Diving into the Artsy Collector Insights Report 2023

Artsy, the online art platform, has just released their Art Collector Insights Report 2023. Why is this so important for you as an artist? This report short-cuts a lot of the research you need to do on your own art buyers. It will help you understand what collectors globally are doing, thinking and feeling when it comes to buying art. Insights from the report will also help you reflect on your own art business to see what changes you might want to make. In this article, I walk you through some of the changes I’m making to my art business based on this report, and you are welcome to copy them!

Read the full Artsy Collector Insights Report 2023

Don’t just take it from me. Head over to Artsy’s site, read the editorial and download the report. It includes art trends, collector tastes and online purchasing behaviour. I make lots of my decisions about my art business based on research, and large organisations with the capability to survey 1,200 of their collectors, well, for me, that’s gold!

Here are the six insights from the research

1. Most art buyers are looking to build a collection—but investing is on the rise

2. Abstract art is the most important genre for today’s collectors

3. Despite economic headwinds, art collecting remains stable

4. The physical art world might be back, but online collecting is here to stay

5. Price visibility and security are key for online art transactions

6. Younger collectors are doing things differently

Was there anything unexpected that showed up for you in the report? Is there something that stood out as important for your business? How did the research make you feel? Hop over to our Instagram post on it and share your thoughts!

Here are the six practical things I’m doing in my own art business

In response to these insights, I’m sharing my first thoughts on how I’m assessing my own art business to make sure I’m responding to global collector needs. You might consider making a list of actions you will be taking based on this report too. You can also just copy mine!

1. Most art buyers are looking to build a collection: This was my biggest ‘ah-ha’ of the report. I normally think about new art buyers, but love the reframe for repeat buyers to collectors. I need to reach out to all of my existing art buyers and offer them a second (or third) artwork. I know they already love my art. If they are in the ‘collector’ mindset, perhaps they want more?

2. Abstract art is the most important genre: I’m already an abstract artist, so this is great for me. [If you are not an abstract artist, have more of a dive into the report and make sure you reflect on your Ideal Art Buyer before you consider changing anything. Data is useful, but it isn’t the whole story - and we don’t all have to be abstract artists! Remember, we are selling our art to a niche rather than to the entire art market.]

3. Art collecting remains stable: This type of data helps me have confidence in my future career. That’s always a lovely mindset ‘tickbox’ for me.

4. Online collecting is here to stay: This is great for me because I sell predominantly online. It also discusses Instagram as the primary social channel for people to find my art. It helps me feel good about my current strategy: I still don’t need to be in a physical location like a gallery, which I find to be quite expensive, risky and time consuming to manage.

5. Price visibility and security are key for online art transactions: I’ll do a website revision to make sure my pricing is very clear, plus buyers can see all of the other info they need to make decisions. I also offer a guarantee, and think I could make this even more prominent.

6. Younger collectors are doing things differently: The 18-36 year olds aren’t my target niche, so I’m not worrying about this right now, but it’s good knowledge to have. In 10-15 years, they will be my demographic and it’s good to know they’ve started collecting.

I think the insights from this report are fabulous, so I’ll be going beyond each insight and sharing ideas on how you might apply the learning into your own art practice. Keep an eye out for a new blog post each week! I’ll start with more on shifting my mindset on art buyers to ‘collectors’ and what action I’m taking.

About Artsy

Artsy isn’t the same as art marketplaces like Saatchi and Bluethumb. They don’t work directly with artists. It is more for galleries and auction houses, and for collectors to resell works. Are you an artist and would like to access Artsy’s collectors? You can find out more here.

Learn how to Discover Your Ideal Art Buyer

If you want to dive deeper into this topic, I’ve got a FREE WEBINAR that you can access to learn more, including:

1. Learn how to discover who other artists you respect are already selling to

2. Visualise and articulate who your Ideal Art Buyer is

3. Be able to describe your Ideal Art Buyer and target them in your art marketing.

4. Be confident in your next steps towards success as a Professional Artist.

The Discover Your Ideal Art Buyer webinar is under 60 mins, is action based, delivers real outcomes, and includes an easy worksheet that will help you focus on what counts.

Recent feedback on the webinar includes:

Thanks for creating the mini course. I like the way you broke it down. It was easy to follow. Your method actually was very helpful. I’ve tried this a few times, but never really got anywhere with identifying my ideal art buyer. So far ‘she’ has come up as a modern, independent, educated woman between 45-65. She has just updated/renovated her new home. Her style is a bit quirky, timber floors, Persian rugs, esoteric, vintage pieces (not mid century, because, god help me! we grew up with that and it’s awful!!) combined with modern clean lines for practicality. I’ve yet to work out what I’ll call her, where she shops and hangs out, but this is a great start. Thanks very much. Been following you for a while, love your work!