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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2014 20:28:56 GMT -5
Money laundering makes sense, but I don't think it's the best way to move assets across a border without causing a scene.
When you launder money you want to make illegal funds look legal. There's two ways to do it. A ton of small transactions or one large one. Both have their pros and cons. One takes forever to do. So I can see some high end art flipping being a quick way to legitimize someone's income.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 18, 2014 20:56:37 GMT -5
I just want to caution folks here to make it very clear in your posts that you're neither endorsing money laundering nor engaging in it. This is a strictly hypothetical discussion.  |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 19, 2014 2:04:31 GMT -5
It really is absurd for anything that was once disposable and produced in the millions to ever command that much money. A painting that's one of a kind and iconic? Sure, but a comic, even one as historically significant as Action Comics? Never.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 2:14:30 GMT -5
It really is absurd for anything that was once disposable and produced in the millions to ever command that much money. A painting that's one of a kind and iconic? Sure, but a comic, even one as historically significant as Action Comics? Never. Money itself is disposable and produced in the millions and lacks inherent value, so why shouldn't the things it buys be so as well? -M |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Aug 19, 2014 9:53:29 GMT -5
It really is absurd for anything that was once disposable and produced in the millions to ever command that much money. A painting that's one of a kind and iconic? Sure, but a comic, even one as historically significant as Action Comics? Never. Money itself is disposable and produced in the millions and lacks inherent value, so why shouldn't the things it buys be so as well? -M Careful. Capitalism doesn't like it when you talk that way. If people realize "money" has no value beyond incredibly filthy scraps of paper (don't even ask what the vast majority of dollar bills are contaminated with), the whole system could collapse. |
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ironchimp
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Post by ironchimp on Aug 19, 2014 11:35:23 GMT -5
It really is absurd for anything that was once disposable and produced in the millions to ever command that much money. A painting that's one of a kind and iconic? Sure, but a comic, even one as historically significant as Action Comics? Never. weirdly old master painting seem to be falling in value while semi mass produced stuff by warhol is at the top of the market and paintings by living artists are are breaking all records (and obviously being living they can still keep cranking them out) so action comics fits right in to the pop art / warhol / basquiat boom market |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 19, 2014 11:51:22 GMT -5
Obviously this sort of stuff is all about how much value one places on a piece of art or pop-art. I love comics, but I can't personally justify paying that much money for anything that's not a house. That being said, it's kinda nice that comics have become culturally significant enough to warrant price points like that.
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 19, 2014 17:20:02 GMT -5
I've done some money-laundering - when I forget to check the pockets before I put my clothes in the wash!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 19:42:12 GMT -5
It really is absurd for anything that was once disposable and produced in the millions to ever command that much money. A painting that's one of a kind and iconic? Sure, but a comic, even one as historically significant as Action Comics? Never. Surprising for sure, but I wouldn't necessarily call it absurd. I'm not sure "single highest graded" should command such a premium, and this one isn't even "single" highest graded, it shares that spot with another. But in general, hard to find antiques significant to pop culture and in excellent condition have been valuable for a long time. I think it's a part of modern American culture. I don't know if it will always be that way, but it probably will be until long after I'm gone. Was there a time in American history when regular people didn't collect things? Pretty sure antiques were something wealthy people liked since colonial times, but common people. Is there a time before milk caps and stamps were saved by people as a hobby? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2014 0:26:50 GMT -5
Bidding on that copy is over $2 million and surpassed the $2.16 million that the Cage copy sold for. Current bid is.... $2,193,9 19.38notice the last 4 digits-got to love bidders with a sense of history and humor... Auction ends Sunday night-anyone here one of the pre-qualified bidders?  -M |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2014 20:19:41 GMT -5
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 25, 2014 12:03:32 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2014 16:19:01 GMT -5
So I'm trying to figure out what eBay and paypal (if this method of payment was used) might have made off of this auction. I believe the seller had some kind of "deal" with eBay, but let's say they made 13%. Paypal would make 2.9%.
Before we continue you must understand that I totally suck at math...
So I'm guesstimating eBay made around $416k while paypal would make around $92k. That's hefty, but not too bad considering the comic is worth around 3 million. He made more than that, which I would think should offset the auction fees.
If I'm totally off on this feel free to chime in!
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