AUTHOR: Alisha TITLE: Ebay Art DATE: 1/05/2005 06:47:00 PM ----- BODY:

I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm pretty opinionated. I usually like to save my opinions for people that ask. But... then, sometimes I just get the itch to stir things up. Like an unruly kid, I feel the urge to say something unexpected, then sit back, and watch the fireworks fly. So, here I go... Do not sell your "artwork" or "craftwork" on eBay! Do not. It's a dumb idea. It does nothing to increase the perceived value of your work. It does nothing to further your creative career goals. It will give back nothing in the form of collector interaction, growth of your designs, or boosting your name into the art or craft world. On the idea of auction houses like Sotheby's partnering with eBay to sell work? They should wake up and smell Year 2005 with a new outlook. Forget the eBay partnership. Invest more than ever in the technology to host their own online auctions and boost physical traffic at their actual auction locations, where the pressure of the excitement and the gavel will drive up the frenzy. In 2002, the eBay/Sotheby's partnership was struck. Enough. Fly from the nest already! Now, that I've made that perfectly, utterly, entirely CLEAR... Someone please tell me why Susanne Casgar, Editorial Director for Arts Business News, chose to begin the editorial note in a recent issue on how great eBay is for marketing and selling artwork . Huh?!?

----- --------