Okay, perhaps two street art posts in a row has you craving one of my drier art market posts! It’s your lucky day. This AP article picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle outlines how the current economic downturn is negatively affecting sales at many online auction sites.
I’ve observed that high end art doesn’t sell well online. Many of the websites that cater to the middle or lower-end art markets have serious flaws: an overabundance of crap (Ebay), high buyer’s premium and impersonal service (igavel)…I could go on. I think I’ll put together a pro/con analysis as a resource for AAC readers sometime in the future. Without a doubt, most of the online auction sites make the experience of looking at art feel highly transactional and unthoughtful. It’s interesting that none allow for dialogue amongst viewers and potential bidders.
But, all that being said, I’ve bought pieces online after simply falling in love with an artwork that’s simply unavailable anywhere else or if I find a piece I like that’s selling substantially under its current market price. If you’re confident that a piece is legitimate (which not all sites guarantee), good deals can be found if you have the patience for it all.
Writing this little post made me curious; I haven’t searched for my favorite artists on ebay in a long time. Surprisingly enough, after about ten minutes and maybe a dozen artist searches, I found a seemingly-real silver gelatin print by Larry Clark from his Tulsa series being sold by a seller in Tokyo for $2,000 (pictured above; click on the picture to go to the ebay page). What can I say, heroin chic never went out of style in my book! The print has some condition issues and doesn’t mention anything about edition size– and this is where having a gallerist’s insight is helpful. I can check out past auction results on findartinfo.com, and I’m pretty sure I recall an image from the same series in an edition of 15 selling at Swann Auction Galleries for around $7,000 last month, but all this illustrates that if you’re not an expert in the market of that artist it’s a tough call.
I wholehearted agree with you about ebay,etsy, and igavel. I own an art gallery in CT and have met many local artists who use these sites. Some artists are reluctant to post because of the membership fees, monthly fees, listing fees, ambiguous commission scale, and the vast ocean of other non art related items on the same site.
I decided to create an auction site that is as artist friendly as my gallery. No membership or monthly fees. No listing fees. A clear cut commission on works sold, and friendly 24 hr. service. Users and clients can contact me directly, ask questions, leave comments and suggestions, and get a quick response. The site is very new. I want to offer this service to contemporary artists. Spread the word and keep those artists painting!
http://www.gvartauctions.com