How much should I sell a limited-run piece of artistic furniture for?

November 6, 2019 8:18 AM

I've got a limited-edition Wave City coffee table (link/info inside), and a somewhat persistent individual interested in buying it. With my financial situation having gone down the toilet in the years since I got it, it's getting awfully tempting to sell. But for how much?

In 2016, I bought one of 25 of the Wave City Coffee Table from Stelios Mousarris, directly from him (corresponding through email and wiring the funds). When it was first announced in the blogosphere, you'd see prices around $4,000 - $4,500. By the time I emailed him and expressed my interest, he'd raised the price to about €7,500 — only about 2-3 months after the first blog posts appeared online. I wasn't thrilled, but I went forward anyway. (Note the different currencies, by the way.) I mean, hell, Damon Lindelof of Lost and The Watchmen fame owns one, and they stopped making 'em after all 25 were snatched up in 2016.

Over the years, I've had a local businessman, a custom furniture and casework builder, ask if I'm interested in selling. I brushed him off the first time, saying it was personalized for my daughter (which is true), and I really like it, so no, if I was selling, it'd be for some "pretty insane" amount. He wrote back to say that he'd still be interested in hearing what that amount was, should I change my mind.

Well, our small business's fortunes have gone down the toilet since then, we're going to have to close our doors within the next month or two, and I'll still be saddled with debt, some of which I may well die with. This guy's asked about the table again (just yesterday).

My wife and I are still in the "HELL NO" camp, mainly because (a) we had it personalized for our daughter, for crissake, even though she's four and will never know or care, but it's the principle!; (b) I love the damn thing; that's why I bought it, after all, (c) our debt is massive, so it feels like it wouldn't make a difference; whatever we got for this would disappear in a puff of smoke immediately, we'd still have debt left, and we'd be out a table that's a limited-run work of art, too, so what's the point?

But I do wonder . . . if it could sell for high enough, maybe it is worth considering. By that I mean $40K or $50K. Which is probably completely outrageous, I think. But art is a weird and irrational world, so who knows?

I can't find any "comps" on sales of this table, so I have zero idea what the market is like. But I also have no experience in the field of original/limited-edition art and what that market is like, so I really have no idea what this table would fetch on the open market. Are there any resources, rules of thumb, etc. I can consult?

posted by CommonSense to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Have it appraised by an auction house? They usually have days/hours where you can speak to an appraiser. Bring good photos.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:24 AM on November 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

This post on Homeli from 2017 lists the current price for the wooden version as 8,500 Euro.
posted by Chairboy at 8:46 AM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

It sounds like you are struggling to balance your emotional connection to this amazing piece and some major financial struggles. Based on what you wrote, it sounds like you are not in a place where you want to turn the table into money and your financial situation while crappy, does not require it. At the same time, if the table could be turned into a life-changing amount of money, it sounds like you would want to do it. So figure out what that life changing amount is and that is the price right now. You can always lower the price in the future if your circumstances change.
posted by ElizaMain at 9:04 AM on November 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

Price it at 40-50k. If the interested party says yes, hooray, your financial woes are eased. If he says no, hooray, you keep the table.
posted by Grandysaur at 9:46 AM on November 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Price it at a number you would have no regrets selling it for. If he buys it, win-win. If not, you still have the table!
posted by AugustWest at 9:56 AM on November 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

On the personalization front: it's always going to have been personalized for her. Nobody else who owns it is ever going to change that. Even if it's not your possession, it'll still exist in the world as something that was uniquely designed for exactly one person. Of course it is possible she could grow up to regret not having the physical table, but even if she's already infatuated with it (though personally I wouldn't let my four-year-old even know of the existence of such a marvelous "toy" and it's possible you're the same), it's just as likely to not be her taste at all.
posted by teremala at 12:00 PM on November 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I agree with Grandysaur, it's your unique table, you can price it how you like. if 40 - 50k will solve your financial problems, then ask for that. Not being in debt is also a really great gift for your daughter.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:56 PM on November 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

If there is the least little bit in your thinking of self punishment for losing the money, don't sell the table until you can be kinder to yourself. Otherwise I agree with the others, ask 50k for it.
posted by glasseyes at 6:50 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]