Sotheby's, the renowned auction house, said Tuesday that it has signed up 1,500 art dealers in the United States and Europe for its new Internet site, allowing them to trade their wares online starting in July.
Sothebys.com will offer an online platform for auctioning art, antiques, and jewelry and is aimed at complementing Sotheby's core live auction business.
David Redden, Sotheby's New York executive vice president, said the site's 1,500 charter members represented a significant portion of the world's art dealing elite.
"That's an overwhelming number when you think that a great antiques show might have 70 dealers involved in it," he said.
Sotheby's said last month that it was launching an Internet auction business, joining the flurry of companies rushing to capitalize on e-commerce.
Its first online auction will be baseball memorabilia from collector Barry Halper's collection. The live auction in New York will also will take place via the Internet.
The company plans to make an initial investment of more than US$25 million for personnel, marketing and capital costs for the Internet venture over the next 12 months. Sotheby expects this outlay to affect earnings, but declined to give an estimate.
Only professionals will be allowed to sell on the site, although anyone will be able to buy over the Internet. The site will initially focus on goods with auction prices of between US$300 and $10,000, with bidders paying by credit card.
Asked whether clients would be willing to buy works without having actually seen them in person, Redden pointed out that many bidders already buy their works through catalogs.
"The imaging has become so good on the Internet that it rivals that of the catalog," Redden said, adding that the Internet also allows for increased text and pictures.
Sothebys.com will be headed by Susan Solomon, former chief executive of Sony Worldwide Networks.
The launch of sothebys.com follows a growing trend begun by the likes of eBay and uBid. However, Sotheby's expects little overlap between its high-art business and that of existing online auctioneers.
For example, uBid offers mostly close-out and refurbished consumer electronics, while eBay flogs mainly Hollywood memorabilia and antiques.
"As far as auction sites that deal with higher quality works of art, this is really a very empty area," Redden said.
Eventually, as online technology develops, the Internet site might complement, or even replace, phone-in bids at live auctions.
"We have a great number of people who bid over the telephone, but they obviously can't see what's going on," Redden said. "The Internet can actually provide a very enhanced access to the auction process."
