

Artsicle lets you rent artworks before you buy them. - user24
http://www.artsicle.com/

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jonnathanson
It's an interesting approach, and I'm not unconvinced that the premise has
some legs. At the same time, your target customer -- and your articulation of
the value proposition for that customer -- seems a little unclear.

Who is your target customer, and what are their pain points re: art buying?
And how does renting-before-buying solve for those pain points?

Let's assume casual or beginning collectors. You're asking them to pay up to
$600 a year to rent a piece, so presumably, you're targetting people who are
in the market for pieces at least in excess of that price tag. In which case,
you're not yet in the super-serious collector segment -- but you're operating
in what must still be the 90th percentile of all art buyers in the country.

On the higher end of the market, let's look at serious but not uber-rich
collectors. What would they get out of this service? Potentially the
following:

1) Provenance? Possibly, but only if you document every person who's rented,
and _probably_ only if those renters are respected collectors or institutions.
Possibly a cool idea to be worked out on this dimension, but also a pitfall if
you don't address it properly. I could see the rental concept's having a
negative effect on provenance if not handled well.

2) Sampling / try-before-you-buy? Maybe. If a piece isn't selling for well
north of $600 to begin with, the economics don't add up. You need customers
who will be looking at the pieces as investments, and not necessarily as
decorations. (In which case, I would suggest choosing different images and
copy on your site to reflect such a mindset. The pics and copy on the site
right now give off an art-as-decor kind of vibe).

My biggest critique is that you seem to be straddling a few lines between
customer segments and use cases. I'm sure you have carefully considered
_exactly_ whom you're targeting and _exactly_ what problem you're solving for
that target. But it's not clear in the layout/UX of the site.

~~~
AlexisTryon
Thanks for your thoughts. The site is still very new and in many ways we are
still uncovering who our exact target customer will be, as the current
customers vary quite a bit in demographic and use cases.

To clarify a bit, the target customer we are currently targeting is a first
time (or very new) art buyer who is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the
traditional gallery sales system. The pain points include generally very high
priced work, cold salespeople, and a general fear of commitment that we see in
purchasing today (ie. the rise of free returns.)

We think of our site as providing the option to "try before you buy".
Essentially, lower the risk to seeing how the work will look in your space for
$50/month, knowing you can return it if it is not right for you. We do not
expect many customers would continue to rent if they love the work they
choose, instead potentially choosing to purchase at that point. Because our
work is by young emerging artists it is generally more affordable for the new
collector as well.

Thanks for your thoughts!

~~~
jonnathanson
Cool, and I wish you guys the best of luck. I'm not an uber-collector myself,
but I'm somewhere between "beginner" and "serious" -- I guess we'll call it
"enthusiastic" about collecting. So I'm just trying to help out as a consumer
in this space, and as someone who's probably not terribly far away from your
target segment.

Thanks for listening, and best wishes on the startup.

~~~
ScotterC
We appreciate it! And we'd love more feedback if you have it. We're working on
narrowing that customer profile some more and need all the help we can get.

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Stuk
This makes me think of this research [0] where students on a photography
course had to choose one photo they took to take home. One half was allowed to
swap after a few days, the others weren't:

"Compared with experiencers whose decisions were escapable, those who were not
allowed to change their minds showed a greater preference for their chosen
photo two and nine days after they had made their decision."

So being able to swap your art may actually make you unhappier in the end! But
it also mentions that people _think_ they'll be happier given the choice, and
will pay good money for it.

[0] <http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/strength.aspx> , under the "The price of
freedom" heading

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bebeastie
I'd be curious to know how the pieces are secured against damage. Does one
need to put down a security deposit while they are in possession of a piece?
If so, is it the full cost of the work or some %? If not, how else are the
pieces secured against damage?

~~~
AlexisTryon
Great question. The renter agrees to a rental agreement, very similar to one
you would see on Rent the Runway or Bag Borrow & Steal (fashion rental sites).
The agreement states that they are responsible for any damage to the work. If
the damage is reparable, such as a cracked frame, then the fee could be quite
low and if it is not reparable the renter essentially buys the work.

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roel_v
Is this new or is there a unique angle to it that I missed? Rent-a-painting
(and rent-a-sculpture etc) has existed here (Netherlands) for at least 10
years, and pretty much all of them offer 'buy if you like' options.

~~~
AlexisTryon
A variety of small galleries here in the US offer the option as well, with
great success. We're hoping we can expand the number of people with access to
this type of art buying to a more national, and hopefully global, community.

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jbarnette
Compare: <http://www.turningart.com>

~~~
ScotterC
The main difference is that with Artsicle you get the original, one of a kind
piece where as with TurningArt you get a reproduction of a work. It's just a
different approach. On TurningArt you may find some more familiar names where
as with Artsicle we're focused on emerging artists before they get their
break.

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user24
I thought it was an interesting business model. Here's the BBC news coverage:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12790787>

~~~
ScotterC
Glad you like it. Let me know if you have any questions about it. I'm one of
the founders (CTO).

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asnyder
I met the artsicle founders at a Hackers & Founders some time back, they're
good guys. I'm glad to see that they've launched to the public. I wish them
the best of luck.

