Ruby slippers sell at auction for $28 million

The Donald bought them for me as my reward for my years of service.

I'll have to squeeze my feet into them, but they'll look positively magical when I wear them to greet my gentleman callers in the gloaming of Charleston evenings.

"Oh look! We have created enchantment!"

Stolen because the thieves believed the shoes were made of genuine rubies, this is how dumb people are. I disliked the costumes but I love the film.

Never imaged that amount.

The shippers!

Happy day for the auction house: $4.5M in commission fees from the buyer (and almost certainly something between $2.25M and $4.5M from the consignor.)

What is a consignor?

Ridiculous. Not as bad as the banana art thing a few weeks ago - but this is close to it.

There had to be several pairs of these made for production.

$28 million means somebody has way too much money to burn - or it's all part of some money laundering.

Inflation.

R6, the consignor is the seller, the owner of the red slippers, acting through the agency of the auction house.

Most auction houses make money from % commissions from both the buyer and the consignor, usually in equal amounts though large estates or high value items the terms may be negotiable. In this case the buyer paid a 15% commission -- the usual buyer commission rate for Heritage is 25%, I think. It is common at some auction houses for the commission fees for buyers and/or sellers to be reduced for very high value lots, as appears to have happened here at least in the case of the buyer's fee. (It's a way to secure a sale contract for an item so expensive that a sale even at a reduced byer and/or seller commission still results in a huge sum. and the popping of champagne bottles at the close of the auction.)

Auction house buyer fees are typically 15% to 35%, often graduated for reduced %s at very high levels of sale. The consigor fees are typically the same, before any discounts to secure the contract to sell.

Those shoes better be comfortable at that price.

Not sure why but Sid seems likely to have been involved in costume memorabilia getting around in less than legal circumstances.

I wonder if the buyer is feeling post-auction remorse at how much money they spent on sequined pumps...I've been in a few bidding wars and fortunately always backed off as things were getting pricey. I've seen people bidding 4xs the worth of saw horses you can buy new at Home Depot or Lowes for a fraction of the cost.

Poor Judy died young and broke -while everything connected with this film makes an absolute fortune.

This pair looks tired and careworn.

More than you could ever wish to know about the ruby slippers, for example:

[quote] Two detached sequins, both likely from the p.r. shoe, were examined by µ-FTIR, as well as a sequin still attached to the p.l. shoe. From the p.r. shoe, detached sequin 1 is in a relatively good condition, while detached sequin 2 has cracks and losses of its red coating. Results are consistent with the presence of a protein-based core (most likely gelatin) laminated on both sides with a thin layer of cellulose nitrate. The findings are in agreement with known compositions of gelatin-based sequins of similar age reported in the literature.

They were bought by those astronauts stuck in the Space Station. They're hoping if they click their heels three times...