Why are PCs far more expensive than photographs?

[Moonraker]

I've just won eight early aviation press photographs that have been album mounted at a cost of just over £3 each; there was only one other bidder. A couple of months ago, I was involved in some very fierce bidding for contemporary postcards of the same event, with individual cards (some used, others not) going from £12 to £35 each. The photographs had rather better captions than the cards. They may turn out be a little flimsier. The postcards, though desirable, are not very rare, but I've never seen the press photographs before.

So why are we willing to pay so much more for a postcard?

[kevinramsdale]

I think this is because a postcard - just like a stamp or cigarette card - has a value beyond that of the image it shows.

Although this is also true of the work of a select band of photographers, in general it does not apply to anonymous photographs.

[MichaelDay]

it also depends on the subject.. I've known photos fetch as much or more than equivalent postcards on ebay, probably where collectors are more interested in the detail or information contained in the image.

[Moonraker]

I much prefer an original postcard to anything else. I've a few photographic copies of elusive cards in my collection that have been given to me, but I don't like them. The big exception relates to images of the former wireless station on the Wiltshire Downs above Bishops Cannings, close to Devizes. I'm surprised that no enterprising publisher (apparently) produced postcards of the giant masts being erected in mid-1914. During the war it became a very secret army station so photos would not have been allowed, but it reverted to civilian use in the 1920s. I've just a few photos of that period, provided by a wireless station enthusiast, which I've included in my collection.
Reverting to the aviation photographs, I bought these because they showed aircraft from different angles - and in different scenes - to postcards of the event. But I wouldn't have gone much higher than I did when bidding for them.


Moonraker

[Moonraker]

Oh dear; just received the photos in question and they're poor quality modern copies of the original photographs - the sort of thing that cost about 50p each to make. Let's see what a protest to the vendor (who has 100% positive feedback but no stated returns policy) will do. Some PC dealers do offer photographs (as opposed to cards) or railway stations in the 1950s at £4-5, but it's clear what these. I think that the vendor should have made it clear that he was offering copies.

Moonraker

[kevinramsdale]

Oh dear; just received the photos in question and they're poor quality modern copies of the original photographs - the sort of thing that cost about 50p each to make. Let's see what a protest to the vendor (who has 100% positive feedback but no stated returns policy) will do. Some PC dealers do offer photographs (as opposed to cards) or railway stations in the 1950s at £4-5, but it's clear what these. I think that the vendor should have made it clear that he was offering copies.

Moonraker

This is the area where postcard fairs and the approvals system do have a big advantage, in that you can examine the wares prior to purchase.

As a dealer I don't buy much on eBay these days, so many potential customers now also look and wouldn't take kindly to being outbid - and then offered the item for a further 50% mark up. But when I did buy the occasional card I was always happier if it was postally used; this greatly increases the chances of authenticity.

I do recall once receiving a batch of cards which looked good in the scan, and had supposedly been an attic find sort of thing, but turned out to be modern laser printed efforts complete with the publisher's STD coded telephone number on the back. I did get my money back on those, most sellers are paranoid about possibly getting bad feedback, though I never actually threatened any.

[Moonraker]

In all fairness to the eBay vendor, he's been quick to get back to me agreeing to a refund less eBay fees. He pointed out he didn't advertise them as original photos and had quoted the modern-day size of 5.5x3.5 inches, which he thought would have been self explanatory as to their origin. The dimensions are those of postcards, so it was reasonable of me not to have sussed out that 5.5 x 3.5 inches were not pre-WWI dimensions. And if I bid for postcards, maps or anything else on eBay I assume they're originals unless otherwise stated, so why not photographs?

Still, it looks as if this one is going to turn out all right. Only once before have I felt let down by the seller's description of an item I've won on eBay: that was a postcard said to be captioned "Tidworth" (Wiltshire), but this turned out to be a modern-looking pencilled annotation; not mentioned was the Gosport (Hampshire) publisher's imprint, which would have deterred me from bidding.

Moonraker