Urban Art Association

Id say its more a reflection of people seeing the prices over the last 9 months and cashing in / taking the money for life changing circumstances..

Seemed obvious there would be a lot more works in the auctions at the start of this year with it taking 3 - 6 months to get works into auctions

I dont see a problem in them going to wealthy people if it means changing the lives for the sellers which in some instances at the money they are now going at is a realistic thing that will happen

Too many dedicated Banksy sales at the moment IMO - this is Forum's second one this year already and it's the same old (mostly unsigned) prints every time, apart from the unique Donut. I'm also intrigued to understand why anyone would consign prints to Forum Auctions over Sothebys or Christies, unless they are offering 0% sellers fees of course - anyone have a view?

Very few originals seem to be on the market, I don't think Forum auctions have ever had one. It will be interesting to see if Sotheby's have any. It may be fair to say a few people are cashing out of prints but not out of originals, possibly trying to get out of prints into originals. The main galleries don't seem to have any except maybe Andipa and they seem to be selling one's they had in their Italian show.

Id say one of the reasons is its a lot easier and quicker to get works into Forum - as well as zero selling commission.

Sotheby's and Christies now taking works for September onwards.. thats a lifetime in Banksy world and im sure some people will be nervous about what can happen in that time and are hedging their bets and cashing out now sooner, rather than later even with the possibility of a lower return

Saying that, I may be wrong but havent Forum had some record prices for some prints.. higher than Christies / Sotherbys?

Its a gamble either way, but these are getting to big money gambles now.. with tens of thousands of pounds differences in some cases looking at results of even the same print a week apart in different places

I suppose its a nice place to be in having a choice, but must be hard to even ponder what could happen return wise

Another NOLA added! This one is the "white rain" edition.
They are like buses

I think that’s a fair assessment although saying that the big two would probably offer zero commission on the signed prints or higher value unsigned. 

Hi - first post here but wanted to offer perspective as someone selling print for first time.
My friend sold her signed Balloon Girl at Sotheby's last year. So when I came to selling my own print I emailed their contact at Sothebys. I also knew what commission she'd been offered and had met the Sothebys rep at the viewing.
Anyway despite all this:
- initially Sothebys didn't read my email closely enough to see I was offering a signed print and
- so said they weren't interested as they didn't want a duplicate in the March auction then
- on noting it was a signed print suddenly were interested but
- not interested enough to offer a competive commission rate and so was faced with that + insurance + illustration fee + transport.

They were generally slow to get back to me and at no point did I get an encouraging vibe from them. Selling my print is huge for me, but in my dealings I felt that they were doing me a favour by taking my print. So maybe I could make more with them but the dealings with them weren't going well.

Forum Auctions on the other hand have been very friendly and prompt from the off. The emails from the start acknowledged and alluded to why the print was special to me and they've been friendly but prompt in all their dealings with me.

The terms on which they offered to take the print were unbeatable frankly.

Obviously the proof of the pudding is after the Auction and I shouldn't tempt fate but I am so far pleased I went with Forum Auctions.

It's a massive thing, putting a loved print that you've had since new up for Auction. I will only be doing it once. It hurts like hell. But FA have made it as painless as it can be.

thats really good to hear and a pretty good summary of what I have experienced and heard from others! I have also bought from Forum and they are as good on that side as they are at selling for you!! Good luck with the sale!!

The big 4 auction Houses are sadly slightly too lost in their own self importance at times when you are a seller, unless you have a large collection to potentially sell or are selling something unique, at which point they will jump through hoops backwards.

However, as a buyer Christies and Phillips are brilliant, the worst are Bonhams by a long distance, tread very carefully with them as I have heard many a bad story and they also rarely get the best price for a seller...but then thats only my personal view!

Purely out if curiosity I’d be interested also -

don’t have the bank balance for a unsigned print let alone one of these

I think it's a very good catalogue. There are however IMHO too many pieces as you do become fatigued and but its a good mix of pieces some of which haven't been seen for a while such as signed FC, Green Choose Your Weapon, signed PF, signed Applause, Very Little Helps, Grey NBG and 2 Nolas...that's a class line up!!

I believe the same 2 Nolas were being marketed by a broker fairly recently and they obviously didn't sell at his v "bullish" price. He thought the market was still exploding as it was in Sept, not just moving at a more normal level as is reality, nor was he aware that another couple are also being offered around quite quietly and for a fair bit less!

I personally don't think having two in the same auction will have any effect positive or negative but expect some records!

nice mate good luck 🤞

Interested to know why you went straight to auction and not sold it through the forum. I sure someone would have been happy to buy direct.

Hi
Mainly because the risks involved - for both parties - felt too great and it would be a significant amount of work and time corresponding with lots of queries, discussing shipping etc.
Given the terms offered by Forum Auctions the benefit would primarily be to the buyer saving on Auction Fees not to the seller who I think carries increased risk for marginal reward.
Plus while i've browsed the Forum while getting information about which Houses to use I don't feel confident using it as a place to put pieces up for sale.
As an aside I did contact MyArtBroker - who added me to their mailing list but never actually got back to me and TateWard who never got back to me either.
Cheers