Wow!  I'm going to keep a close eye on this auction since it still has 6 more days to go.  Maybe I'll sneak in a last minute bid!  Too bad they didn't have a buy-it-now price.

If I get it will you pick it up for me, Reb?  They say there's no delivery.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

US $930,100.00...

...with 5 days and 12 hours to go.  162 bids so far.  This is going to go for well over a million!

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

As of this morning!  Nah, I never do eBay auctions like this.  In fact, it really bugs me when people bid for days on end and drive the price up.  I only bid in the final minute or two.  Still 5 days to go!

It's lovely but I am plum out of room for such a bulky collectible. 

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

You could find a niche for it somewhere Susan. Insure it  and secure it. It is a piece of history, and if authenticated beyond any doubt, the value could really go up. You would hardly miss the outlay  ( kind of like a heavy afternoon at the flea market-- I know you like to find "treasures".)   Maybe it would be an interesting  present for Mr. E . ?

Haha, I think you have miscalculated my flea market/auction expenditure budget, Raymond! Take jewelry for example. Last weekend I found a beautiful necklace with faux citrine stones. I said to my shopping companion, "It's pretty. But it's ten-dollar pretty." The vendor was asking $25 and I wouldn't insult her by saying "How about $10?" I passed on it but later found a $10 green number I liked even more.

With paintings I have a $40 maximum. (Used to be $20 but prices have sky-rocketed!) Still, you'd be surprised the gems you can find if you set your art buying price limit at $40 max. Since the prices are so arbitrary, a lot of times the seller will cut the price in half. Last weekend, I found a 9" x 12" old, old unframed print that cost $10. It's going to cost 5 times that to have it framed but it's still a good deal. Gorgeous snow scene with haystacks and bare-branched trees, beautifully rendered. Slight wash of orange across the horizon indicating the sunset. When it's framed it will look museum quality.

The joy of antiquing and flea marketing is the bargains and the rareness of the find. Granted the window is a rare find and it is within my specific interest range as well. But even if I had $1,000,000+ to spare, I think I'd buy a house instead.

On that subject, several years ago when the most expensive painting sold was Van Gogh's "Irises," (with a selling price of $57,000,000 I believe) someone who knew how much I loved Van Gogh and art in general, asked me -- if you had a choice between owning that painting or every house on your street down to the boulevard (about an equivalent value at the time), which would you prefer. No question -- I'd take the property. When a work of art is so fine and rare, I don't feel it should be in a private domain. It should belong to all the people. (tee hee, what a socialist!) I tend to feel the same way about the Assassination window. It really belongs in the Sixth Floor Museum from whence it came.

Btw, "Irises" was bought by the Getty foundation from the Japanese collector who had originally purchased it at auction. It is now one of the cornerstones of the Getty collection and lives about 7 miles away from our house. So well-endowed is this museum, they do not charge admission.

Susan

UPDATE:  US $1,500,100.00 with four days 12 hours to go!

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

An auction house like Sotheby's takes a 30-something percent commission. The more costly the item, the larger their cut. I've never sold anything on eBay but I'm pretty sure their cut is under 5%. That means most of the millions will go directly to the seller.

Just looked it up. For items over $1001.00 the commission fees go like this...

5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 3.25% of the initial $25.01 - $1,000.00 ($31.69), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 - closing value)

Uh, meaning someone has to do the math.

With 4 days, 1 hour remaining: US $1,678,077.00

UPDATE:  Checked on Sotheby's and Christie's.  They have different rates of commission depending on the type of object sold but here is where their percentage ranges as of 2007:

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I guess the bidding has reached critical mass now with a mere 23 hours to go. Holding pretty steady. Will there be a last minute sniping with and as of yet unknown bidder??? Maybe not in this price range.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

About 40 minutes to go.  Looks like this will be the "SOLD!" price - US $3,001,301.00. 

Notice it dropped off by $400 from yesterday.  Must have been some flaky bidders in there or something.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

r.seydel

of the Netherlands (of all things...) for US $3,005,100.00!

R. Seydel has only 6 ratings, all positive.  His/her last two purchases were sets of Pantone colored markers.  Hmmm.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I see there is a mathematician/physicist guy from the Netherlands named R. Seydel with scientific papers on "bifurcation." Could this be the same guy who buys marking pens and assassination perch windows?

There is also an Erwin R. Seydel. Hmmmm, again. Maybe he's a JFK conspiracy theory buff who is planning to debunk the single-bullet theory and will present his findings with a Pantone marking pen series of illustrations proving once and for all the mathematical impossibility.

Or maybe not.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Aw, darnit!  Check out the latest on the auction results.

Geez, you can't trust anybody!

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin