The Role of Art & Antique Dealers An Added Value
Despite the importance of dealers to collectors in buying and selling art and antiques, the survey indicated that many collectors prefer to engage in their own research in conjunction with external advice and information. When asked the relative importance of different sources of information in the market when making a decision to purchase a work of art, the highest ranking options were personal research via catalogues, online databases and art-based publications. Auction and dealer catalogues scored the highest overall and were also the most common way that collectors were altered to a new work coming up for sale, followed by personal visits to exhibitions and fairs.
Advice from a dealer ranked four out of the five of the information options, and was the most common source for being alerted of a work coming on to the market for only 7% of respondents. Collectors were also asked to rate directly how important dealers’ advice was to making a decision to purchase a work of art, and for 38% of respondents it was important or very important. A further 38% claimed it was not that important while 25% said it was irrelevant. When collectors were asked to list the main advantages of buying through a dealer, however, around one third of the answers related directly to dealer advice and information. This combination of results seems to indicate again that while collectors value dealers as a source of expertise and knowledge, they are also keen to use their own and alternative sources for research and investigation into the art market.
As outlined in Chapter 5 some of the main advantages collectors valued about buying art and antiques through a dealer included: their provision of guarantees and recourse; familiarity, long-term relationships and close personal contact; and price flexibility and the option to negotiate. The main disadvantages related to: prices and perceived value; “pushiness”; and a lack of openness and transparency.
6.5 Dealers’ Observations on Buyers
As noted in the previous chapters, dealers’ business models are often built around not only finding new buyers, but also forming long-term relationships over time and helping to build private and institutional collections. Several dealers noted that as they move away from shop fronts and foot traffic dwindles, private clients are increasingly hard won, which pushes them to engage in even deeper relationships. Given the endurance of their relationships, dealers are also well placed to note the changes in art buyers and demand over time.
Many dealers noted that the geographical base of their buyers has widened over the last 10 years.
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Collectors were asked to rank the importance of each channel from 1 to 6, with 1 the most important. Auction houses scored slightly more “1s” than dealers, but summing all of the responses, dealers scored the lowest (therefore most important) aggregate score.
52 Historical & Future Perspectives
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