In Uncertain Times, Value Prevails: A Guide to Resilient Art Investments

Secondly – and this is a point often overlooked – choose your selling and buying platforms with care. Not all sales channels are equal, especially under current conditions. Traditional auction houses can be great for certain high-end pieces, but they also fix your sale to a specific date and location, and they come with hefty fees. If the auction happens to coincide with, say, a major economic scare or a sudden tariff announcement, you’re out of luck – timing is out of your control. In contrast, private sales and curated online marketplaces allow for more flexibility. Indeed, in recent years we’ve seen a shift: auction rooms are getting quieter and more galleries turning to online platforms, a trend that suits Prints and Multiples well.

The rise of online art trading means collectors can negotiate sales on their own schedule, compare prices easily, and reach a global audience without committing to the one-shot gamble of an auction. Now is the time to capitalise on that.

We at MyArtBroker, of course, offer a blend of brokerage expertise and an online marketplace, effectively putting collectors in the driver’s seat. If you’re selling, you can list an artwork for sale to a network of vetted buyers, and crucially, you have control over timing – you might test the waters now, and if the right price isn’t achieved, choose to hold the work until conditions improve. As a buyer, you can browse a curated selection of blue-chip prints and editions and make an offer when it suits you, rather than scrambling to bid in a 10-minute window on auction day. The ability to choose when and where you buy and sell means you can align transactions with your strategy: for example, selling a piece just before a new tariff kicks in, or buying when currency rates are in your favour. In a volatile environment, this kind of agility can protect and even enhance what you can collect and what you can return.

Lastly, don’t go it alone if you don’t have to. The art market has always been relationship-driven, and in uncertain times, leveraging expert advice is part of a smart strategy. Seasoned brokers and consultants can alert you to shifting market trends (say, that collectors are piling back into a certain artist’s prints, or that a policy change is looming) and help you position your portfolio accordingly. Think of it like having a financial advisor – only here the assets are works of art. For instance, if you’re eyeing a particular £20,000 print, a specialist might know that its auction performance has been strong in the UK but weaker in the US (perhaps due to those import fees), and advise you to buy from a European source. Or if you need to raise liquidity, a broker could help you target a private sale to an international buyer who’s specifically looking for that work, rather than dumping it in a public auction that isn’t tailor-made for it. In short, strategy and informed brokerage have become essential tools for the collector-investor. They were always important, but the current mix of market bifurcation and trade uncertainty makes them critical.