Can you help me sell my artwork?
Unfortunately not. We have built our enviable reputation not only on providing the highest quality services every time, but also by always being a disinterested third party. We have only one relationship to a client’s artworks and that is as a totally independent professional appraiser. We do not buy, sell or broker art. That’s why people want our name on a report: uncompromised credibility.
Selling Your Works of Art
The resale of artworks is often a very difficult thing to do as there is no established mechanism for doing so unless you have very expensive pieces by the most famous artists. If you have decorative prints or paintings by unknown artists, it may not be possible for you to find a buyer.
Remember, the sale of art is, like most things, a function of time and money. The less time you have to sell an artwork the less you will get for it. If you are in no hurry and can look around for the best resale method and wait for the right buyer, you will get more. Generally art is purchased retail and sold wholesale.
Preliminary research to establish where the most probable market is can be very useful. Art galleries and libraries frequently have artist and gallery guides which may tell you who represents a particular artist. Talking with dealers should help also. Ask the advice of every art professional you come in contact with.
ART DEALERS are happy to sell you art, but are rarely willing to purchase it from you or take it on consignment. If you can find the dealer(s) who represent your artist they may do so, but otherwise a dealer will sell your artworks for you only if he has a client who he knows wants what you are offering. When you sell through a dealer you can expect to pay a commission of 30% to 50%.
Art Brokerage.com is the leading secondary source for more than 1000 international artists, free listings, free wanted ads, dealer alerts. Sellers control your listings with our cutting edge selling technology. Buyers easily track your favorite listings.
AUCTIONS are available to you, but local auctions will get comparatively little for your art and national auction houses will take pieces on consignment only if they are valuable and by well-known artists. The commission you pay an auction house will generally be between 15% and 30%.
NEWSPAPER ADS can be effective if you use a newspaper with a very large circulation. The best are probably the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and others which are widely distributed. One advantage to classified ads is that you can “cut a deal” with a buyer without having to pay anyone a commission. You will probably have to send photographs and descriptions (an appraisal can be very helpful to you) and may have to field a number of phone calls from “prospectors” who are hoping to get a good deal.
ART PERIODICALS often offer classified advertisements and it might be a good idea to check your local library or magazine dealer to find one that serves the market in which your artworks would best be offered for sale.
FLEA MARKETS should be used only if you are quite sure your art is of little value.
It is a good idea to research the current market value of your art before you offer it for sale. You wouldn’t want to sell it for too little, nor would you want to sell it for too much so that a buyer comes back to you for a partial refund.
If your art is valued at over $2,000, a professional appraisal is recommended as it will remove any suggestion that the value was set arbitrarily and people who buy art like to receive documentation along with it. In addition, courts of law in recent years have established the importance of being able to demonstrate you exercised “due diligence” in establishing the authenticity, value and clear title to artworks of value you sell.
Don’t be surprised if your art has not appreciated in value while you have owned it. Investment in art is largely a myth as is the “rule” that an artist’s prices increase after his death. It rarely happens. That is why true art professionals urge you to buy only what you really like.
Good luck in your sales attempts.
