UK based art gallery / online retailer of limited edition contemporary art Eyestorm has taken an interesting approach to their online sales: Eyestorm announced today the rollout of an online marketplace (Eyestorm Trade) to allow buyers of artworks from Eyestorm to sell their former purchases. From their announcement:

Many sold-out Eyestorm publications, such as Damien Hirst’s LSD and Valium from 2000, and Antony Micallef’s series of prints from 2005, have appeared on the secondary market at escalated prices since their initial release. With the growing concern about the authenticity of some Damien Hirst prints that have recently appeared on the market, Eyestorm Trade manages the trading process for you, validating each piece and allowing you to buy and sell work with confidence.

The Eyestorm marketplace effectively creates a secondary market for the products sold by Eyestorm - which is a tremendously smart move as it allows Eyestorm’s customers to start speculative buying (art prices are rising - but it’s hard to actually sell artworks unless you happen to own a Picasso which you can sell through one of the traditional auction houses). Further Eyestorm profits directly through commissions - they even go so far as to offer their customers to buy artworks back for selling them on their marketplace.

This is a concept which we discussed at eBay a long time ago - the moment you offer your buyer the ability to sell his goods the price-perception changes. Price is no longer perceived as sunken costs but merely as a ‘fee’ which you pay for using the good.