Horror Stories - Adventures in Collecting

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• Posted: April 14, 2012 @ 11:02AM
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This is a bit of an extension on the conversation concerning how a bad experience with an artist may affect a future purchase of their work - but it got me thinking: a lot of the members on here have extensive collections and, i can imagine, have learned some hard lessons. If you have a story and/or a lesson learned to share with your fellow members - please share.

A few of mine:

1. Purchased an expensive custom that was not only heavily marred by bubble wrap imprinted on the still-tacky paint job, but the majority of the 'art' was stickers with the bit of sculpting chipping and disintegrating in transit. Lesson: When purchasing online, always make a point of inquiring about the condition of the piece, rather than taking the photos at face value. and document that conversation via email.

2. Commissioned an artist to customize a 16" Bear Qee after he did a phenominal job on a munny and a labbit for me. Purchased the qee, paid for the custom work and shipping and the 'artist' vanished into thin air. over a year later he messaged to say that he fell on hard times and sold the piece, along with other possessions to dig himself out of a hole. promised to make things right. promptly disappeared never to be heard from again. Lesson: commissioning artists you find hither and thither is like accepting a marriage proposal from someone you met through online chat. Document as much as you can (their address and contact information - they have your's, alls fair - stay in steady contact and, if all goes to hell and you can't get your cash back, be prepared to let it go.

There're more but I could write a book :) How about it? have you been blessed with good fortune (i have been extraordinarily blessed myself), or do you have a tale to tell?

masao626

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  • Deph
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  • Dunny

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Good advice. I actually find buying stuff off eBay less risky than buying direct from the artists or websites and if your purchase goes south, the sellers always make good on eBay to avoid any negative rating. I find the feedback from artists really poor after the purchase and most times you never get confirmation the item has shipped and e-mailing them in my experience results in a response sometimes days later.

I recently bought a piece off an artist store as it was a little more expensive as elsewhere, but was advertised as signed. It arrived unsigned and the response I got when I enquired about it was that they had sent stickers with it, so that should make up for it not being signed. I was not pleased, but I live all the way over in South Africa, so it would cost me too much to try and ship it back.

HoodedGrub

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about 12 years ago · Comment ·

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masao626 that's absolutely ridiculous, so sorry the artist's (or their representative's) idea of customer service is stickers. i think there's a theme here with stickers...in all their devious forms. about 12 years ago

crazylikeafox11 m *hands hoodedgrub some stickers b/c I'm so sorry for his negative experience* about 12 years ago

crazylikeafox11 m But that's a pretty poopy deal. I bought a toy from a gallery that was taking a while to ship and they told me it's b/c the piece had some imperfections that the artist was touching up. The piece arrived with the imperfections in place. I didn't raise a stink b/c I figured they were blowing smoke up my ass as the artist lives in Russia and even with the delay, there's no way they shipped it there and back. about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused What is the deal with stickers? Every time I order from one of the bigger galleries I get them as extras. about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused @HoodedGrub: I hope you never did business with them again. That sucks. @Crazylikeafox11 Please share the name of the gallery,so the rest of us will no to take this into account if we are going to order from them. about 12 years ago

Mister-Quiche m that happened to me a few times a few years back too but i was told in one case 'the next thing u buy will be signed to make up for this' and in the other case i was sent a messge saying 'will be in the uk next year for signings, bring your item then to be signed' . about 12 years ago

crazylikeafox11 m No offense EA, but I'd rather not. If I had perhaps questioned them about it and they were standoffish, then I might. But as it was, the blemishes weren't bad and I honestly might have missed them if they hadn't claimed they were having it touched up. My only beef was that they misled me about having it touched up. about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused @crazylikeafox11 Good Morning! No worries, I read into your comment worse than you meant. about 12 years ago

HoodedGrub m I don't like to name and shame either. They really have to screw me out of something big time to be named and shamed :) about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused @Hooded Grub Good Morning! I only advocate for telling if it is an actual Gallery and not an artists website because they are supposed to be professional. And only if you sought redress to no avail. For most artists the business side is a distraction from their work and you have to allow some slack. about 12 years ago

HoodedGrub m Yep. Big time distraction. One order from the artist direct was only shipped about 3 weeks later because he was busy with a gallery opening, so I let it slide. He sent other goodies with to make up for it though :) about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused @HoodedGrub Atleast they make up for it! I admire artists. It takes a lot of nerve to go out and create then turn around and try to live off of it. about 12 years ago

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Way back when I first started collecting I found an eBay listing for an 8" Green Big Mouth Dunny and two 3" Big Mouth Dunnys by Deph. This was back when the 8" was going for about $400 plus when you could find it. I put in a bid and won the auction for like $400, which made me stoked because I thought when I get everything I'll turn around and sell the two 3" dunnys for like $100 each and then the 8" would have only cost me $200 making it an awesome deal.

Two weeks later all three Dunnys arrived, all of them crazy damaged, wings broken on the smaller ones, etc. After a month of back and forth with paypal/eBay I shipped them back and charged back the transaction on my credit card since paypal wasn't doing anything. In the end I got my money back after a month of hassels, but I definitely only buy exactly what I want now and try and leave the all the sly dealings to other people.

keegan

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about 12 years ago · Comment ·

crazylikeafox11 m Any time I see something way under priced, I just assume it's either a fake or a scam and immediately close that tab, moreso back on the KR forums than ebay. Ebay there's the possibility that something doesn't know the value, but if it's a buy it now with an extensive description, it's probably a scam of some sort. about 12 years ago

keegan a It wasn't a scam that could have been identified, it was an auction so I just thought I got a good deal from a seller that has a good rating. The pics weren't of the figs, and the description didn't mention the damage. In the end got my money back. :) about 12 years ago

Easily_Amused I'm glad you did1 People who sell broken/fake goods hurt the entire market and supress everybody's price they can charge by a little. about 12 years ago

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So far I have bought from e-bay and Toy Store/Galleries and haven't had a problem. But, I appreciate everyone who shares their stories! They will help guide me in future purchases.

Easily_Amused

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about 12 years ago · Comment ·

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