The Secondary Market consists of individuals selling their personal copies of sold out, Limited Edition Prints, Prints and original paintings. Ebay, Craigs List, Market Place and Charleston’s local newspaper – The Post and Courier, are the best places to buy and sell on the Secondary Market.
Jim Booth Art Gallery is NOT affiliated with anyone selling on the Secondary Market. When buying anything second hand please be wary of scammers.
Make sure to carefully inspect prints for damage including scratches, dents, fading, moisture issues like mold, wavey paper, and discoloration. Hold the print at different angles in good light and scan the entire surface for flaws. If a print is shrink wrapped (plastic wrap) or framed under glass it may be hard to see the imperfections. If it is a valuable piece you may want to ask to examine the print out from under the shrink wrapping or glass.
Also, make sure the print is not faded. Faded prints have a blue hue/wash to them. Check the images in our portfolio to see what the colors should look like. The prints that have a history of fading worst are those from the mid 1980’s and earlier. Fade-proof inks did not exist then so prints for that time will fade even under “normal" indoor house lighting!! Any print, no matter when it was printed, will fade if exposed to direct sunlight for hours a day. UV proof, conservation quality, glass can block 99% of UV rays for framing older prints or protecting any art from harsh sunlight.
We do not buy back Jim's work – prints or original paintings.
Historically sold out prints sold for 1/3 – 1/2 of the Insurance Value but we’ve seen the full range from original issue price all the way to full insurance value (both of which are very rare). Jim published his last insurance sheet at the time of his retirement in 2018. Since Jim’s passing in 2021, you must use an art appraiser to get current insurance values.
Original paintings should be appraised by an Art Appraiser in order to determine an Insurance Value, and from there a selling price can be determined.
Limited Edition Prints increase in value once the entire edition is sold out.
Artist Proofs (A/P), Environmental Print (ENV), and Save the Light Prints (STL) are valued at 1 1/2 times that of a Signed & Numbered (S/N) print. So if a S/N print is valued at $1000 the A/P’s insurance value is $1500.
Classic Edition Posters and Mini Cards do not increase in value as they unlimited & can always be reprinted. For a detailed picture and text guide to determining what kind of print you have Click here .
