August 7, 2013
Could Amazon Rule the Art World?
It’s fair to say that Amazon.com has changed the way Americans shop. The new question is whether the company will have the same type of effect in fine art as it has on books and other categories?
Yesterday, the e-tailer announced the launch of Amazon Art (www.amazon.com/art) a marketplace for more than 40,000 works of fine art from more than 4,500 artists and 150 dealers and galleries. Amazon claims the store is one of the largest collections of original art sold online. Works of art are grouped by featured artist, type, subject, style, frame type, size, orientation and price. There are pieces under $99 (503 total) to more than $10,000 (2,373). Pieces such from famous artists including Claude Monet and Norman Rockwell sell in the millions of dollars.
"We’re pleased to share our expertise in ecommerce with galleries and dealers looking to expand their reach," said Peter Faricy, vice president for the Amazon Marketplace, in a statement. "In working directly with galleries, we’ve heard their desire to connect with new customers and be able to share their artists and creativity with the world. We look forward to working with them to reach customers who previously would not have had access to their collections of art."
As a New York Times piece points out, this is not Amazon’s first foray into fine art. Back in 1999, it worked with Sotheby’s for a short time before discontinuing the effort. It also has existing competition from many of the sellers it is working with on Amazon Art and such sites as Artsy (online market), Artnet (auction site) and Artspace, "which has partnerships with dozens of prestigious galleries and museums offering works from $100 prints to a $2.5 million Cy Twombly painting."
Competition also includes companies like the online auction site Paddle8, which is part of Amazon Art.
"Paddle8 Editions sells works by internationally renowned artists to benefit the world’s leading non-profits and cultural institutions. Through our new relationship with Amazon, we can dramatically expand our audience while simultaneously providing access to affordable, limited-edition works by some of the most significant artists working today," said Osman Khan, COO and founding partner of Paddle8. "We’re excited to list our artwork on Amazon to make it more convenient for our existing clientele, and to help us reach new clientele."
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What is your reaction to Amazon Art? Will it have the same type of effect on the fine art market as it has in other product categories?
Poll
This is certainly an interesting venture. How much are consumers willing to spend for artwork they cannot see or touch before purchasing? Having access to a wide variety of artwork regardless of where you live has advantages. Which consumers are now feeling confident enough their economic future to spend money for art based upon pictures on the Internet?
Why not? This really feels like just another category/department for Amazon. I’m starting to think there is almost nothing they can’t sell. For the high-end items, it may just end up being a virtual showroom, leading to an in-person trip to wherever the piece is located.
It was a little jarring, though, to see skyscraper ads for $1 7-Eleven iced coffee next to top priced works, but maybe that’s just me.
At one level (some) art is a commodity and Amazon might do well with the over the couch or 1/100,000,000 lithograph.
Fine art? Never happen at a market level. This isn’t to say they won’t be able to sell one or two high-end pieces, but they will be the exception not the rule.
So—thumbs up for struggling artists and established artists like Peter Max who are all about mass reproduction and thumbs down on that Rembrandt that’s lurking up in the attic.
We just did a study on how stores can beat Amazon and one of the takeaways was that buying online is seen as functional to consumers, buying in stores, however, is described as emotional.
I see the process of buying art as an emotional journey, not purely functional. So, given those two things, I don’t think it’ll work.
My first reaction was, “another smart move” and for good reason: the art market is highly fragmented and ripe for disruption. It’s a bit like the real estate markets—both commercial and residential—where the provincial structure of agents and brokers has been in place and relatively unchanged since the beginning of time. That space is now changing and so should the art market.
If you know an artist and a piece by that artist, and you can be certain of the provenance and quality, this will be a success. I’m a long-term bull on Amazon and Mr. Bezos (his Washington Post acquisition included) and this only reinforces that stance.
I went to Amazon.com/art and was disappointed. Not a single velvet Elvis. Without a velvet Elvis, there is no fine art. Velvet bullfighters are also needed.
Seriously, there’s some beautiful art on the site and my bank account will probably take a hit fairly soon. While not a collector, my undergrad minor in commercial design beat some small bit of appreciation for fine art into my thick skull.
For the serious collector in any category and price point, this is an outstanding opportunity to discover more of your world. Opportunity abounds with this whole world in a nutshell access to what ever it is that you are looking for to add to your art collection.
There are several important considerations for collectors of any experience to realize in the search for genuine artifacts. In both retail and e-commerce business most dealers devoting their works to collectors have the most sincere and honest approach to business that you can find anywhere. There are however many that have succumb to the temptation of providing less than 100% of what is expected leaving the buyer with a worthless treasure. Amazon has positioned the company away from direct contact to transaction liabilities. To do anything else would open the company to a line of litigation and debt that would bring it to bankruptcy court in short order. Likewise companies including Master Charge, Visa, PayPal and their competition are constantly improving their survivability with changes that include limiting their own liability in these transactions.
I am serious collector with modest to medium investment capabilities that has seen my collection of very rare interests grow beyond any expectation I ever had 20 to 30 years ago when this began. This unexpected growth came largely from e-commerce trade from all over the world. I can testify to seeing a 70% – 90% truth in advertising from dealers and traders leaving ample room for big gains and even bigger mistake$.
So if you are aware of the investment’s integrity, then by all means proceed. Otherwise, learn to know your investments first, followed by learning to qualify the integrity of the dealer you are considering exchanging with.
This is more of a question about the customer, not the product.
As a marketplace for merchandise, Amazon aggregates buyers representing a wide ranges of segments and needs. This includes people with an interest in middle and higher end art who either can’t or won’t access galleries directly.
Since this is a net new customer for most of the gallery partners, the 5-20% commission is a small price to pay. But the artists gain the most: visibility. Beyond more sales, they gain exposure to a large new audience and an entirely new way to be found online.
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This is certainly an interesting venture. How much are consumers willing to spend for artwork they cannot see or touch before purchasing? Having access to a wide variety of artwork regardless of where you live has advantages. Which consumers are now feeling confident enough their economic future to spend money for art based upon pictures on the Internet?
Why not? This really feels like just another category/department for Amazon. I’m starting to think there is almost nothing they can’t sell. For the high-end items, it may just end up being a virtual showroom, leading to an in-person trip to wherever the piece is located.
It was a little jarring, though, to see skyscraper ads for $1 7-Eleven iced coffee next to top priced works, but maybe that’s just me.
At one level (some) art is a commodity and Amazon might do well with the over the couch or 1/100,000,000 lithograph.
Fine art? Never happen at a market level. This isn’t to say they won’t be able to sell one or two high-end pieces, but they will be the exception not the rule.
So—thumbs up for struggling artists and established artists like Peter Max who are all about mass reproduction and thumbs down on that Rembrandt that’s lurking up in the attic.
We just did a study on how stores can beat Amazon and one of the takeaways was that buying online is seen as functional to consumers, buying in stores, however, is described as emotional.
I see the process of buying art as an emotional journey, not purely functional. So, given those two things, I don’t think it’ll work.
My first reaction was, “another smart move” and for good reason: the art market is highly fragmented and ripe for disruption. It’s a bit like the real estate markets—both commercial and residential—where the provincial structure of agents and brokers has been in place and relatively unchanged since the beginning of time. That space is now changing and so should the art market.
If you know an artist and a piece by that artist, and you can be certain of the provenance and quality, this will be a success. I’m a long-term bull on Amazon and Mr. Bezos (his Washington Post acquisition included) and this only reinforces that stance.
I went to Amazon.com/art and was disappointed. Not a single velvet Elvis. Without a velvet Elvis, there is no fine art. Velvet bullfighters are also needed.
Seriously, there’s some beautiful art on the site and my bank account will probably take a hit fairly soon. While not a collector, my undergrad minor in commercial design beat some small bit of appreciation for fine art into my thick skull.
For the serious collector in any category and price point, this is an outstanding opportunity to discover more of your world. Opportunity abounds with this whole world in a nutshell access to what ever it is that you are looking for to add to your art collection.
There are several important considerations for collectors of any experience to realize in the search for genuine artifacts. In both retail and e-commerce business most dealers devoting their works to collectors have the most sincere and honest approach to business that you can find anywhere. There are however many that have succumb to the temptation of providing less than 100% of what is expected leaving the buyer with a worthless treasure. Amazon has positioned the company away from direct contact to transaction liabilities. To do anything else would open the company to a line of litigation and debt that would bring it to bankruptcy court in short order. Likewise companies including Master Charge, Visa, PayPal and their competition are constantly improving their survivability with changes that include limiting their own liability in these transactions.
I am serious collector with modest to medium investment capabilities that has seen my collection of very rare interests grow beyond any expectation I ever had 20 to 30 years ago when this began. This unexpected growth came largely from e-commerce trade from all over the world. I can testify to seeing a 70% – 90% truth in advertising from dealers and traders leaving ample room for big gains and even bigger mistake$.
So if you are aware of the investment’s integrity, then by all means proceed. Otherwise, learn to know your investments first, followed by learning to qualify the integrity of the dealer you are considering exchanging with.
This is more of a question about the customer, not the product.
As a marketplace for merchandise, Amazon aggregates buyers representing a wide ranges of segments and needs. This includes people with an interest in middle and higher end art who either can’t or won’t access galleries directly.
Since this is a net new customer for most of the gallery partners, the 5-20% commission is a small price to pay. But the artists gain the most: visibility. Beyond more sales, they gain exposure to a large new audience and an entirely new way to be found online.