Album Stripping.

[Lenny W]

Which is why it should be banned on the forum. Current Association Members who sell photos stripped from albums could be grandfathered in for the duration of their present membership and carry on, but when that expires, they cannot continue to do it if they choose to renew. That way there's no "breach of contract" and WAF stops becoming a source of broken-up estates.

And how would we know if pictures are taken out of a photo album and sold separately by a member or bought that way an impossible task,unless someone knows of an album and who owns it then the pictures become available separately by the owner of the album. I see separate pictures posted almost daily on the estand with pieces of the albums page material stuck to the backs of the pictures. There's probably a few dozen threads already posted about this topic.

[TheMadBaron]

And how would we know if pictures are taken out of a photo album and sold separately by a member or bought that way an impossible task,unless someone knows of an album and who owns it then the pictures become available separately by the owner of the album. I see separate pictures posted almost daily on the estand with pieces of the albums page material stuck to the backs of the pictures. There's probably a few dozen threads already posted about this topic.

That's pretty easy. Someone posts a topic with, say, 30 LSSAH "combat photos" from France 1940 clearly from the same source. It might also be a person who continually posts wanted ads for SS albums. I can provide a link to several such threads in the E-Stand right now.

[p-59a]

While I agree with you on not breaking photo albums apart I think your ire is misplaced. It's not the person who splits the album that's the problem. It's the people who buy that one photo taken from an album that I have issue with. If those who collect would stop buying from people who spilt up albums then those sellers would stop breaking them apart. Make sense?

[p-59a]

And how would we know if pictures are taken out of a photo album and sold separately by a member or bought that way an impossible task,unless someone knows of an album and who owns it then the pictures become available separately by the owner of the album. I see separate pictures posted almost daily on the estand with pieces of the albums page material stuck to the backs of the pictures. There's probably a few dozen threads already posted about this topic.

I agree, this is a conundrum.

[Akira Takiguchi]

Food for thoughts

A photo estate often comes with countless duplicates. Is selling them separately "splitting?"
A photo estate can contain not a few civil albums. Is ignoring civil albums "splitting?"
I need documents for my photo estate for analysis, so hopefully I get documents too but I am not interested in medals so I usually don't buy them. Is it splitting?

I don't think you're talking about the above.

I think that you are talking about removing photos from an album, am I right? Yes, that's a bad taste especially if they are historically important photos because photos will lose the context forever and the seller is losing a chance to sell me the entire thing for more money. I have a couple of friends who offer me directly before going to ebay. Sometimes I contact a seller when I see something important being split. I pay well for something complete and important.

I think the only way is to buy proactively rather than making a rule not to "split" albums and let "them" know that a complete album is worth than split ones, just my opinion though.

[Dave Bybee]

I think there is no way to slow it down other than what Akira has posted. Albums must be bought proactively. Sometimes one is only able to buy parts of a group either because that’s all they can afford or that’s all that’s offered.

[p-59a]

I think there is no way to slow it down other than what Akira has posted. Albums must be bought proactively. Sometimes one is only able to buy parts of a group either because that’s all they can afford or that’s all that’s offered.

Dave, You bring up a part of the conundrum. The number of albums broken up over the last 70 years is unknowable. Even in family's this is done when a vet passes away. What a family does with a vets effects is a family matter. If a family member decides to sell off items a part at a time or all at once or decides to trash everything, that too is a family matter. I don't like that it happens, but it does. We live in a free market economy and no one has the right to tell someone else what to do with their property. I think that's the bottom line. I see no way around that.

[Dave Bybee]

When my wife’s mother died the siblings split up the family photo albums after taking pictures of each one so it goes on no matter what the subject matter. P59a ultimately is right about the matter. That being said, I still believe that paying more for complete albums over breaking them up might change the culture of album stripping.

[Ostprussenmann]

A couple years ago I went to buy an album from the 22nd Luftlande Division on Weitze’s site. It had been sold. A year later all of the photos had been stripped out and sold on Ebarf. I was able to obtain six of them out of like 40 photos. The guy who stripped the album sold single photos for 80 Euros. The album from Weitze was 250 Euros. I paid 80 Euros for the six that I got. The dude who sold them made a killing on the stripped album. Do I agree: HELL NO. But you choose to keep the history or make the money. It is sad but we can’t stop it unless you decide what type of person that you are. I never split groups; even if I want to sell it and have to hold onto it for years. It is about keeping stuff together for me.

[stgeorge64]

I agree wholehartedly with your noble sentiment however, anyone continually stripping albums and punting them out on the e-stand for an inflated profit is not interested in history, he is interested in money, nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunatly, many do not see a problem with this and continue to buy individual photos at astronomical prices, this keeping the seller very happy indeed.

Just to be clear, I wasn't talking about dupicate photos from albums (I have had several myself) or families selecting photos of interest before offering the albums......I am talking about sellers who flagarantly strip albums down without thought or hesitation simply for profit. We all know it happens almost on a day to day basis on the e-stand and yet some choose to buy single photos at astronomic prices and the history of the album is disolved.

[p-59a]

Just to be clear, I wasn't talking about dupicate photos from albums (I have had several myself) or families selecting photos of interest before offering the albums......I am talking about sellers who flagarantly strip albums down without thought or hesitation simply for profit. We all know it happens almost on a day to day basis on the e-stand and yet some choose to buy single photos at astronomic prices and the history of the album is disolved.

As I said...
" I don't like that it happens, but it does. We live in a free market economy and no one has the right to tell someone else what to do with their property. I think that's the bottom line. I see no way around that. "

[Lenny W]

That's pretty easy. Someone posts a topic with, say, 30 LSSAH "combat photos" from France 1940 clearly from the same source. It might also be a person who continually posts wanted ads for SS albums. I can provide a link to several such threads in the E-Stand right now.

Ok I'll bite let's see some links.

[TheMadBaron]

Ok I'll bite let's see some links.

PM'd.

[sudhafen]

It's the worst. But 50%+ of collectors are in for their field of interest. They don't care about the landscape photo or meal at the table photo, but only for the tank/plane/award seen on a photo. They don't care about context and dealers know. What I find worrying that are dealers who call themselves historian and still break up album and groupings. It's beyond my comprehension. Well I know the answer, money.