Why has Artfinder applied a discount to my order?
If you got to this page then you have probably sold an artwork, so please accept our congratulations!
Why can Artfinder discount artworks on artist's behalf?
In order for Artfinder to be considered a commercial agent we must have the right to negotiate prices on your behalf. This is included in our Seller Terms under point 3.2. When you join Artfinder you must agree to our terms and conditions, and by agreeing to these terms you give us the permission to offer discounts to customers in order to increase chances of securing you a sale.
Since most other mainstream art selling platform include similar provisions it is wise to factor the possibility of a maximum 15% discount into your pricing on all sites (not just Artfinder). We are sorry, but we are unable to offer an opt out from this point of our terms.
Are these discounts really necessary?
Artfinder has taken years to optimise how promotions and offers are run. Less than 50% of orders placed on Artfinder are placed with some sort of offer and although we appreciate that this may be a high proportion - we see in our data that it significantly helps to drive more sales overall. We understand that it can be frustrating that today's consumers, even those buying one-of-a-kind artwork, seek offers and deals. It is also unfortunate that other major art sites, even those positioned as more "high end" than Artfinder, offer frequent and aggressive side-wide discounts (in some cases 365 days a year).
Artfinder as a marketplace and a commercial business competes with those sites for buyers' and collectors' attention and custom. We are therefore constantly trying to find a balance, with our ultimate goal being to help more artists sell. Apart from site wide offers, we follow e-commerce best practice, meaning we also tailor offers to individual consumers to secure those sales for our artists. We wish we could do less of that and we understand concerns of our artists, but commercial reality forces us to remain competitive.
I'm not happy with the discount, can I cancel the order?
If you cancel the order because of the discount you will be effectively breaching our Seller Terms to which you have agreed. You will also disappoint your customer, who has likely taken a lot of time to find your piece and pick it out of the thousands of other artworks. If artists cancel orders we may be left with no choice but to protect our reputation and suspend such shops. This is why we request that artists ensure their prices take into account a possibility of the discount.
How can I know how much I'll get paid in case of a discount?
At the time of listing a piece of work on our platform, we provide a handy "price calculator". This tool tells you exactly how much you will take home from a sale of a particular value, with or without a discount applied. We always ask that you are happy with your take home amount even when the deepest discount is applied. This will help you avoid disappointment.
I have already discounted an artwork for a customer, why has a further discount been applied?
It is important to note that discounts are only applied to full price artworks only; items on sale, commission deposits or final payments, as well as artworks under make an offer cannot be discounted, as per our promotional Terms and Conditions.
If you verbally agree on a discounted price with a customer, and then alter your artwork listing to reflect this price, the customer will be able to apply a discount code to reduce the price further, as well as any other customer viewing the piece.
Consequently we would advise our artists to always use the "make an offer" feature if you want to guarantee/lock the sale price in, and not allow any further discounts. For further guidance on the 'Make an offer feature' please see our Knowledge Base article here: How do I enable the 'Make An Offer' function?