The AP has a story about a Chicago man convicted of selling fake Picassos and Lichtensteins that reveals the profit margins for fake works. The swindler was pricing the works at three times his cost. Clearly he learned the trade as an interior decorator:
A suburban Chicago man has pleaded guilty to swindling at least 250 people out of more than $1 million through the online sale of counterfeit prints advertised as the work of Pablo Picasso and other major contemporary artists. Michael Zabrin of Northbrook admits sometimes paying between $1,000 and $1,500 for counterfeit limited edition fine art prints produced in Spain and Italy and reselling them on eBay for many times that amount. According to the plea agreement presented to Judge Robert M. Dow Jr, Zabrin purchased eight counterfeit works purportedly by Marc Chagall in 2004 for $20,000 “which he resold at no less than three times his cost.”
Chicago man pleads guilty to selling fake Picassos, Lichtensteins to naive collectors on eBay (Associated Press)
