The Role of Art & Antique Dealers An Added Value The key reasons given by dealers for the continued resistance to online sales were:
i. The basis or foundation on which the market functions are too subjective to allow a substantial online trade. Buying and selling art and antiques requires advice and decision-making based on discussion and contact, which works against more anonymous, less personal online sales.
ii. The values in the art and antiques trade are often too high for e-commerce to work effectively. E- commerce tends to work best for lower value sales and low risk purchases. Dealers of lower value works therefore tend to use the channel more than higher-priced dealers. Dealers felt that the online medium works best either at the very low end for bargain hunters and sales of low priced, non-unique items, or occasionally for highly specialised sectors, where buyers and sellers have very high knowledge of each other and the pieces on offer which would mitigate risks.
iii. Online sales are generally suited to high inventory businesses. Large inventories can be stored in low cost locations, with the Internet used to engage remote buyers. However, most dealers work with low or limited inventories, which are less suited to mass marketing via the Internet.
iv. The requirement for guarantees with sales of art and antiques requires personal contact. Many dealers felt that buyers need to see them in person and discuss issues such as provenance and authenticity, and that there was a general lack of trust with unknown online sellers.
v. Dealers’ business models are built around in-person
services.Many dealers felt that their key value added centred on advice, expertise and other personal services. They reported that buyers were often willing to pay a higher price to buy directly from them as they are aware that they are paying for the access and knowledge that they provide. In general, personal contact is important and much more highly valued in large, infrequent sales such as art and antiques. Because of this, nearly all dealers found it difficult to “sell cold” on the Internet, but repeat business using the online channel was common.
vi. Buying from an image can result in questions and issues related to condition, attribution and
quality.Many dealers were reluctant to purchase inventory from an image, particularly if it was hard to identify key features on screen, and felt the same was true for their buyers.
vii. The need for discretion and privacy in art and antique sales, particularly at the higher end, negate the use of online selling. Some dealers pointed out that the more exceptional the work being sold, the more exclusively they worked with a small number of clients, and the less they wanted to reveal it to a mass global audience through having it online.
viii. Some dealers reported having been put off selling online through bad experiences on the buy and sell side including fraud, credit card scams, fakes and forgeries. Some commented further that the art market would benefit in future from more regulation online and less offline.
ix. Finally, the art market in general, and many dealers especially, are technology laggards compared to many other
industries.Although the art market has made significant technological advances in the last decade, much of this rapid growth has been driven by a catch-up phase as the market starts to use the Internet and related technologies in a more mainstream way. Although there are a few dealers with exceptionally advanced web platforms, in general auction houses are way ahead in terms of online marketing, sales and use of technology.
34 Historical & Future Perspectives
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