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CAUTION: Free art price databases, websites, guides, and resources are fine for casual use, and if you know how to use them (most people don't). If you're an amateur looking for a freebie, and you intend to use free online art price information to either buy, sell or otherwise transact in art, watch out! The money you think you're saving can be chump change compared to the money you stand to lose by misinterpreting data or making a mistake. Want to know why? Watch this video, and then read THIS ARTICLE.
The upshot? If significant amounts of money are involved, get an educated non-conflicted professional appraisal first. In many cases, paying a little up front can save you big money later. Don't guess; it can end up costing you dearly. Believe it. Email me -- Alan Bamberger-- or call 415.931.7875. Now for the freebies...
LiveAuctioneers continues to maintain an extensive database not only of past auction sales results, but also of items coming up for auction at sales across the country. It's pretty soup-to-nuts in terms of content-- art, antiques, collectibles, books, posters, and much more-- and generally mid to lower end in terms of quality (but not always). To complicate matters, not all the price results you locate for any particular search are for items that actually sold, even though the entries make it look like they did. So you really have to know what you're doing in order to successfully navigate this site. As for upcoming auctions, if you're thinking about bidding, be very cautious about bidding on any art by better known artists that is described as "Attributed" to the artist, but without specific information about who did the attributing, what their qualifications or expertise is with respect to whatever artist they're attributing, and how they specifically arrived at the attribution.
Update posted July 25, 2017: Art Brokerage is a database of art, mainly of the commercial variety, that is for sale-- NOT SOLD-- but for sale both by private owners and galleries. Most asking prices are no longer listed, but rather replaced with "Price on Request", "Price on Request OBO", "Well Priced", and similar captions. In other words, you now have to email the seller to find out more in most cases. Nowhere near as good a resource as it used to be. Just because it's for sale at a given price does not mean that that's what it's worth.
www.icollector.com is now a site mainly for accessing upcoming auctions, mainly for jewelry, collectibles, coins, military and so on, but art auctions are also included. A number of the sales appear to be of the "liquidation" and "blowout" variety. Results of past auctions are included, but are not easily searchable. Exercise caution here.
: No matter what database you're accessing, if you're not experienced at evaluating art price data, taking action on whatever price results you find, particularly if you're a seller, can be hazardous to your pocketbook. For art appraisal or valuation, click the appraisal link above. If you're not experienced at valuing art, getting an appraisal is highly recommended-- the cost of a professional appraisal is often far less money than you stand to lose if you don't. To read about many of the best art price resources available on the market today, click the reviews link above. As soon as we find another worthwhile free database online, we'll let you know.)
Here are some words of caution about how to interpret auction price data and what it tells you about the art you're researching. If you're not experienced at pricing art, consider any auction results you find as only rough approximations of what your art is worth. For example, some artists sell poorly at auction, but expensively at the retail level. Others have too few records to provide realistic overviews of their selling price structures. And remember that the most recent results in this database are from 1997-- already three years old. Serious researchers should always consider older as well as the most current results when evaluating any artist's selling prices.
Pay the most attention to results that most closely compare to your work of art in size, subject matter, medium, and other particulars. Although it's tempting, avoid concluding that your art is worth as much as the most expensive pieces you find in your searches. Numerous factors go into pricing a work of art. The Interactive Collector database results tell you little or nothing about quality, condition, specifics of sales, subject matters (other than titles), or other details that may have significantly influenced selling prices in one direction or another.
Outside of that, it's time to party!! Anyone can finally get educated ideas of what their art is worth without having to pay through the nose. If, however, you need exact price information for buying, selling, insurance, tax, or donation purposes, get an appraisal.
