How often have you considered selling the art you’ve bought and held for a while, or even to purchase art on the secondary market? There appears to be a vibrant market lingering under the shadow of commerce where aspiring collectors can acquire quality valuable artwork at a fraction of the price. This is a great opportunity for aspiring or even seasoned collectors, where any art collection can get a great shot in the arm at a great deal. There are many factors to consider in this regard, my budget, cost of works, desirability of the artist and the potential future value of the holdings. This is not to suggest the value of the secondary art sale could’t go the other way. As in the case of a deceased artist, the value could increase drastically.

There are those among us who believe their art collection is for their personal enjoyment with no financial consideration. Yes we hear you, and thats perfectly fine if you want to continue living in a dreamworld thinking your hard earned cash is just sitting pretty on your walls with no fiscal recourse. Truth be told, with this perspective, a photograph of that image would work just fine, not that I,m demoting the value of the reproduction as they have their place as well, especially if its a limited edition. 

I recently spoke to a collector friend of mine, she has decided to migrate and is in the process of down sizing. She is reducing the inventory of the contents of her home including a very nice art collection. Here are a few of the pieces up for sale.

Post: The art resale market

Rethinking the value of what you got
Chasing the value of what you got

Adding to your collection, increases the prospective value of your art holding.

As the say goes, timing is everything, and what better time to avail yourself of an opportunity than at this most inconvenient of times. Surely this sounds counter productive, but hear me out.

A very wise man once told me, the most pivotal times in my investments was when i could’t afford something. He went on to clarify, when he bought his first property it was a struggle because he didn’t have all the funds, the same the the 50th piece of property. Of course its all relative, as the say, but what has this to do with collecting art?

Investments are investments and the same rule applies. Purchase today and the value increases in the future. With very few exceptions art is speculative, and just like a financial investor, research and having a reasonable good understand of the product goes a far way. Where is the artist in the evolution of her work? what is the rate of production, how many shows and the calibre of shows. etc etc.