Most people buying a work for the first time do not give up because of the price. They give up because they do not know what will happen after they click. So here, with nothing dressed up, are the seven steps of the process at ARTDELION, what the agency does at each one, and what you are entitled to ask for.
1. The look
It all starts with a piece that stays in your head. You have nothing to do at this stage except come back and see it again. It is in fact the best test there is: a work still occupying you three weeks later is a work for you.
Our job at this stage is to make that looking possible. That means publishing the catalogues in full, with real photographs, and not a selection of ten pieces.
2. The listing, and the three material questions
Before price, three pieces of information decide whether a work can come into your home. Weight, because 150 kilos on the third floor with no lift is not the same proposition as on the ground floor. How it stands or hangs, because a wall piece weighing thirty kilos will not hold on a plasterboard partition without reinforcement. And depth, the measurement everyone forgets, the one that decides whether it goes up a stairwell.
These three figures are on every listing. If they are missing anywhere, that is our mistake and you can tell us.
3. The request for information
A button on every listing, with no account to create. The message reaches a person, who answers. You can ask for an extra view, a precision about a shade, an estimate for shipping to your city, or simply the question you would not dare put to a gallery.
An enquiry commits you to nothing. A collector who hesitates for two months is a good collector, not a lukewarm customer.
4. The written quotation
A serious enquiry leads to a quotation setting out the price of the work, the cost of shipping calculated by destination and format, insurance in transit and the lead time. Written, dated, with nothing left to be argued.
It is the document you decide on, and it does not change afterwards. The displayed price is the price of the work: only shipping is added, and it appears before you confirm, never after.
5. Reservation and payment
To take a piece off sale while things are finalised, a reservation by deposit is possible, deducted in full from the price. From the moment it is reserved, the work is no longer offered to anybody else.
Settlement goes through the site’s secure methods. No payment is ever requested outside that framework. If anyone offers you a direct transfer outside the site in ARTDELION’s name, it is a fraud, and contact will check it within the hour.
6. Packing, transport, delivery
A sculpture in metal, wood and stone is not packed like a painting: foam and custom bracing for small formats, a wooden crate built to the dimensions of the work for important pieces. Shipping is entrusted to specialist carriers and covered at the real value of the work. The detail is in a dedicated article.
On arrival, one habit matters more than all the others: open the crate in front of the driver and write precise reservations on the delivery note if there is any damage. That changes everything in the event of a dispute.
7. The certificate, and afterwards
When the artist issues a certificate of authenticity, it travels with the work, never separately. Keep it apart, with the invoice, and photograph both. Some artists do not issue one, and no law obliges them to: in that case the detailed invoice and the documented work record play the same role. The work page always states, before purchase, what comes with the piece.
After that, the agency stays reachable. For a question about care, a move, an insurance declaration, a resale in ten years. An acquisition process does not stop at delivery, and that is precisely what distinguishes an agency from a platform.
What this process is not
It is not a sales funnel in the usual sense, with automated reminders and a countdown at the bottom of the page. There is no artificial scarcity: the scarcity is real, every piece is unique, and that is enough.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to request information? No. The button on each listing is enough.
Is the price negotiable? No, and that is a choice of transparency: the displayed price is the same for everyone. It protects the buyer as much as the artist.
Who is my seller? The artist, or the collector who owns the work. ARTDELION acts as agent: we present the work and conclude the sale on their behalf. You always know who you are buying from.
Can I change my mind? Yes, within the statutory fourteen day withdrawal period from receipt. Keep the packing during that time.
Can I see the work before buying? Depending on the piece and the place, a studio visit can be arranged. Write to contact.
And if the work is not for sale? That is the case for the whole catalogue of Gabriel Lemaire Sicre. The place can be visited, the works stay in the collection.