It is quite simple really: If you want a random obscure, relatively valuable piece of furniture, in good condition, and right now, where are you going to go?
1stdibs is basically the a distributed, predictive warehouse. It costs the hoarders quite a bit to purchase and restore all those items and then hold on to them, sometimes for years and years waiting for you to finally decide you are ready for the item. So it costs you a fair bit to get an item from the 1stdibs warehouse.
On the other hand if you are fine with whatever random junk in poor condition will show up in your neighborhood in the next week or so, you can imagine you might pay a bit less.
Does that make sense?
A big part of their market is people with deep pockets who hire interior designers to do up their places and shop for stuff for them. Designers typically get a percentage of the budget for a project, so the higher the price, the bigger their cut.
1stDibs gives dealers a venue where they can reach this market and where the market can reach them without a lot of running around (online or locally) and maybe not finding what they want. Dealers have to go through a vetting process, too. I don't know what all that entails but I do know you can't just register on the site and start selling. Dealers have to maintain a certain volume of inventory, too, and 1stDibs' cut isn't exactly peanuts.
And one other thing---just because something is listed for $2,000 doesn't mean that's what it will sell for. Many times dealers will accept lower offers.
I used to get annoyed at them but once I understood what they're about I got over that---it's actually a pretty great resource when researching mystery pieces or figuring out what original upholstery, webbing, weaving, etc. should look like. They have the best photos and often there are shots of small but very significant details that just aren't visible in most other photos online.
Alternatively, you could say that it is cheaper for an interior designer to go to 1stdibs than the other option.
The other option would be for the interior designer to spend untold weeks and months and years driving around the countryside, like your average picker, looking for exactly the right Hans Wegner for Andreas Tuck desk, in teak, not oak nor oak and teak, and with two drop leaves, and in restorable condition. And so on for every piece.
That would make the budget ballon like you can't imagine.
The other thing to keep in mind is that 1stdibs tends to have things in really excellent condition. Not always, but having walked around a few shops that list on 1stdibs, I'd say the condition is much better than you'd find in the average antique/resale shop, let alone find in the average antique mall/flea market/yard sale.
There is also overhead operating costs. It is not cheap for a 1stdibs shop to rent in a prime location like Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles and other high end locations where people with deep pockets shop. People with means just have to have what they want because they can, a high price tag is not an issue.
True, 1stdibs dealers sell some of the best stuff with the best provenance but their bread and butter inventory also comes from where most design enthusiast on a budget shop, at the bottom of the pool. In my early days of collecting (1990's) I practically have to chain myself to a piece I want to purchase, dealers are fierce and cut throat when it comes to the acquiring their inventory. I witnessed a dealer took a large 1930's pressed steel streamlined toy car from a child's arms who was left unattended for a second by a parent shopping in a thrift store.
I sold some items that I found in a thrift store to a 1stdibs dealer for $500 so I could buy a replacement water heater for my house. The same item is now in a 1stdibs dealer in San Francisco with an asking price of $5,000.
from spanky's comment: "...1stDibs' cut isn't exactly peanuts.
And one other thing---just because something is listed for $2,000 doesn't mean that's what it will sell for. Many times dealers will accept lower offers."
This has been my experience too. Which makes me wonder how 1st Dibs' "cut" works? It can't work like eBay or an auction house where the fee is a percentage of the selling price because 1st Dibs doesn't seem to require exclusivity. A dealer's items will be listed on 1st Dibs, the dealer's own website and in the showroom. I can't imagine many transactions actually occur via the 1st Dibs website. So does 1st Dibs just charge a flat fee per item, or maybe a flat fee per dealer?
Hi,
I was writing about 1stdibs in a older post:
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This discussion is very interesting. The way 1stdibs (I should say there listed dealers) can take such a huge over price is sometimes absurd. Take a Hans J. Wegner chair for instance. On 1stdibs.com it cost $3,200 whereas Barnebys has a low estimation of $200 on the same chair.
Links to both sites:
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/armchairs/hans-j-wegner-chair-... (1stdibs)
https://www.barnebys.com/auctions/lot/268084295/armlehnstuhl/ (Barnebys)
I searched for other objects on Barnebys and 1stdibs and found similar results.
My question now. Who buys from 1stdibs? Is it merely rich people who doesn't have time and energy to scan the market? Or could it be 1stdibs strong trademark that enables them to take such a high price?
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I believe that you guys have answered my question! When it comes to 1stdibs business model it is quite astonishing. 1stdibs’ GMV in 2014 was $1.1 billion, a 20% increase over the previous year, and online sales increased 108% year-on-year. There are over two million visitors per month and 1.2 million site registrant. (Source: Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2015).
mullacc
- 09 Sep 2015
from spanky's comment: "...1stDibs' cut isn't exactly peanuts.
And one other thing---just because something is listed for $2,000 doesn't mean that's what it will sell for. Many times dealers will accept lower offers."
This has been my experience too. Which makes me wonder how 1st Dibs' "cut" works? It can't work like eBay or an auction house where the fee is a percentage of the selling price because 1st Dibs doesn't seem to require exclusivity. A dealer's items will be listed on 1st Dibs, the dealer's own website and in the showroom. I can't imagine many transactions actually occur via the 1st Dibs website. So does 1st Dibs just charge a flat fee per item, or maybe a flat fee per dealer?
I have a good friend of mine that sells on 1st Dibs. He has a shop in midtown were I live and rarely opens it up to the public because most of the items he has the average shopper couldn't afford at his escalated prices. My friend told me that he pays 1st Dibs $1400 a month plus a small percentage of the final sales price. The last time I was in his shop (3 months ago) he had just sold a Edward Wormley for Dunbar round coffee table to someone in New York for $8000. Good for my friend but to be honest...... That Dunbar table wasn't worth $8 grand.......
Peruche
" On 1stdibs.com it cost $3,200 whereas Barnebys has a low estimation of $200 on the same chair."
There is a big difference here that renders direct comparison useless. Dibs is a retail site. Barneby's is an auction site. Auction houses very often will give a low estimate on the value of a piece just to generate excitement. If something generally sells for around $2,000 and the auction house says they expect it to sell for $200-400, a lot of people will lock onto it thinking they're going to get it for way less than market value! Some people are likely to get very proprietary about it, thinking of it as theirs before the bidding even starts, and some may get carried away and bid higher than they intended---all of which is great for the auction house.
And the Dibs seller who has a $2000 item listed for $3200 may well end up getting $2000 net in the end. Or less.
Hello
Thanks for having a level headed conversation about 1stdibs. I'm surprised more people don't understand the concept of retail vs. wholesale, and pricing being influenced by buying environment. The price of the exact same thing in a suburban antique store in Kansas, that does not ship, is going to be very different than the price of something in New York City in a show room on a major street, that ships all over the world. Pricing is also an art, not a science.
1stdibs is indeed geared towards interior designers and the very wealthy. I know several 1stdibs dealers, and I have heard that things often go for less than the list price (I have heard 20%) but that still makes the price higher than the fair market price. As far as auctions, they are mostly wholesale, with things sometimes going for retail or even more than a thing is worth if two people in the room really want it or get carried away. Also, there is a new trend in the better auction houses of charging a performance premium. An item is listed at less than it is worth, and if it does better, the consigner is charged a percentage of the "performance" over the high estimate.
Any 1stDibs dealers on here? I'm interested and just wondering what sort of fees they charge. I have heard different figures in terms of their subscription fee to post things, but also wondering about their commission rate on sold items? And do they photograph the items for you?
I have submitted an application to them, but they are very cagy about giving me this information before coming to meet me, which makes me think they are going to go in for the hard sell in person...I'd rather just have the facts up front and have time to think through how their fees would fit into my budget.
I hope this is appropriate to report (if not, I'm sorry 1st dibs!) but we were invited to join them last year. If I recall it was going to cost us $500 per month and some setup fee (I seem to recall it being over $1k but I'm not sure.).. I don't believe there were fees beyond that. I suspect the monthly fee varies depending on the inventory size of the dealer. As we are quite small maybe that's why we were told $500 rather than the $1400 noted above. I really have no idea.
I do know that the dealers I've talked to who sell there said they will often accept 50% of the asking price.
Like others, I value them as a research resource, although I will say I've seen many incorrect attributions over the years, so I take everything with a grain of salt.
The frustrating thing for me is when I'm speaking with people about selling their pieces, or estates, etc, and they look at 1st dibs and think they can ask those sorts of prices from me!
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