frequently asked questions
selling artworks
what do you do for people selling art?
sellmyartworks helps sellers with artwork of around £1,000 to £100,000. we advise you on value and give you a realistic sales price using our professional knowledge.
once you’re happy with the price, we’ll market the art on our website and to the 15,000 or so clients on our database.
why should i use sellmyartworks?
if you have an artwork of value you’d like to sell, you currently have two options: an auction house or an auction site.
auction houses deal with higher value artwork and don’t usually have the trust and legitimacy needed for trading valuable art. we offer a fresh and new alternative.
how do i sell art on your platform?
give us some details about the artwork on our online form. one of our art consultants will get back to you to let you know if we can help.
if we’re happy and you’re happy, we’ll move on to creating a market review for the artist, and valuing your work.
once we’ve agreed on a price with you, we’ll list the artwork on our platform. then buyers can view it, purchase it directly, or make an offer.
what is a market review?
this is extensive research our art consultants perform in order to recommend the best sales price for your artwork.
we look at the artist’s history, what their work has sold for in the past, and what the current demand is like.
i don’t think i have the proof of ownership you require – what can i do?
proof of purchase is important to us, as an online seller, in order to determine authenticity and provenance. however, if you’ve lost your receipt or invoice – or if the artwork was given to you as a gift – we might be able to help.
get in touch with us with the details of your artwork, and we’ll let you know what your options are.
you’ve just sold my artwork - when will i get my money?
you’ll get your money a maximum of 14 days after delivery to the buyer. as we’re an online retailer, we give the buyer that time to confirm they’re happy with their purchase.
they may confirm earlier than 14 days that they have accepted the artwork, at which point we’ll release the funds to you.
buying artworks
what do you do for people buying art?
for buyers, we can be trusted to offer quality, legitimate artwork with provenance.
if you want to make an offer below the asking price for an artwork, we’ll act as a mediator for buyer and seller, helping settle on a price to make everyone happy.
how do i buy art on your platform?
we have a huge selection of high quality art to choose from. you can browse our full collection here, or look for your favourite artists here.
you can buy your artwork directly from the platform at asking price or make an offer to the seller.
We understand that with items of higher value you may have more questions about a piece of art, therefore our art consultants can work with you and take you through our white glove service. Please contact us via info@sellmyartworks.com or call 0131 378 7535 to discuss it in more detail.
how do i pay?
for artworks, we prefer payment by bacs transfer, which helps keep costs low.
if you want to pay by card, you can, but a charge will apply. (for an eu card, a £1,000 card payment costs approximately £14.50 and £10,000 card payment costs just over £142.00.)
i want to buy this artwork, but not at full price. what do i do?
you can make an offer. we’ll pass the offer on to the seller, who will decide whether or not to take it.
they may suggest a different price, and we’ll act as a liaison during any negotiations – but the seller has final say over whether to accept any offer made.
i’ve just paid you - when will i receive my artwork?
we aim to get your new artwork to you as soon as possible.
if you’ve bought the artwork online and it’s still with the seller, we’ll book collection and delivery right away. for domestic uk delivery with a specialist courier, delivery should be in 7-14 days.
fees and commissions
how much is a valuation?
the valuation and market review costs £114 (£95 plus vat). if your artwork is valued at £2,000 or less, we’ll restrict this to £60 (£50 plus vat). find out more about what’s included in the valuation and market review here.
what commission does sellmyartworks charge?
commission fees are calculated on a sliding scale depending on the price of the artwork, at either 15%, 20% or 25%.
the fee is split equally between the buyer and seller. for each one, this works out to:
- 7.5% (plus vat) for artworks over £20,000
- 10% (plus vat) for artworks between £10,001 & £20,000
- 12.5% (plus vat) under £10,00
how does the commission compare with other art resellers?
generally, we’ll have a much lower commission fee than established national and regional auction houses.
our asking price includes all fees and commissions. this means if you buy an artwork for £10,000 from sellmyartworks, that’s the total amount you’ll pay.
at an auction house, the buyer might find another 30% in fees added to the price once the hammer drops. (for a £10,000 artwork, this means an actual total of £13,000.)
with sellmyartworks, the seller receives approximately 65% of what the buyer pays. this increases to 75% or more for more artworks of over £20,000.
by comparison, at an auction house, the seller may receive as little as 40-45% of the buying price.
what other fees are there for selling artwork?
arr (artist resale rights) apply to some purchases.
shipping fees, at a flat rate of £110.40p are included in the price for each artwork
what does the shipping fee pay for?
door to door collection and delivery by our preferred specialist art courier company, aardvark.
aardvark will photograph the artwork before they professionally package and transport it, ensuring it reaches its destination safely. this means the seller doesn’t have to worry about packing and wrapping the artwork, and the buyer can expect the artwork to arrive in perfect condition.
we’ll take care of booking the collection and delivery, and will check in with the buyer and seller to make sure everything goes smoothly.
about sellmyartworks
what are your company details?
sellmyartworks.com is the trading name of sellify limited, a company founded & registered in august 2019 in scotland, uk with the registration number sc638783.
sellify limited is recognised by hmrc for corporation tax and vat (vat registration number is 333 8857 72)
what experience does sellmyartworks.com have in selling pre-owned art?
our art director (one of the company founders) has been a successful dealer in art for over 30 years. he runs his own gallery, is a publisher of contemporary art, and is an agent for a number of artists.
we also have art consultants with lengthy experience in the art world, who will help and advise you at every step.