Selling Your Art
How to get the best price for your artwork
1. Send me an image of your artwork.
A digital image such as a jpeg is best, but if you have only a physical image such as a snapshot, you can mail it to me:
P.O. Box 27, Beacon, NY 12508.
All photos will be returned after we discuss the work.
2. Receive the most recent sales results for that artist.
I will send you images and sales results for comparable works that have been at auction in the past few years.
3. Discuss Options.
We’ll talk about how your artwork compares with those that have been at auction and what you can reasonably expect to receive for your artwork.
We’ll discuss my commission, insurance, and such matters. We’ll sign an agreement consigning the work to me for a set period of time and laying out the terms of the consignment.
About Auctions and Consignment
Why consign your artwork to me rather than sending it to an auction?
I can buy your work if you need a quick sale and are willing to sell at a discount, but I can get you the most money by taking your artwork on consignment.
Auction houses will give you an estimate of what they think your artwork will bring, but they seldom guarantee such a result. If you’re a gambler by nature, the auction route is exciting. There’s always the chance that two very wealthy collectors will fall in love with your artwork and compete with each other to bid it up to unheard-of levels. That’s a best-case scenario and an extremely rare one. It’s the worst-case scenario that makes an auction risky.
You are allowed to set a confidential reserve below which you will not sell the painting. If your artwork reaches that reserve at the auction, well and good. If no bidder meets your reserve, however, you’re in real trouble. Your artwork is not sold; it is “passed” or “bought in.”
When that happens, the value of your artwork immediately drops by at least 30 percent. Any future prospective buyer will wonder what the problem with your artwork is. Today’s auction price databases ensure that your artwork’s failure to sell becomes a permanent part of its record.
But let’s say your work does sell at auction within the estimated range. The auction house will take commissions from both the buyer and you. As an example, if a work sells for $62,500, the owner will receive about $45,000. That’s a 28 percent commission.
My commission varies according to the value of the artwork, but it will be less than 28 percent. With an auction, all of the bidding takes place in a few minutes on one day, and if an artwork fails, it fails in public.