Cruise ship Art Auctions – Scams, Fraud or Bargains? Part 1…….

Anyone who has ever been on a cruise knows that the cruise lines make most of their money from your on-ship purchases, and they sell everything from designer clothes to fines wines.

Most lucratively, many ships now offer “fine investment” art, sold by many auction houses, all geared for the cruising public. I have had several customers asking me about these auctions. Do you get good value for money?

I  have investigated this subject and you might not like my findings on this (if you are a cruise line). Most of the statements in the posting are made by other people.
I will do several postings about this topic, because there is so much information. Here we go, have a look at Part 1.

There is something honest about the traditional pirates. The bandana, the eye patch, the hook where once there was an arm, the peg leg and the cutlass. The jolly roger (skull and crossbones) flying at the mainmast. At least you knew what you were dealing with. Bandits, murderers, thieves and looters , but visibly so.

When the pirates are dressed in suits – fast, smooth talkers, all criminal intent carefully masked under the guise of fun, entertainment, great business deals, and your interest at heart, and backed up by the most reputable of organizations – the subject of piracy takes on a much more sinister and dangerous air.
This second kind of piracy is the subject of this article. Or at least a couple of examples of it in action.
When you go to a casino to gamble you usually are aware, unless you are really dumb, that the odds are against you and that you stand to lose whatever money you have decided to spend. It’s a risk you take. Perhaps you think you can beat the system and win some money back but usually you know that you are kidding yourself. If you wish to get involved in that game where the chances of winning are remarkably slim, you at least have been warned.

But when you go to an art auction on a cruise liner, promoted, encouraged and endorsed by a supposedly reputable cruise line company such as Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity and so on, you do not expect to be defrauded, cheated, robbed, sold items that are worth only a fraction of what you pay, given verbal representations which are then completely disregarded and disavowed by the auction company, tricked into financial arrangements that you cannot get out of, or other dishonest and criminal behavior.
You should read this article before you attend one of these cruise line art auctions, not after you already have.
If you read this article and still attend one of the cruise line auctions and get ripped off, then you deserve it. You will have been warned.
And if you have bought art at a cruise line auction and are sitting there smugly thinking you got a great bargain, pluck up some courage and get an independent appraisal.
At least you won’t have to wait till you go to sell it to find out to what extent you have been duped. You’ll know.

Here are some guidelines for attending the auctions organised by Park West.

1 If you want to have some “fun” at an art auction on your cruise, spend some money, pick up some prints that you like the look of and don’t care if they are overpriced or you could get the exact same items much more cheaply at home, then by all means go to the cruise line art auction and play the game, spend your money and get what you get. Don’t look up the price when you get home. Just hang the pieces and remember the fun you had on the cruise.

2 Don’t EVER do serious art buying at a cruise line art auction. NEVER. DON’T. It will be a bad decision and you are very likely to be ripped off and regret it ever after. Cruise line art auctions are NOT the place to buy serious, investment art. If they were the bargains they are claimed to be, why aren’t reputable dealers and auction houses buying from them? DON’T kid yourself. If you want to invest in art, do A LOT of research, go to reputable auction houses and dealers and don’t mix the cruise line carnival-vacation atmosphere with serious art investment. They do not belong together. For a start, who would put his money on a piece of art which has been “authenticated” and “appraised” by the very person or group that stands to benefit from a twisted authenticity and a grossly over-inflated appraisal?

3 Don’t be fooled by the fact that a supposedly reputable cruise line is condoning and encouraging the art auction. In at least one case on record the auctioneer used a member of the Royal Caribbean cruise line to vouch for the honesty and repute of Park West to help close the deal. Or by the fact that a supposedly reputable company (GE Money) is providing a special credit card to help Park West perpetrate these deeds. There is so much money involved and all these players get their cut. It’s unfortunate but the facts are the facts and the evidence is inescapable. Don’t fool yourself. The cruise line management and the credit card facilitators are in on the deal. Don’t fall for it.

4 READ ANY AGREEMENT BEFORE YOU SIGN ANYTHING, ALL OF IT, EVEN THE SMALL, GREY, COVERT PRINT ON THE BACK. Understand what you are signing. The Park West contracts and literature are jammed with escape clauses. “All sales are final” is just one small clause. 15% Buyer’s Premium will be added. A 1% in transit fee will be added. “No verbal agreements or representations shall be of any force or effect unless set forth in writing by the seller in the invoice” is another one that covers up a multitude of sins. Read it all.

5 DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY VERBAL REPRESENTATIONS ON THE PART OF AUCTIONEERS AND SALES PEOPLE. DO NOT TRUST A SINGLE WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS. They are protected in any lie they care to tell, any wild fantasy they decide to invent, by the fine print on the contract you sign which immediately invalidates anything anyone says to you that is not in writing. If something that one of these people is saying to you is important to you, then ask them to put it in writing on the invoice and sign it. See what happens.

6 READ THE APPRAISAL AND SO-CALLED CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY AND THE “GUARANTEE” THAT GOES WITH IT. For example, the certificate of authenticity (the ones I have seen have all been signed by Park West director, Albert Scaglione, who is an engineer by training, not an appraiser or art specialist) only guarantee the original author of the piece. This is carefully stated on the back of the invoice but its meaning is not explained. For example, a “Rembrandt etching” certificate only guarantees that the original image was by Rembrandt. The fact is that the print is not by Rembrandt at all. It’s pulled from the original plates by some johnny-come-lately in the last decade or two and has been so worked on that it is so far removed from anything Rembrandt ever touched that it’s laughable. But the certificate is very impressive. The appraisals are all done by Park West appraisers and again, signed by Scaglione. Read the fine print and it states that Park West doesn’t answer to anyone on its appraisals. It’s their opinion and they don’t care who says what or what evidence exists to the contrary. They charge $35 for an in-house appraisal that sets a price on each of their pieces which is way above what it’s worth (often 10 or more times the actual value on the market) and the fine print on the forms covers them in case of flashback.
Final Word

My advice is to steer clear of the cruise line auctions unless you want to have some fun and spend some money and don’t care if you are ripped off. When it comes to investment in art and major purchases, this is not the way to go.