How do you determine a realistic retail price when selling posters?

finepostervault

I would be interested to hear how others here approach price discovery when selling a poster via fixed price rather than through auction.

My current thinking is this: I am not in a hurry to sell. Because of that, I’m not only targeting traditional poster collectors but also buyers from the decorative market – for example interior designers, office decorators, or buyers who simply want a strong visual piece for a space and don’t want to wait years for another example to appear.

So my idea is to price relatively close to retail levels, but still clearly below dealer retail so that a direct purchase remains attractive.

As an example, I’m currently thinking about the poster “The Lady and the Monster” (Republic, 1944). The poster will be professionally restored and linenbacked before any sale.

My rough estimate at the moment is that a restored linenbacked example might sit somewhere in the $1,500–$2,000 retail range.

To arrive at a price range like that, I would currently look at several factors:

• Auction research (Heritage, eMoviePoster, etc.) to establish a baseline based on actual realized prices.
• Comparing the condition of previously sold examples (restored vs. unrestored, linenbacked vs. folded, etc.).
• Accounting for the cost and impact of restoration and linenbacking.
• Retail research among dealers to see where comparable material is actually offered.
• Rarity – how often does the poster really appear on the market?
• Decorative appeal – some posters clearly work beyond the core collector market because the artwork is strong.
• Genre demand (sci-fi, horror, noir, etc.).
• International market considerations, since many buyers for U.S. material are still located in the U.S.
• I also sometimes use AI tools like ChatGPT to help aggregate auction data and compare price ranges.
• Finally, applying a deliberate discount below dealer retail to make a direct purchase attractive.

I would be curious how others here approach this.

Do you primarily rely on auction comps, dealer retail comps, or a mix of both?
Are there important factors in the pricing process that I might be overlooking?

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Regarding the photo: I still have to rely on the Heritage photo. I haven’t photographed the original myself yet. But it is only meant as an example.

Bruce

A word of advice on buying posters like this. If that is pen on the monster's face, it has bonded in to the paper, and can't be erased, only painted over. And no matter who does it, unless they paint over the entire face, it will still be somewhat noticeable.

A common mistake I see beginning collectors make is to assume that buying a lesser condition poster and spending a lot to "fix" it results in a nice condition poster, with the same value as the nice condition unrestored version of that poster.

It does not do this. It gets you a restored lesser condition poster that almost always sells for far less than the nice condition unrestored version of that poster.

My advice to you is to sell this "as is", and chalk it up to a learning experience, and then look to find a nice condition unrestored version of this poster (assuming you want one).

Posters like these are real "bargains" for a good reason.

finepostervault

Thank you. A good advice. But it is not the topic. 

darolo

I would say that more than rarity, genre, decorative appeal etc, that the most important factor by far is what you actually paid or gave for the item.  

Charlie

I don’t know the topic then either?

AI could help you determine your prices based on your desired balance sheet goals.

For example do you want 50% margin before expenses?  So your poster costs, plus services (restoration) and add your time labor value to list, sell, ship and address customer concerns. 

What is your expected profit margin - 10% or 12%.

Now calculate expenses such as rent, marketing, fees, shipping material, etc. 

I think as collectors we often don’t see the value of time.  I have shit ton of posters I would like to sell. I would lose money on every one of them. 

I once did a back of the napkin analysis for my boxes of DS one sheets that I haven’t opened up in 10 years and I would save money by paying someone to come and get them. The time to move them to the street corner to throw away wasn’t even worth it.

This is all based on using a cost of time equal to my professional engineering rate - not weekend free time. 

I won’t make any returns on posters until I retire and my cost of time is $0/hr.

It’s a hobby - you either love it, sell other people’s posters, or lose money.

There is no money in the flip unless you have nothing else to do.

Charlie

 But typically I see a retail markup of 60% to 100% depending on location and impulse buying possibilities. If you mark up a poster 100% and try to sell in a collector group - you will get laughed out of the room. You basically can only get that markup from unseasoned nostalgia buyers.

I would think 20% to a seasoned group - else we will just wait for another auction to come around.

I only once paid retail for a poster and that was because I missed it on EMP and never thought I would see another one. This was 5-6 years ago maybe - still haven’t seen another one. So good move for me.

Charlie

Retail in the sense of 60-100% over the auction realized price. I’ve bought plenty of $40-$100 DS posters on eBay but usually those are within 20% of what I could get them for (or use to be able to get them) at EMP. 

Even at a 100% markup of a $15 poster - $30 isn’t that bad if you want it right now.  25 years ago $15 was a bigger deal. Now that’s just a burger and fries.

So there may be some tiered considerations too.

finepostervault

Thanks for your assessment, Charlie. I’m not really targeting collectors, but rather people who want something distinctive and are willing to pay for it. When I browse sites like Hollywood Posters and keep thinking, “I have that,” or “I have that one too,”—while also factoring in that my grading might sometimes be one step lower (or occasionally higher)—I still find the prices they ask quite impressive.

My target market is interior decorators and office designers. If a collector comes along who absolutely has to have my poster, then he’ll simply have to dig deeper into his pocket. :-)

I don’t have to sell. But I will—if the price is right.

finepostervault

Charlie said:

There is no money in the flip unless you have nothing else to do.

I come from advertising—creative side—and I was quite successful in that field. I think many people make the mistake of targeting the wrong audiences. At least here in Germany, very few people even have “original vintage posters” on their radar as a decorative hard asset.

There’s a big gap between serious vintage poster collectors and the people who buy expensive artworks. That’s the gap that needs to be bridged, and I feel somewhat called to do exactly that. :-)

Bruce

In the 1980s, Jose Carpio, owner of Cinemonde in San Francisco, felt exactly as you do, and he backed it up with color catalogs (which no one else did) and he took out full page ads in interior decorator magazines.

finepostervault

Thanks Bruce. That sounds interesting. Just bought me the Catalog. I’m curious.

Charlie

Well based on your reasoning and intended audience - there is no realistic way to set a retail price. Sky is the limit and based primarily on your skills as a salesman. 

Ice to Eskimos and all… 

finepostervault

Charlie said:

Ice to Eskimos and all… 

That’s the Plan. :-) 

Charlie

Still no consistent money in the flip - eventually you will run out of suckers. Although cinemaster-Dave still appears to be in business.

finepostervault

Charlie said:

Still no consistent money in the flip - eventually you will run out of suckers. Although cinemaster-Dave still appears to be in business.

Fools never die out. In any case, it’s not really about whether someone is dumb or not; it’s about a repositioning of the market.

For Germany, or Europe in general, you have to consider that buying a single poster is hardly economical once you add shipping, customs duties, and VAT. I learned that the expensive way.

There are also far fewer cinephiles here. People tend to buy based on visual appeal. And those are exactly the buyers I want to reach — the ones who buy with their eyes and have the money to do so. There are plenty of them here. I just have to find them. Or they find me.

I have time. I’m going to approach this calmly and methodically.

jayn_j

Just a personal anecdote.
I was living near Laramie, Wyoming and noticed that a restaurant/bar was redecorating with a western theme.  I had a set of lobby cards for The Man From Laramie, so I offered them to him.  His response was that he would be willing to display them if I framed them and donated them.

In another case, a local restaurant wanted to display local sports, so they put out a call in the local paper and got locals to simply donate their old stuff.

I mostly see cheap repros, and expect that not a ton of money goes into these themed decorations.  Very niche market for authentic stuff. 

finepostervault

Thanks for the little story. But I already figured it would end like that. They don't spend money on stuff like that. I'll approach it differently. Not so randomly, but in a structured way. I see myself as the "client" of an advertising agency that's tasked with finding buyers for movie posters. Interesting creative job.

But first, I need to get the database here properly organized. That's intense. I've definitely bought around 600 pieces in a short time, if I count the lobby cards and pulp magazines too.