Art Auctions - Buyers Remorse

[yogimax]

 

And to answer another question: Yes, the purchase goes on your sail & sign card.

 

Unless you have a Park West Card, which gives the ability to either delay the payment or reduce the buyer's premium.

[cv322]

Unless you have a Park West Card, which gives the ability to either delay the payment or reduce the buyer's premium.

 

Ooooo...good to know;).

[slk230]

I attended one art auction and finally had to just get up and leave.

All of the art was by completely unknown 'artists' and there was not a single piece that looked like a quality piece. I saw nothing that you couldn't find in any art class.

They kept on saying how much the art would appreciate in value so the only way to afford a piece was to 'buy now' before the artist hit it big and his work would sell for 10's of thousands each.

 

I have friends that bought a few pieces with the idea of making an investment and after years, none of it is worth what they paid for it when you include the add-ons.

 

Attending the auction is not even worth the free champagne in my opinion.

[retiredonthesea]

We have two pieces of Scott Jacobs art work that we bought at two separate cruise auctions. He is the official artist for Harley Davidson and Marilyn Monroe Estate. Both pieces are well known and worth every cent we paid for them. Also had them appraised by outside source. Like most of you have said---Buy what you love, not for investment. We own three works of art that have been bought at cruise auctions--love everyone!:)

 

Happy bidding,

Retiredonthesea

[Boozebabe]

My friend and I usually go to a few of them. Shes more interested and "believes" they are "real". I just go for the FREE Champagne and the free print everyone gets at the end of each session. Most of them have been brightly colored, somewhat tropical looking pictures. I have a frame in my sun room and rotate these pictures throughout the year. They are all 8x10 so they all fit the same frame.

 

After seeing an investigative report on TV about the auctions at sea my skepticism was re-inforced. I always sign up for a bidding # (usually you need to do so to get the freebie print) but I would NEVER bid on anything.

 

And if the auctioneer is legit I learn a little something about art along the way.

[KC_fn]

Yes, it will get peoples' minds off sodas, jeans, & tipping.

 

Wishful thinking. There's a debate raging right now about formal night. It's not in any of the usual forums, so it's camouflaged. :D

[Dr_DNA]

Unless you really know art, and know it well, you shouldn't buy it for an "investment." The common person should only buy it if they like it and they think that it is a reasonable price. Just remember that they wouldn't sail art on the ship if they weren't making money. In today's cut-throat economy, it is difficult to make money on something that someone else has already made money on.

[yogimax]

 

All of the art was by completely unknown 'artists'

 

o.k...

 

All the art auctions I have attended had works by...

 

Rembrandt

Picasso

Dali

Miro

Max

 

And yes, even Kinkade.

 

You truly have not heard of any of them?

[iheartbda]

Wishful thinking. There's a debate raging right now about formal night. It's not in any of the usual forums, so it's camouflaged. :D

 

No it's not camouflaged in the sense of hiding something.

AND it didn't start out as a debate, it was simply several people asking what happened to formal night being formal. People were just talking about the way formal night used to be. Is there anything wrong with that?

 

You don't happen to dress formally and make it well known that you see no need for it...that's perfectly fine. Why this came up in the art auction I'll never know. Are you trying to stir something up?

 

Where the debate came in was when a very rude, uncouth poster started making very nasty comments that were uncalled for and people were responding to him. There wasn't much of a "debate" until he showed up.

[slk230]

o.k...

 

All the art auctions I have attended had works by...

 

Rembrandt

Picasso

Dali

Miro

Max

 

And yes, even Kinkade.

 

You truly have not heard of any of them?

 

 

----------------------

Sorry, they had nothing by anyone of that calibre. They even stated that the artists were essentially 'unknown' that's why they wanted you to buy it....before the values went up.

I've never been to another auction.

Most of the art in my home is original and I couldn't afford an original Picasso. (and don't like Kinkade)

[Trevoli]

I applaude the people who will at least TRY the art auctions, instead of berating them for this and that, while at the same time have never actually attended.

 

As another poster said, it wasn't until my 7th or 8th cruise that I went to an auction, and it was for the same reason: it was miserable outside and I had nothing else to do. I was sitting at a bar on the Promenade of the Explorer of the Seas when an announcement was made and I thought, why not, I'm bored anyway.

 

Boy, am I glad I went. I didn't know diddly about art (not that I'm expert now, but I know way more that I used to), and the auctioneer (and auctioneers at subsequent auctions) was very knowledgeable. On one sailing, there was a 'clinic' about art & artists, marketability, trends, mediums, etc on a non-art-auction sea day. VERY informative and enjoyable.

 

I don't generally go to galleries at home, but I do frequent galleries while I'm travelling, and have pieces from New Orleans, Sydney AUS, among other locations. I'd much rather look at a piece of art that brings back pleasant vacation memories, than to have purchased at a gallery down the street.

 

The champagne is not worth going; it's cheap and while I love champagne, it's barely palatable. If you want to drink during the auction, buy a good cocktail instead.

 

Anyone who is surprised by the 'add ons' wasn't listening. Auctioneers are very specific when spelling all that out at the beginning of the auction, so there shouldn't be any surprises.

 

To answer the OP's question, yes, I have purchased one too many pieces on one occasion, and when I expressed that to the Park West folks, I was told TOO BAD. The charge does go on your S & S card. If you made a fuss prior to leaving the ship, would they detain you?

 

I doubt the credit card company would have any sympathy for you if you refused to pay after the fact.

 

T

[StLouisCruisers]

I hope I won't regret reporting this and getting people's hopes up, but on our 15 day cruise to Hawaii in December, we purchased a total of four paintings. On the last day of the cruise we went to the framing event so that we could check out framing for the two unframed pieces we had bid on. When my husband saw the first piece we had purchased early in the cruise, he couldn't understand what he had liked about it anymore. He actually disliked the piece! We asked the auctioneer (who was helping everyone pick out their frames) if we could cancel that transaction because we didn't like it anymore. He said he wouldn't want us to be unhappy with an art piece, and agreed to cancel the deal. The credit showed up on our final statement that night.

 

Framing on the ship can actually be less than on land, you know. On land they charge by the inch, but on the ship it was by general size (small, medium, large). That's how they decide the cost of shipping as well. We had a fairly large piece framed for about $230.

 

Of course, this was on Princess, which doesn't use Park West, but have their own Fine Arts department called Global Fine Arts. We have purchased numerous pieces from Princess and are very pleased. True, the champagne isn't great but you don't have to drink it, right? Buy a drink and enjoy yourself! Even if you don't buy, it's entertainment!

 

Also, the buyer's premium is only 10% on Princess, and all shipping charges explained a couple times during an auction.

 

I would recommend Princess Art auctions to anyone who's interested in art at all.

 

 

:)

[cruiserbryce]

we have occasionally seen art on th cruise that we have liked but never actually bid...aside from how akward it would be to get home, I just dont know enough about art to make any educated bids...so no matter how much champagne I have...buyers remorse at the auction probably wont be an issue

[TheDMan]

I have never been to the art auction. I would like to go on my upcoming cruise. I did go to the pre-auction (I guess that's what you call it) on my last cruise. I saw a couple of items that I was interested in. Something came up and I had to miss the actual auction though. I do have a question. What is the buyers premium?

[Amlee]

I always like the mysteries. Where they turn the pictures back wards. You hold up your card for your number to be recorded. You don't know what type of painting it is, or how much the price is.

 

They then turn the picture around and tell you the price. If you are interested you set up a time to meet with the auctioneers at a later time. If not, you don't worry with it.

[KC_fn]

No it's not camouflaged in the sense of hiding something.

AND it didn't start out as a debate, it was simply several people asking what happened to formal night being formal. People were just talking about the way formal night used to be. Is there anything wrong with that?

 

You don't happen to dress formally and make it well known that you see no need for it...that's perfectly fine. Why this came up in the art auction I'll never know. Are you trying to stir something up?

 

 

Wow...

 

No; I was responding to Marci's post, in an admittedly feeble attempt at humor. All I meant by the "camouflage" comment was that those debates usually happen in the more general forums. This one may have gone unnoticed because of its location. Sheesh.

 

And btw, I DO dress appropriately in the dining room, on all nights. If you ever saw me on Formal Night, you'd have no idea that I don't like it. :)

[kimberly1949]

I've read a lot of posts with good information. Has anybody else bought the lithograph of Princess Diana?:)

[StLouisCruisers]

I have never been to the art auction. I would like to go on my upcoming cruise. I did go to the pre-auction (I guess that's what you call it) on my last cruise. I saw a couple of items that I was interested in. Something came up and I had to miss the actual auction though. I do have a question. What is the buyers premium?

 

 

The buyer's premium is a fee assessed on all transactions based on the price of the piece of art. A $200 bid on Princess ships will cost you another $20 (the 10% I mentioned), then you would also pay for shipping, which on Princess ranges from about $40 to $90.00. Smaller pieces are charged the lowest and very large pieces are charged the higher number. I don't know about other cruiselines, but on Princess you don't "carry off" a piece of art. Most art is framed and shipped to you in 4 - 8 weeks. If a piece is shown with a frame at the auction, that is the frame style you will receive on your piece. Unframed prints are shipped in a shipping tube for about $15 to $20. Then you can frame them at home. Or you could go to the framing event held the last day of the cruise and arrange for framing by Princess (and not pay the fee for the tube shipping!). Prices are decent on framing (if you've ever gone to a framing store or even Michael's at 50% off, you will find the prices better on the ship, I would say).

 

As for bidding, on Princess there is a "minimum" on each piece, that is where the bidding begins. If only one person raises their hand, then that is the price they get the piece for. If more than one bidder raises their hand, the price goes up in increments determined by the original price. In other words a $100 piece may go to $110, then $120, while a $1000 piece may go up in $50 increments. They will bid up three times only, unless it's an original or the last piece in inventory. Then the final bidder wins. If there's more than one copy, then all the bidders receive it at that price. You really need to hear the art auctioneer tell you all this - they do it much better than I can! So you don't need to know where to start bidding, they tell you. If you think that is a fair price, bid. If you say I can't afford a $500 piece, then don't. Easy!:)

[StLouisCruisers]

I've read a lot of posts with good information. Has anybody else bought the lithograph of Princess Diana?:)

 

 

No, I don't believe I've seen it.

[TheDMan]

Thanks for the info St Louis. I have been to cattle auctions so I know all about the bidding proccess. That was a great description though. I had never heard of the buyers premium. It still doesn't make since to me. If they're gonna charge 10-15% off the top, why don't they just start the bidding a little higher.

[Kudos2Fly]

Back in 2004 we went to an art auction on Celebrity. We had been to the art auctions before but never bought anything.. But this time we had just finished building our new house and had plenty of wall space. So we decided on this cruise we would go and buy some art.

 

We came early to look and "mark" the pictures we liked. We did buy about 5 pictures. We walked off with 2 and sent the rest home by mail. We didn't get them framed either. We had them framed at home on our own.. It was a LOT cheaper that way.

 

No buyer's remorse here.. We loved all the pictures we bought. The one thing we did was set a budget on how much we were willing to spend and didn't go over that.. Plus watching the auctions before was a lot of help, because we knew the rules..

 

My husbands nephew did the wine auction. He was so proud of him self because he out bid another passenger. Until he found out how many bottles he was buying... He thought he was only buying 1 wine bottle. He was buying 12.. the price was for 1x12... Needless to say he wasn't planning on spending that much money! But his dad did split the cost with him..

 

So know the rules before bidding

[sultan_sfo]

Under certain conditions, the pax may return the painting for a refund. But Buyer's Premium is NOT refundable. Buyer's Premium is now 15% for items under $30k. These rules are are clearly spelled out in writing and also by verbal announcement at the beginning of the auction. Land galleries also charge buyer's premium.

 

Thanks for the info St Louis. I have been to cattle auctions so I know all about the bidding proccess. That was a great description though. I had never heard of the buyers premium. It still doesn't make since to me. If they're gonna charge 10-15% off the top, why don't they just start the bidding a little higher.

[jlp20]

“Art auction” are just another way of removing money from a passenger’s pocket. This is done by selling reproductions of paintings and sculptures along with prints, lithos and “collector items”. Mixed in a just a sprinkling of original pieces of art. In GENERAL, the final costs incurred during a shipboard auction will be more than if the same item were purchased elsewhere.

 

The items put up for “auction” are like any other commodity, they have some value. If you do not know the true value of anything, and pay too much, who is at fault?

 

A lot of people are quite happy with what they buy onboard, a few are not.

[suzimack]

There was recently a show on 60 minutes or Dateline about the Cruise Art Auctions and it basically said it was a big scam..they took art from the ship and took it to a Real Appraiser..it was worth WAY less than the passengers purchused it for. Go drink the champagne and don't bid..or just leave..YIKES..susan

[muscogee]

I tend to know what they sell before going on the ship so I can price compare.

 

How do you find out what pieces will be on the ship?

 

Peter