Artwork on eBay

I’ve been carting a lot of marker art around to conventions, and it occurred to me that with a three-month break, I may want to unload some of it.

As an experiment, Sandra and I have posted this wholly undesirable piece on eBay. We figure that if THIS one sells, pretty much anything we’ve got in the portfolio will sell. That whole “best foot forward” thing is a crock of nitrate-rich organic material.

The auction ends in 5 days.

–Howard

22 thoughts on “Artwork on eBay”

  1. You need to note what you’re doing on the main cartoon site. There’s plenty of Schlock fans worldwide who will never get a chance to see you at a con like I did. You may have just found yourself a way to print money. Well… another way, anyhow. 😉

    – Nathan (Bought you Saturday dinner at this year’s Penguicon)

  2. Jut an observation: ONE hour after posting, it has received 5 bids and is up above $10. Matters will probably slow down now (and not just for my mentioning it), but I think I’d be willing to call this experiment successful right now.

  3. Just wanted to say that todays Schlock left me quite disturbed … while I was laughing myself off the chair. Made me think of Monty Python live at the Hollywood Bowl where “the dead one” is among the cast. Very good work!

    1. Thank you. That one actually grew out of some information a Schlocker sent me about sharks not chewing. He was griping about the “bit off more than it could chew” strip.

      I did additional research, yes. We ended up with a footnote on October 23rd, and then today’s strip, which practically wrote itself.

      –Howard

  4. I hesitate to point this out, as I am eager for more auctions, but do keep in mind that the final price here will be at least in part determined by the rarity of your material being available to the non-con-going public. Following up with a flood of auctions will effect the price as supply increases.

    But I think you’d be safe with as many as one a week for several years before this effect could become visible in the slightest.

    1. Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m thinking.

      Note also that the subject matter will vary widely. Straight character portraits won’t do as well as pieces lifted out of “scenes,” and then there are piles and piles of concept art.

      I don’t mind selling stuff for just a few bucks. Carrying it around to conventions and having it not sell at ALL gets old.

      –Howard

  5. Genius!

    “Oops! I accidentally put him in the wrong uniform. I guess this goof is one-of-a-kind…”

    Ideas for later auctions:
    Both Doyt-Habans shaking their fists at the late Doctor. (Oops!)
    Skinny Brad in a death-grip by Pranger. (Oops!)
    Schlock not holding a gun or food item. (Oops!)

      1. Re: FYI

        Just a note, but for the last two days, the two most recent dates on the calendar are underlined, but *don’t* work as links.

        1. Re: FYI

          I’ll look into it. We’ve had problems with the updater, ultimately related to the power outtage it suffered when Rita knocked out half of Houston.

          –Howard

  6. Link?

    I’m probably way off base here, cause you know I usually am.

    But, you might want to include a link to Schlock Mercenary so people who might stumble across your auction accidently can know what it’s all about. 😉

    1. Re: Link?

      That’s a great idea. I’m disappointed in myself, because the auction does not appear when you search for the terms “Schlock Mercenary.” Bad marketing, there.

      As experiments go, this one is teaching us a lot.

      –Howard

      1. Random thoughts on this auction.

        I know the bidding isn’t done yet. It will be interesting to see if the current high bid at $80 takes it, or if there will be a flurry of bids just before the auction closes.

        However, If each of the 14 people that have bid were to get a picture drawing at what appears to be their maximum bid price, it would come to 609 dollars.

        I wonder if that is sustainable or if it’s just they’ve gone sooo long without being able to buy Shlock that they are clammoring to get it now but once they have something they will be satisfied and the market will dry up.

        At any rate, I also wonder why I post to old journal entries when it’s doubtfull anyone is going to read my comments.

  7. Money, money, money. $81 and still climbing! Howard you have just found a new way to get people to put their money where their mouths are. Rock on!

  8. this wholly undesirable piece

    I’m wondering if you intentionally used reverse psychology to drive up the price. Because your fans would never consider anything you drew as undesirable. At this point you could scribble on a piece of paper and sign it and one of your fans would buy it because it would be a Howard Tayler original. 😀

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