Digital BW, The Print

Well Mr Jensen was against an express limitation - period.  You offer
nothing new other than that which has already been noted ie that it can make
sense to segment the market in some way:  unlimited (and potentially
unsigned - if it is just the picture you like then who cares if it is
signed) prints at low prices for the masses - people like you who just like
the image and don't care about retention value - and more expensive, signed
and limited prints for those that don't want to find their purchase freely
available to the masses and hence reduced in value.  But this was not what
Mr Jensen proposed.  He simply stated that there is no value nor reason in
expressly limiting the production of any image.

Now let's say you fell in love with an image in the gallery - you just had
to have it to hang on your wall because it is beautiful and will bring you
pleasure each time you look at it.  But a person next to you also "just has
to have it".  If there is only one copy of the image you must compete for
it.  If there are two then you might agree to pay the asking price.  What if
there were 100 available but the gallery was perpetually empty?  Perhaps now
you might vigorously debate the price with the seller - perhaps very quietly
so the seller isn't forced to disclose to the other interested party that
you didn't "pay retail" - after all, it's not like they are selling like hot
cakes.  Now when the seller has not covenanted to limit supply, if he is
smart he will supply at marginal cost (including a suitable return for his
labour and capital).  As long as he gets a price exceeding the cost of
"printing another" he continues to make money.

At the end of the day an "artist" needs to decide what business he or she
wants to be in.  One off masterpieces?  "Limited edition originals"?
Unlimited prints? Postcards for the masses?  One can participate in several
markets at once - even with the same image - but this requires very careful
segmentation.  Mr Roark wisely does his segmentation on the basis of
archival quality.  The small cheaper prints won't last.  With the larger,
limited and more expensive prints the buyer is charged and will pay a
premium for something that will last, that has scarcity value and, as a
result, that has potential as a "collector's item".  With regard to any
given photo, number 4 in the "edition" (a misnomer really as there is only
one edition) of 50 is not worth any more than number 5 or 50.  But there is
value in the fact there is only 50.  Anyone who doesn't covenant that there
is only one edition may as well not bother numbering them in the first
place.  No 4 of 50.1 is worth no more than number 4 of 50.2 and if the
artist is allowed to have an unlimited number of editions there is little
reason to believe the piece of art is scarce....unless of course he or she
dies and then we get into the debate about signing images ie how we
distinguish prints printed by (or for) the artist while living vs those that
might be printed by his or her estate post mortem ad infinitum.

Your airline example is not a useful analogy.  A flight has a finite number
of seats and once it has departed (full or empty) there are no more - you
can't just print off a few seats for the 10.30am to Heathrow at 11.30am.
Yes airlines segment pricing for each seat and the new low-cost airlines
have forced upon the market dynamic real-time pricing.  This is great for us
consumers.  But this is not at all analogous to the topic at hand.

The collection of cars is a much better example.  As the number of any
particular car falls, the value of the remaining cars increases - they t
became more scarce.  People reward scarcity value - assuming there is more
than one person who likes the scarce object.


> From: ray_maxwell2000 <rmaxwell@...>
> Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 21:30:40 -0000
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] limited editions
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> He is Brooks Jensen of http://www.lenswork.com/
>> Mark
>> 
>> It is rather clear though that he has little, if any, understanding
> of >economics.
> 
> 
> I happen to agree whole-heartedly with Brooks Jensen.  There is no
> reason to limit a photographic edition.
> 
> However, I do understand economics as well and would make the
> following suggestions.
> 
> First, It depends on why you are buying a print.  If I am buying a
> print to hang on my wall, I am buying because it is beautiful and it
> brings me pleasure each time I look at it. I don't plan to ever sell
> the prints.  This is subjective value.  I don't care how many other
> prints there are like it and the edition numbers and certificate of
> authenticity means nothing to me.  I think there are other people like
> me and there may be a large untapped market out there.  I won't pay a
> premium for false scarcity.  I know how high quality prints can be
> produced and know there is no reason that they cannot be made in any
> number.
> 
> On the other hand people buy "art" as an investment.  These people
> want the limited edition in order to preserve the value of their
> investment.
> 
> Now, consider the following.  In economics there is a "demand curve"
> that determines the value of a product.  Simply stated it says that if
> you lower the price you will sell more units.  If you raise the price
> you will sell less units.  You have to decide the price based on how
> you will extract the most profit.  If you set too high a price you may
> not sell any units.  If you set it too low, you may not make any
> profit from each sale even if you sell millions.
> 
> Another economic theory says that it is possible to "fill the demand
> curve".  Airlines are a prime example.  They have many different
> prices for the same seat on a airplane.  If you want to travel cheap
> you book well in advance.  If you are a business person you will pay a
> premium to book at the last second.  Same product sold at a different
> price.  If you had a fixed price for the airline seat it might be too
> high for a trip to see Aunt Martha, but if you were a business person
> who needed to travel, the airline has not extracted the maximum value
> out of the seat.
> 
> Now lets consider art or photography.  Imagine that there is a Norman
> Rockwell original.  Now imagine that there were signed and numbered
> Litho prints.  In addition there are millions of POST magazine covers
> with the same image.  Many of these are framed and hanging in people's
> homes.  Would it diminish the value of any of these pieces if someone
> made inkjet prints and offered them as numbered, but unlimited, and
> unsigned edition?
> 
> With respect to making your own inkjet prints, I suggest that you
> could make a limited edition signed and numbered of a certain size and
> sell these to the investors.  You could then make a numbered, but
> unlimited edition of a smaller size and sell to the subjective value
> crowd.  This should not lower the value of the limited edition.
> 
> This is called filling the demand curve and extracting maximum value
> from you work.
> 
> Thanks for you attention,
> 
> Ray Maxwell
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
> they are often being updated.
> 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> 
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> 
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
> Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the membership
> without notice.
> - Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
> printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from the
> membership.
> - By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
> guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner and
> Moderators. See ³Group Topic, Rules and Guidelines² in the Files section:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/
> 
> BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
> YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE ³OWNER² AND
> ³MODERATORS² OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU
> FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY
> DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL,
> USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE  ³OWNER² AND ³MODERATORS² OF
> DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
> DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE DIGITAL BW,
> THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR
> TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE
> DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE
> DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP.
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
>