eMoviePoster.com

Why did we create the above chart? Because three different potential consignors told us that they had decided to auction their items elsewhere, because “their rates were so much lower than eMoviePoster.com’s”.

We asked them how they arrived at that, and they said that they were told that the 15% they were charged at the other auction was less than the 20% (or higher) that they were charged at our auction.

But sadly, that is not at all true. When you factor in the Buyers Premiums that are hidden from the seller, the sellers at those other auctions pay more (and often FAR more than they do in our eMoviePoster.com auctions as this chart conclusively proves)!

Just to make it crystal clear:
When you consign a poster to eMoviePoster.com that the buyer pays $12,000 for, YOU get $10,800.
If you had instead consigned that poster to an auction that "only" charges 15% seller's commission (but also has a 20% buyers premium, which is true of almost every major auction other than eMoviePoster.com), then after the buyer paid them $12,000 for it, YOU get only $8,500.

When you consign a poster to eMoviePoster.com that the buyer pays $1,200 for, YOU get $960.
If you had instead consigned that poster to an auction that "only" charges 15% seller's commission (but also has a 20% buyers premium, which is true of almost every major auction other than eMoviePoster.com), then after the buyer paid them $1,200 for it, YOU get only $850.

When you consign a poster to eMoviePoster.com that the buyer pays $600 for, YOU get $468.
If you had instead consigned that poster to an auction that "only" charges 15% seller's commission (but also has a 20% buyers premium, which is true of almost every major auction other than eMoviePoster.com), then after the buyer paid them $600 for it, YOU get only $425.

When you consign a poster to eMoviePoster.com that the buyer pays $120 for, YOU get $86.40.
If you had instead consigned that poster to an auction that "only" charges 15% seller's commission (but also has a 20% buyers premium, with a $29 minimum), then after the buyer paid them $120 for it, YOU only get $77.25.

When you consign a poster to eMoviePoster.com that the buyer pays $30 for, YOU get $18.
If you had instead consigned that poster to an auction that "only" charges 15% seller's commission (but also has a 20% buyers premium, with a $29 minimum), then after the buyer paid them $30 for it, YOU get only 85 CENTS.

So when you compare, there is NO comparison! $10,800 or $8,500? $960 or $850? $468 or $425? $86.40 or $77.25? And the most outrageous of all, $10 or 85 cents?

About eMoviePoster.com

Since 1989, Bruce Hershenson has organized 19 major movie poster auctions (10 for Christie's auction house, 3 for Howard Lowery auction house, and 6 mega-auctions held on eBay on specific days in 2001-2004) with total sales of over 10 million dollars! Between 1989 and 1999 he sold over 30,000 vintage movie posters and lobby cards through sales catalogs with sales of over 4 million dollars. In 2000, Bruce switched to auctioning solely on the Internet and between 2000 and 2008 held over 330,000 auctions on the eBay auction site, and since 2008 has held over 1.47 million auctions on his own auction site, eMoviePoster.com, with total sales of $102,000,000 (averaging over $5.5 million a year from 2013 to present, and 2020 was our first $6 million year!). Bruce has also published 42 full-color movie poster books that have combined sales of over 300,000 copies! Having seen how many auction houses operate first hand, Bruce Hershenson started eMoviePoster.com with the philosophy that auctions should be run with honesty and integrity both with our bidders AND with our consignors. If you've never dealt with us before, once you do, you will quickly find that everything we say is true!

Questions and Answers

Q: What if you have posters that are only worth a few dollars each (either solely such posters, or in addition to "better" posters), and you simply want to get rid of them?
A: We can create "bulk lots" of your "lesser" items (UNLESS they are low value newer rolled posters or low value 8x10 stills; see above) and auction them for you that way. You won't get that much money for the posters, but you will get more than you could selling them any other way, and there is no effort on your part. Plus, let's say we sold 100 items for you for $1 each individually. You would receive $25 after our commissions. However, if they are sold as a "lot of 100" items and still sell for $100, then you would receive $72 due to the far better commission rate. Note that you still have to use common sense; don't send us 100 low value items in lesser condition, because no one will want them at any price, even $1.

UPDATE 12/13/2019: Rolled posters from lesser titles from the past 30 years are not worth auctioning individually OR in bulk lots! There just aren't people who want them, even for very little money, SO DO NOT SEND LESSER ROLLED ONE SHEETS TO US TO AUCTION, BECAUSE WE CAN'T DO IT.

UPDATE 12/13/2019: "Better" 8x10 vintage stills are fine to consign, and if they have a realistic value of $20 each (as singles or sets) they will be auctioned individually; but if they are "lesser" 8x10 vintage stills, then we DON'T want them at all because there just aren't people who want them, even for very little money.

UPDATE 12/13/2019: You CAN send repros of quality stills, but ONLY if they are NOT mixed in with originals, and ONLY if we can auction them in bulk lots, because we don't auction repro stills individually.

UPDATE 12/13/2019: We are trying to stop auctioning items with little value, even in bulk lots. If consignors send items that are virtually worthless, we will either return them to the consignors at their expense, or more reasonably, throw them out. IN ADDITION, CONSIGNMENTS NEED TO EITHER SOLELY CONTAIN ITEMS WITH REALISTIC RETAILS OF $20 OR MORE EACH, OR A TOTAL REALISTIC RETAIL VALUE OF $200, so do not send consignments with a value of under $200 unless all the items are over $20 each. Please click to Learn More.

Q: How long will it take to get your items sold?
A: We run a cycle of auctions every 2 to 3 months based on what has been consigned to us. This means that some items (such as folded one-sheets) will be auctioned relatively quickly while others may take several months to auction. In addition, posters that are not "standard" sizes (such as banners, special sizes, non-movie posters, sheet music, etc) will only be auctioned one to a few times a year. In addition, tightly rolled posters need to be "flattened" under weight for 2 to 3 months before we can auction them. If you send any, it will take at least this time for them to reach auction, so don't send them unless you have that time!
     THEREFORE, PLEASE DO NOT SEND THESE TYPES OF ITEMS UNLESS YOU CAN ACCEPT THAT IT MAY TAKE US 6 MONTHS, A YEAR, OR MORE TO AUCTION THEM. But we really do auction 95% of what we are sent within a few months! It is the "oddball" items (or tightly rolled posters which need to flatten) that take a very long time to get auctioned.

Q: When will you be paid?
A: We always pay at the end of the month following the month in which items are sold. For example, if your items sell in July, we will pay you at the end of August. Why is this? After the auctions close, it can take several weeks to collect payment from all the buyers. Once the items have been shipped, we need a couple more weeks to be sure the buyers are pleased with their purchases and will not be returning any (but know that returns happen less than 1% of the time). Given our payment schedule, we will be paying you between 30 and 59 days from the time your auctions close. In the event that an item hasn't been paid for yet, we will list it on your payment statement as "Payment Pending or to be Relisted". If it is paid for, it will appear on a future statement. If it isn't, we will block the bidder who didn't pay (so he/she can't do it again), and we will re-auction the item. Also, know that if your payment is less than $20, we will hold it until it totals more than $20 which saves you and us both time. Of course, you can request us to make the payment anyway by contacting us.

Q: What will your payment statement show?
A: It will have a detailed accounting of every single item we sold for you in that month, what it sold for, when it sold, and what our commission was. The end of the statement shows a summary of what you received and what we received for our commissions.

Q: What can you expect once you've sent your items to us?

• We will notify you via e-mail when your consignments arrive (it may take a few days as we often receive dozens to hundreds of packages a week).
• We will begin preparing them for auction soon thereafter. NOTE: They will likely be auctioned when we next sell those sizes, UNLESS it is one of the items that we have one or more examples of the exact same item already consigned to us.
• We will notify you via e-mail when items of yours are put up for auction.
• One week later, we will notify you via e-mail of the results of your items.
• On the last day of the month after the month in which your items sold, we will pay you by check sent by U.S. mail (unless you have made other arrangements such as payment by PayPal or bank wire).

Q: What if you're not 100% certain that you want to send your items?
A: We do not want you to send your items if you do not trust us. But of course, you can start by sending a sample group of 20 or so items to see how they do, and then decide from there how you feel about our service. We are 100% sure that we will get you far more money for your items than you would get by selling them to any dealer, or consigning them to any other auction company, and if you sell them yourself, you will AT BEST get around what you would have gotten from us after our commissions, but you will have done a LOT of work!

Q: How should you pack your items?
A: Be sure to pack your items securely and in sturdy packages! We are very sad when we see consignments that got damaged in transit to us due to poor packing. Always be sure items do not "shift" within your package when you shake it strongly. You can be sure that the packages you send to us will be treated far rougher by USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Here are some visual examples.  Additionally, we've created a "Secure Packaging Guide" to help you pack your consignments in a more sturdy way.

Q: Should you send "framed" posters? NO!!
A: Whenever people have shipped us posters that are framed, the frames often arrive broken which usually results in damage to the poster. Therefore, we ask that you NEVER send a framed poster through the mail. Instead, remove the poster from the frame and send the poster by itself. Additionally, we don't sell or return the frames, so there is no benefit to sending the frame to us.

Q: Can you use your consignment proceeds to pay for purchases? Yes!
A: A LOT of our consignors do this, and it is absolutely fine to do (and it can save you and us both money on credit card transaction fees!). If you want to do this, just e-mail us (or reply to your winning bid emails) and we will do it. You can also select this payment preference when you fill out your Consignor Reference Sheet. You can learn more here.

Q: Is it OK for consignors to bid on their own items for any reason (like because they are currently selling for a very low price with just a short time to go)?
A: Absolutely "NO" under any circumstances. These are NO RESERVE auctions, and consignors are not allowed to bid on their own items. If we discover that you bid on your own items, we will return your consignments to you and no longer accept future consignments. You have to be able to accept the "no reserve" aspect of our auctions, or you can't consign. While the vast majority of items end up selling for between half of a reasonable retail and twice a reasonable retail, there are always a few items that sell for far under what you would expect they would, and if you can't live with that uncertainty, then you can't consign to us.

Q: Do I need to send eMoviePoster.com a list? Nope! A list is solely for your benefit. Once the items arrive here, we enter them into our system in our own way, and don't refer to those lists at all. So you can save a great deal of time if you do not make such a list, but of course, it is entirely up to you whether you do. That being said, if you already have a list, you are welcome to include it.

Q: What if you have more questions?
A: We are happy to answer any questions you may have. You may e-mail us or call us at 417-256-9616 Monday to Friday 8:30 AM CST to 5 PM CST (but not 12 to 1 CST when we take lunch) to discuss your consignments.

Fax: 417 257-6948

Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Central Standard Time). We are closed from 12 to 1 for lunch.

Our address for Post Office only is:
Bruce Hershenson
Attn: Consignments
P.O. Box 874
West Plains, MO 65775

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson
Attn: Consignments
306 Washington Avenue
West Plains, MO 65775

WHEN SENDING CONSIGNMENTS, PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE CONSIGNOR REFERENCE SHEET WHICH ASKS FOR: your name, phone number, mailing address, e-mail address, and consignment preferences.