As artists, competing and making a living in the art market can be quite a challenge. Historically and traditionally, the art world has been quite informal when it came to concerns of money being exchanged between parties. This was largely due to the fact that back then they were few participants in the art market with all of them mostly knowing each other and operating with a code of mutual trust and respect which minimized the chances of successful scams being orchestrated.
With the art market in recent years transitioning to the digital realm, it has allowed it to expand exponentially and becoming globalized, making it easier for art collectors and creators to form business relationships across the globe. As convenient and lucrative this might be, this has also resulted in numerous scams being orchestrated that many artists have fallen for.
Since I have been personally targeted by some of these scams, I thought it was time I wrote a blog about the two main scams that an artist can face, what are their tell-tale signs and how can you avoid the scammers behind them.
So, let’s see what are the art scams that you as an artist need to be suspicious of:
The “email art scam”
What are they?
This scam is a classic one that is quite prevalent in the art world. Here is how it goes: you get an email from a very interested buyer who is a massive fan for your work and now he/she wants to purchase one of your pieces for a special occasion, that is usually taking place on an unspecified date. Once a deal is almost finalized, they will ask you to pay for the shipping charges to a company that they have selected. Either ways, they will try to get you to spend money in order for the deal to be finalized and this money will obviously be going into the art scammers’ pockets.
What are the signs to look out for?
The first red flag is that these emails are usually very poorly written and have long, convoluted story from the “buyer” that hardly makes any sense. The buyers are usually too good to be true, seem to be wealthy and always live overseas. Most importantly, all of these scam emails come with complicated payment requests that a genuine buyer rarely makes.
How can you avoid being scammed?
Always be suspicious of any buyers that approach you via email because people are not always who they say they are. You need to look them up on the Internet, Google is your best friend and you can use it to find out if someone is an actual person or not. This also includes looking up their shipping address and seeing if it leads you to a place that looks genuine.
Vanity Galleries
What are they?
A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges artists a fee to display their work and that is how these galleries make their income, instead of the sales of the artworks.
What are the signs to look out for?
These shady establishments, although not completely fraudulent, usually go after artists that are just starting out and are trying to become more visible to potential buyers. They charge ludicrous amounts to the artists for the space that they will be using to exhibit their work and are not that concerned about whether their paintings will sell or not.
How can you avoid being scammed?
Whenever approached by a vanity gallery, it is crucial to do a background check on the internet, see what their online presence is and what other artists have to say. If you do want to work with one of these galleries, do not ever pay them upfront and keep track of all communications that you have with them.
These are the two prevalent scams that I feel all artists need to be aware of. It can be absolutely devastating for a person to fall victim to a fraud like this, as this cannot only have financial repercussions but also damage your self esteem and trust in yourself. Like I always say, listen to your heart and gut. If something does not feel right, chances are that it might not be.
So, let’s be more aware and make sure that our art gets into the right hands.
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