The Role of Art & Antique Dealers An Added Value
When putting together collections of art and antiques, collectors strongly rely on their own individual tastes and preferences. By far the most important influence on the contents of their collections was personal taste, with over 60% of respondents noting this as their main influence. Where collectors had lived, travelled and worked was also important, although only 5% stated that where they were born was influential. Of the 3% of respondents that reported “other influences”, most stipulated family connections and inheritances as the main drivers. Advice from a dealer and price or value were only the primary influence for 3% and 4% of the sample respectively. It is worth noting that in some cases, and most frequently with new collectors or those with a less specialised interest in the art market, buyers may often deal directly with an interior decorator or designer who will be commissioned by them to decorate their homes or work spaces. In these instances, the buyer gets advice and deals directly with the designer rather than the dealer who is used as a source for material. This fact may have skewed responses to the option of advice from a dealer downwards, as the dealer is not the primary source of contact.
Despite not always being the main motivator for collecting, prices and investment are important considerations when making individual purchases of art and antiques. In making a decision whether to purchase a work, over 85% of buyers reported that price was important or very important, while less than 1% said it was irrelevant. Just under half of the respondents stated that their art buying decisions were affected by considerations of art as an investment, and of those, over 75% said it had been a good investment (with 15% reporting negative results and 10% claiming it had had mixed success).
6.4 Interaction with Dealers
Dealers were reported to be one of the most important and frequently used channels to purchase art and antiques. Collectors were asked to rank the importance of a number of purchasing channels according to the amount they used them. Although the auction channel was slightly ahead of dealers as a first preference (or used the most), overall, dealers scored highest on aggregate with the group.17
Table 2. Collectors’ Purchasing Channels for Art and Antiques Purchasing Channel Dealer
Rank
Auction Art Fairs
Directly from artists Online, via a dealer website
Online, via an art/ antique auction house Online, via eBay
Online, via another live bidding site Other*
1 (Most important) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 (Least important) © Arts Economics 2011 * The most common response for “other” was personal contacts or purchasing from other collectors. Historical & Future Perspectives 51
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