Frequently asked questions

About Listir

Listir is an online marketplace where art collectors buy and sell high-end contemporary art. 

“List” in Icelandic means “art”, “Listir” is plural and means “Arts”.

Listir was launched in Norway. The plan is to go global in the near future.

On Listir, you find

  • contemporary art: from around 1970 til today; by
  • established artists: strong secondary market / represented by a recognized gallery; in the
  • mid-price segment: from minimum $1,000 and above

Private persons are listing their art collections on Listir. However, artists, galleries, corporate collections, etc. are also more than welcome to sell in the future.

Listir is an online marketplace, whereas auction houses are physical marketplaces. Artworks sold at auction houses must to be physically transported to the auction house, where it is stored, assessed and valuated, photographed, printed in a paper catalogue, exhibited and, ultimately, auctioned.

With Listir’s remote consignment model, on the other hand, the artwork remains in the seller’s possession until it sells. As a result, a lot of the intermediary costs can be removed from the selling process. In addition, sellers can list their whole collections – not just one artwork – which opens up the market: Sellers sell without being in sales mode, and buyers choose from a dramatically bigger supply of artwork. A bit like LinkedIn for the art market.

Also, Listir is a totally unbiased marketplace whose only mission is to connect art sellers with art buyers. Complete transparency is important to Listir, and we provide all information necessary to make it safe to buy art.

It’s our ultimate goal to be fully digital. However, the beta version launched in October 2018 is rather manual and handcrafted. We just wanted to launch it, test it, get feedback – and start developing it further together with our users. We’ll be thrilled if you get in touch with your ideas on how to improve; just click here or the feedback button at the bottom of the page.

We are visiting every collector, where we make photos and list their artworks on Listir. This means all artworks on Listir have been processed by us personally. In the beginning, we will also manually handle every transaction to ensure that shipping, payment, and handover work perfectly. In the near future, the value chain will be automated step by step.

Artworks

The seller owns the artworks and is responsible for providing complete and accurate description of artwork details (size, year, signature, etc.), provenance (ownership history) and condition (see next question). Listir writes “about artwork” and provides the auction price history. The descriptions are the seller’s and Listir’s opinion and should not to be relied on as a statement of fact.

The seller fills out Listir’s condition report of his/her own artworks, to the best of his/her ability. This, together with the images of the artwork, should give buyers a good indication of the condition. Buyers may however request an independent condition report done by third-party art conservators acquainted to Listir. Artworks priced at approx. $20.000 and more will in most cases have attached a professional condition report when being listed.

The seller describes the ownership history of the artwork (provenance), as far back he/she has knowledge of. Gallery/auction house receipts will be provided when available. Buyers may on request have the artwork’s authenticity assessed by a third-party specialist through Listir.

The seller sets the price of his/her artworks. To give both buyers and sellers an idea of market prices, Listir generates, when available, a list of previous auction records of the artwork / comparable artworks by the same artist. Please note that prices are based on the condition, rarity, quality, provenance, and – last but not least – on the buyers interested in the artwork. Prices change over time. Therefore, you should not rely on any historic sales price as a prediction or guarantee of the artwork’s present or future selling price.

Buying

Yes. All buyers and sellers must register a profile before buying and selling. Click the “Sign Up” button in the top menu and follow the steps.

Artworks on Listir are either listed with a “fixed price”, a “price range” or as “open for offers”.

  • “Fixed price” listings behave just as you expect online shopping to behave; you click a button to make a purchase, then pay for it. Fixed price items have a “Buy Now” button with a price listed above it.
  • “Price range” listings are presented with an estimate of what the collector might want to sell the artwork for. Buyers contact the seller with an offer, and together they agree on a price. “Price range” is the way auction houses present their price estimations.
  • “Open to offers” listings may appear more mysterious, but they are not! Here, the seller hasn’t yet decided whether to sell, but are open to receiving offers. Interested buyers may contact the seller and make an offer for the artwork. When a price is agreed upon, the regular sales process start.
  • In the future, Listir may do auction listings, if there’s a demand for it.

The prices on Listir don’t necessarily reflects the current market value of a piece. Rather, it says which price the seller wants in order to sell.

You can contact the seller directly for questions about the artwork (click “Contact collector” button).

Listir manually checks the identity and contacts every seller who registers a profile. At later stages, this manual process will be replaced by an automatic identification engine.

Listir uses “delayed payment” (“escrow”). When a purchase is being made, money is withdrawn from the buyer’s bank account. The money is kept in a Listir account, where it stays until the buyer confirms having received the artwork. Only then, the money is transferred to the seller’s account.

In the first period after launching, Listir will arrange shipping with you manually. We will contact you and find your preferred shipping method.

In the future, Listir will integrate several art logistics services to the site. The seller simply enters the size of the artwork, and the buyer will see the cost of shipping up-front before making the purchase.

A buyer may return an artwork purchased through Listir, if the artwork received is substantially different from its listing or is found to be inauthentic. To receive a refund, the buyer must notify the seller of his intention to return the artwork as “not as described” within seven (7) days after receiving the artwork. Additionally, the Buyer must notify the Seller within thirty (30) days if the item has been found inauthentic.

Not now, but pretty soon. To help build trust and reputation, Listir will provide a feature where buyers and sellers review each other after each transaction is complete.

Yes. We’re launching in Norway, where all our initial sellers also are located, so our first transactions take place in Norway. If you want to buy from outside Norway, that should however work fine. We will personally contact you to solve shipping and payment.

Selling

First, register your profile. Then, go to My Account, chose “Add artwork” and follow the steps in the submission form. If you run into any problems, please email us.

High-quality images enhance the chances of selling your artwork. You may either photograph your artworks yourself, and submit the images when listing your artworks (see submission form). Or you may hire a professional photographer through Listir. The photographer will take photos and submit your artworks. Please click here for ordering a photographer. If you would like to list a large art collection, Listir will do the job for you for free.

Yes. Are you a seller from outside of Norway, contact us and we’ll find a solution.

Art is a global market, and our aim is to go global – connecting art collectors from Odessa to Ottawa, Beirut to Beijing, Dublin to Duluth, (etc etc, you get the point). A self-serving publishing solution should be ready in the not too distant future, making it possible to sell from all around the world, but we take a step-by-step approach starting with Norway.

Yes. When registering, you can choose any profile name you like. Also, when emailing with potential buyers, your email address will not be displayed.

Yes, click the “Contact seller” button and send a message. Note that your mail address will be not visible to the recipient.

Listir offers the most competitive terms in the industry. The price you set on an artwork, is what you receive when selling. There are no hidden fees or costs to consign.

Listir posts daily on Instagram (and soon on Facebook), promoting artworks for sale. Listir users are being notified when artworks of their interest are added to Listir.

No. After the sale, we will work closely with you to arrange for your work to be sent to the buyer, who is ultimately responsible for all shipping fees. Listir acts as the middleman for the entire post-sale process so your information remains entirely anonymous to the buyer.

As soon as the buyer has received the artwork, money will be transferred to the seller’s account.

Yes. If you want to remove your artwork from the website, you are free to do this – whenever you want.