Artsy is leading the charge in selling art online with its expansion of its Buy Now and Make Offer features to Asia this month
Artsy, a New York-based online platform that features the world's leading galleries, art fairs and auction houses––all in one place––is expanding its offerings in Asia this week.
On Thursday, October 22, Artsy is extending its Buy Now and Make Offer features to galleries in Hong Kong. The Buy Now and Make Offer buttons drastically reduce the amount of time it takes for galleries to close a sale and for collectors to clinch an artwork. Previously, Artsy connected collectors interested in a piece with a gallery representative, leading to an average 2-3 week exchange before a sale was made. With these click-to-buy buttons, that transaction time can be reduced to a matter of hours.
Artsy is first offering the function to galleries in Hong Kong, then planning to roll it out to galleries in Singapore and Japan by the end of the year.
The launch in Asia––one of Artsy's most important regions in terms of collectors and gallery partners––follows the success of the Buy Now and Make Offer functions in the US, UK and continental Europe, where the feature was introduced last year.
To date, nearly 5,000 buyers from more than 70 countries have used the functions to buy artworks ranging in value up to US$110,000. And Buy Now and Make Offer sales on Artsy are by value up almost 200% year-on-year.
The pandemic has forced many galleries to be more active online, resulting in an uptick of Hong Kong galleries either joining Artsy for the first time or rejoining the platform. The Hong Kong galleries on Artsy range from the emerging to the internationally renowned and include Edouard Malingue Gallery, 10 Chancery Lane, Simon Lee Gallery, De Sarthe Gallery, Blindspot Gallery, Alisan Fine Arts and Massimo de Carlo. In total, Artsy has more than 300 galleries in Asia active on its platform.
The Buy Now and Make Offer features are the latest push in Artsy's mission to make the art world more accessible to new buyers. If prices are publicly listed, new collectors avoid the uncomfortable––and potentially intimidating––situation of having to ask. Artsy's metrics suggest publicly listing prices also increases sales: in June, 95% of the galleries who made a sale on the platform publicly listed prices.
Besides being an online art marketplace, Artsy also covers art-related events and happenings around the world and offers more than 26,000 high-resolution images of art and architecture that are all free to download for educational use.
See also: All The Galleries Participating In Hong Kong Spotlight By Art Basel