i threw in bids on two items that did not meet the reserve. i received email last night asking if i wanted to make an additional offer to meet the reserve price. which i did not do. I did ask that if they just tell me the reserve price i might consider making an offer but not going to just bid against the house until some imaginary line is crossed.

What a waste of everybody's time a very sad state of affairs. Very poor show from the organisers if this is true.

The auction was a great success with over $150,000 in sales. Thanks to all those who purchased, those who bid and those who allowed us to auction their works.

The Paddle8 formula, similar to Artnet.com auctions, is designed to protect the value of artworks in the market so auction results are never public. I believe artnet publishes results of their own auctions if lots do sell, but not if they don't. Either way our results will not be public, it's just not what we are doing.

With follow up sales on lots that did not meet reserve, we are very upfront about asking prices. Just send us an email and ask about any lot.

Our next auction will be an all Shepard Fairey sale in June and our next full Urban Art sale will be in July. We are currently accepting submissions for both sales.

Unlike the past sale we plan to put the catalogues online for at least a week prior to the sale dates as many bidders told us they wished they had more time to review the lots in the last sale. We are also working with Paddle8 to change the format so that auction items end one at a time, not all at once, to allow bidders to follow the end of several lots easier.

We love hearing your feedback and only hope to improve the system.

Please email info at urbanartadvisor dot com with submissions or comments.

That doesn't sound very good at all... makes Paddle8 sound like naive bunch, very concerning!

I think urban art advisor are too busy smoozing in Berlin at their new gallery, BC Gallery. Looks like they've spent lots of time posting up about their gallery opening etc since your post and forgot about their buyers/enquiries from paddle8 auction. Complain to Paddle8 about this auction partnership and how it doesn't look good on them. Maybe they can get in touch with urban art advisor?Also could try emailing BC Gallery in Berlin and join and write a reminder on their Facebook page? Hope you hear from them soon.

I'm not sure I or anyone else is certain of what you are banging on about, But if you are referring to the fact that the paintings almost always go for well over the pre auction estimates, that is true. Those prices are merely there to "weed" out the passers by as the serious bidders are usually aware of roughly where the auction will end.  

Interesting point, I don't collect Kaws but always interesting to look back over your shoulder.  Your post reminds me of some reading I did last night on behalf of someone else as we were discussing the Warhol electric chairs with the silence in the corner.  The question was how many were made and I opened the catalog raisonne to check and was fascinated with a paragraph of reading which I'll paraphrase.  32 canvases all measuring 22x28 inches in various rich colors painted in late '64 and hung for one month in a gallery in Toronto beginning March of '65. All 32 canvases were hung on one wall in 8 rows of 4 with spaces between each canvas to "reinforce the perception that they were individual works doubtlessly to facilitate sales, although it appears that few, if any, works sold from the show."

Fast forward less than 50 years later and the combined value of those 32 works would be near $150 million US and yet they went unsold in sum for what might have been $8k at the time.  I find that body of work to be among the handful of his most powerful images and yet they were so polarizing and far ahead of their time that nobody wanted them on release.  The point of my post is not to compare Kaws to Warhol but rather just an interesting aside to get the facts above out of my head as I'm still having difficulty digesting them. Your point about 26k for this snoopy being stupid money rings so true on one hand and yet you always have to consider the verdict that time may weigh.  Like you, I see little value in that composition at that price but if (big if) Kaws' work stands the test of time that price will look silly by comparison just as you point out you had much better work at half that price a few short years ago.  

does anyone know the final price on the KAWS? Did it stay at 26K?

Not surprised....

Lots of interesting pieces at variety of list prices. See link
paddle8.com/auctions/freearts?utm_source=April+2014+eNews&utm_campaign=April+2014+eNews&utm_medium=email

Prices seem a bit inflated, but going to a great cause.

Please do!

Unfortunately not nacional. You have to be watching the auctions as they end.

Saw they added a couple Bast and Banksy pieces in this upcoming auction, paddle8.com/auctions/junecontemporary