SPEND A GOOD PORTION OF ALMOST EVERY DAY! I spend that time "sorting" items for originality, value, and the title of the item!