Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

How 1stDibs Became Number 1 in Decorative Art Sales

February 14, 2014 by Marion Maneker

michael-bruno-portrait-1

Katie Rosman profiles the most successful and least written about online seller of art objects, Michael Bruno of 1stDibs.com:

 “You buy things you love and don’t need,” he says. “Natural collectors don’t even think about it, they just collect.”

Bruno launched 1stdibs—an online marketplace for dealers of high-end art and furniture and rare antiques—in 2000. He had moved to Paris in 1999 and during a walk through the flea market realized the potential opportunities for French dealers if they could easily reach American buyers. “We learned early on that people were willing to buy online and have pieces shipped all over the world,” Bruno says. In a broad sense, 1stdibs helped transform the rarified world of unusual art objects into an open marketplace. But perhaps more notably, Bruno says, “1stdibs is a place where collections are born.” […]

To create the marketplace and build inventory, he and Jakowec would visit dealers, make a pitch and photograph their goods, often on the spot. French dealers were initially skeptical, but once a few dealers got on board, word-of-mouth spread quickly. By 2003, Bruno and Jakowec had turned their attention stateside: first to the Hamptons, where both men were well connected in the art world, then to dealers in New York City, San Francisco, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles and so on. A watershed moment came in 2003 when the late Vogue photographer and antique dealer Roger Prigent invited Bruno to his town house for a catch-up and then called half a dozen of the most important dealers in Manhattan to urge them to sign up. For more than a decade, Bruno oversaw every aspect of the company, which now also sells jewelry and vintage clothing. By 2011, 1stdibs had a network of 1,200 dealers who were selling 6,000 items a month, at an average price of $5,000.

The Treasures of 1stdibs’s Michael Bruno (WSJ)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Why Nicolas Berggruen Chose LA for His Art CollectionWhy Nicolas Berggruen Chose LA for His Art Collection
  • Luxury Marketing Looks to Art for Access to Global RichLuxury Marketing Looks to Art for Access to Global Rich
  • Luxury Tower Inventory in Manhattan Grows, Cooling Once Red Hot MarketLuxury Tower Inventory in Manhattan Grows, Cooling Once Red Hot Market
  • Old Masters vs. ImpressionistsOld Masters vs. Impressionists
  • David Hockney’s $25m Sur La Terrasse to Star at Christie’sDavid Hockney’s $25m Sur La Terrasse to Star at Christie’s
  • Different DealersDifferent Dealers

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • The Billion-Dollar NYC Apartment of Ben Heller
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Sotheby's Pulls in a $9m David Hockney for November
  • Long-Running Fairs Focused on African, Oceanic, and Indigenous Art Move Online
  • Mapping a Career in the Art World
  • David Bowie Talks About Art (with Julian Schnabel)
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor