What type of art are you passionate about?
When looking for "high end" valuable art at a discounted price on eBay, we recommend that you first search for items that use the terms "limited edition" or "signed and numbered" which limits the results that will come back.
Next, search on the artist, if you know who you like or search on the type of artwork. For this example, we searched on both the artist, and the type of artwork which is a "relief sculpture" (think of a statue embedded in a frame to hang on the wall).
This seller also provided a lot of good information on the item, the artist and photos that showed the limited edition signature and number so we trust that this listing is on the up and up. Next we did a Google search on this piece 'High Seas' by Bill Mack and found that other references for this artist and for this piece were few and far between. That was good as it wasn't a piece that was easy to buy, but still priced to sell.
We did find some other sellers on ebay offering pieces similar to this - i.e. by the same artist, but not this specific piece and the pricing was consistent with others we found. Now it comes down to buying this item - which if they are accepting an offer, we recommend testing the water. This piece is a pick up only - or they will ship once you have purchased. As we don't know how much it will cost to pack and ship, we have to guess it will not be very cheap so making a deal on the purchase is critical otherwise we will have over paid for the market value of the item - and no one wants to be upside down in a piece of art.
Finally, ask the seller if they have the providence paperwork - that's the receipt / authentication paperwork that prove the item is what they say it is. It might not be available but doesn't hurt to ask.
Next, search on the artist, if you know who you like or search on the type of artwork. For this example, we searched on both the artist, and the type of artwork which is a "relief sculpture" (think of a statue embedded in a frame to hang on the wall).
This seller also provided a lot of good information on the item, the artist and photos that showed the limited edition signature and number so we trust that this listing is on the up and up. Next we did a Google search on this piece 'High Seas' by Bill Mack and found that other references for this artist and for this piece were few and far between. That was good as it wasn't a piece that was easy to buy, but still priced to sell.
We did find some other sellers on ebay offering pieces similar to this - i.e. by the same artist, but not this specific piece and the pricing was consistent with others we found. Now it comes down to buying this item - which if they are accepting an offer, we recommend testing the water. This piece is a pick up only - or they will ship once you have purchased. As we don't know how much it will cost to pack and ship, we have to guess it will not be very cheap so making a deal on the purchase is critical otherwise we will have over paid for the market value of the item - and no one wants to be upside down in a piece of art.
Finally, ask the seller if they have the providence paperwork - that's the receipt / authentication paperwork that prove the item is what they say it is. It might not be available but doesn't hurt to ask.
