slight change to POW site

[Michael Jacob]

Hey, in the last few minutes there was a slight change to the POW site. Instead of saying SOLD OUT, things now say TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE. Not sure if it means anything, but who knows?...?...?...?

Merry Christmas

[jellya]

shutting up shop

Merry Christmas forumites

[corblimeylimey]

Message on their site.....

Well it’s been an interesting season so far here at POW. We’ve scored some notable victories, hit one or two rather bizarre own goals and there’s been a fair bit of frantic dribbling under pressure.
The manager has decided to put everyone on the bench for a month while we formulate a new plan of attack and do some press-ups. Consequently no new orders will be taken until Monday 5th February. All outstanding orders will be processed in the first week of January.
Thanks for your interest and understanding…

[Michael Jacob]

Thanks
Merry Christmas to you!

[Jonny Breaks]

5th of Feb?!?!

im thinking a new improved none-crashing site must be in the pipe line.....

ah well Happy Christmas to one and all!!!

[pompeyboy]

That gives me 2 paydays to replensish my finances. Twas a great month, they deserve a break, and so do we.
Have a good one everybody.

[irf2112]

may well be the last time a Banksy or Micallef will be sold through POW...

[Run Pig Run]

irf2112 said:

may well be the last time a Banksy or Micallef will be sold through POW...

why do you say that?

[pastiepie]

damn, i was secretly hoping they'd release flags on POW like they did Friendly Fire. Well, can't see that happening now.

[smashedhat]

irf2112 said:

may well be the last time a Banksy or Micallef will be sold through POW...

It does sound like some big changes are under way, I can't see why they wouldn't take any orders of existing stock until Feb. Unless they are getting rid of all their stock at last day of SG, might be worth a trip down just to see...

[lesroy]

I can imagine they have alot of tidying and sorting out to do after the ghetto. The 5th of Feb only really gives them a month to do all that sorting. Get the place in order, print & roll 2000 new Banksy prints ready for their sale. Then they will have time to work out a good way of selling them (lottery or otherwise)....

I reckon its a good idea to break for a while.. reckon they need it

[sputnikeye]

They've worked their asses off and boy who doesn't need a break over yuletide, good on em.

[irf2112]

bombhugger said:

irf2112 said:

may well be the last time a Banksy or Micallef will be sold through POW...

why do you say that?

With comments on this very forum like, "my sister's buying a Micallef to sell on ebay to pay for her tutition fees". It should be quite obvious. (This was in a Micallef thread).

Besides I dont think POW appreciate the carpet baggers. They've sold prints at affordable prices. Problem is quite a few are getting into the 'wrong' hands and sold straight away for profit. I think the solution will be to stop selling certain artists work on POW OR raise prices so the fleabay crowd dont make as much.

I can't really see another solution POW will come up with. I'm sure the ebay sellers piss them off big time. Some might argue and say ebay has created a second market thus more demand of artists at POW. Sure but 400% percent profit does take the piss a bit.

[corblimeylimey]

I agree irf2112, not good news for us, but if I were them I'd be thinking what are we doing selling for these prices, ebay sellers are making more money than us and they're not even doing any work or paying tax.

To raise the prices to ebay level would probably be wrong though, it would be too high, they would have trouble shifting all the prints at that price point.

Oh well, all will become clear in due course, it could just be they're having a well deserved break, or upgrading the computer (again).

[reados]

i think that pow artists as a whole have seen a massive increase in sales mainly due to ebay, these carpet baggers are panic buying everything that thay think they can make a few bob on. I don't really think POW would be stupid enough to shoot themselves in the foot by stopping any of that, what more could a shop owner want than to sell out of every thing they put out, and theyre shifting more and more at higher prices 500 micallef's at £300 each, 1000 banksy's at 100, if my sums are correct thats not bad for a weeks work.

it's as annoying as buying concert tickets

[Ågent ßacardi]

Well... there is the time-consuming and labor-intensive method of searching through eBay, noting the print numbers that the baggers are touting, checking the database, and banning those individuals from future POW purchases. Probably not very practical, and much more trouble than it's worth though... and baggers can find ways around it.

I don't like the idea of raising the price though... that's for selfish reasons which I'm sure many of you can relate to The baggers have really spoiled everything. Buying a Banksy will never be the same again.

Perhaps the only way to 'combat' this is to expand the edition numbers to meet with the increased demand, as has been done with Flag. Scalper prices are plummeting fast, with so many of them on eBay. So in a way, embracing the scalpers may just be the way to deal with it. High supply = Low price, such that even people who end up buying off eBay won't end up paying crazy amounts like £1000. If this carries on, some opportunistic buyers will think that it's not worth as much profit than previously thought, and will move on to other things... and in the long run, the number of baggers may decrease slightly, leaving more prints available for genuine fans. Just a theory

[foundation]

agentbacardi said:

Well... there is the time-consuming and labor-intensive method of searching through eBay, noting the print numbers that the baggers are touting, checking the database, and banning those individuals from future POW purchases. Probably not very practical, and much more trouble than it's worth though... and baggers can find ways around it.

I don't like the idea of raising the price though... that's for selfish reasons which I'm sure many of you can relate to The baggers have really spoiled everything. Buying a Banksy will never be the same again.

Perhaps the only way to 'combat' this is to expand the edition numbers to meet with the increased demand, as has been done with Flag. Scalper prices are plummeting fast, with so many of them on eBay. So in a way, embracing the scalpers may just be the way to deal with it. High supply = Low price, such that even people who end up buying off eBay won't end up paying crazy amounts like £1000. If this carries on, some opportunistic buyers will think that it's not worth as much profit than previously thought, and will move on to other things... and in the long run, the number of baggers may decrease slightly, leaving more prints available for genuine fans. Just a theory

Or just wait for the chaos to die down abit, half the folk here will have trouble remembering who Banksy is in a months time, as some new hype has hit cool street, things will regulate, the baggers will bagger off and we will be left with a more stable place to find our Banksy fix.

[bldouble]

If the initial price of a Banksy/ Miccaleff goes up surely it goes against the initial themes of anti- corporatism that exists within much of these artist's work. The price of the prints therefore contributes to the respect given to artists of these types and If they were to increase the inititial value surely this would be contradictory to the messages they communicate within their work.

[RBK]

Not to sound harsh, but that is rubbish. Artists create the art; they can't control prices/market forces. The message of the art doesn't change if it is sells for 100 GBP or 10,000 GBP.

[corblimeylimey]

Of course the artist can have a say in the initial price, indeed if they wanted to give it away they could.

Banksy 'gives away' all the street art for us to enjoy, gives to charity, and would have a say in how much the prints on POW go for, thereafter he has no control.

I can't see why an anti war or anti corporate piece of art doesn't have the same message whether its free on a wall or a £20,000 Canvas.

[Curley]

rklimek said:

Not to sound harsh, but that is rubbish. Artists create the art; they can't control prices/market forces. The message of the art doesn't change if it is sells for 100 GBP or 10,000 GBP.

Have to slightly disagree there.
bldouble said the initial price not the resale price and thats makes a big difference.
The ethos of POW is affordable art for the masses and what the masses choose to do with it is their business and no one elses.

You are however right that the message does not change as the value increases or decreases.

[tranceport185]

The ethos of POW is affordable art for the masses and what the masses choose to do with it is their business and no one elses.

Exactly in the end nothing can stop supply and demand, boosting the prices on POW will only make the prints limited to people who can afford or are willing to pay 2000+ USD for new release unsigned print off ebay. That only alienates the people who really want it even more. Lets face it a 600 run banksy print no matter how the setup the chances are not great to catch one off the site. But who am I to say anything just my opinon of course.

POW is playing this very well by not being greedy and in the end that will come back to them 10 fold. I would bet that they aren't going broke anytime soon