Digital Avenues

Using online platforms, Kelly’s Collectibles is offering collectors a unique new way to purchase fine art.

Kelly’s Collectibles and Online Art Gallery is based in Montana, but there is no storefront, physical gallery or even an office for clients to drop by at. The entirety of the gallery is based online, where collectors can browse and buy art from the convenience of their own homes. Kelly Shaeffer of Kelly’s Collectibles and Online Art Gallery. Photo courtesy Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot.

“People are getting used to buying things online,” says owner Kelly Shaeffer. “It helps that I have a lot of inventory to look through because it keeps people looking. And all of the information is right there at their fingertips.”

Shaeffer primarily uses eBay for her online gallery space, and currently has more than 500 works listed there—everything from traditional Western oils to bronze and wood sculpture to ceramics and contemporary works. And even though some of the works available are in the mid-five figures (a Pati Stajcar Temujin bronze is listed at $45,000), she is seeing more and more customers buying art online due to the ease and reliability of transaction.Dave McNally, Evening on the Refuge, oil on panel, 30 x 40”

“Some people are a bit leery at first, but the platform makes it easier,” Shaeffer says, adding that she has a solid 100 percent feedback rating. “I sold an Ed Ruscha to a collector who paid $35,000 for it and I worked closely with him and the insurance company to get the piece to his framing company while he was in Europe on vacation. It went very smoothly.”

There are also many protections built into the process at eBay and PayPal, which is how many customers pay for their art. Additionally, Etsy, where Shaeffer also sells artwork, has many built-in systems to help protect buyers and sellers from fraud listings or bogus products. Any misgivings about purchasing online are quickly addressed by either Shaeffer or one of her online platforms.Bob Scriver (1914-1999), Race to the Rendezvous, 1984, bronze, ed. 7 of 75, 15½ x 22 x 9"

Shaeffer also has the support of her artists, most of whom consign work to her to sell online. “The artists want to have their work seen, and eBay is used by more than 180 million people around the world. Our listings get seen,” she says. “Right now my customers are really loving the horse works, as well as wildlife and landscapes. We attract collectors because it’s convenient and the artwork is wonderful.” —