New York-based fine arts broker, Sotheby’s, has collaborated with e-commerce giant eBay to live-stream auctions, making it easier for users to buy antiques and exquisite fine art online.
These companies plan to stream some of the auctions and allow live bidding by the end of 2014 or early in 2015 from Sotheby’s headquarter in New York.
The auction process will be live-streamed for items including fine art watches, prints, wine, photographs, and jewelry with price range between $5,000 -$100,000.
However, Sotheby’s has excluded the online streaming of its traditional evening auction for works of art, which can be sold for $50m or more, according to Reuters.
It will Sotheby’s access to a larger audience with eBay’s 145 million active buyers, and it will be able to utilise the e-commerce giants online marketing skills and digital technology.
Following the deal, eBay will launch a newly designed marketplace on its website which would be specially designed for unique art collectors and first time buyers, hosting rare, unique and premium art and collectibles.
Sotheby’s will be the preeminent anchor tenant in the marketplace to facilitate live auction and real-time bidding from anywhere around the world.
eBay’s president of marketplaces, Devin Wenig, said : "A Sotheby’s-eBay partnership is a significant milestone in our efforts to expand the live auction market."
"When you combine its inventory with eBay’s technology platform and global reach, we can give people access to the world’s finest, most inspiring items – anytime, anywhere and from any device. That is an experience we believe our customers will love."
According to Sotheby’s, the global art market is worth around 65bn and projections show online art sales could reach 13bn by 2020.
