Sculpture milestone for e-commerce

When a sculpture by the American artist John Chamberlain is sold on Tuesday through the website Artnet.com, it will mark a milestone in e-commerce.

Made of crushed car parts, the sculpture, called Mrs. Yif Nif, is estimated to sell for at least $3m, marking perhaps the most-expensive piece of fine art ever sold through an online-only auction.

Artnet’s burgeoning auction business coincides with a broader uptick in overall e-commerce and points to the growing maturity of online retail, which continues to win market share from traditional stores more than a decade after it originated.

“People are more confident about buying online,” says Hans Neuendorf, founder and chief executive of Artnet, which is based in New York. “People are not afraid to buy things online, and there’s no difference between selling very high priced items and lower priced items.”

Artnet, best known as a repository of pricing information for museums and galleries, began its current online auctions in 2008. Since then, it has sold more than 6,500 pieces for upwards of $12m. By taking an additional 10 per cent fee from sellers and 15 per cent from buyers, Artnet has earned $2.5m.

Mr Neuendorf said his goal is to democratise art collecting through e-commerce, wresting it away from the exclusive confines of galleries and auction houses. “We want to provide a secondary market for more artists,” he said. “If you want to buy a good artwork, you do not have to spend millions.”

The world’s biggest online market place Ebay has hosted multimillion dollar auctions of other items, notably property. Last year it auctioned a lunch with the legendary investor Warren Buffett for $2.6m and sought to guard against fraud by hiring an independent company – Kompolt – to run background checks on bidders and their finances.

Along with the popularity of online commerce, new forms of online fraud have also proliferated. Mr Neuendorf said Artnet ensures the authenticity of its artworks before they go to sale, and that buyers can return purchases for any reason.

The most expensive item sold by Ebay was a Gulfstream II Jet that was snapped up for $4.9m in 2001 by an African air charter company. Other big ticket sales have included a Lamborghini, a $150,000 boat and a Bentley.

“For limited edition, one-of-a-kind art, online auctions can be a great way to determine the market value for an item,” Ebay says. “There are instances, however, where fine art is better auctioned off in an offline environment where art lovers can connect directly with the piece.”

Other sites selling fine art online include Etsy.com and Company, a New York start-up. Yet Mr Neuendorf said that even as he sought to level the playing field for art collectors, it was important to maintain an air of exclusivity around online art auctions. “I cannot imagine two brands more different than Ebay and Sotheby’s,” he said.