I’m a pretty normal guy; In fact I would be willing to wager that I am a lot like you. While I do know a little bit about a lot of things, relatively speaking there are very little things that I know a lot about. Priding myself on being a logical person I chose to leave the rest to the experts. However, not everyone feels the same way and there are multitudes of people and even whole industries built to take advantage of those people. Are cruise ship auctions one of those businesses?
I don’t bet on the Kentucky Derby because I’m no handicapper. I don’t try and diagnose family illnesses because I am not a doctor. I don’t get into conversations about how the universe came into being because I don’t know anything about cosmology and I don’t buy art on cruise ships because I don’t know anything about art.
Is Park West, the 300 pound gorilla of the cruise auction world selling bogus artwork? The company which operates the art auctions you see on many of the biggest cruise lines is being accused of taking advantage of inexperienced art buyers. The alleged weapon of choice consists of an arsenal of fake prints and phony certificates of authenticity.
Teri Franks an art aficionado who runs an internet service that helps artists, collectors and galleries resister their artwork has launched a campaign against Park West. The campaign is aimed at getting Park West to stop what she calls “unfair and deceptive practices”. Franks says that she has posted nearly 200 articles and videos about Park West and has helped numerous customers obtain refunds. She also says that she has spent nearly two million dollars in defense of 3 defamation suits filed against her by the owner of the auction company.
You can read the full story here
In all fairness according to its owner Park West does have an excellent rating with the Better Business Bureau. Big time auctioneers Sotheby’s and Christies have B and B+ grades while Park West has a stellar A+ rating. They also have been in business a long time and have a lot of satisfied customers, so who is to say what the truth really may be.
Like I said earlier I know almost nothing about art so I can’t really comment on the quality of “art” that Park West sells but I can offer you this bit of advice. If you see something on a cruise ship billed as “Art” buy it because you like it not because you view it as an investment. If you are buying this “art” as an investment make sure you have done the proper research. I don’t take a car salesman’s word as gospel because he is trying to sell me something; he has too much to gain by making the sale. I certainly wouldn’t take an auctioneers word as gospel either. Although it hasn’t happened yet, if I fall in love with a Dali that would look good hanging in my dining room I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it. If I see a Dali that I think would one day help fund my retirement or send my kid to college I’ll just as soon take that money and hit the casino, I like my chances at blackjack much better.
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