Online Art Sales Gather Steam Among Buyers

According to the report, 84% of respondents said they had bought art online for less than $15,000. Of these, 41% said their average price paid was less than $1,500, compared with 37% last year, and only 16% paid more than $15,000.

A majority of new art buyers reported that the average price for purchases was less than $1,500.

Does the trend in online art buying portend a demise of physical galleries and auction houses?

Ninety-one percent of online buyers in the survey said they had bought art from a brick-and-mortar facility before doing so online, and 48% of these said they still preferred the physical space, down from 56% who said this in 2013.

Fifteen percent said they preferred the online experience, compared with 10% last year, and 37% expressed no preference, up from 34%.

Hiscox said buyers appeared to be becoming less dependent on physical spaces. This and the growing level of indifference between channels collectors use suggests it will be critical to offer potential art buyers a choice of venues for acquiring art.

Social media will likely be a strong driver of future online sales. The report said 41% of respondents had discovered an online art sales platform through social media, up from 33% in 2013.

Twenty-four percent said posts by museums, galleries and artist studios had directly influenced their art buying decisions.

— Check out Soaring Fine Art Values Demand More Frequent Appraisals on ThinkAdvisor.