Tag Archives: funny

wordy weekender: Accidental Subtext

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I read a lot of blogs and look at a lot of art online. I like to see what others do in their art journal. One of my favorite things to stumble upon is what I like to call the “accidental subtext.” This usually is when someone uses an image that they don’t fully understand in their collage. Either they don’t know who the people are in the photo or what the photo is about. It usually happens when someone thinks an image is cool  and it’s from a group not their own, either a subculture, counterculture or the like.

It’s not unusual for me to find one of these images and to laugh. I had the occasion last night. I stumbled upon a blog full of bible quotes, discussion of husband and children and great crafty ideas. As I scrolled down through the pages I saw a page with a fairly well known image of 2 women making out overlaid with a bible quote. Queue: dissonance and a hearty chuckle.

What made it exceptionally funny to me is that one of the women in the image was not noticeably a woman, at first glance and if you didn’t know the image, you’d have thought the image was of a man and a woman kissing. Knowing the image in question made the journal page humorous rather than the serious tone of the bible quote.

I realized as I looked at the image that just because I knew it was 2 women kissing didn’t mean that that the creator of the page knew. It’s one of those things that makes me realize that I’m “other.” I knew it was a gay picture because I’d read the magazine the image was originally in, and knew the model’s name. Looking at myself I realize that a straight person might not know the model, or her work and thus wouldn’t know that the image is gay.

At first glance the image isn’t gay which is what makes it so… subversive and give the whole journal page, most likely unintentionally, a secondary subtext that make me, as a gay person, chuckle. Especially as I look at the rest of the blog and images on the site to see that they are so clean, earnest and Christian. The additional layer of meaning adds more to the art for me.

eBay to Lower Fees

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Well, my art selling reader, or art buying readers, eBay has
announced that effective Feb 1, 2008 they will reduce some of their
fees. This is an exciting thing. They are lowering their listing fees,
offering gallery free as well as a few other positive lowered prices.
They pick the money they are loosing on that through raising their
final value fees. Here’s the break down:

Listing Fees:

$0.01 – $0.99 $0.20 $0.15 Lower fee!
$1.00 – $9.99 $0.40 $0.35      Lower fee!
$10.00 – $24.99 $0.60 $0.55      Lower fee!
$25.00 – $49.99 $1.20 $1.00      Lower fee!
$50.00 – $199.99 $2.40 $2.00      Lower fee!
$200.00 – $499.99 $3.60 $3.00      Lower fee! 
$500.00 or more $4.80 $4.00      Lower fee!

That’s
really not bad when you think about it, for those people who are
selling items under $10 it’s a good deal and for those selling above
$25 it’s even better.

Gallery Fees:

Starting or Reserve Price Current Gallery Fee Gallery Fee (effective 02/20/2008)
Auction-style Listings $0.35 FREE
Fixed Price Listings $0.35 FREE
Store Inventory Listings $0.01 FREE
Classified Ads Variable FREE

That’s an even better deal for anyone who used gallery.

Here’s where things get interesting:

Closing Price Final Value Fee Final Value Fee (effective 02/20/2008)
Item not sold No fee No change
$0.01-$25.00 5.25% of the closing value 8.75% of the closing value
$25.01 – $1,000.00 5.25% of the initial $25.00, plus 3.25% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000.00) 8.75% of the initial $25.00, plus 3.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 to $1,000.00)
Over $1,000.01 5.25% of the initial $25.00, plus 3.25% of the initial $25.00 – $1,000.00 plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 – closing value) 8.75% of the initial $25.00, plus 3.50% of the initial $25.00 – $1,000.00 plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 – closing value)

The difference don’t seem too drastic but let’s do the math on a $19.99
item, pre changes and post changes and see what the changes really are.

$19.99 Item listed @ $0.99
Old:
listing fee:$0.20
Gallery Fee $0.35
Buy it Now:$0.10
Final Value fee:$1.63
Total: $1.85= 9.25%

New:
listing fee:$0.15
Gallery Fee $0.00
Buy it Now:$0.10
Final Value fee:$1.75

Total: $2.00= 10.00%

A
book sells for $54.50, I started the bidding at $9.99 used gallery and
had buy it now. Here’s the fees and how it all compares old to new.
Old:
listing fee:$0.40
Gallery Fee $0.35
Buy it Now:$0.20
Final Value fee:$2.28

Total: $3.23= 5.87%

New:
listing fee:$0.35
Gallery Fee $0.00
Buy it Now:$0.10
Final Value fee:$3.24

Total: $3.69= 6.71%

SO When you do the math, add it all up and figure out the percentages-
eBay is actually charging you more than they did before, but only if
your item sells. Also keep in mind that this doesn’t include PayPal’s
fee structure- add an additional 3+% onto your final fees for them.  Again eBay screws the lower priced
sellers. When I read the CNN article about eBay lowering their fees I
was stoked but doing the math  leaves me cold.

The real question is this: Did eBay really think that they could effectively raise their prices for sellers, market it as a decrease in fees and that no one would notice?  This has got to be some sort of false advertisement.