Buying Art Online

The art market is typically gets a lot of attention by record-breaking auctions. The Banksy stunt was a bit silly and over the top if you ask me. But there’s rarely any news about the many online art marketplaces like Saatchi Art, Rise Art, Uprise Art, Artsy, Invaluable and many others.

Many of them sell art at affordable prices and there’s a lot of choice. It’s not like walking into a gallery with 15 pieces on the wall and an average starting price of $5,000. Many of them sell art starting at below $500. There’s really no need to put a poster on the wall anymore if you want and have a bit of money to spent.

Buying art was always associated with art collecting for me. And art collecting is expensive. You’re not only spending a lot of money, but you also worry about all the variables like is this piece going to appreciate over time and how well is the artist doing on the market.

Buying affordable art online takes that out of the equation. It’s not about collecting, it’s about decorating and what moves you. I find art that moves me more important than the collecting aspect. It’s in my home and it’s (mostly) for me. That’s the game changer.

Some of these sites do market themselves with collecting aspect. I wish they didn’t. Art collecting at the lower end of the market is just a gamble. It’s almost like buying stock of a new company you know nothing about and will not be able to find much information. There’s no way of telling how it will appreciate over time. It’s selling a dream, but it’s more like participating in a lottery. The art market is opaque and unpredictable.

Just buy what you love and give yourself a reasonable a budget. Enjoy it for what it is.