Urban Art Association

The difficulty is that what constitutes a free lunch can take months or years to figure out. It requires specialised knowledge, experience (or at least an awareness of all the potential risks), and a commitment to staying on top of the latest pricing.

Even if someone is sensible and does their research, the oftentimes significant disparity in asking prices for editioned work may be due to a variety of factors:

-  The higher prices don't necessarily reflect the market. It may simply be a few dealers colluding — to take advantage of gullible buyers, who'll do Google searches and then assume £[x] is the going rate for a limited edition print because that's the price listed on two or three websites.

-  In a similar manner, prices at the lower end of the scale shouldn't immediately be equated with "dodgy". They might reflect the condition of the work, they might be good deals, or they might just be fair prices, e.g. in line with recent auction results.

Appreciating the differences between the above scenarios isn't something that comes naturally to everybody. It usually has to be learned.

In my own case, years were needed before the obvious became obvious.

Greed combined with wishful thinking can certainly result in reasonably informed people becoming reckless. Nevertheless, my impression is that ignorance plays a larger role and is the primary factor in most of these scam attempts (this would be in line with the comment by Black Apple Art about sellers seeming "to be preying on inexperienced buyers").

Our slight differences in perception is interesting. A possible explanation is that it's easy to forget how specific our knowledge is.

Members who access this forum regularly are, over time, bombarded repeatedly with generally consistent information, advice and warnings. We read the same things so often in a bubble-like environment that it can feel as if we were always and instinctively aware of them. It may get to the point where we even start assuming other people just know or should know what we ourselves took years to learn, simply because it now seems so self-evident to us.

One example of apparent self-evidence is the need for Banksy artwork to be accompanied by a COA from Pest Control. For longer-term forum members, that's viewed as really the most basic precautionary measure, because it's been drummed into our heads for almost eight years. We also know what the certificate should look like, and many here know what it should feel like. However, I'd argue that the requirement of a COA isn't necessarily obvious to an enthusiast who has only recently started collecting Banksy's art — especially if they're (i) completely unaware of the existence of this forum, (ii) a non-visitor, or (iii) a new or infrequent visitor.

By way of analogy, despite loving architecture, in my absentmindedness or ignorance I occasionally mix up the names of "starchitects" like Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. This is akin to confusing a Faile for a Swoon. It's like mistaking an Irving Penn photo for a Richard Avedon. Or a Hans Wegner chair for an Arne Jacobsen. The error is so extreme, so obscene, at least for those in the scene, that it could easily provoke open ridicule from the latter.

But what's blindingly obvious to a trained eye, or elementary to a person fully immersed in a culture, won't be so clear to a newcomer.

When someone begins taking an interest in street art, there's a lot to absorb — and it can be overwhelming at first. As with any other specialised field, it takes effort and time before pieces of the jigsaw start falling into place and making sense.

Knowledgeable Banksy fans must therefore keep in mind that they are in a position of advantage. The majority of fans (both on the forum and elsewhere) are still at the base of this very niche learning curve.

That's one of the best posts I have ever read on this forum. Sensible, well constructed with valid points expressed in a great tone!