Is Amazon Art a Doomed Venture?
marginalrevolution.com
marginalrevolution.com
Late 90s press quoted Bezos as saying he wanted Amazon to sell everything except livestock and gasoline. Compared to art galleries, there's less bullshit and more ethics among the beef and oil companies.
But I pushed the button yesterday specifically knowing Amazon had my back. That says a lot.
Verdict: yes, Amazon has successfully brought the magical experience of dealing with art dealers online. Not sure earning their cut is going to be much fun for them, but like Prime I'll happily use it as long as they offer the implausible service.
The gallery cancelled the order claiming both pieces are out of stock. A direct email to the gallery said the pieces were in stock. Typically gallery scam nonsense.
And literally while I was typing this, Amazon called me, totally unprompted.
So there's your verdict. Art galleries still suck, Amazon is still awesome, and it's still virtually impossible to make a significant purchase on the internet in 2013.
eBay has a lot of listings priced over 6 digits.
Both are positioning themselves as the go-to site for buying anything, recognizing that entries in a web-searchable database costs next to nothing regardless of how many digits in the offered price tag.
On the first point and in my experience, the majority of traditional galleries rarely list prices for art. That leaves no chance to be surprised at accessibility ("Who would've thought that Dali lithograph would be $2k? That's worth it just to say I have a Dali on my wall.") or to start saving towards a defined goal ("$6,000. And I love it. If I get that end of financial year bonus..."). How many people would just think "If I have to ask, I can't afford it" and walk away.
A piece or something similar might be cheaper in a specific gallery, but it's quite possible that a newcomer would have little idea about that. Or no way of easily telling if the gallery itself was listing POA.
On the second point, someone recently offered a $1m+ tour package that travelled to every UNESCO world heritage site (hundreds of them), across a span of 1-2 years. They found a buyer.
There is a growing interest in wine from an inexperienced Chinese market with money to spend and I could see there being a similar market for Western art presented accessibly too.
~2006 I tried to create an online art marketplace (this was a direct-from-artist marketplace from $50 to $50,000) and one of the main problems was that buying online made the work feel a bit cheaper. That's a stigma that will die off.
All you need to sell work remotely is trusting the brand you're buying through (Amazon) and being familiar with the artist you're buying.
A bricks-and-mortar comparison might be Target and a higher-end store like Lord & Taylor or Nordstrom's. Amazon is more like Target - it has a decent brand, but you wouldn't really expect to find thousand dollar paintings there. You could, perhaps, expect to find such paintings at a "higher end" store, though.
But, I could be wrong. I just don't think the people spending millions on paintings are the people cruising Amazon for a deal. The online marketplace for exclusive artworks is a different site IMO.
It does seem to be gallery prices for the commodity art at the low end. But these are just the people that were first in. If we get that race to the bottom among artists, we might see some good stuff for a good price.
Also, try to realize what this means for Asian bidders who may not have the time (or inclination) to fly over to the West to purchase a work. Or vice-versa.
If it is going to work, then they have a lot of work left to do.
I'm waiting for the one that comes with the "Amazon Confirmed Purchase" tag.
Those reviews would have been cute 10 years ago, but I really wish Amazon would screen reviews or only allow people who have purchased that particular item.
I've rated every Ebay seller I've ever worked with, but I don't always remember to do the same with Amazon, and I assume that's pretty typical.
Amazon does flag reviews where they can verify the purchase.
That isn't to say that Amazon art will do well, I just doubt that people writing those reviews represent the demand for art or the feelings of people who might buy from Amazon.
if type = "Unique Work" then disallow reviews.
When well-off people build homes, they want art for the walls. So they buy a bunch of art en masse ("will these colors work in the study?"). This site could work for these people, or for the consultants that they hire to recommend work. Another related use case would be boutique hotels and other public spaces.
Some recently IPO'd CEO walks into a Brooklyn gallery and sees a piece of art. He likes art but he's not much of a collector. He knows that art can be a very lucrative investment, but has no idea what sells in this wierdo art market. When he finds a piece at the gallery and has a good feeling about, he whips out his phone and does a google search of the artist/piece and finds and would you look at that! Prices are on Amazon.com with reviews and everything.
The artist/gallery knows this is happening, so they jack their price on Amazon. "Hey! This is worth $50k and I'm getting it for $10k". Plus when you show off your house, you can say "Oh, you like that? I got it at this cute little gallery in Greenpoint last summer".
Art combines the speculative nature of investment with all the trend psychology of fashion. Its an irrational market, and a really odd fit for Amazon.com.
I always thought seeing a painting in person would be crucial to buying art (if you're in the really high end). There's more than just how the painting looks and its provenance. It's a physical object that has layers, textures and patterns to it.
But then again, if it's only a stays symbol then who cares?
If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, I bet you don't have to pay the $4.49 shipping.
I purchased my last pair of shoes from Zappos, and I don't think they would be nearly as attractive if they didn't have such a good return policy (the internet-equivalent of see it in person).