5. Sales Channels

Dealers remained the most-used sales channel: 87% of HNWIs bought from a dealer in 2025/2026, including 75% directly and 62% at an art fair. By value, dealers also captured the largest share of total spending: 27% through direct sales, rising to 42% when including art fairs.

Dealers remained the preferred channel for purchasing, chosen by 29% of collectors, followed by artist-direct sales (19%) and art fairs (16%). Around two-thirds of the collectors who favored dealers preferred to transact via website, phone, email, or Instagram rather than at the gallery itself.

The share of collectors buying directly from artists continued to grow, up by 6% year-on-year to 69% – more than double the level of 2024. This included purchases from artists’ studios (48%), commissioned works (40%), and works bought via Instagram (38%). Artist-direct sales were the second-largest channel by expenditure, accounting for 19% of the total, ahead of art fairs (15%) and auctions (10%).