Over the past year, low sales and sliding stock prices have forced many of the major players to restructure or sever their online operations. It appears to be such an obvious market. People found out it looked obvious, but it was very difficult to succeed. EBay acquired Butterfields last spring in an effort to leverage the traditional auction house's credibility and expertise to reach high-end buyers. Everyone involved is trying to figure out the best way to utilize this new medium.
People like to see it.
While Sotheby's and Butterfields have launched mass-market online auction sites, rival Christie's has focused on its live auction sales, canceling plans to enter the online auction business last year. Christie's features live webcasts of the showroom floor, but takes Internet viewers' bids via telephone. Educating them is very difficult and very expensive. But other sites are attracting first-time buyers. Artnet has reeled in higher revenues over the past year, largely due to higher sales in its Fine Art Auctions Database , which features over 2 million lots from over 500 auction houses, including Christie's and Sotheby's.