RAINBIRD FINE ART

• Buying Art From Rainbird
• Buying Contemporary Art
• Selling Contemporary Art
• Valuing Contemporary Art

Buying Art From Rainbird

We make buying as risk free as possible and understand, after years of running a gallery, that it can be much more comfortable for buyers to consider art in the environment and lighting where it will actually hang which is usually the home or office. When you see something on our website that you may be interested in please contact us by email using the 'INFO about this artwork' button so that the art is clearly identified. You can find this button when clicking through on any image to the end display page. When you use this button your enquiry will automatically have the art and the art ID attached to your message so there is no confusion. If you have a space, either domestic or commercial, and may like to consider hanging art, please feel free to ask our advice and wherever possible we will stop by and offer advice and suggestions. Subject to prior appointment this service can operate seven days a week and please see 'Contact' for information on how to contact us.

Please note: The following does not apply with 'Private Sales' if the owner choses to deal directly with the buyer via our 'Intro Service'.

Buying directly from our website
If, after contacting us and we have answered any queries you may have, you did wish to go ahead and purchase, payment can be made by cash, cheque, credit or debit card and delivery arrangements made accordingly. We can accept: VISA, MASTERCARD, DINERS, JCB, SOLO, UK MAESTRO, MAESTRO, SWITCH (TR), VISA (TR) PIN TRAIN, DELTA & ELECTRON with details taken by telephone, text or email as preferred by the buyer. PLEASE NOTE: For payment by credit card we have to add a 2.5% surcharge to cover the commission charged to us by the credit card companys. We would normally deliver in the UK or overseas using domestic or international couriers. Your purchase would be covered by our 7 day (14 for overseas) return guarantee if you decided not to keep the art.

Viewing before buying
If you should wish to view the art before committing, you can visit us if the art is available, or if you are in London or the Home Counties, where viable we will bring the art to your home or office for viewing. If we do not have the art in the UK we can also ship directly to clients from overseas artists subject to prior negotiation. The 'bringing to you' for viewing service varies according to where you are geographically and the actual timing will depend on if we have the works immediately available at our London or Poole premises. If, after viewing, you do wish to buy the art, we can accept cash or credit cards (as above - note 2.5% surcharge applies) or debit card payments and cheques from previous clients. We cannot leave art for consideration without receiving payment as this would ivalidate our insurance and our obligations to the artists (see below)

Retaining for consideration
If a client wishes to have a painting bought to them for viewing and then wishes to retain it for consideration, we can also usually agree to this for 7 days providing payment is made. If they then decide they do not want to keep the art within the 7 day period we will arrange for the full payment to be re-paid (less any service, delivery or shipping costs) after the art is returned to us in the same condition as it was sent. Art must be returned securely packed and if not by hand, by a fully insured courier with proof of dispatch and delivery as we will not be able to refund for items that are damaged in transit. If we are required to collect the art a pre-agreed service charge, normally £75.00 for London and £100.00 for the Home Counties, will be deducted from the returned payment.

Art Licensing
If you wish to discuss reproduction of any of the art on our website for uses such as brochures, advertising, editorial, cards or jigsaw puzzles etc. please always ask. We have wide experience in the art licensing business and will help wherever we can subject to approval of the artist, copyright and ownership restrictions. NOTE: Copyright to all images on this website remains with Rainbird Fine Art or the creators and reproduction of any form is strictly forbidden without prior written consent.

Buying Contemporary Art

Please note that the following is generally intended for those who may be new to buying contemporary art and only refers to unique, original art and not prints, reproductions or any form of disposable art or art bought purely for investment potential.

Most people want to add a personal touch to their property, something that reflects their taste and really turns where they live into a individual home. Few things say more about us than the art we select for our walls, it may change our mood, enrich our environment or simply remind us of a special place or occasion. We normally live with the art we buy for many years and our children may even inherit it so choosing works that we will still want to live with in years to come can be a thought and time consuming process.

For most of us who buy original contemporary art, choosing it will probably be one of the most personal and subjective choices we make in life. Almost everyone seems to have a different perspective on what they like (the old joke among art dealers is that if a person says "I need to come back with my partner for a second opinion" you can normally forget the sale) and we cannot say how many times people have said to us "I don't like that" or "I could never live with that on my wall" - only for the next person to buy it.

Some people buy 'safe' pictures of landscapes, flowers or still life's - or simply based on if the colour fits in with their current living environment. Others may buy when they are on vacation or because of the subject matter. Some will only buy from artists they know or because they collect a particular artist, while still others will go out of their way to source challenging, edgy, even outsider art that makes a real visual impact when you visit their homes. Whether people actually 'like' a piece of art or not can be related to a myriad of subjective reasoning including all of the above plus technique, colour or monochrome, interpretation of the narrative of a picture and even a frame can have an influence. A painting that some find interesting could be regarded as sinister by a different pair of eyes. Everyone it seems has a different 'eye' and opinion when it comes to what they like and this becomes even more subjective when they are actual buyers of contemporary art, as against the many who only comment.

Our general advice for those who may be new to buying original art is firstly to look at as much as possible and then always and only buy what you personally like. Try not be influenced or persuaded by friend's opinions, or people 'who know about art', 'write about art' or 'talk about art' as these people rarely if ever actually buy art. Be very wary of the painting efforts of 'celebrities' (and their friends and siblings) as these are often given totally undeserved press hype and gallery exposure while many really talented artists are totally ignored. Also try not to be swayed by gallery owners (or the glass of wine) or dealers who may 'talk up' a piece and if you are not sure always arrange to have a second look or to think about it. Of course this does mean you run the risk of losing the piece but it is much better to be absolutely sure before you buy - but again, always buy what you really like. Buyers should also be a little wary of 'investing' in the original art of poster and print artists that are often outrageously hyped by their publishing houses ('most popular', 'most published', 'Britains favourite artist' etc.) for their own commercial agenda as often the market may only really exist for the price of the prints, not the originals. There are a few exceptions of course, Jack Vettriano being one example, but his success has been organic and not through hype. Also if viewing an artist's CV or biography do not pay too much attention to the education or 'studied with' or was 'taught by' etc. as many of the more interesting artists in our experience (and historically) are self taught. Finally, if you are considering buying a painting that is on canvas, always ask to look at the back to make sure the artist has worked using good quality materials and stretchers (ideally hard wood stretchers or even better are the new aluminium section stretchers from the continent) and has left enough canvas 'wrap around' to re-stretch if the stretcher should warp which they can do in different climates or environments.

If you are interested in whether a purchase may become an 'investment', the answer has to be 'you never know'. In the fickle art world an 'unknown artist' can suddenly become collectable for the most unlikely, or lucky, or hyped reasons. It can also depend on how serious or astute an artist is in developing their future career, protecting their reputation and retaining the value of their product. Some are just too prolific for their product to ever increase in value significantly during their lifetime while others may undermine the good work a gallery or dealer may have done for them in the past by under-selling directly via their own websites as their career stalls - or through laziness in older age - or by producing too many 'similars'. Again, the very best reason for buying contemporary art should always be that you really like the piece and want to live with it - not for investment purposes. However, if like many of our clients you do go on to become 'a collector' and build up an eclectic collection of contemporary art, all it needs is for one of those artist's to become 'collectible' and that one painting could underwrite the cost of your whole collection. Finally, the really wonderful thing about owning unique, original contemporary art is that you will own the only one in the world and make no mistake, people do notice when they enter a home if it has original art on the walls.

Selling Contemporary Art

The Private Sales section on our website is provided for private owners wishing to find buyers for previously purchased or inherited art. The art must be original, by known or/and established artists and acceptable by Rainbird Fine Art. This website is constantly promoted and often features highly in Internet search engine results by people looking to buy or sell their art (like you maybe) and it is visited by collectors from around the world on a regular basis. Some will be on our 'alert' list for when certain artists work becomes available and all will receive our Newsletter where we will try to mention new pieces in our Private Sales section. Our two 'Private Sales' services offered are as follows and owners can chose which they would like to use after we have contacted them regarding an enquiry.

Introduction Only Service (15% commission) When we have received enquiries and subject to the potential buyer's agreement, we pass their contact details on to the owner so that negotiations can be conducted directly between the enquirer and the owner. The owner would then be responsible for validating the enquirer is genuine, for arranging viewings, taking secure payment by an agreed method and for arranging secure packaging and proof of delivery insured shipping. NOTE: It must be clearly understood that with this 'Introduction Only' service Rainbird Fine Art cannot become involved or take any form of responsibility for issues that may subsequently arise regarding payments, shipping, damage in transit, misunderstandings or approval by the buyer. We would inform the buyer that the seller had chosen to make the sale directly and we therefore we could not take any responsibility for any problems that may arise during or after the sale. We would stay in touch with both parties and after the sale was completed would invoice the seller for 15% of the final agreed sale price. Alternatively owners can ask us to act on their behalf with our 'Full Service' below and we would always recommend owners use the 'Full Service' for non UK sales/enquiries.

Full Service (40% commission) After checking authenticity of enquirer, we would describe art to buyer in detail sending additional images where necessary, negotiate, arrange viewings if necessary, take secure payment by method agreed before packing and shipping or delivering. Any delivery costs to us of the artwork is the owner's responsibility and any shipping/delivery costs to the buyer is the buyers responsibility. Please that our commission would include paying the Artist Resale Rights royalty to the relevant collection body if applicable. See 'Artists Resale Rights' (Droit de Suite) royalty in 'GLOSSARY' for brief details or this link for full details. Also the buyer would have 7 days after receipt to return the art if not happy with the product. Our settlement to the owner, to include remittance advice, would be made after this period had elapsed. If a sale does not proceed there is no charge to the owner.

How to have your art included in 'Private Sales'.
Firstly please note that we cannot value or appraise art (see' Valuing Contemporary Art' below) unless it was originally purchased from us, however we will advise owners if we feel the price requires adjustment once it is included on our site. The art can also be advertised as POA (Price On Application) and the price can be given when enquiries come in. To have work included please use the following 3 point procedure. We cannot comment on any art until we have actually seen good images.

1. Email good quality Jpegs (digital camera files) with a head on view and as perfectly square as possible. Include frame if framed but with any glass removed before photographing. NOTE: Jpegs must be at least 600 pixels at 72dpi over the smallest height or width. Attach full details to include size of painted image area only in centimetres and the price you wish to advertise at. Also enclose your full name, address and contact details plus any details you have of the artist (if they are not on our main database).

2. Submissions will be checked by our Webmaster and after that we will contact you with any questions or querys.

3. Subject to agreement and after payment is made (as in 'Charges and commission' below) using debit or credit card or cheque we will then publish the images.

Charges and commission
We charge a small administration fee as follows for optimising and uploading each piece with the relevant information to our website (admin. fee waived if the art was originally purchased from us or if the advertiser is a past client of ours):
1 piece: £15.00 or the equivalent in Euros or US dollars
2 - 5 pieces: £12.50 each or the equivalent in Euros or US dollars
6 - 10 pieces: £10.50 each or the equivalent in Euros or US dollars
10 -12 pieces: £9.50 each or the equivalent in Euros or US dollars
More than 12 pieces: By negotiation. Payment can be made by debit or credit card or a cheque drawn on a UK bank.
Commission: Introduction Service: 15% of the final agreed sale price.  (Explanation above)
                          Full service:                  40% of the final agreed price. (Expanation above)
We require payment before images can be published. If you wish to pay by cheque please request our address or if by credit card (2.5% surcharge applies) or debit card we can call you to take details over the phone. Please advise us which you prefer.
Please note: Admin fees are non returnable and we reserve the right to remove images from our website in the event that Rainbird Fine Art is compromised in any way by actions of its advertisers.

Art may stay on our site for for one year and if a buyer is not found the second year is free. If the art should sell via our site's introduction the buyer or/and seller will inform us of any resulting sale and we will invoice for our commission (Introduction Service) or send payment less our commission (Full Service). Owners are free to advertise their art elsewhere and we request to be informed if it should sell so we can mark it as sold or remove it from our website. As this service is mainly conducted by email and we may need to contact owners urgently, owners must have a regularly checked email account even when on holiday. If interested please contact us in the first instance by email using the address at 'CONTACT'

Valuing Contemporary Art

Valuing a piece of contemporary art to sell that an owner has bought 'subjectively' (I have just the spot for that in my house, colour, subject, size, artist etc. etc.) can be difficult as to achieve the full value, the seller will need to find a buyer who likes the piece as much as they did when they first bought it - or for the same reasons. It can often be the case that the 'value' will be what buyers are prepared to pay, not what owners think it is worth. If you are selling the work of a living, still exhibiting artist an idea of their current selling price, related to the size and year of the painting, can normally be obtained by researching on the Internet via dealers and other art websites. However this can only give a very general idea of a value as often the artist may have gone through different periods and probably have worked on different materials and this can be particularly applicable to those artists who started their careers as illustrators. It is also often the case that certain paintings among the output of most artists are just generally more liked by more people and therefore tend to 'ripen' and have a higher potential secondary market value.

If you are selling the work of a deceased artist, who may or may not be regarded as 'known or collectable' again you can research through the Internet but also there are a number of art auction websites that will give the results of auction sales (normally fee payable) which may be able to give auction results for your artist. However be aware that the auction results, if any, may not be what you are hoping for and again the actual picture and when it was painted can make a lot of difference to the 'value'. Auction results are in fact not always a very good place to value individual pieces of art as many of the sales will have gone to dealers who obviously buy as cheaply as possible to sell on. Also they will have had to pay commissions and buyers premiums etc. which are not always reflected in these result prices. However the main auction houses normally will give an idea of auction estimates when asked and their websites normally give guidance on how to approach them.

Rainbird Fine Art cannot value art (unless it was bought from us originally) as there are just so many variables to be considered and in the past we have been used for price checking simply for owners to sell or advertise elsewhere. As we said earlier, often the 'value' will be what buyers are prepared to pay, not what owners think it is worth. If the art is interesting and of good quality 'that buyer' will almost certainly exist but they could be anywhere in the world and that's why having it featured on the Rainbird Fine Art website may help to find that buyer.

If you do not want to put a price you can also put the piece on our website with with POA (Price On Application) attached and then when you receive enquiries make a decision on what you would want for it, however POA can deter enquiries. Details on how to approach us can be found under 'Selling Privately Owned Art' above and we prefer by email in the first instance so we can give considered replies.