The non-deals

metheus · Post by **metheus** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:28 am

It's always fun to have the my "best deal" sort of threads. But a conversation came up this weekend and got me thinking about the other end of the spectrum, those times we pay to much. This may be a one post thread since it's not fun topic, but what the heck.

For me it was a bid war on eBay. A certain game cel came up from a particular video I was trying to find cels from and when the dust settled I dropped $160 on it. So your thinking ...so? The story ends 2 years later, when a dealer dropped the whole sequence online for sale at $30 each. Eh, so I picked up a second slightly better one as well from them. It always struck me as odd though.

The deals still seem to out weigh the non-deals though, so no complaints : )

Priss-chan · Post by **Priss-chan** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:52 am

Back in my pre-Paypal days, I found a lovely BGC cel in Germany that the guy wanted $150 for. Ok, so I sent it...in cash. You see where this is going. Yep, the money never arrived. So what did I do? I sent another $150 >_< Fortunately he did get it that time, and I got the cel in a timely fashion. But geez, that was an expensive lesson to learn about sending cash in the mail. I'd never had any problems sending cash to Japan (but then again, it IS Japan), so in my naivete I thought cash to Europe would be ok =P

I've now had Paypal for several years, so I don't gotta worry about THAT happening again. Ouch!

otakusin · Post by **otakusin** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:50 pm

lol... what conversation!!

Hummm... bad deals... that's actually a tough one for me since I tend to never think of resell. If anything maybe with trading is where it's evident but even then its not bad since I feel no regret. I have traded twice, once it was equal, the second I knew was overkill but not once have regretted my decision.

The cel was in a caring home and she loved it deeply but I knew I had something she might want in exchange for one of my kidney cels. I traded my entire PSME rough sketch collection (excluding one piece) for one El Hazard cel. For me it was a good trade I never truly loved the rough's like I should have (not a sketch person) but the person I traded with I know loves them dearly. Even though for me it was a good trade I received not only the cel I traded for but another cel I had always admired. She must have thought I over paid/traded and felt bad but for me it was entirely different. I was ecstatic and truth be told I could never and will never be able to let go of those two cels like I did those sketches.

Back story and feelings aside though, I did trade a 1K collection for a cel that at max would sell for half that, which on paper is a bad deal.

What is bad in ones eyes may be good in another's...

Caroline · Post by **Caroline** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:12 pm

i paid $700 for this set up (which is beyond steep for this series).

http://unicorngallery.rubberslug.com/ga ... emID=61004

i overpaid, but i wanted it and i could afford it. it came with all the layers, original bg, sketches, and color models. the "full package". its not my most expensive cel. still, it wasnt my best deal. i had a friend with me at the time, and i'll never forget the look on his face when i handed my credit card to the dealer.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:12 pm

Still how long? What was your best deal?

Caroline · Post by **Caroline** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:22 pm

cloud, my best deal would have to be 3 fully animated genga sequences from my fav film *ooh mysterious*, which i got for free. nothing beats free.

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:58 pm

Back when Saiyuki was still really popular, I wanted a sketch of all the main characters together. This was quite difficult to come by, and I ended up paying $130 for a cut from a dealer. Now...the average Saiyuki cut online is about $20.

I also had a really bad experience with buying from a Beta member (so I won't mention details here), but basically this person assured me that the background was the original laser background for the sequence...and it is totally a photocopy. For someone that has been collecting for more than a decade, the seller definitely knew better, but was just trying to recoup the money that *they* lost when they purchased it. I'll never sell it, just because there is no way I'd even get a fraction of what I paid...and I still like it.

RalphVboy · Post by **RalphVboy** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:57 pm

Hmmm I probably wouldn't go so far as to say there are any pieces I've acquired that I've paid "too much" for, considering the value of artwork can be very subjective, but there are a few that cost me quite a bit more than I thought they would.

The only instance I found myself annoyed with a purchase was during the auction for one of my HxH cels:

http://ralphvboy.rubberslug.com/gallery ... mID=202651

I paid hundreds more than I thought I would need to for this Silva cel, mainly due to an obvious case of shill-bidding/revenge-bidding. (They conveniently bid over my ridiculous max, withdrew the bid, and bid right under it -__-). Am I dissappointed in winning it that way? A litte bit, but having the artwork in hand definently eased the pain

Stuff like that is extremely annoying, but sometimes that's the price we pay for going after what we truly want.

Thanks for the great topic, metheus ^_^

- RalphVboy

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:01 pm

For me a "poor deal" is not only about the price, but how much I like the item. I could pay $200 for a tiny image that no one who likes the show would ever think of paying, but if I like it a lot then I still consider it a decent deal.

These are my five worst deals. These to remind me of what I should NOT do:

Fifth Worst Deal --- Moemi (Video Girl Ai) in coat (Feb 1998) --- $185 total ($237 inflation adjusted):

There weren't very many Video Girl Ai cels up for sale back then (this was pre-Yahoo Japan deputy days), but I definitely paid too much this. It's not even a decent quality cel, but I really wanted Video Girl Ai cels at the time.

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Fourth Worst Deal --- Akiha's head (Tsukihime)(April 2006) --- ?unknown because of my poor record keeping in 2006:

I really overpaid for this sketch of Akiha's head.

I blame my irrational exuberance on it being only the second auction I ever saw from it in three years.

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Third Worst Deal --- Ugly Ifurita ?2nd OVA cel (July 1998) --- $95 total ($122 inflation adjusted):

This taught me not to rely on dealer's tiny thumbnail pictures for buying cels. This cel is so ugly I don't like looking at it. This was a complete waste of money. It was purchased during the Ifurita craze period.

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Second Worst Deal --- Kagome (Inuyasha) cel (Jan 2003) --- $155 total ($177 inflation adjusted):

I bought this to stay on a dealer's e-mail list. But the cel is really overpriced too.

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Worst Deal of All --- Moemi (Video Girl Ai) cel (May 1998) --- $280 total ($359 inflation adjusted):

I got this from a long defunct dealer's auction website (it was NOT Animanga). There were suspicious events regarding my acquisition of this. It likely caused the bidding price to become overinflated, but I have my newbie spending habits to blame as well.

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I can't do much about the "fourth worst" example since I have no idea what might come out in the future. The "third worst" example taught me to have low expectations after seeing tiny or fuzzy artwork photos. Can't do much about the "second worst" example since it was only a calculated gamble on my part.

The "fifth worst" and "worst of all" examples remind me to go more with the flow when it comes to acuqiring production artwork. Don't UNDERreach and regret not having TRIED to get something. Don't OVERreach and end up regretting how much I spent. If something is too expensive, it's too expensive. Expect to lose all auctions so that if you win any you are happy with those. If you win, always expect to pay your maximum bid.

I find it more mellow collecting this way.

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:59 pm

Hmmm, bad deals. I would have to say some of the naruto and Bleach sketches that I bought a while back is not even worth 1/10th the price I paid for. In fact, one sketch that I had second thoughts on buying it, immediately after I sent in the order, I would have to cut a loss of several hundreds of dollars if I were to ever sell it, and this is just 1 month later!

ZombieBunny · Post by **ZombieBunny** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:36 am

I wont say its bad really because I love it to death but I paid the previous owner almost Nine times the amount they paid for this cel.

http://neverdefeated.rubberslug.com/gal ... mID=215825

But to me it was worth it because it is a wishlist

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:36 am

What will you do instead?