HOW GOOD ARE THE ART AUCTIONS FOR INVESTING?

[Alexis]

We attend the art auctions for entertainment purposes only, we've never bought a piece and doubt we ever will.

 

In regards to what Alexis saw happening, we've also noticed several times that there seem to be people in the audience who are actually Park West employees and not passengers. These people will start bidding, if the bidding isn't going well, the (what I presume to be) plant will "win" the bid, but the auctioneer does not take down the number of the bidder. We saw it happen several times. When a legitimate winner has bid, the auctioneer will pause and have their assistant take down the bidders number.

 

Watch carefully, from the back of the room, sometime. It is interesting to see what happens.

 

We love art, don't have a lot of it, but the pieces we do have were purchased because we loved them and wanted them in our homes. We have bought several pieces while on vacation, preferring to purchase local artists work from where we are travelling. It's interesting to note, sometimes we will spend $200 to frame a $25 print. We have the framing done to suit the print, not to match our house. The true investment, for us, is the joy we get from seeing the memories of our travels.

 

Thank you. ;) That is almost the same thing we saw, except we didn't even see anyone scratch their nose and it kept going up. We were also sitting behind everyone else so we had the best view of everyone. (That was about 6 young people who were there for the champaign and were not even paying attention to most of it.) I kept looking behind me to see if anyone was there bidding. Nope! Not a sole. :confused: That was my last time at one of those. :rolleyes:

[newcruiserRC]

Go to this site if you still have problems that never got resolved.

 

http://www2.fineartregistry.com/foru...forum.php?f=38

[newcruiserRC]

Too many people have been hurt by auctions at sea.

 

I think post by SUPER DEAL/Cool Cruiser on April 27th, 2006, 10:23 PM in this thread is dead on.

[Bakincakes]

My wife and I just came back from a cruise on the Explorer of the Seas. Whilst I was napping, my wife went out to the auction and bought $1400 in art. Upon waking and joining her, I found out what she had done. Not a huge deal, other than the fact that she bought art [by Mouly and Tarkay] which is comparatively worthless--I found a bunch of places that were selling s/n prints for a fraction of the price.

I cannot urge people strongly enough to stay away from these types of auctions. At best, they are scam artists. Saw two Chagall lithographs from the Verve Bible series. They wanted $6200 each for them. I could get the original periodical, with close to FIFTY lithographs for less than that! Doubtless the markup on their other stuff is almost as bad. Park West is not to be trusted. :mad: :eek:

 

It is your fault for taking a nap.;) :p

[Bakincakes]

We attend the art auctions for entertainment purposes only, we've never bought a piece and doubt we ever will.

 

In regards to what Alexis saw happening, we've also noticed several times that there seem to be people in the audience who are actually Park West employees and not passengers. These people will start bidding, if the bidding isn't going well, the (what I presume to be) plant will "win" the bid, but the auctioneer does not take down the number of the bidder. We saw it happen several times. When a legitimate winner has bid, the auctioneer will pause and have their assistant take down the bidders number.

 

Watch carefully, from the back of the room, sometime. It is interesting to see what happens.

 

We love art, don't have a lot of it, but the pieces we do have were purchased because we loved them and wanted them in our homes. We have bought several pieces while on vacation, preferring to purchase local artists work from where we are travelling. It's interesting to note, sometimes we will spend $200 to frame a $25 print. We have the framing done to suit the print, not to match our house. The true investment, for us, is the joy we get from seeing the memories of our travels.

 

 

Nice to know they use shill bidders. Geezzzzzzzzzzz:mad:

[dfishner]

I have never been fooled by thinking art was an investment, I usually buy what I like and know going in what I intend to spend if it goes over that then good luck to the winner. Our last cruise we bid on two pieces of art that we both liked, they were framed and no one else bid on them. We got both for less then the asking price. We did talk with the auctioneer prior to the auction started.

 

One time when we were on the Jewel we were looking at a piece and the auctioneer knew we were interested in it but we were $100 apart and I had no intentions of going above what I wanted to spend for it. He tried a couple of times to get us to buy it but we would no budge...It was their lost not ours. To us it is like gambling you need to know when to throw in the towel.

 

We picked up some nice pieces from Park west over the years, have no idea what it is worth nor do I care. We like what we bought and still enjoy looking at them. To us that is the investment.

[39august]

Lewdog. Thank you for saying what I've wanted to say for years!

[scopewest]

My BIL attends the auctions for the free drinks and the hope of winning the free prints they offer during the drawings (which they use to get more people to show up). And he did win once. I saw the prints and wasn't impressed but everyone's taste in art differs.

 

I have a vague memory of years ago on a ship there were not enough buyers to even hold an auction so they were just selling the art off the rack, so to speak. Not sure if anyone got a deal that way, just a comment.

[Barkeeper]

Went on my first cruise in August, JOS Baltic, and viewed first at sea art? auction from advanage point high above Centrum. Why is anyone prepared to bid for posh photocopies?

Glad they did as it was a very pleasant way to spend an hour and was free to boot.

[Philly Steve]

You aren't buying art, you are buying posters.

 

Why not buy pieces from local artists?

 

You can then get an original, one-of-a-kind piece rather than a print and support a local artist who probably needs the money a lot more than an auction house selling prints.

 

I really question the use of Thomas Kincaid and the word art used together period.

 

..And in many cases you get to meet the artist. Gotta support the local economy. :)

[marci22]

I think Lewdog about summed it up.

[shamrox91]

Anybody have any experience with buying autographed sports memorabilia (i.e. signed jerseys, pictures, etc.) from a Park West at sea auction?

 

They claim that the pieces come with a "certificate of authenticity", but are they really legitimate?

 

When we were on the Mariner a few years ago we were looking at the Sports Auctions. My husband is a collector of game worn clothing as well as autographs and he was able to look at a few of the things and know that the prices were way over inflated. We did pick up a few cartoon cels, 2 were from Yellow Submarine and the other was a How the Grinch Stole Christmas and once we got home and realized the champagne made us do it we were able to sell them on Ebay and make a small profit.

So my advice would be buy what you like and know what you're buying. Don't let the champagne take over.

[cusyl]

Buy art only because you like it. Almost all the art they sell are sierographs on paper...so basically they are like posters. I'm sure the original art on canvas are much better, but I would not buy them as an investment. Some art galleries have an option of buying them back from you after I think 3 years....on the expensive art.

[Robb]

If you like it and you can afford it, and you want it hanging on your wall, great. Buy it. But if you are buying it for an investment...................might be better off with something else.

[croosieloosie]

I just got back from a Vision of the Seas cruise and bought several hundred dollars worth of art. The auctioneers from Park West at Sea says that all of the work is much more valuable than it was auctioned at. Has anyone had any luck with this? If so please share your experiences!

 

Check it out

 

http://paigewest.*****.com/art_addict/2004/04/collecting_tips.html

[My2Kitties]

Be careful! At our first auction, we were just looking and I saw a painting I liked for my sister who just got engaged, bought a house and it was right at Xmas...needless to say it never went up for auction so we ended up buying it and took it with us...we did win a bunch of free prints and I took some of them and framed them for gifts. Had a great time spent less than 200.00 total and had some fun...

Next cruise the auctioneer seemed really pushy, we didn't like anything so we stayed away...

Advice, don't go to buy art for investment...again be careful!

[cruisePRN]

I just got back from a Vision of the Seas cruise and bought several hundred dollars worth of art. The auctioneers from Park West at Sea says that all of the work is much more valuable than it was auctioned at. Has anyone had any luck with this? If so please share your experiences!

 

read their disclaimer, and suckers beware :mad:

[rastewa]

As an artist, all I can say is, “Hope that you had lottsa champagne and enjoy the posters”. Did you know that serio-lithograph is a phrase coined by Park West?? There is no such thing, it's not worth much more then the paper and ink it's used to print it with. Find a new budding artist in your community and buy an original.

[Travelitis]

The vast majority of pieces aren't going to be good investments, and Kincade certainly isn't. He's too mass produced. We bought 2 signed and numbered Dali's that have more than tripled in value per appraisal. We bought Lucelle Raad and Krasnyansky because we love them, not expecting them to appreciate. Many people would do well to look for poster prints of art they like and frame that as inexpensively as possible.

[newcruiserRC]

I've just been learning that and reading that thinking you are getting even a good price any sea auction art is questionable. Sadly you don't get to see what is selling before you attend. You come home to find that the piece that they tell you is worth so much and you got a deal? Hmmm, go to ebay and type in your artist. Go to artfact.com and get free trial and see what art sold for, go to http://www.artbrokerage.com/art/h.htm and see the Anatole Krasnyansky's and Peter Max's that have Park West "appraisals" and are "must sells" and sell for 1/2 "value" OR can't get a bid. It's sad.

 

And finally, read the purchase and sale BEFORE you buy. There's an article on a site that is an eye opener and a must read before you sign anything with Park West purchases, and probably any sea auction companies http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/far_investigates/parkwest-invoice.php And don't sign the free credit for a year contract without reading it very carefully. If you don't read all this stuff very carefully, no matter how ecstatic you are and even if you don't care you're paying way more than value, that's fine, but read the agreement. Read that article. Read before you sign anything.

[KC_fn]

I just got back from a Vision of the Seas cruise and bought several hundred dollars worth of art. The auctioneers from Park West at Sea says that all of the work is much more valuable than it was auctioned at. Has anyone had any luck with this? If so please share your experiences!

 

If you're not expert enough at art appraisal to know whether what Park West is saying is true, I wouldn't think that an onboard auction would be the place to begin your art collecting career.

[aqhacruiser]

Keep in mind also that Park West is on several cruiselines not just RCCL. People get hurt by these auctions and what many have posted here about them is true. If someone is buying something because they really love it and they do not care about what the value is, thats fine. To them it was worth the price but for those that think they are buying an investment, walk away. There are so many wonderful artists in the ports we visit that you can find an original for a reasonable price. Auctions are a lot of fun and they are entertaining so we go and watch the crowd and the show. I appreciate fine art and I enjoy looking at the prints and we have fun but buy something as an investment thru Park West? No way:)

[photocruiser]

I just got back from a Vision of the Seas cruise and bought several hundred dollars worth of art. The auctioneers from Park West at Sea says that all of the work is much more valuable than it was auctioned at. Has anyone had any luck with this? If so please share your experiences!

 

 

Remember that without Monet...you are Baroque!;)

 

Photocruiser

[lucky99]

I just got back from a Vision of the Seas cruise and bought several hundred dollars worth of art. The auctioneers from Park West at Sea says that all of the work is much more valuable than it was auctioned at. Has anyone had any luck with this? If so please share your experiences!

 

 

I buy Thomas Kinkade and the stuff I have seen on the ships by him is garbage. I would never buy anything on the ships like that.

[lucky99]

You aren't buying art, you are buying posters.

 

Why not buy pieces from local artists?

 

You can then get an original, one-of-a-kind piece rather than a print and support a local artist who probably needs the money a lot more than an auction house selling prints.

 

I really question the use of Thomas Kincaid and the word art used together period.

 

 

No wonder you question that, his name is spelled Thomas Kinkade and he is a great artist. The Thomas Kincaid you speak of must be on comic books.