Buried at the end of Georgina Adam’s important mini-essay on the growing threat to price transparency presented by online art sales which have taken the counter-productive stance of making their sales results opaque as a default. The Auction Room, which is selling Charles Saatchi’s hodings of Contemporary Middle Eastern artists, seems to be promoting the “offer-without-consequences” advantage.
Adam contacted Clare McAndrew for comments on the overall trend. But McAndrew, the economist responsible for TEFAF’s annual report on the art market, reveals this fascinating figure:
She estimates that online sales in 2012 were about $3.2bn – 1 per cent of the global ecommerce market – and says that the market could reach close to $11bn by 2017.
The Art Market: All Eyes on the Andy Index (Financial Times)
More from Art Market Monitor
The Pitfalls of Not Keeping Prices
Will the Art Market Ever Move Online?
Your Annual Reminder that Online Sales Are 3.8% of Sotheby’s Auction Sales
TEFAF 2015 Report: Volume ⬇️ 2%, Value ⬇️ 7%
Will the Art Market Boom Collapse Into a Dense Black Hole of Extreme Value for a Few Artists or Explode Outward into the ‘Vast Hinterland’ of Good Art? 
Art Market Supported by Inflation Fears?
