But, Tilley continues, “I pay New York real estate instead of warehouse space,” he says of his significant overhead. “Everything is showcased in a gallery so that people can come and see it.”
Sotheby’s, in contrast, will net 50 percent of the profit with minimal overhead, zero liability, and no physical costs. (If you consign more than 20 items, Sotheby’s will drop the fee to 40 percent.)
Given that light touch, Harriet Roughan, the owner of Estate Treasures of Greenwich, says that the 50 percent commission is high. “They’ve got the same business model as Chairish,” she says, referring to the consignment website that will post photos of consignors’ furniture without storing or handling it. “And Chairish only takes 20 percent. I have a brick-and-mortar store; I need 50 percent commission to cover my overhead.” (In fact, Chairish commissions decrease with higher sale prices; at above $25,000, the site takes only 9 percent.)
Competition
Sotheby’s Home is entering into a space currently dominated by 1stdibs, which has 1.5 million site registrants and sells about 15,000 unique items each month, according to a company release.
The key difference between Sotheby’s Home and 1stdibs, though, is that 1stdibs’ material is supplied exclusively by dealers and galleries; if you’re buying off that site, you’re not buying a piece out of someone’s house, you’re probably buying it out of their showroom.
That distinction cuts two ways: A respected antiques dealer is another level of verification and quality control that Sotheby’s Home doesn’t have. Alternately, there’s potentially a higher markup for a work on 1stdibs given that it’s sold by a business instead of an individual. “I can’t speak to exactly what [1stdibs] is doing,” says Auerbach. “But we focus on individual consignors, and that is something I don’t believe exists at 1stdibs.”
But Wait, There’s Art, Too
Sotheby’s Home will also sell art—a dramatic departure from the majority of the online art sales (including Sotheby’s own), which tend to replicate the auction model. There are very few reputable sites that possess art that you can see online, click, and buy.
The majority of these online art auctions tend to focus on the so-called “Prints and Multiples” category, which is inevitably on the sub-$5,000 end of the price spectrum. By moving older, possibly more expensive art online, Sotheby’s is expanding its art-related business model in a potentially groundbreaking way.
But all artworks are not created equal, and Sotheby’s Home treats art very differently than Sotheby’s traditional auctions. The biggest discrepancy is that on Sotheby’s Home, the provenance of the artwork isn’t listed, which means buyers have no way of verifying its legitimacy or understanding where it’s been stored—or for how long.
The second departure is the general discourse around the art, which is dramatically more rudimentary at Sotheby’s Home. An unsigned, 19th century photograph of India on sale for $5,000, for instance, is classified as “Traditional,” while a c. 1970s photo is on sale for $750 and listed under the “Vintage” category. A wire sculpture of an elephant, also categorized under Vintage and dated c. 1970s, is described as “Brutalist” without any explanation. Its price is $3,100.