[adonin]

Hallo, anyone familiar with theartcircuit.com? Could they be trusted?

They contact me via fb here is excerpts from the letter:

"Hello Alexey,

We think your art is beautiful and would like to share it with our community!

We are an Art network that rotates artwork through Member households every two months. We are currently active in San Francisco, California and are looking across the globe for artwork that fits our curatorial mission. We think your artwork fits perfectly and invite you to contribute to our collection.

Why Did We Create The Art Circuit?

We think it is difficult for artists to find consistent buyers. And buyers spend months or years identifying art and still fear committing too soon given the price of original works. Members trust The Art Circuit to continually expose them to new artists and artwork.

How It Works for Artists (YOU)

We seek 1-3 pieces from your collection to put on The Art Circuit. They must be larger than 20” x 20” inches. Pieces such as Evening at the Sea, Ancient Dreams, or Phantasma.

If your work is on The Art Circuit, we pay you 10% of the wholesale price every six months and collect zero commission if the artwork sells.

We pay the shipping costs but you provide the packaging so you know the work is safe in transit. We also provide insurance for loss or damage.

What Happens to Your Artwork?

1. Members of The Art Circuit can buy your Artwork.
2. We can provide you additional 10% payments for subsequent six month periods.
3. The Artwork is returned to you after six months, either at your request or ours.

Next Steps

If this initiative sounds interesting to you here are the next steps:
· We discuss the wholesale prices of the artwork you are willing to share.
· We send you an electronic Artist Agreement.
· We pay you (We prefer PayPal).
· You work with the shipper to select a pick-up time for your artwork. "

 

[DLeeG]

This is a scam.

 

[adonin]

Thank you for the answer, DLeeG. Why you think this is a scam?

 

[DLeeG]

Life experience

 

[adonin]

Just curious what he gonna do with my works? Sell it? I mean he even wants to pay me some sum (10%) after all. But I agree this is nonsense, all those manipulations.. and strangely they don't have any address, phone number..

 

[TerryCurley]

This screams scam to me also.

 

[Liz]

It works something like this - they give you bogus money to pay their "shipper" and by the time your bank notifies you that the money bounced you would be out of your hard earned cash.

I want to make it clear that I have no personal experience with theartcircuit and my comment is not directed specifically towards it to but internet scams in general.

 

[DLeeG]

Once you have a picture on photobucket, you can change the size with the editor feature.

 

[TerryCurley]

Got it. Will try it with the next post that I want to put a picture in.

 

[adonin]

It works something like this - they give you bogus money to pay their "shipper" and by the time your bank notifies you that the money bounced you would be out of your hard earned cash.

I see... At least he has anything to do with my works, if he wants me to ship it

 

[aronkuehnemann]

The Art Circuit is NOT a Scam

Hello,

My name is Aron Kuehnemann. I am the co-founder of The Art Circuit, with my wife, Saki. You can find us at http://www.theartcircuit.com/, and you can find my personal information on Facebook, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, Skype, etc. The phone number on the site is mine, the photo here is mine, and if you'd like to speak on Skype you will see I look the exact same.

It is sad you think this is a scam. We want to improve the art market for both collectors and artists. You have many beautiful pieces available to share with our network here in San Francisco, CA. And we have a group of people who want to view beautiful art in their homes but are worried about paying high pricing and being locked-in to one piece. The model of only placing artwork for sale in galleries and online is not the only way to organize and share your incredible artworks with the world. Please be mindful that by making these claims without speaking to us or even contacting me via the site to test us, you are helping prevent a new way of sharing artwork. I'd ask you to reconsider and see if this could be a new way forward.

Very Best Regards,
Aron

 

[aronkuehnemann]

Hello,

My name is Aron Kuehnemann. I am the co-founder of The Art Circuit, with my wife, Saki. You can find us at http://www.theartcircuit.com/, and you can find my personal information on Facebook, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, Skype, etc. The phone number on the site is mine, the photo here is mine, and if you'd like to speak on Skype you will see I look the exact same.

It is sad you think this is a scam. We want to improve the art market for both collectors and artists. You have many beautiful pieces available to share with our network here in San Francisco, CA. And we have a group of people who want to view beautiful art in their homes but are worried about paying high pricing and being locked-in to one piece. The model of only placing artwork for sale in galleries and online is not the only way to organize and share your incredible artworks with the world. Please be mindful that by making these claims without speaking to us or even contacting me via the site to test us, you are helping prevent a new way of sharing artwork. I'd ask you to reconsider and see if this could be a new way forward.

Very Best Regards,
Aron

 

[Owner]

This is a scam.

I just joined this forum to assert that The Art Circuit is real. It is a public-spirited newly formed startup aimed at engaging and promoting global art and artists with a broader audience. You may have dealt with your share of unscrupulous characters but what you're doing here, declaring something 'a scam' before properly researching is just plain cynical and potentially damaging to an honest business. It's not hard to ask to talk in person, or for business ID's, References etc.. and if you're not satisfied just ignore it then, rather than destroy someone else's dream with unjustified beliefs.

 

[Owner]

I see... At least he has anything to do with my works, if he wants me to ship it

Liz your anecdotes aren't helpful here. Has this actually happened to you? To shed light on this concern, an account is held with the freight company who bills us directly and not that money is given to an individual to pay the shipper. DHL would come to your door for pick-up, so additionally, there's tracking information on the movement of the piece.

 

[Miles]

Hi Folks,

I've been client of Aron & Saki's Art Circuit for the past 8 months. It's a legitimate, growing business and they are close friends and great people! I am happy to share endorsements/character reference if needed. You can reach me through my verified G+ profile at https://plus.google.com/+MilesWitherspoon3/

Cheers,

Miles

 

[DLeeG]

Hey, all of the first time posters have got me convinced.

 

[TerryCurley]

Well even if this is not a scam, if I had art that was worth a lot of money (which I don't) I'd be very Leary of the whole process. JMO

 

[aronkuehnemann]

Hi Terry,

Thank you for the fair reply, I understand the uncertainty.

As for the last point, we only have "art worth a lot of money" if people are willing to pay for it. Many artists make great work, but only sell 1 out of 10 pieces in a year. Some artists will decide to rent us their artwork for a time period instead of seeking traditional gallery representation or having excess inventory in their homes. Take Airbnb as an example, many were worried about allowing people to rent homes directly, but now they have made the world better by sharing resources among individuals directly, instead of having extra capacity (Apartments, Art, etc) lying around unused and not enjoyed.

Warm Regards,
Aron

 

[Liz]

The internet is crawling with scammers, you can't expect people to believe someone they have never met or heard of. It's only smart to be cautious and wary of unsolicited offers. Your site is sparse with very little information.

Are there any fees artists need to pay other than cost of packaging?

When are artists expected to ship the painting, after the client is committed to renting it or is it shipped to become part of the inventory with no guarantee that it will ever be rented out?

How much do you charge your clients?

 

[aronkuehnemann]

Hi Liz,

Thank you for the level-headed questions. I understand that there are many, many challenges on the internet. We don’t fault anyone for approaching things cautiously. What was bothersome, from the standpoint of a start-up trying to improve an industry, was the vicious and dismissive tone without even proper research or contacting us.

While this is not the forum to describe our business in detail, I’m happy to share a few key themes:

There are no fees for the artist - we are a gallery that exists in dozens of homes. Clients subscribe to our service and we curate the artwork according to our vision, which you can see on our About page. We also ask clients numerous data-driven questions about each artwork and use real numerical analysis from client experience to drive subsequent acquisitions. If people like them we buy more. This is why we are selectively approaching artists that match our findings.

Artists are expected to ship paintings after we pay them. Their art goes directly into client homes. We maintain a limited number of paintings with a small percentage of buffer due to schedule adjustments. Otherwise, artist’s works are sent directly to homes.

As for pricing and other issues, I am happy to discuss those further in person or via Skype. You can contact me via the website to arrange a meeting.

Very Best Regards,
Aron