The Don’ts of Contemporary Art Buying

Your art buying experience should be fearless, satisfying and stress-free. It happens when you follow the “do’s”, or rule of thumb for art buying.  But, there are some “don’ts” that comes with that.  Not following the don’ts can leave you dismayed and possibly regretting the day you decided to get involved with art. You can avoid such a feeling by using the list of don’ts in this article.

The don’ts list is in no particular order of importance. Don’ts teaches how not to buy art and empowers you to acquire quality work at reasonable prices.  

Don’t buy art you see for sale in restaurants, hotels, or any other non-gallery environment (excluding online). These businesses are not art professionals, they do not have the experience to adequately advise you on the art nor assure sales satisfaction with amenities like an established art dealer can offer.  Only a person with a great deal of experience in collecting should consider such a purchase.

Don’t buy art over the phone.  That’s right, over the phone.  It sounds unbelievable, but there are art dealers who telemarket art and people who buy it. Buying art based on what someone describes to you over the phone is not a smart choice simply because art is visual, not auditory. You are buying art you have never seen, you don’t know how reputable these dealers are, you don’t know how their office or gallery looks (assuming they are not local) nor their return policies if you are not completely satisfied.  Bottom line is, never buy art over the phone.

Don’t buy art when sellers drastically drop the price without reason.  Some art dealers will remarkably drop prices to make you think you are getting an excellent bargain when in actuality, you are getting junk at highly inflated prices. Take the time to research the artist and the value of their other work.  You will come to realize that the price drop is the actual price of the art.

Don’t buy art from transient outlets.  Sellers having special closeouts, one-shot auctions or just passing through town will offer attractive pricing, but are unreachable after the sale and will likely not have a return policy.  Limit your buying to reputable art dealers. They don’t offer end of year deals or coupons, but they do offer conveniences and stability that transient sellers can't.

Lastly, don’t buy art on cruise ships unless you are a very experienced buyer who knows how to validate the information the seller provides.  For everyone else, wait until you are back home to do research on art and a seller on land.  Cruise ship sellers will tell you prices are cheaper at sea.  That is so not true. Prices do not fluctuate between land and sea or drop the moment the art leaves the port and becomes higher when it returns to land unless.  Cruise ship sellers are not stable, so if you are not pleased with your purchase after the cruise, there is no chance you can return or exchange it.