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So Long,
Sothebys.com
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Fine-art auctions go offline. BY ANN E. BERMAN Wednesday, April 30, 2003 12:01 a.m. This week, Sothebys.com will cease to operate and a chapter of art-market history will come to a close. The auction giant's ill-fated foray into online auctions, launched in 1999, was the last man standing in the battle to bring sales of fine art to the Net. It now joins unprofitable competitors like iCollector.com, Artnet.com, ImportantAuction.com, eHammer.com and Antiqnet.com--all announced with much ballyhoo in the late 1990s--which have already been forced to shut down their auction operations. The online sale, so recently hailed as the future of the art-auction business, is now part of its past. What happened? With other Internet sales skyrocketing, why did no one--not even the powerful Sotheby's--succeed in flogging enough Warhol paintings and Chippendale chairs on the World Wide Web to make a decent profit? Because it is a losing battle: Everything that makes art compelling is blunted by the virtual, one-click world of the Net. You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [email protected] |
