Frequently asked questions about artnet Market Performance Reports

1. What are artnet Market Performance Reports?

The seven charts in each artnet Market Performance Report compile yearly auction market information from artnet’s Price Database on over 4,300 of the most important artists driving the global public auction market. Considered collectively, these charts provide information that assists collectors, appraisers, advisors, curators, financial institutions and art investors when tracking such market trends as liquidity, volatility, sales volume, and pricing for artworks of interest. A brief description of each chart is provided below and a sample artnet Market Performance Report is shown on the Market Trends home page.

Chart 1: Global Auction Sales Volume

This chart shows total sales volume of all lots recorded in artnet’s Price Database for the reports that you select, including sales transactions from hundreds of the most important auction venues in the world. Sales volume trends for an artist provide an insight into market demand for the artist’s work and suggest market liquidity and volatility when considered in conjunction with lot transactional data.

Chart 2: Top 10 Lots Sold

This chart provides prices for the top 10 lots sold each year and shows the portion of total sales that the top 10 represents. The highest priced works for an artist are usually a good measure of the market strength for that artist. This data is also useful when analyzing the possible effect of exceptionally high priced works on other market measurements such as average prices and total sales volume. It may suggest the depth of the market, a key measure of liquidity. Note that for statistical methodology reasons, reported sales prices include an adjustment for estimated buyers’ premiums when only the auction hammer price is reported by the auction house. In such cases, sales prices may not match those recorded in artnet's Price Database.

Chart 3: Lots Sold and Bought-In

An important measure of market demand and liquidity in the art market is not only how many art pieces are offered for sale, but the proportion of pieces that were bought-in. Bought-in lots are those lots that did not sell for at least the “reserve” price, which is a confidential minimum price set by the seller and the auction house prior to the sale. This stacked-bar chart provides a visual guide that shows the bought-in trend as well as actual lot numbers in the accompanying table.

Chart 4: Average Sale Price and Mean Estimate

This chart shows average prices compared with mean auction estimates. Average prices are total sales divided by total lots sold. Mean estimates are the average of the high and low estimate provided by the auction house prior to the sale. In cases where an estimate range is not provided, we use the auction house estimate number as the mean estimate. In cases where an estimate number and range are not provided, we eliminate the lot transaction from the averages calculations. Trends in the relationship between auction house estimates and actual prices achieved show market demand dynamics and may suggest upward and downward influences on future price levels and relative liquidity.

Chart 5: Lots Sold for Greater Than High Estimate & Lots Sold for Less Than Mean Estimate

This price segmentation chart portrays the percentage of sales that were transacted above the high estimate, compared with those that sold below the mean estimate. In cases where no high or mean estimate is provided by the auction house, the lot transaction remains in the denominator of the calculation. Trends in either direction assist with analyses of market momentum and may indicate buying and selling windows in light of market demand.

Chart 6: Normalized Sales, Lots, and Price Data

Normalized information equates data of any kind to a base-year starting point (usually 100) and then shows percentage increases and decreases through time relative to the base year as the underlying data changes. The three indices portrayed on this chart show yearly increases and decreases in total sales volume, total lots sold and average sales prices, providing a visual snapshot of related market dynamics. For example, an increase in total sales may result from an increase in number of lots sold, despite a reduction in average sales price. Total sales could also decline as average price increases and lots decrease. These market movements may suggest buying and selling strategies for seasoned collectors and art investors. Note that in cases where there are no sale transactions in any given year after the year in which the first sales transaction occurs, we do not show a Chart 6 for methodological reasons.

For Chart 6, we provide both a Linear Chart View and a Log Chart View. Log charts differ from the more common linear charts in that a log chart features a logarithmic scale on the Y Axis. This means that each unit of distance reflects an equal percentage change i.e. percentage gains take up the same amount of vertical distance. For example, the distance between 25 to 50 and 50 to 100 would be shown to have the same amount of vertical spacing on the Y Axis, because each change is a 100 percent increase. Log charts enable the trained viewer to detect percentage swings more easily, especially in high growth and volatile data situations, which appear frequently in art auction market data. Linear charts use absolute unit measurements on the Y Axis (such as dollars, lots etc.) to chart unit volume changes, which may visually appear to be insignificant in earlier years of time series data, though the percentage increase could be dramatic.

Chart 7: Estimated Monthly Searches on the artnet Price Database

Trends in the search activity on the artnet Price Database provide a valuable look at the level of interest that art industry insiders have in specific artists. Our subscribers include thousands of collectors, galleries and art advisors and over 500 leading art institutions that use this auction market data for appraisals, auction estimates and private art transactions. Interest in an artist among these key industry players, or lack thereof, may ultimately contribute to market demand dynamics. Chart 7 shows search metrics for artists during the most recent 12 months prior to the date of your report, without regard to medium categories.

2. For how many artists can I see an artnet Market Performance Report?

Over 4,300. Each artist has an All Works (excluding prints) artnet Market Performance Report which is automatically generated by clicking the artist’s name in the artnet Market Performance Reports Directory. Many artists also have Artist Medium Reports which can be viewed by clicking the artist name in the Directory. The number in parenthesis following each report description in the Directory is the number of lots available as data points used in the charts.

3. What are Artist Medium Reports?

In cases where an artist works in multiple media (painting, sculpture, works on paper, prints, photography or installations), Artist Medium Reports are available for those media, within certain minimum data requirements. When specific Artist Medium Reports are available, they are indicated in the artnet Market Performance Reports Directory.

4. What are School of Reports?

School of Reports pertain to those lots identified by the auction houses that cannot be directly attributed as an original work by the artist but are associated in some manner with the artist. For example, the creation of such artworks could have been overseen by the artist in a broader production environment, or other lesser-known artists could have created the art in the style or manner of their acknowledged master. These cases are largely found involving Old Masters and artists living before the 19th century but exceptions do occur.

5. Are prints included in the data?

Lot transactions from print sales are excluded for all charts unless there is a specific Print Medium Report for the artist.

6. Are outliers (the highest and lowest priced pieces) included in the data?

Yes. All lot transactions are included. Although unusually high or low priced transactions can arguably distort certain measurements, such as average prices, disclosing all available information provides a truer understanding of the dynamics of the art market. Furthermore, Chart #2 shows the top 10 lots for each year to assist with outlier analysis.

7. Are hammer and premium prices included in the data?

Although most auction houses these days report transactions prices that include a buyer’s premium, some auction houses report only the hammer price. Based on analysis of historical auction catalogs, we apply a formula to all records with hammer prices only, to estimate the effect of a buyer’s premium. All prices we use in the artnet Market Performance Reports are either reported or equated to hammer price plus buyer’s premium. Lot price data may therefore differ from data provided in artnet’s Price Database, wherein hammer adjustments are not made.

8. Do the artnet Market Performance Reports include art gallery sales information?

No. The data is only from public auction records.

9. How do I purchase an artnet Market Performance Report package?

Click on the heading “Market Trends” in the grey bar across the top of any artnet page. Here you will see pricing information for the reports and a large orange button that says Purchase Now. Please click this button.

Step 1:	Select a Type of Subscription This link will take you to the first step of the subscribing process: Choose a subscription. Please be sure you are on the “Performance Reports” tab towards the top of the page. Here you will see the five separate subscription packages. On this page, you must select a package and then click the orange Add to Cart button under the subscription you wish to purchase.
Step 2:	Review Your Order This step will help you review the services you have requested to purchase. If you wish to remove a service, simply click the appropriate box in the Remove column and click the orange Update Cart button. If you wish to make further purchases, select the desired service from the beige “Add Another Service” box. When you have reviewed your final selection, please click the orange Next button.
Step 3:	Enter your Billing Information The third step of the registration process will ask for your billing information. Any field marked with a star is required to continue the process. Please enter a valid email address so that we can contact you in the event that your credit card expires. The Username and Password must be a minimum of four characters. The Password hint will be given to you in the future if you forget your password. Please be sure that your username, password and password hint are all different, or you will not be able to continue. You must also confirm that you have reviewed and that you accept artnet’s Terms and Conditions. Click Next at the bottom of the page to go on to the next step. If you wish to cancel the transaction, please click the “Cancel This Sign Up” button. If you have missed a required field, or have entered a username that is already in use, you will be asked to fix the fields highlighted in yellow before you continue on to the next step.
Step 4:	Review and Complete your Order On this page you will see a summary of the service(s) that you selected and the billing information that you entered. Please review carefully. If any information is inaccurate or missing, click the Edit Info button to go back to the billing page and then edit changes. If everything looks correct, please hit the Purchase button at the bottom to charge your credit card and finalize your order.
Step 5:	Print receipt Once you have purchased your order you will be taken to a confirmation page that you can print for your records and an email will be sent to verify your charge. Click Continue to go to your Member Services Home and begin using your service. *Note: If you already have a username and password and wish to purchase another subscription, simply login with your existing username and password and click on the type of subscription that you want under “Buy a Service” – this will take you through a similar sign-up process without requiring you to create a new username and password.

10. When does my Artnet Market Performance Report package expire?

All artnet Market Performance Report packages expire one year from the data of purchasing the package. During the year, you can purchase individual reports up to the maximum number of reports included in your package, which are stored for one year from the date of purchasing the reports under My Saved Artnet Market Performance Reports. You can also purchase more than one package type at any time and your number of available remaining reports will be indicated on the Membership Services Page.

11. How often are the artnet Market Performance Reports updated?

Semi-annually. The fine art auction market is seasonal, with the majority of yearly auction sales occurring during the important Spring and Fall auctions. Our data entry operations are very efficient in reporting auction results as they are released by the major auction houses. However, in order to account for data that is released on a delayed basis by secondary auction venues, we update our reports within 90 days after the end of each season.

12. What are "My Saved Reports"?

We store individual artnet Market Performance Reports purchased by our customers for one year from the data of purchase on the artnet computer server system. By logging on to artnet.com, customers can access and view all reports purchased under "My Saved Reports", which is available free of charge on the artnet Member Services page under "My Account".

13. Are artnet Market Performance Reports available for art movements and collector categories?

Not yet. However, artnet is developing a second generation of artnet Market Performance Reports that will include these broader compilations of art market data.

14. Do I need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view the artnet Market Performance Reports?

Yes. artnet Market Performance Reports are created in a file form known as Portable Document Format (PDF). This is for ease of consistent viewing, printing and storing your reports. Adobe Acrobat Reader is the standard software program used to view all PDF files. If your computer currently does not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here to download from Adobe.com.