The costs aren t prohibitive. We re not telling you to use the site as your main source of sales but as an additional channel where you can showcase and offer your lots to a wider range of customers you wouldn t otherwise have had access to. Top-tier works will continue to be shown privately to a chosen clientele. Sotheby s has no problem with that. You can use the sites to control your inventory for lots for which you don t have specific clienteles in mind.
Costs are minimal compared to the opportunity.
Associates don t pay these premiums and fees. They get the equivalent of free online real estate. Some dealers don't believe in the Internet because it undermines what they do . Sotheby s is providing the support and the environment to make it happen. Associates are still selling their own lots but using Sotheby s sites to gain access to their customers.