Wise to Art

With the imminent closing of eBay Live, the Internet art auction scene becomes yet a bit more transparent. Memorable for having tried to bring live auction excitement to the Internet, eBay, retracting to its core business, immediately becomes less ambivalent and much more appreciable as to the quality to expect and the risks to be taken.

Ebay Live fed confusion because it had no policy on quality. On the one hand it was a supplementary sales channel for traditional auction houses having goods consigned in brick-and-mortar sales rooms (among those some very respectable ones); and as such it was an altogether interesting alternative to the telephone bidding facility; on the other hand eBay Live featured auctions by auctioneers who were not only but engaged in virtual trading but who moreover didn’t have any of the goods auctioned in consignment or under control, but who simply let unscreened paying members propose their ware through their channel at their own responsibility. There were examples where just anyone worldwide paying their fee could act as a seller. Evidently this didn’t create the climate necessary for serene transactions.

Ebay Live also had an exasperating interface that couldn’t bring up any real auction life excitement (see previous post). However, at this moment, with the notable exception of Christie’s Live, no other actor on the market seems capable of bringing an alternative or improved live-auction platform forward. There’s lots of talk but very little substance emerging.

As for traditional sales room support it seems that Artfact Live is taking up the challenge of providing a supplementary Internet sales channel to reputable auction houses. And for pure Internet auctions with fixed end time, Artnet Online Auctions recently launched their platform. As for eBay, by pulling out of the live activity and by introducing more severe rules, there is evident improvement in regard to their core activity.

The general trend is set for more security. We may be confident that Internet will find ways to affirm and develop its ever growing market presence.