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13470 Campus Drive Oakland, CA 94619 phone: 510-777-9970 or 800-805-7060 fax: 510-777-9972 |
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15%
OFF ALL LIST PRICES ON ALL ARTWORK AND FREE SHIPPING |
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Frequently
Asked Questions
WHY
ARE OUR PRICES SO LOW?
WHAT
IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GALLERY RETAIL AND NET PRICE?
WHAT
DOES MASTERWORKS FINE ART, INC, PROVIDE THE PURCHASER UPON SALE?
HOW
DO I KNOW IT IS GENUINE? WHAT IF I AM NOT HAPPY WITH IT? WHY SHOULD I
FEEL SAFE BUYING ART FROM MASTERWORKS FINE
ART, INC.?
WHAT
CREDENTIALS CAN MASTERWORKS OFFER TO REASSURE THE BUYER?
PRICE
WHAT
ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BUYING FROM MASTERWORKS FINE ART, INC AND
BUYING AT AUCTION?
BARGAINING
INVESTMENT
QUALITY
/ CONNOISSEURSHIP
WHAT
SHOULD I COLLECT?
HOW
CAN MASTERWORKS HELP ME TO BUY ART PRUDENTLY IN TODAY'S MARKET?
DO
I GET THE SAME SERVICES PROVIDED IN A REGULAR GALLERY?
WHERE
DOES MASTERWORKS BUY ITS ART?
DOES
MASTERWORKS CHARGE A COMMISSION, RETAINER OR BUYERS PREMIUM?
SUMMARY
OF OUR SELLING POLICIES:
ABOUT
COLLECTING OLD MASTER PRINTS
WHY ARE
OUR PRICES SO LOW?
We do not employ commission salesmen; you deal directly with the owner.
We do not have a retail gallery overhead to support, so we do not need
to factor commercial rent and other expenses into our pricing.
We are private dealers who sell on lower mark-ups than a retail gallery.
WHAT IS
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GALLERY RETAIL AND NET PRICE?
The Net Price is the price you would be paying for the actual artwork
you are buying.
The Retail Gallery Prices correspond to what you would expect to pay at
our competitor galleries – i.e. in San Francisco or at an Auction
context. They would also correspond to the appraised value of the art
purchased from Masterworks Fine Art, Inc.
WHAT DOES
MASTERWORKS FINE ART, INC, PROVIDE THE PURCHASER UPON SALE?
The art, of course, but beyond that….
Invoice
Certificate of Authenticity
We provide Xerox copies of each reference we cite in our descriptions
Free Appraisals (which can be updated free of charge annually)
HOW DO I
KNOW IT IS GENUINE? WHAT IF I AM NOT HAPPY WITH IT?
WHY SHOULD I FEEL SAFE BUYING ART FROM MASTERWORKS FINE ART, INC.?
All works of art are fully guaranteed for authenticity. All works of Fine
Art are fully guaranteed to be as described. Any work can be returned
for a full refund (less shipping charges) if you are not 110% happy with
it. We ask only that we know of the return within 7 days, and that it
be returned in the same condition it was sent in.
If you have the expertise, you know; if you do not have the expertise,
you will want to consult and buy from someone who does. Masterworks Fine
Art, Inc. guarantees the authenticity of anything we sell. That is, we
will refund your money and apologize if what we sold you is not what we
said it was. In general, all guarantees are based on present scholarly
opinion. In buying from any other source, any guarantee of authenticity
is something to be worked out between buyer and seller and, preferably,
put in writing. At Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. we always issue a formal
COA, certified by our staff collections curator. Masterworks Fine Art,
Inc. has an extensive library and we happily share our resources with
our collectors and we will supply them with copies of the catalog references
with our invoice.
WHAT CREDENTIALS CAN MASTERWORKS OFFER TO REASSURE
THE BUYER?
1) We have been fine art collectors and dealers for over 30 years.
2) We have been an on-line gallery since 1993 – the dark ages of
ecommerce…
3) We are members of Diamond
Certified
4) We are members of the International
Fine Art Appraisers Association.
5) We are members of the Better Business
Bureau
6) We can furnish business and personal references upon request.
PRICE
Apart from contemporary published editions, there is no "list price"
for prints and certainly none for paintings, drawings, and sculpture.
The right price, therefore, is simply one that is agreeable to both buyer
and seller. A dealer usually sets a price on the basis of what he thinks
is fair market value. Different dealers may have different thoughts on
the matter, although the variation is frequently less than you might think.
We at Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. generally base our prices on what our
actual cost is. Obviously, one wants to buy a print or drawing for the
lowest possible price. Experienced collectors will tell you, though, that
their only real regrets are the things they didn't buy because they thought
the price was a bit too high.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BUYING FROM MASTERWORKS
FINE ART, INC AND BUYING AT AUCTION?
While our prices are close to Auction levels, we have never tried to match
auction and will never do so. We offer services that an auction house
does not:
AUTHENTICITY GUARANTIES |
MASTERWORKS
FINE ART Fully guaranteed for the lifetime of ownership. |
AUCTIONS None, or very limited you buy as is where is. |
| DOCUMENTATION | Full docs including all reference copies. | None. |
| APPRAISALS | Free lifetime, updateable every year n/c. | None. |
| RETURNS | Allowed for any reason. | No returns all sales final. |
| FRAMING | Free custom archival framing. | None or needs new. |
| ADVICE | Full
expert advice from our staff with over 30 years experience in the field. |
Little
or none other than printed catalogue. |
| CONDITION | If conservation needed, always done. | Usually needs little to major. |
| PAYMENT OPTIONS |
We
take all credit cards as well as all Standard forms of payment. We can also be creative to meet your needs. |
Cash,
Check or wire only If accept credit cards they charge you points. |
BARGAINING
Some dealers are open to it, some aren't. We will try to accommodate your
requests, however, we are not a retail gallery. We may be amenable to
discount some items but not on others. If you feel that negotiation is
necessary (meaning that you want the item in question but would not buy
it at the asking price), the best way to negotiate, at least with us,
is to be quietly discreet about it. "Would you consider a lower price
for it?" which is better than "How much to me?" We try
to offer items for the best possible price, and will try to accommodate
any reasonable offer.
INVESTMENT
Art is a good investment if you buy right. Certain artist’s work
have become commodities. They are so hot that they continue to escalate
in price year after year with no end in sight. Artists with great credentials
with carriers have been long established and proven with the test of time
seem to the best sorts of works for people to go after collecting, if
investment is their primary concern. For instance: Chagall, Picasso, Miro,
Matisse, Braque, Rembrandt, Dürer, Renoir, Degas etc…. Artists
who have long established museum exhibitions histories etc...
I personally feel that people who try to sell you art solely as an investment
are not in the art business but in the investment business. As such, their
knowledge of the artistic quality of what they sell is limited -- that
in itself will probably make whatever it is a poor investment. However,
investment is a reality in this market, and any dealer should be aware
of the investment factor of a work of art.
However, no respectable dealer will offer a "hot tip" because
if he or she really believed it, the item would be safely tucked away
until the value went up. But dealers will often give you their informed
opinion as to whether the item in question is the sort of thing that tends
to appreciate or not. There are very few hard and fast rules, but one
might be that the best tends to do best.
For those who are buying art as an investment, we recommend 5 to 10 year
minimum holds. While there are no guarantees that art (or any other investment)
will appreciate in the long-term, past history does indicate that fine
quality works can generate handsome returns. Our philosophy is that art
is an investment that pays two dividends, a financial one and an emotional
one.
If your only motivation to buy art is investment, then you need to buy
artists with proven track records and long-established exhibition history.
Names, names, names… If you are a collector, your enjoyment will
be enhanced by collecting a wider variety of artists. In theory you'll
have a better overall investment potential if you do, but you're going
to miss a lot of fun. The most important thing is that your collection
should contain originals that mean something to you.
QUALITY / CONNOISSEURSHIP
Quality, first of all, refers to the image itself and is a question of
connoisseurship. Is it one of the artist's better works or one of his
poorer ones? Another question is, is it really well done (or is it really
weak) no matter who did it? The best works by an artist will "scream"
across the room that they are by that particular artist. Obviously, a
geometric work by Picasso, while rare (since he never did them), might
be considered rarer and more collectible since they are rare/unique -
but in fact it would be less desirable over the subject of a man and woman
making love (a more usual subject by Picasso).
In prints, quality also refers to the fineness of the impression and the physical condition of the paper. It is a way of estimating how close the particular impression comes to the way the artist wanted it to look, or at least the best the artist was able to make it look. In older prints, the earlier the impression the better the condition of the plate, hence, all other things being equal, the better the impression the better the quality.
Condition is virtually self-explanatory; an undamaged print is better than a damaged one; a small damage is acceptable (particularly on old prints) whereas a large damage generally is not. Damage that affects an image is less desirable than one that is confined to the margins.
WHAT SHOULD
I COLLECT?
Collect what interests you and pleases you and is within your means. Only
you know what you like and any dealer can advise you as to what it's likely
to cost. If you find yourself fascinated by a particular artist or a particular
kind of print or drawing, specialize. If not, then don't. Nothing is served
by building an extensive collection of something that bores you. A generalized
collection may make less sense to an outsider than a specialized one,
but it will make sense to you and it will give you pleasure for years
to come.
HOW CAN MASTERWORKS HELP ME TO BUY ART PRUDENTLY IN
TODAY'S MARKET?
MASTERWORKS is ideally suited to compete in these unusual times, due to
our lower overhead.
We can help in the acquisition of Original Works - We specialize in locating
values in "Blue Chip" original masterworks -- paintings, drawings,
graphics and sculptures from Renoir and Picasso to deKooning and Warhol.
We can also help in the acquisition by offering competitive Pricing for
Popular Art - In comparison with commercial galleries which have high
overhead costs, we provide the collector with competitive pricing on well-known
fine art prints, paintings, drawings and sculptures.
DO I GET
THE SAME SERVICES PROVIDED IN A REGULAR GALLERY?
YES, maybe more....
1. ADVICE: Through our experience with private clients' works, secondary market dealers, publishers, distributors, and studios, Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. can acquire virtually any type of fine art you're interested in. We maintain an inventory of our own and stock art based on your requests. In addition, we offer free custom searches from our extensive network of art resources.
2. PROFESSIONALISM: Most galleries employ sales people with very limited, if any, fine art background. At Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. you deal directly with the owners, who have degrees in fine art and an extensive art history background. As your personal art dealer, we will our experience in art acquisition and consultation to assist you in collecting the art of your dreams.
3. CONSERVATION: We can also assist you in repairing damaged artwork and professional conservation.
4. CUSTOM FRAMING: Free custom museum quality framing is generally included with all acquisitions from Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. We offer a fantastic array of custom conservation framing options at very favorable prices. In many cases, this will increase the value, both monetarily and aesthetically, of your art. Our customized conservation framing keeps a work of art from deteriorating by keeping it in its current state.
5. PAYMENT FLEXIBILITY: We accept cash, checks, wire, MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Paypal because of our 30 years of experience and because we have been online since 1993.
WHERE DOES
MASTERWORKS BUY ITS ART?
We are offered millions of dollars in art every month. MASTERWORKS has
experience with both private clients' works and secondary market dealers,
as well as collector and gallery liquidation situations. MASTERWORKS works
full time buying and selling art. Utilizing our extensive world-wide network,
we are constantly discovering and being approached with attractive buys
for fine art.
DOES MASTERWORKS CHARGE A COMMISSION, RETAINER OR
BUYERS PREMIUM?
Generally No. MASTERWORKS will give the client a price with our net profit
already built in. If we are brokering a million dollar masterpiece, we
may do it at our cost plus a small percentage (i.e. generally 3 - 5%).
Payment |
Masterworks Fine Art, Inc. accepts American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Discover; wire transfers, money orders, and checks for payment. We also accept Paypal. We reserve to the right to refuse credit card shipments to foreign addresses if they do not go the verified billing address. We can, by special arrangement, also do some short term financing (art cannot be shipped until art is fully paid for). |
| Fees | Shipments to California to pay local destination sales tax. |
| Shipping | We ship Federal Express fully insured. We charge actual shipping costs, plus the cost of the box/packing material. We never charge a handling fee. If you need an estimate of shipping costs feel free to contact us. Thank you. |
| Delivery | Unless requested, we usually ship within 3 days of payment clearance. We ship daily M-F. Special arrangements can be made if needed. |
| Refunds & Returns | Customer
satisfaction is our priority. Full refunds given if not fully satisfied with purchase. Refund request must be made within 7 days of receipt, thereafter all sales final. Returned items must be in same condition as when shipped, and should be returned by FEDEX. Trade-ups allowed under the following guidelines, or as long as you own a work of art from us, but no further discounts can be applied other than the current posted Net Price. Trading back amount must be for art purchases that are at least 50% more than the amount of the credit. I.e. if the amount of the purchase is $10,000, no more than $5000 of that purchase can be made using art that has been traded-back. After one year period from the purchase date, acceptance of a trade-back is subject to management approval. If the artwork purchase was of consigned art, no trade-back will be accepted. |
| Contact US | We endeavor to respond to all emails within 24 hours. We may be out of the office Saturday and Sunday, and if so may cause a slight delay in responding. Our complete contact information is below: |
