Barnebys is the world's leading search service for fine art and antiques, with over half a million objects and more than a thousand searchable auction houses. 80% of Barnebys' revenue is international, from outside its founding place of Scandinavia, with the United States amounting for approximately 20%. Since August, Barnebys has held offices in New York, and throughout this year, a focus will be put on strengthening operations in the United States, both in terms of marketing and recruitment.
"More and more people are becoming interested in auctions, ordinary consumers discover that auction houses represent a unique knowledge with unique items. Along with the new online houses, this market is changing quickly. Often, the consumer stands between the choices of buying at auction, and through normal retail, like at IKEA. Sustainability is the strongest trend for the next couple of years, which will favour the development of auctions and the antiques trade. Buying things that have a history is simply the right choice from every single standpoint. "
Pontus Silfverstolpe
Founder and Head of Content Barnebys
This past year, Barnebys has also launched several new services, including a valuation service. Consigners can easily obtain independent help, free of charge, through the valuation service, to see what their objects are worth. Additionally, Barnebys offers the world's largest free-to-se service with realised prices from all of the world's auction houses data from the last thirty years.
"Barnebys is a meta search engine for the auction industry. The aggregator model is well tested, and highly scalable, with earnings per click, but unlike other search engines or price comparison sites, we do not contribute to any price reductions, instead, we give the auction houses more bidders, and thus potentially higher realised prices. Everyone benefits from this, even the consumers, who will have access to a much larger market, and full transparency. "
Christopher Barnekow
Founder and CEO Barnebys
During the autumn of 2015, Barnebys collaborated with an average of two new auction houses per day. This increase has occurred primarily in the US, but also in the UK and Germany. In France, some 90 auction houses have collaborated with Barnebys.
