We’ve written about selling art online before. No surprise really, as we are first and foremost a platform built just for that, to buy art and sell art online. However we generally do so with a positive bent. Mentioning how easy it is to connect buyers and sellers across the world. How cost effective it is not to have to hold or maintain stock, or spend a lot of money on a sizable premises. Obviously we believe there are many more positives than negatives to selling art online. But that doesn’t mean we don’t understand the negatives.
We recently had a communication with a very respected member of the Australian art community. As we never asked whether we could make our conversation public, we won’t name names. For the sake of simplicity, and so we don’t have to refer to this character like a villain from a story involving witches and Muggles, we’ll call him/her the Owner. The Owner was extremely respectful of artFido and the attempts we are making to open up a new market for artists and galleries online. Yet the Owner did raise some issues, issues we are doing our best to address. The biggest of which is the inability to stand in the physical presence of the art for sale. Now that’s quite a dilemma. It really is. And we knew it when we created artFido. That’s why we included our silhouette image of a man standing beside each piece of art for sale. It’s a simple addition to the site. But it does help art buyers visualize owning the piece. We know it doesn’t go far enough. But it was a start. Now, Owner is not the only one to raise this concern with buying or selling art online. Many critics of what we are trying to do have relied on this one flaw to disregard artFido in its entirety. They think that art buyers won’t be able to get past this dilemma. Aren’t creative enough to visualize a piece of art hanging on their wall. Standing in their living room. Well we’re not willing to accept that. We believe that art buyers can get past it. Will get past it. Are getting past it.
That doesn’t mean we won’t continue to help them, but it does mean we are giving them greater credit than most in the art world. Maybe even more credit than some of them give themselves.
As we continue to develop the site, we’ll add more features that make it easier for those looking to buy art online to envisage owning it. We’ll also keep doing all we can to get those trying sell art online, to improve their listings. Add more photos. Provide greater descriptions. Because in truth, when it comes to selling art online. We can’t do it alone.
And as for the Owner… well we hope he/she comes around in the end. Because we want everyone to be as excited about what we’re doing as we are.