I think you just answered your own question there

As others have said, there is almost no way the arithmetic can work out in your favor by pushing it to auction.  For example:  85 in hand vs. 70% net at auction (assuming 25% buyers fee and 5% seller which you would be able to get with ease for a piece like that) is an equivalent auction price with premium of ~120k+.  And if you're a good arm wrestler and negotiate all of the sellers fee away and only had to subtract the 25% buyers premium, you would still need to achieve a price with premium of ~113k gbp to equate to your 85 net.  I could be wrong, but as others have mentioned I can not see any reasonable scenario where your Girl With Balloon edition 150 exceeds 113k at auction at this point in time.  You would be left to hoping that two inebriated auctiongoers with more money than time each decided they had to have it that night and that's not a wise bet. 

If I had one I would absolutely sell for £85k... You can buy four Warhol Soup Can signed prints for that, or if Banksy (and investment) is your thing you'd be better placed selling and buying four CYWs

Why the f are they under your bed? If you are not even enjoying them on your wall, I'd snap insta turbo sell them if they are worth that much. You might die tomorrow or next week or next year. Do something with your money that you enjoy RIGHT NOW.

Whilst you might get £85 or so at auction if you're very lucky, you will never get anywhere near that as an estimate.  You'll need to be thinking £40-60k with a reserve of about 35.  If fortune shines upon you sure you might hit 85k or so, but with fees you'll lose about 10% of that to the house.  

If you really have been offered 85k take the money and run. That is a great offer and one you'll struggle to increase trying to sell it on your own. Dealers make a percentage on what they buy from you because they have a network of clients who will pay a premium to buy from them, you do not. As a good friend once told me "don't be greedy pigs get eaten"  

The market is hot right now, but it can cool just as quickly as it heated up, don't think you're cleverer than the market, you're not. If someone wants to give you what equates to 3 times the average annual UK salary for a piece of paper from an edition of 150 do the smart thing and take the money.

I personally think there is nowhere but up for a signed, red GWB. Banksy is in a league of his own in terms of his class of artwork and GWB is arguably his most recognized and sought after image. And red is the only color that really matters IMO. I would not sell it if I were you unless you truly need the funds. When Banksy is dead and gone, what print are people going to covet the most from him?

A red, signed GWB.

My 2 cents.

150 signed is nothing. And who knows how many of them have even survived in truly collectible condition.

My guess is maybe 75% of them.

A signed, red GWB is a truly rare thing. Saying they are not is simply false. How many people are there in the world who would love to have one? And how many are there? It's not rocket science.

I believe I've gotten into it debate-wise with Printguru in the past, but damn if he isn't bringing truth and a truly needed warning for many.

150 signed, 600 unsigned is an enormous print run by historical standards.

People paying current Banksy print prices will, fact, lose their asses.  It may not be tomorrow, might be in 5 years, but that ass gone.

A bubble is a bubble is a bubble.  Just because people call it out for what it is when it's only 1/2 its end size, doesn't mean they are wrong.  Just stick around and you'll see it pop.

i'd rather not get caught up in the price discussion around this image - but for the benefit of anyone searching you need to check the condition very carefully, sellers will attempt to pass anything off as "mint"
I doubt the full edition of 600 Unsigned & 150 signed still exists for this image - During my own search I've seen all sorts of condition issues - including prints that had been stuck down with "copydex" adhesive & pritt stick glue. Some have been cleaned up - you need to hold them up to the light - not just look at them laid out on a table, as there can be paper loss - such that you can see thru areas of the print when you hold it up, the paper is so thin.

Excellent... so... that's clear then. He should either sell keep hold of it.

well, not much more to add to this as everyone has had their say.

But, I will make a bet. The below print, and its edition-mates, will be substantially more valuable than a signed Girl with Balloon within the next 3 years, with it going up whilst the Banksy drops.



Wayne Thiebaud
Display Rows
lithograph in colors, hand-worked by the artist, on wove paper, 1990, signed in pencil, inscribed along the lower sheet edge Color Trial proof of "Display Rows" Lithograph - Hand-worked with watercolor published by Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco
Edition of 60 with various proofs
Image: 28 ¾ x 22 7/8 in. (730 x 581 mm.)
Sheet: 37 ¾ x 29 ½ in. (959 x 749 mm.)


This will be the 'is mose/m909 an idiot' test.

Sparking imagination has precious little to do with art prices.

If it did, everyone would be surrealists and Dali would be the most expensive artist in history.

It put money in the Banksy I'm afraid!

That's what's great.  Difference of opinion and we get to see it unfold.  I like bets, cuz it forces me to be firm on an opinion in a public fashion.  I win, it reinforces my beliefs.  I lose, I learn something.