Click on a button above for further information concerning that aspect.

The Idea:

If copying is a particular problem for digital artwork (such as music), then instead of retailing it one copy at a time (on CDs), why not sell it in one go?

It's very similar to retail: everyone pays the same price, which is set by what the market will bear, but this time the price is set and the sale made, by the purchasers en masse - in advance of the release. This enables the artist to obtain the bulk of their revenue before their artwork can be copied.

The Auction:

1. The artist offers up a work and demo of their digital art for auction to their audience.
2. Each bidder specifies a fair retail price that they are prepared to back up with a purchase.
3. After enough bids and an audition, the artist can agree to sell at a specific retail price.
4. This price is paid by each bidder whose bid meets or exceeds it.
5. All successful bidders pay the same, final retail price and are provided with access to a digital copy of the artwork.
6. Unsuccessful bidders pay nothing, receive nothing.

The Business Case:

If digital artists such as you are finding the returns from conventional publishing routes rather poor, then the Digital Art Auction should be worth a try. Why? Check out the analysis.

The Prototype:

Ultimately, this website is expected to host a fully operational auction system. At the moment, given it's very much a spare time pursuit by one person (me), progress is fairly slow.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.