Online global art sales, including antiques, accounted for 1.6% or $1.57bn, in 2013. 1st dibs reportedly had $650m in sales in 2012, and more than $1bn in 2013, and the 10% of eBay's sales in art, antiques and collectibles valued at higher than £100 per item totalled $300m in annual sales. Hiscox estimates that online sales are growing at 19% annually. eBay and Amazon are both reported to be developing new online art and collectibles platforms. Around 40% of 1stdibs sales are for items from £1k-£5k (SalvoWEB 50% at £1k-£5k). 1st dibs has 2m visits a month (SalvoWEB 150,000).
 
In his introduction to the Hiscox art and antiques insurance group's online art trade report, Robert Read, Head of Fine Art, says, "This year, our research has been solely focused on buying art directly through the many new and emerging online art platforms. We aimed to discover what percentage of people are using platforms like Auctionata, Paddle8, 1stdibs, Artspace, Artsy, Artuner and Artfinder, what they are buying from them, for how much and what their main concerns are when buying in this way. We have also explored the types of services that these platforms could offer to increase confidence among existing and potential buyers.
 
"This year's findings highlight a sea change in the way people are discovering and buying art. These changes provide major opportunities for emerging online platforms as well as established brands in the art world - where buyers seek trusted names and dealers who they are already familiar with. It's inconceivable that traditional art galleries will go the way of the record shop and cease to exist entirely, but the way collectors are engaging with art online, particularly amongst a younger generation, will force traditional galleries and auction houses to re-think how they are going to capture and cultivate the next generation of art buyers and collectors."
 
The increased enthusiasm for online buying is tempered by return policies, logistics, due diligence (condition reports, certificates of authenticity), transparency (artist reports, past prices) - all cited as affecting buyers' confidence in the online art market. Most buyers said that returns policies would encourage them to buy, but Hiscox asks, how would that work in practice? The cost of returning purchases could make online selling tricky.
 
Key findings:
 
A future generation of art buyers is likely to make their first art purchase online.
Among the 20-30 year olds surveyed who had purchased art online, 22% had never bought from a physical gallery or auction before (versus 10% based on the overall buyer sample), signalling that online platforms play a more important role as a destination for first-time buyers among the younger generation.
 
Click-and-buy is gathering steam.
Almost 40% of individuals surveyed have bought art and collectibles through purely online click-and-buy platforms, suggesting that online-only platforms are building brand awareness and trust with art buyers and collectors.
 
Browsing translates into sales.
Web traffic and time spent browsing on art selling websites is increasingly translating into direct sales. The findings show that 55% of the frequent browsers are also online art buyers. Average time spent per visitor will become a significant business driver for these websites in the future, and the key is to create an online environment in which people want to discover, browse, learn about and eventually buy art.
 
Online buying is unlikely to replace the gallery experience.
90% of online buyers had bought from a physical gallery or auction before they bought art online and, of these, 56% still prefer the physical space, against a much smaller 10% who prefer buying online. The remaining 34% were indifferent as to which they preferred.
 
Less intimidating buying art online.
The art world is often perceived as exclusive and inaccessible to new buyers, and 39% of the respondents feel that the process of buying from an online art sales platform is less intimidating than buying from a physical gallery or auction house.
 
Buyers have a strong preference for unique art works.
61% of online fine art buyers surveyed have bought one or more paintings directly online in the last 12 months. The largest share of buyers (45%) had bought in the £1,000 to £10,000 range with 10% having spent more than £50,000 on a single painting online.
 
Limited edition prints are a popular entry point for online art buyers.
55% of online buyers have purchased a print directly online in the last 12 months. A total of 40% of these buyers had bought prints below £500, 19% between £500-£1,000, 25% between £1,000-£5,000 and 15% above £5,000.
 
Repeat online buyers are rapidly gaining confidence in higher price segments.
The findings show that 45% of repeat online buyers are willing to spend in the £5,000 and above category on fine art, compared to 19% of first-time buyers. This signals that confidence in higher price segments is likely to increase in line with the familiarity of buying art online.
 
Online art purchases push price tolerance levels up.
58% of online art buyers had bought other similar value items online prior to their art purchase, indicating that having bought other goods and services online at similar price points does increase buyer confidence in the online art market. However, the findings also suggest that the online art market is breaking boundaries with regards to buyers' online price confidence threshold, with 42% saying that they had never bought anything online in this price bracket before.
 
Ease of discovery and search drives interest in buying art online.
75% of the online art buyers surveyed said that the primary advantage of buying online was the ability to find art and collectibles that they otherwise would never find in a physical space. 63% said that the convenience of bidding and buying was a key advantage.
 
Not seeing the physical object remains the biggest hurdle.
82% of online buyers said the most difficult aspect of buying art online was not being able to physically inspect the object. However, it looks as though this fear may be overcome by more detailed information; condition reports and certificates of authenticity are cited as greatly increasing confidence in buying art and collectibles online, by 94% and 84% of buyers respectively.
 
High buyer satisfaction levels.
65% of buyers are already extremely or very satisfied with their online art buying experience, with 27% saying they were 'moderately satisfied'. Only 8% of buyers were unhappy. High satisfaction levels suggest that the market could grow rapidly in the coming years, as technological and logistical barriers are eroded, and buyers' confidence in online buying increases.
 
New services adapted specifically to online art buying are needed.
Return policies, improved logistical processes, trusted due diligence (condition reports, certificates of authenticity), more transparency (artist reports, past prices) are all cited as changes that would rapidly increase buyers' confidence in the online art market.
 
Returns policies rank highly in establishing buyer confidence.
77% of art buyers said that a returns policy would encourage them to buy art, although an increasing 'buy-and-return' mentality would raise serious issues regarding practical aspects such as the cost of returning works of art, and could make selling art online uneconomical.