I would like to officially state that by next week, I think all should be fair for selling our stuff. I know usually we let each of us have a space, but I think that it should not matter for the next couple of months. I feel we should all be okay at anytime to put our art up for sale no matter if there is another artists work up. That being said, no one should be getting up set if we do. Heck, the more stuff we have on there, the more we get seen. Is everyone with me? (This official goes into play after my Megatron sales F-R
I agree that the added exposure could only benefit all Radicon Ebayers. I personally think I'll be trying my hand at selling customs as well very shortly, mainly to offset the costs of the hobby! And as I've said numerous times, I hope everybody makes a million!!
We're not....Well, not anymore but seriously, I think it's a good idea to maybe minimize auctions during the RFTK, if by chance you think your auction will effect it of course. I don't plan to auction that week. I actually have a frikkin "auction schedule" for the next 2 months, ouch. But, hell yes - flood the bay with auctions. I'm 10000% cool with that.
I'm serious, I have never heard of taking turns with auctions. I rarely auction my stuff off, I'm currently on my third auction in 2-3 years of customizing. If it was some unspoken rule, someone should have spoke up.
Exactly. Last I checked, anyone is free to auction anything at any time. It might be "nice" to hold off and let someone earn as much as they can, but in all honesty, people will still bid on what they like and we're all entitled to post any customs work we want to......NOT only because there is only one certain custom available to bid on. No one person owns ebay or the ability to auction. Auctioning your customs should be fair game 24/7, 365 days a year. If I want to sell a custom, I'll sell when I want to and I won't worry over gaining a huge amount or profit. If people want it, they'll bid........and hopefully without any negative comments from fellow sellers/customizers who are protecting their own pockets and auctions. The tools are there for everyone to use, so it should be fair game for anyone at anytime. Some may need to sell things now for whatever reasons......who am I to dictate when YOU sell an item at auction? I have no control over what you do, just as no one controls when/if I sell any customs.
Nah, it's kinda a "gentlemens agreement" or common courtesy to not put up similar auctions (or any TF at all) to help minimize "competition"....but the idea went out the window it seems quite recently. I like to (sometimes) let other artists know when I have "big ones" coming to ebay...so that they won't coincide or effect other auctions.
You're actually sorta right...but some of us are friends here, and in the past may have potentially effected an auction (or both) if they are selling similar items. If there was ONE megatron on ebay, he'd do better on his auction than if there were 40. Fact. And in the past, it never hurt anyone to slide dates back or forward a few days...between friends of course. (case in point) encline's got Megatron on ebay....I won't put mine up because I respect David and what he's done. I will wait until his auction is over. And he will see that, and most likely appreciate it. I know for a fact I've lost bidders to other (similar) auctions because the price was lower, and I also know, that I've taken bidders from other auctions. yeah, you might think "If I want to sell a custom, I'll sell when I want to" but you may also ruin your auction's potential and burn a bridge, or you can wait a few days so it doesn't overlap. but, like the OP says, it's rabbit season...with sometimes 10+ pages of ROTF customs, there's no stepping on toes. Simpler terms; 2 little girls wouldn't put lemonade stands next to each other.
That sounds ok with me. I knew the original plan was to sort of sign up or take dibs for certain characters each week so none of us would be out right competing right? Its all good though, soon as the movie hits there will be plenty of fans for all.
oh yeah, i mean the next few months/weeks will be "open season" millions of new and old TF fans will be itching for great customs. That being said though, I don't think it will be as crazy as the original...seems this time around, hasbro is overstocking shelves with figures - if you can remember it was near impossible to get movie figs outside of ebay in 07.
The free market libertarian in me says thats one of the girls should just produce a better product, making the other girl's lemonade obsolete. Now if the girls are friends, perhaps the other girl should sell brownies that go along with the lemonade therefore filling that need in the market. If I'm going with your analogy, then different customs being sold at the same time is all fine and dandy? Right?
Ssweet!!. I wonder how many Primes are going to be on ebay next month!!!! HAHA. But yeah, I have always felt that if a similar auction is up, just wait. Gentleman thing like F-R said. I can remember a big auction(s) a little bit ago. That seemed to .... not be that cool. But hey, now is all good. Yes, free market, make a better product. This is basically for us who have been buds on here. But heck yeah, if a Prime is up, put up a Megs or Fallen. What I am saying is that no feelings should get hurt.
some people see it as very "not cool" yet some people "all's fair, play ball, no one owns ebay" Perhaps if I launched an auction on the same day as those who think it's all "free game" of the custom they just finished, then they'd see it differently.
I see your point, bro. I just think it would be pretty hard to gauge when anyone decides to put up a similar auction. As you said, with TF2, we're bound to see tons of similar auctions. But not all customizers/sellers know of or want in on taking turns doing certain characters. I'm just looking at it from an outsider's perspective. I MIGHT do some customs to sell on ebay at some point, I just don't know if/when it might be. What I'm saying is that when I do, I know I run the risk of putting up something similar. If we all took turns waiting on each other (movie customs or not), we might not have that chance to earn what we need for whatever reason(s). I agree, it's nice to do that for a friend, but to the entire customs world, plus the ones who will join in just because of the new movie, it will be hard not to overlap someone's similar auction on occasion. Good luck to all of you guys though--I do like the TF2 customs you've done so far, Mike. I may have to join the party sometime, if I find the time with all the other stuff going on.
yeah, during ROTF, it's pretty much whatever. I intend to have over 100 customs on there in the next 3 months (personal goal, just need more hours in the day) but I've seen in the past some examples where banners/signatures SPECIFY auction dates, yet other Radicon's auctions land the same time period. Those are what I try to avoid.
There is something to having auctions run in close proximity of each other. If there were say, 7 auctions for custom Primes running each ending one day after the next, once a potential bidder has reached his/her "max bid" he may move onto the next Prime if the current price is more in his/her range. This may devalue the potential profit margin for the earlier auction's artist. With that being said, that does not account for bidder's who are bidding on their favorite artist's work exclusively, more for the throngs of folks who will be introduced to the hobby through ROTF excitement. So that brings me to this observation, several auctions ending within hours (minutes?) of each other may create a feeding frenzy, where by bidders will concentrate on their favorite version of said custom, bringing their best bid for an all or nothing grand finale! Just an observation, could go either way, but I'll tell you something, and this is fact: there's gonna be some rich mofos 'round here in a few weeks!
If your custom is better, then that person should have spent more time on their custom, friend or not. If your custom is not as nice as theirs, I don't thing they should have a thing to worry about. If the intent is to make money, then competition will only force people to work harder on their customs, forcing them to become better customizers because the best pieces will be the ones everyone is bidding on.
this had been a great read, and a great insight on this. I agree with all of you. I havnt auctioned on ebay in awhile, b/c i've been busu with commissions (that came from ebay sales, which is awesome). i agree, i've communicated with friends before (defstar and F_R), and we agree'd to space our auctions, which is great, when you can do so. But for the whole ROTF customs, have at it. There's tons on ebay right now. I would get me some movie toys and try my hand at them, but, I love G1 too much SO i just want to say, do what you think whatever benefits you, whether it's custom G1, ROTF, animated, classicsl, etc. And if you have a friend who's auctioning something bigger, and you 2 work around it, then awesome! Good luck with the auctions guys, and the many more to come as well!
Well i dont plan on selling anything until july, that way ROTF fever is in full swing, the hype machine is revving in the red and everyone has tried to buy or wants a ROTF custom. Those who couldnt buy your's will want another chance so thats what i intend to do. When im done with each custom i plan on putting up a thread asking if any of the big dog's have any auctions planned within the next week or two and if not i'll put mine up. If they do i'll just wait. Im not interested in competition in any way shape or form and lets face it i have no name recognition yet and that plays one of the biggest roles in selling customs on ebay i have noticed so i need to be as careful as possible not to go head to head with anyone on ebay. Although im the type who is in the "post it whenever you want its a free country" group of people sometimes if you havnt got any ass to back up your work its best to hold back and let the big guys do their thing first. There can be only 1 winning bidder after all, i'll pounce in and give the hungry losers some more meat to chew on. Thats my strategy.....maybe i shouldnt have posted it in public now? lol
