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John Burton: "I feel bad for all the artists not using FASO"
A website is one of the most valuable tools to market paintings for artist of our time.
I recommend FASO to every artist who is still struggling with all the difficulties in creating and maintaining their website.
FASO is so well designed it will show your paintings professionally while still being extremely user friendly.
I feel bad for all the artists not using FASO yet.
"My art career has really been growing by leaps and bounds since I've been doing more with the website.
So thanks for dragging me into the high tech world kicking and screaming. Now all I need is a secretary"
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It still is a viable event for me, because I have a booth in the Western Masters show where I can use the auction to draw other sales from my booth. The more they try to discourage the clients from participating in that sales source, the less incentive artists have to pursue the auction events of that particular venue. The newly installed Premiums have stalled the bid prices, so again, with every year, you have to assess whether you can make this decision for your sales and for your prices. Other auctions have different rules and buyers have different attitudes about their buying power and their ability to have a chance at pieces they otherwise would not have access to bid on.
It comes down to whether or not you can make sales in conjunction with the auction or whether you can afford to allow the piece to go for a price less than you think it is worth.
Each of these auctions has their drawbacks and their pluses. The longer you participate at one event, the better your following can get and the better bids you can count on. The reserves protect you to some extent, but do you want to go through the expense of sending a work off and then setting the reserve where there is a chance it will not sell and you have to pay to send it back? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
It is best to know the venue and whether or not your subject is suitable for the location and the bidders. Some of these places have live auctions online during the event, and that removes to some extent the location barrier.
This, like everything else these days requires the artist to do the research and to study the sales results of the past shows. Auctions can be risky, but they certainly do get a following and they reach a clientele that otherwise would not be available in a gallery.