Sandra,
We have deaccessioned quite a number of things over the last year or so.
The vast majority were sold at public live auction, but a few were sold on
Ebay. These were mostly to test the market and gague interest. All sales
were through an auction house in Chicago.
Everyone who bought an item was informed of the source, if they asked, but
it was not advertised on the seller's website or at the auctions. I have
answered dozens of provenance questions, but probably only one in fifty(by
percentages) is interested.
Ebay, or some of the other large internet sellers, are about as public as
you can get, and should fall into that policy category nicely. The only
foreseen problem is a severely limited ability to target your audience for
best effect. An auction house with a good reputation will draw the right
people to buy certain things, be it Christies or a lesser house. Ebay
buyers are looking for a bargains most of the time, and we could not expect
truly competitive bidding.
None of this required a policy change or reevaluation on our end. There
seemed no reason to block this kind of activity, especially since we are
not the direct seller. There may be issues we have not considered in that
case. I have not had any response from the public in connection to the few
items that have sold on Ebay.
Mark Janzen
Registrar/Collections Manager
Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art
Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
Wichita State University
(316)978-5850
Sandra Smith
<Sandra_Smith@NTH
P.ORG> To
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SE.LSOFT.COM> Subject
Re: True eBay Confessions
03/22/2004 09:00
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<[log in to unmask]
SE.LSOFT.COM>
I'd be interested to hear experiences of anyone who's used eBay to
dispose of deaccessioned collections, and whether you've had to alter
your deaccessioning policies to do so. I'm curious in particular about
the following questions:
Does eBay fit your institution's 'public sale' criteria for the sale of
deaccessioned objects? Have you altered your collections policy to
allow or prevent the sale of objects on eBay?
Do you make it known that the seller is a museum disposing of
deaccessioned collections?
What kind of information do you provide in the object description?
What's been the public perception of your museum's selling deaccessioned
objects on eBay?
Thanks in advance-
Sandra Smith
-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Mayberry [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 6:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: True eBay Confessions
I'm writing an article for History News about museums and eBay (and
other
online auction sites). Anyone care to share your experiences with me?
I'm
looking for good and bad, acquisition and deaccession, policies that you
may have been adopted, and other ways in which museums and their staff
have
responded to this cultural phenomenon. Many thanks!
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