Posted By:
davidcyclebackI agree that the $70 price is high. That doesn't mean it would never sell higher, but I would the $70 is high for a profit making venture.
Unlike with baseball cards, there is a wide variance selling 1930s-70s photos. It's hard to predict the prices, with one selling lower than expected and one selling much higher-- and the seller isn't quite sure why. So, for resale, it's best to be conservative in buy pricing or, even better, buy big collections.
Obviously, if an estate photo is a cabinet card of King Kelly or original 1909 Tigers team photo with Cobb, then you can be more confident of its resale value. But with a 1950s Hank Bauer photo, it's harder to tell and it's always best to buy it safe.
You can buy bulk lots of baseball or football wirephotos at auctions, at bulk rate and be able to sell the collection photo by photo at ultimate profit. The pricing variations are averaged out over 500 photos. Obviously, you have to still buy low enough to get the profit. Many of the big auction houses, including Mastro and Lelands, are knowledgeable about wirephotos and news photos (the stampings, vintage versus later generation, etc) so the bidder can be confident in what they are buying.
Though, I think original/news photos from famous vintage scandals are popular. As with Super Bowls and All-Star Games, scandals are famous events that stand out in people's memories.
Speaking of Lelands and scandals, below is one of the more remarkable news scandal photos in an old Lelands auction. It's an International News photo from 1935 and shows the dead body of actress Thelma Todd (in fur coat!) who was found dead in her car but in someone else's garage. It was/is one of the most famous Hollywood mysteries of the time, ala Fatty Arbuckle's murder trial. She was a co-star with the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton, appeared in several Laurel and Hardy comedies and starred in a number of Hal Roach shorts.
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