Artprice to Launch Online Art Auctions ? artmarketblog.com | Art ...

Artprice to Launch Online Art Auctions ? artmarketblog.com

Thanks to recent changes made to the French Code de Commerce, the France based art auction price database company artprice.com are now free to offer an online brokerage service.? According to the Art Media Agency:

?Problems faced on the Internet relating to the differences between brokerage and online auctions are to be resolved through an agreement stating that brokers must inform their clients of their position and be clear about the service offered, especially with regards to guarantees.?? (artmediaagency.com)

Following in the footsteps of competitor artnet.com, artprice.com is bullish in regards to their potential for success within the highly competitive and controversial online art auction arena.? In a recent interview conducted by French online stock trading company Boursica.com, Thierry Ehrmann, the Founder and Ceo of?Artprice.com, was asked ?Have you backtested your system for future on-line auctions??.? Ehrmann?s response was:

?Yes of course we have. We have carried out beta tests abroad and everything is operational. Auction Houses are already linked up to our Intranet for catalogues. For the marketplace I think there will be 80% Auction Houses and professionals and 20% collectors and individuals. As soon as the law is passed our best clients will be the Auctioneers. They say themselves ??we can only do it with Artprice??. They let the Internet train pass them by at the end of the 90?s and then again in 2005 and now it?s too late and too expensive. The show has already sold out.? (artpressagency.wordpress.com)

Considering the fact that Artnet.com have yet to turn a profit from their online art auction business, Ehrmann?s confidence is bold to say the least.? Many companies have launched unsuccessful online art auction ventures including Sotheby?s, ebay, Amazon and even the current market leader artnet.com who suspended their first attempt at conducting online auctions in 2001.? The question is, will artprice.com be able to succeed where others have failed?.? An analysis of the artprice.com business conducted by Skates Art Market Research would suggest not.? According to Skate?s:

?Artprice?s revenues, the only financial data published by the firm, are not impressive at all, falling well below revenues of its major rival artnet . In fact, artnet?s art market data segment continues to suffer from a dramatic decline in profitability and stagnating sales volumes, and all indications point to a similar trajectory for Artprice?s financials.?

Even though the artprice.com share price would suggest strong support for the company, Skate?s are sceptical of the recent success of the artprice.com share price warning that ?Artprice?s? performance? this? year? suggests? the? presence? of? a? speculative? bubble? that? cannot? be? sustained? (skatepress.com)

to be continued????..

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

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Source: http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/09/03/artprice-to-launch-online-art-auctions-artmarketblog-com/

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