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This column will be regularly updated with information on market conditions and prices for Audubon auctions on eBay, and how they compare with information in my 2005 Price Guides at www.audubonprices.com . Only Octavo Bird and Quad Editions, plus the Amsterdam Edition, are tracked on eBay. All other Audubon editions, original or reproduction, are infrequently offered on eBay, and therefore not tracked.

For most of the summer a large number of later edition octavo quad prints were offered by a number of sellers. Prices realized for these prints were comparable to 1st edition octavo quads offered over the past 1-2 years. Recently one seller began listing octavo quad prints from a 1st edition set. It will be interesting to see if prices for 1st edition prints hold up, or go higher. It has been nearly a year since a 1st edition set of octavo quads has been offered on eBay.

Average numbers of octavo bird prints were listed over the summer. CIRQLAR has finished selling his 1st edition prints. Another seller is continuing to list 1st edition octavo bird prints, but does not seem to have any of the upper tier prints as yet. A number of sellers listed quantities of 2nd and Lockwood edition prints, but prices were within my published eBay averages.

There were steady numbers of Amsterdam Edition listings. over the summer with prices remaining low, but going lower. A few Amsterdams sold at moderately higher prices, but still within the eBay averages. Two sellers are now offering Abbeville Edition prints on eBay. There is no individual retail price data available for Abbeville prints to compare with other editions. eBay realized prices for individual Abbeville prints is like charting new waters. From what I have seen so far, Abbeville prices generally are paralleling Amsterdam prices for the same print, though many are somewhat higher or lower that their Amsterdam cousin. A few bidding wars for specific Abbevilles have run those prices up to the "I paid too much" level. Several sellers are offering Loates Edition prints and prices are coming down on most prints. Formerly, there was an average asking opening bid of $79.00 on average. Now, when they don't get bids at these prices, the opening bid comes down to $29.00 or $49.00. One seller now lists Loates Edition prints at an opening bid of $1.00 with no reserve. Finally, CONGOGREY sold a few Leipzig Edition prints over the summer. I would expect they would list a few more from time to time in the future.

Cirqlar still remains as the only major Audubon seller on eBay. He has a regular supply of 1st edition Audubon octavo birds. Other sellers have offered 2nd and Lockwood editions of octavo birds. Prices generally remain within my previously published eBay price ranges.

Only a very few 1st edition octavo quad prints have been auctioned on eBay over the past two months. This lack of 1st edition octavo quads on eBay goes back to August, 2004. However, other sellers have been offering 2nd edition (1854), 3rd edition (1856), and Lockwood edition (1870) quad prints. Many of these prints fetched prices near or equal to former eBay prices for 1st edition prints.

There are always a few Havell, Bien and Imperial Folio Audubon prints up on eBay. Most are either offered in live auctions where eBay bidding is difficult, or they are in poor condition to begin with. There are more and more cheap Audubon reproductions found for sale on eBay, especially those marked as being Havells.

There are a number of high quality DEF Audubon reproduction edition prints regularly sold on eBay. The glut or dumping of Amsterdam prints seems to have stopped, and adequate supplies of this edition can be found at most any time. Cirqlar continues to sell from a complete 435 print Abbeville Edition. In most cases, and especially for upper tier Abbevilles, prices seem to be a bit lower for the Abbevilles, than for the same Amsterdam print. A few Leipzig Editions prints were auctioned at prices between $25-$75. Back in 2003, one seller tried to auction off a large number of Leipzig prints with an opening bid of $100.00. Few, if any sold at that time. Finally, there is now a glut of Bernard Loates Edition prints on eBay. At least four different sellers are auctioning these DEF reproduction prints. Opening bid prices seem mostly to be $79.00, but this barrier is coming down on some that do not readily sell. Last fall I bought several M. Bernard Loates prints on eBay for under $50.00 each. At the time, I believe the opening bid prices for most ranged from $29-$49. If sellers continue to dump Loates prints, look for opening bid prices to come down.

Currently CIRQLAR is the only active major Audubon seller on eBay.

There are several double elephant folio sized Audubon reproduction facsimile editions being auctioned on eBay that do have some market value, and should not be confused with the cheap reproductions mentioned above. Cirqlar is selling DEF sized prints from the 1985 limited Abbeville Edition. Generally, prices compare and parallel the prices for the Amsterdam Edition. A couple sellers are listing prints from the Bernard Loates Edition at beginning bid prices well under $100.00. Finally, though the glut of Amsterdam Edition prints on eBay has eased a bit, many minor sellers are still offering these prints on eBay. Prices remain generally low for the common prints, and several recent auctions for Amsterdam prints have brought only around $10.00 each.

The biggest disappointment on eBay has been the1st edition octavo quad prints. There have been no reliable significant offerings of 1st edition quad prints since August, 2004. Since then, there have been only a scattering of 1st edition octavo quads available on eBay from occasional minor sellers. A number of sellers, including congogrey, have auctioned some 2nd edition octavo quad prints.

Cirqlar is currently the only reliable and major seller of 1st edition octavo birds on eBay. He continues to sell from a complete 1st edition set. There have been other minor sellers of a few 1st edition octavo birds, many being framed and should be avoided. Several sellers are offering 2nd edition octavo bird prints. Finally, congogrey has begun offering Lockwood (1870) Edition octavo bird prints.

Finally, there continue to be the occasional auctions for original Havell, Bien and Imperial Folio prints from time to time. Most are in poor condition. There are many dealers who actively buy prints from these editions. If someone cannot find a dealer to buy their rare or scarce Havell, Bien or Imperial folio prints, then their prints are in such poor condition that the sellers must resort to dumping them on eBay. If you buy them, you should figure on spending several hundred dollars or more to conserve and restore these prints to a desirable or saleable condition.  

cirglar

congogrey  

ewosobe

fineperiod

home-decorator

scott-traditionalart.com

shapero4000 

thebookhounds

tom-b1

What is the future of 1st edition octavo birds on eBay? congogrey is still selling a limited number each week, and has recently begun selling several prints in one auction lot. cirglar is auctioning a good number of 1st edition octavo birds each week. If these 2 sources are exhausted, there is no telling what will happen to this most active and popular Audubon eBay print category? Over the past 6 months or so, a significant number of upper tier 1st edition bird prints, mostly from thebookhounds, have set new eBay highs (some even going for more than retail). During the same period, many lower tier 1st edition bird prints, also mostly from thebookhounds, have set new eBay lows.

1st edition Audubon octavo quad prints began drying up on eBay in August, 2004. Besides the umpteenth listing by home_decorator, of their remaining prints, there have been very few 1st edition octavo quad prints offered on eBay since last August. When an occasional quad print or two are listed, there doesn't seem to be any great demand for them that would drive prices higher, despite the lack of prints on eBay for the last 4-5 months.

More sellers are auctioning Amsterdam Edition prints on eBay. Despite the limited edition, there are ample supplies from dealers and individual sellers on eBay, and prices remain low. There are also a lot of good and bad Audubon reproductions available on the market and on eBay. Perhaps Amsterdam sellers are realizing that maybe 300-350, of the 435 different prints, are not going to appreciate in value anytime soon, and are dumping them for what they can get. Collect them because you like them, but not for investment.

A few sellers have auctioned Bien, Imperial Folio and Havell prints on eBay in recent months with varying degrees of success.

I am selling a select group of "Upper Tier" Audubon 1st edition octavo bird and quads prints on my other website at - http://www.audubonprices.com   Please take a look !

11/1/04 - Over the past 2 months a new eBay sales record was set for a single Audubon octavo print. thebookhounds sold plate #278 Carolina Parrot/Parakeet for $1625.00!  thebookhounds continues to sell in numerical order, from 1 to 500, from their 1st edition Audubon octavo birds set. As of this date they are selling plate #s in the low 300s. cirglar, congogrey and a few other sellers also have 1st edition octavo birds up for auction.

There is a steady supply of Amsterdams, with perhaps 10-20 or more available at any one time. Several sellers are offering them, and prices are still low.

The octavo quads have been in short supply over the past two months. No new seller has come on the eBay market with a full or broken set to auction. home-decorator keeps re-listing quads from their set that seem to go back to early last spring. I've lost count, but I think all of these prints have been up for auction 5-6 times, with very high opening bids. I guess that every time home-decorator re-lists their quad prints, 1 or 2 are bought by unknowing people.

There have been a few Biens and Havells showing up regularly on eBay. I think virtually all of the Biens sold, at reasonable prices. However, most of the Havells did not sell. Those Havells were listed with very unrealistic opening prices. Those that were in eBay "live auctions" had sale estimates that were 2-3 times higher than dealer retail prices.

It will be interesting to see if new octavo quads appear on eBay in the next two months. thebookhounds, congogrey and cirglar should all be finished with their current 1st edition octavo bird sets by around the 1st of the year. Is this the beginning of a new trend? Will Audubon prints basically dry up on eBay next year?

My individual Audubon Edition Price Guides will be updated just after January 1st, and the 2005 editions should all be available by January 15-20 @ www.audubonprices.com 

For most families, summer is pretty much over. The kids are heading back to school, and family summer vacations have been completed. However, in the past four years that I have been tracking Audubon print prices on eBay, it is not until early-mid October before a pickup is noted in Audubon activity and prices on eBay. The Audubon market on eBay, just as in the retail marketplace, can be influenced by: economic conditions, supply and demand, and what is "in" and what is not. Perhaps it will be different this year? 

On August 1st, I updated 3 of my individual Price Guides at (www.audubonprices.com) that include eBay prices for octavo birds and quads, plus the Amsterdam edition. At that time, I wrote on another forum that Audubon Amsterdam prices on eBay were down. This is still true today, one month later. While most eBay Amsterdam prices, over the past 4 months, have remained within eBay price ranges that I published in earlier Amsterdam Price Guides and my Book, about 40% of Amsterdam eBay prices were lower. New Amsterdam eBay lows outnumbered new highs by about 8-10 to 1, and new eBay Amsterdam highs accounted for less than 10% of Amsterdam eBay sales. Since so many prices were down, or at the lower end of my earlier published eBay price ranges, I'm not sure that any could be categorized as summer "bargains" or "steals."

During the period from about May 15-Spetember 1st, octavo quad sales on eBay were pretty much within my earlier eBay published price ranges. Perhaps up to 30% of eBay sales were new eBay lows, and less than 10% made new eBay highs. I think a number of eBayers were able to acquire true eBay "bargains" or "steals" of Audubon octavo quad prints. during the summer months. donaldheald continues to make mistakes in auction listings and titles, and still doesn't correct them, and earlier this summer it really cost them. They had a series of auctions titled "Audubon 1st ed Bowen quad (followed by a bird's name and plate #)." Seven (7) of the auctions closed at under $10.00, and the highest price was just over $35.00. The few people who found those auctions really got "steals".

The situation with regard to the Audubon octavo birds on eBay, during the summer months, proved entirely different. There was certainly a good steady supply of octavo bird prints all summer long. However, with few exceptions, prices were generally steady to higher. The top eBay Audubon sellers realized prices in the mid-upper range of my published eBay prices, with many new eBay highs being set. I was able to compare sales of many of the same prints sold by both congogrey and donaldheald, and invariably congogrey realized higher prices than donaldheald, for the same 1st edition octavo bird print. While you may want the cheapest price you can get for any eBay print, I believe that the reason congogrey gets higher prices than donaldheald is that I think the prints congogrey sells on eBay are in better condition than those sold by donaldheald (see column below). Actually, I was surprised to see so many eBay bidders winding up paying prices that fell within the "dealer's retail asking price range", published in my Book and Price Guide. A few newer or smaller eBay sellers did not do quite as well. There were perhaps 40-50 auctions with mistakes, poor titles or poor category placement, that did so badly that I did not include them in my averages. However, astute eBay bidders picked up some real "bargains."

sduk1 recently completed selling a complete 1st edition octavo quad set, starting with Plate #1 and continuing in order through plate #155. The surprising results were that all 155 plates yielded a total of about $8720.00 (less eBay commissions). Plate #90, the Common Mouse, brought the highest price of the 155 plates, at $352.50. home-decorator was also selling a set of 1st edition quads, but had to re-list many of them several times, before they sold, due to rather high opening bid prices. For the past week or so, there have been very few octavo quads listed on eBay.

shapero4000, fineperiod and donaldheald are selling Amsterdam edition prints. deweyennis and early_river_gallery_grafton_vermont are selling framed 1st edition octavo birds. congogrey continues to sell 1st edition octavo birds, while eprintseller is auctioning 2nd edition octavo birds. thebookhounds is selling a complete set of 500 1st edition octavo birds, in order by plate #. Finally, roninor is selling from a complete set of 500 Lockwood edition octavo birds.

eBay condition reports for Audubon prints -

I've written many times that one must be wary of condition reports of Audubon prints on eBay. Unless you know and trust the seller, be suspicious. A number of eBay sellers use a condition report similar to the one below. How far can/will they go?

EXCELLENT CONDITION a part from light foxing, a little offsetting, stain in lower left corner, age toning in the margins, few smudges, few chips top margin, and the print is torn in half .......

Well, the above example is exaggerated, but you see condition reports like this on eBay all the time. If an Audubon print is truly in EXCELLENT CONDITION, shouldn't it have no flaws or damage, or maybe one or two minor ones? How many flaws and damage items can a seller list and still call it EXCELLENT? What do you think?

email me with your thoughts - rflynn@chartermi.net 

We have entered an approximately 5 month period (May 15th-October 15th) when Audubon eBay buyer activity is low. People are outdoors in warmer weather, they spend more time with their families, and they go on vacations. THIS IS THE PERIOD FOR EBAY BARGAIN HUNTING !!! With some exceptions, over the years, eBay realized sales prices have tended to be lower during this period. Check the historical eBay prices in The Audubon Price Guides and Book, and look for bargains.

Already, within the past few weeks, there have been a number of Audubon prints sold on eBay at below my published eBay price ranges, especially for octavo quads. During the past few weeks, eBay sales of octavo quads, at below published averages, have outnumbered higher than average prices by 4 or 5 to 1 !!!

Congogrey and donaldheald are both selling from sets of 1st edition octavo birds. Donaldheald is also selling off from a set of 2nd edition octavo birds. Congogrey is selling 1st edition octavo quads, while donaldheald is selling from a 2nd (1852-54) edition set of octavo quads. Both Congogrey and donaldheald are selling Amsterdam edition prints. Other sellers are selling smaller quantities of various editions.

COMPARING EBAY'S BEST AUDUBON SELLERS -

Congogrey and donaldheald are eBay's most active and best eBay sellers of Audubon prints. Each has built their eBay businesses based on offerings, quality, service and performance. Each has an excellent eBay feedback record. However, there are minor differences between the two companies. I offer here a comparison of the two, in the major areas that would be of interest, and might influence potential buyers.

Condition reports - It is my opinion that Congogrey gives more accurate and reasonable condition reports for the Audubon prints offered for sale on eBay.

Images and pictures - The images and pictures presented by each are about equal. Congogrey's images of Audubon prints are photographed at an angle, but the entire print is shown. Donaldheald's images are somewhat better and more detailed, but in some cases, donaldheald's images of Audubon prints, up for auction on eBay, might be cut off, and do not show the full binding edge, with holes from stitching into a book. Laura, at donaldheald, has assured me that they do not use stock images, but rather actual images of the prints for sale. Therefore, if the donaldheald images for an Audubon auction do not show a complete binding edge, I think you should assume that the print has been trimmed.

Basic documentation and information - I think both companies present equal and fair documentation and information for each Audubon print they offer for sale.

Additional information - Donaldheald provides more and better additional information about a print's history and other related information.

Packaging - Each company's packaging, of the Audubon prints they sell on eBay, though different, is of equal quality, and should insure that your purchase arrives in good shape, notwithstanding the unusual and rare possibility of carrier damage.

eBay checkout and payment - Congogrey's eBay checkout and payment instructions and options are clear and concise, and perform flawlessly. Donaldheald's evolving eBay checkout is cumbersome and confusing, especially for the new buyer. A recent buyer reported to me that he gave up, and simply made a PayPal payment to donaldhead, without using their checkout system.

Getting it out - If you win a Congogrey or Donaldheald Audubon eBay auction, how fast do they process and ship your purchase? Both Cngogrey and donaldheald tend to have their Audubon print auctions end in the early-mid afternoon, Eastern Daylight Time. If you win one of their auctions and also immediately pay for it using PayPal, how fast will it be processed and get shipped to you ??? From my own experience, and that reported from others, if you win a Congogrey afternoon auction and almost immediately pay for it using PayPal, Congogrey will most often get you item shipped the very same day, or first thing the next morning. Congogrey uses USPS insured Priority Mail, and shipments to the Midwest and east coast usually arrive in 2 days. However, donaldheald takes longer to process, package and get your print shipped. The earliest that  I have experienced or heard of donaldheald getting a print out is the afternoon/evening of the day after you win and pay for your auction. Domaldheald uses UPS ground shipping, and today that is generally slower than USPS Priority Mail. If you are in a hurry, I'm sure you can contact either firm and arrange and pay for faster expedited shipping.

Finally, after four years of doing business with both firms, it is my opinion that Congogrey generally offers a higher or better quality of Audubon print for sale on eBay, than Donaldheald.

Share your experiences or opinions by emailing me at - rflynn@chartermi.net 

During the period from January 1 - April 15, 2004, I observed that Audubon eBay auction activity peaked in January. The number of January Audubon eBay auctions was about the same as November-December, 2003. Since January, the number of Audubon eBay auctions has steadily declined.

Congogrey and donaldheald continue to be the most active Audubon sellers on eBay, with perhaps 10-25 Audubon auctions per week. Other Audubon sellers are sporadic and list fewer items. There has been a good supply of Audubon Amsterdams available throughout this year, and you might find from 20-40 Amsterdam auctions listed at any given time. The number of Audubon octavo bird auctions has gone down somewhat from levels during January and early February. However, there continues to be a good number of both 1st edition and later edition octavo bird auctions each week. You will find them all using an eBay search of simply "audubon", but you'll have to sort through a lot of non-Audubon print auctions. Searching using "Audubon 1st" will get you the 1st edition listings, but you'll miss later edition auctions, which really cannot be searched for by any one set of keywords. Auctions for Audubon octavo quad prints have fallen to a trickle. A few 1st edition octavo quads were just listed, but it had been more than 2 weeks without any 1st edition octavo quad auctions. There has been a small but steady number (usually less than 10 per week) of later edition octavo quad prints.

Prices realized for Audubon print auctions on eBay have remained fairly stable this year, when compared with my published 2004 Price Guides, despite the decline in number of octavo bird and quad auctions on eBay. Over 90% of realized Audubon auction prices on eBay, during 2004, have been within the eBay price ranges published in my Price Guides. There will always be exceptions where 2 or more bidders will desire the same print that is up for bid. This has been especially true for a few of the upper tier Amsterdam and octavo bird prints that are rarely offered on eBay. With the lack of 1st edition octavo quad prints currently on eBay, prices are a bit higher for later edition prints of the more popular animals. However, prices for less popular (shrews, moles, etc.) animals remain low.

Over the past four (4) months, I have continually noticed minor errors in the Audubon auction listings by domaldheald on eBay. Though certainly no where close to being in every donaldheald Audubon auction, the errors do continue, and auction listings should be read carefully. While most of the errors would be caught by an experienced Audubon collector, the novice or inexperienced collector could be misled. 

I first noticed this in December, 2003, when domaldheald had an auction for an Audubon octavo quad plate 12 Northern Hare w/winter pelage. In that auction, an incorrect image and description were listed. Some other examples of subsequent errors have involved listing J.T. Bowen as lithographer, when actually it should have been Nagel & Weingaertner. More recently there was an auction for Audubon octavo quad plate #160 (when there are only 155 different octavo quad plates). As this is written, donaldheald has a number of eBay auction listings for 1849 Audubon octavo quad prints. However, all of the prints listed are from volume III of The Quadrupeds of North America, which was not published until 1854.

Again, the continuing errors are minor, and normally I would not mention them. However, I have exchanged several emails with the person at donaldheald, who now seems to be in charge of their eBay auctions. After errors have been pointed out, she has never changed or corrected an error in an Audubon auction listing, even though eBay makes it quite easy for any seller to amend, correct or add to an auction listing.