Epailive, Invaluable links to extend online auction sales

Epailive.com, and Invaluable.com entered a strategic partnership on April 11 in Beijing.[Photo/provided to China Daily]

China's online live auction marketplace for art and antiques, Epailive.com, and its US counterpart Invaluable.com entered a strategic partnership on April 11 in Beijing to capture 95 percent market share of the global online artwork sales.

Last year, global art worth 47.42 billion euros ($65.51 billion) changed hands, with the United States accounting for 38 percent share, ranking first, and China at second place with 24 percent stake, said Rob Weisberg, CEO, Invaluable.com, citing TEFAF's annual report.

However, art worth 2.5 billion euros, around five percent of the total, were sold online, he added, predicting that online art sales will exceed 10 billion euros by 2020, with an annual growth rate of 25 percent.

Weisberg said auction houses that form partnership with the largest US online artworks auction platform, which lists more than $4 billion fine art, antiques and collectible items on its platform, can connect with numerous Asia buyers, while buyers in the US can discover Chinese contemporary artwork they admire in an easier way.

Beijing-based EpaiLive has more than 100,000 members in China.

"With this alliance, we are increasing the inventory available on the auction market in Asia with the vast selection of Asian arts and antiques offered by auction houses in North America that cooperate with us, while ensuring the smooth transaction between the two markets with the large-amount margin payment platform," said Weisberg.

Rebecca Li, vice general manager, Epailive, said that this move will help Chinese local auction companies to extend their reach to buyers outside China and help improve services for its more than 100,000 members in China.

Epailive has tie-ups with 1,000 auction houses around the world.