… and yet, the big players in the high-end art (and collectables) auction scene STILL seem to be getting the Brack’s, Picassos and bits of old Fabergé. How exactly have they managed to compete with the new giants of online auctioneering – eBay and Amazon.com?
The online auction business has created an enormous new market. There are certainly undeniable advantages to this method of buying and selling that Sotheby’s and Christie’s must have found a challenge to say the least. There are no time constraints – bids can be placed 24/7. There are no geographical constraints – bidders and sellers can participate from anywhere that has internet access. Because of the potential for a relatively low price, the broad scope of products and the ease of access there are a large number of bidders. The large number of bidders as well as the potential for a relatively high price means a large number of sellers. In addition, participants can buy or sell ANYTHING. This has led to a sort of democratizing of the whole procedure. Daniel Nissanoff’s book FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell and Get the Things We Really Want. The Penguin Press, 2006 (Hardcover, 246 pages) may prove a good read.
“If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” seemed to be the solution as far as Sotheby’s was concerned. Early in the decade, it teamed up with Amazon.com (Art’s big bang) to run an online auction site. It failed. A flirtation with eBay failed also. Nevertheless, Sothebys.com continues as its own smallish entity to deal with the online market.
The reason the partnerships have failed is that the online market is surprisingly small when it comes to items that cost more than a few thousand dollars. Which probably comes down to one or two factors only – people are reluctant to buy without being able to personally inspect artworks. The beauty of original works of art cannot be assessed on a digital screen. As objects, they need to be touched and inspected at close quarters. Also, many people need more than their own knowledge as guidance in buying artworks. They need someone they can count on (trust?) whose level of connoisseurship and expertise exceeds their own. They need to be educated, cajoled, entertained and buttered up.
This is, after all, what dealers have been doing for hundreds of years. Telling people what they should buy and why. Recently, there has been a new phenomenon of dealers branching into the auction world to get a larger slice of the action. Deutscher Menzies Auction House began in just that way. (Hammering home a first – The Age, June 4, 2003). Chris Deutscher had led a successful gallery for some years when he was approached by leading Australian businessman Rod Menzies with the idea of setting up an art auction house in opposition to Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Nine years later, it has posted record results and demonstrated that there is room for another major player.
Moreover, it goes the other way. Shapiro Auctioneers, in Sydney, has always been the auction house to go to for 20th century design and collectables. Now it is advertising exhibitions without the auction figuring that there are still those who feel more comfortable in the relaxed atmosphere of a gallery space.
www.shapiroauctioneers.com.au
The situation is similar at Mossgreen Gallery in Melbourne, otherwise known as Mossgreen Auctions.
www.mossgreen.com.au
It would seem that the major houses are succeeding in competing with eBay and Amazon.com. Sotheby’s success (Sotheby’s brings down the house)has come from its move away from lower-end, high cost auctions. Focusing on the high-end of the market, buyers perceive that the prestigious auction house adds real value to the purchase or the sale.
So, who is winning the auction wars in Australia? http://www.theage.com.au/news/Arts/Selling-investors-on-art/2004/11/28/1101577347607.html?from=storyrhs
For an up-to-date running score between the various houses, an invaluable website can be found run by John Furphy, who publishes the Australian Art Sales Digest. His web page keeps a running tally of turnovers. To date (at least this year), Sotheby’s has taken the lead.