Modern postcard retail prices

[wakadowakado]

Hi members, What would you pay for an average quality card with an interesting subject as an impulse buy?

[RAFPOL]

What would I pay? My subject of comics is vast and so I confine my collecting to a few specific publishers and ignore the rest. I rarely pay more than £2.00 for a card described as good or better condition.

[212kelvin]

I sell only modern postcards on eBay and am a power seller. I can tell you that the average amount I get per card pretty much depends on the topic. (Sometimes it depends on the way the wind is blowing in the UK)

Topics such as sexy males or females, nude or risque, tend to sell higher than others. These cards generally sell for between $3 and $6 per card. Certain gay related postcards will sell high, like Tom of Finland, fetish related or groups like Dykes on Bikes, usually about $3 per card. Other hot topics include pigs, certain famous people like Madonna, beverage advertisements, ciggarette advertisements, unusual modern art, and Disney Theme Parks. Those can sell from $5 to $12 per card. Hot this month is t.a.T.u. I sold a couple of them for over $20 per card. Rhinocerous sells for an average of $3-$5 per card. Mermaids are good sellers averaging about $4 per card. Wizard of Oz that are not common views sell for $3-$5 per card.


Some topics sell consistently but at a lower overall price, say $1 USD average. These include people such as Kylie Minogue, Donna Summer, Naomi Campbell, Moby, Yoko Ono, and Morrissey and the Smiths. Additionally Absolut vodka will generally sell around $1 per card. Artists such as Keith Haring sells at an average price of about $1 per card. Angels go for about $2 per card. South Park characters go for about $1 per card. Mona Lisa averages about $2 per card. Tom Bianchi photos go for $2-$3 per card.


There are some topics that just don't move. These include general Disney not park related, some people such John Travolta, Georgia O'Keefe, and Jim Morrison. Dogs don't usually sell. Movie onesheets are particularly good sellers. Birthday postcards, frogs, clowns, Disney Pixar, Disney movies, brides, local scenes rarely sell, and general advertising unless it is specific to a certain city or pre-1980 don't sell.

As I mentioned I sell on eBay and sell only modern 4x6 postcards. I can give you my overall average price per card. The items I just mentioned are just what I remember as being hot or not. The following list is the average price I got per card selling on eBay.

• in January 2008 was $1.83 USD with a total sales of 72 items
  in February 2008 it was $1.96 USD with a total sales of 59 items
  in March 2008 it was $2.91 USD with a total sales of 456 items
  in April 2008 was $2.83 USD with a total sales of 224 items
  in May 2008 it was $3.23 USD with a total sales of 149 items
  in June 2008 it was $2.17 USD with a total sales of 157 items
  in July 2008 it was $3.25 USD with a total sales of 103 items.

That makes the average price of a modern postcard for the year 2008 to date is $2.60 USD with a total sales of 1220 items.

I hope this all makes sense to you and gives you an idea of what modern postcards can fetch. The most I ever sold a modern postcard for was $125 USD for a Ronald Reagan postcard. Next was $95 for a Rudolph Valentino postcard. Other high priced postcards I have sold include t.a.T.u. for $26, Alvin and the Chipmonks for $31. And a unusual giant pig art postcard for $36. These, of course, are the exceptions and the price they fetch definitely depends on the way the wind is blowing in the UK!

I am starting to sell modern postcards using photographs I personally took. I am an amateur photographer and have been told I have a great eye for taking pictures. I have been told many times that I should look into selling my photos as postcards. I have considered it, but given the cost to print up a minimum of 500 or so of each photo it was cost prohibitive. I just found a way to test the waters and see if my photos will really sell as postcards.

I opened a gallery online at http://www.zazzle.com/212kelvin* where you can order my photos as postcards with no minimum quantity required. You can buy a single postcard or as many of each as you want. I sell them there for only $1.10 each. Of course I make a commission on them. It's not much per card and I won't be able to quit my job. But I will be able to hopefully make a little bit of money and find out if I really can sell my photos with any degree of success.

My photos are of San Francisco and Boston. City views such as skylines, buildings and architecture. You will also find some original digital art I have made. Some of my photos you might like to frame or to keep, depending on your collecting interests. Please have a peek at my gallery and let me know if you have any comments or questions. I'll be happy to hear from you.

Thanks for reading my long post. I hope you found it helpful. ~ Kevin

[cookingschool]

Hello from Sydney

We are a publisher of modern postcards and postcards on our website retail for

AUS $1.20 (for 1 to 19)
Aus $ 1.00 (for 20 to 50)
or only AUS $ 0.75 for more than 50 cards ordered

We are also posting those postcard worldwide at no cost to buyers (for order of 5 or more cards)

Our postcards site can be visited here:

http://postcard.pics-sydney.com.au

We published postcards on the following theme/subject :

* Pacific Region, World Maps
* UNESCO World Heritage sites
* Warships, Navy Bases, Cruise Ships
* Lighthouses
* Stadiums, Golf Courses
* Aviation, Railway
* Pacific Islands
* Australian and World Animals

Laurent from Sydney