| “Buyers are worried about one thing and that’s buying a fake,” said a Pennsylvania eBay user during a roundtable discussion for the art category at eBay Live. The man was an antiques dealer who sells 10 to 15 percent of his inventory via eBay. “You must offer a money-back guarantee and pay for postage both ways,” he said in regards to a discussion on how to make more buyers feel comfortable buying art online..
He also suggested the avoidance of flowery descriptions and just writing factual descriptions of the art to make the reader of of the listing feel more confident. .
A woman from Nevada who has a 5,400 feedback rating and sells mainly vintage art said every piece she sells comes with an envelope “packed full of information” including an appraisal form for insurance purposes and information about the artist and medium. She also offers an extended return policy on some pieces citing that brick and mortar galleries often allow trusted clients to take a piece home and try it out before purchasing it. .
“The more information you give people, the more confidence they have,” she said..
The other interesting thing to come out of the discussion was that most of those sellers present wanted 21-day auctions. .
Websites that were offered as helpful included : Artnet.com; artprice.com; artfact.com; iwascoding.com; fineartstitleregistry.com and ebsqart.com. .
Another woman said there was a shareware program that could be found with a google search that would put a watermark on uploaded images for those who wanted to ensure their photos would not be lifted..
About 80 people attended the roundtable discussion and when the hour and a half was up, they were still talking. That’s always a good indication that people are learning..
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