Sotheby's announced this morning that it is acquiring Viyet.com, the digital marketplace for furniture and decorative objects, in a move that aims to complement its auction and private sales with a range of “simple, fixed-price opportunities” for buyers offered via Viyet. Viyet’s customers will also have access to Sotheby’s platform, with a particular focus on decorative arts and furniture categories priced at or below $5,000.
Viyet’s team will retain its name, and will continue to maintain existing business operations led by CEO Elizabeth Brown. It will join Sotheby’s, reporting to John Auerbach, general manager of Sotheby’s North American Art & Objects Division. New York–based Viyet’s services are open to individuals as well as designers throughout the United States. It serves 13 markets throughout the country via its network of curators.
The most popular category on Viyet is antique and vintage. While prices have largely remained at $5,000 and below, some pieces have sold for as much as $100,000. The auction house’s sourcing network, said the two brands in a statement, “will provide an influx of antique and vintage material within that value range, focusing Viyet’s offering more deliberately on those popular categories while simultaneously raising their average selling price.”
“Sotheby’s has centuries of experience and tremendous expertise, and Viyet is a digitally native brand that knows how to leverage technology to serve today’s consumers,” said Tad Smith, Sotheby’s CEO. “And together we share a passion for client service at the highest level. We are delighted to have Elizabeth and her team on board and look forward to broadening the range of property we handle as well as expanding the services we can offer to existing and new clients.”
In an email sent to designers this morning, Brown shared, “As a designer, you are the most important part of our mission. So we’re thrilled to share that Viyet is now officially part of Sotheby’s. That means we’ll still be offering you and your team daily new arrivals and the curated selection of new and pre-owned furniture, accessories, antiques and art you know and love—along with even more. Soon, the most incredible pieces from the Sotheby’s decorative arts and furniture collections will be available for your projects, in real time and at competitive prices.”
“Our collectors buy across category and price point, and Viyet reflects how they shape and refine their everyday environments,” said Auerbach. “Across all of Sotheby’s businesses, our goal is to maximize value by matching property with the best possible audience of buyers. Alongside Sotheby’s successful auction and private sale platforms, Viyet provides yet another venue for the sale of furniture and decorative objects.”
“Sotheby’s is the perfect partner to help take Viyet to the next level,” said Brown. “We are thrilled to introduce Sotheby’s exceptional product assortment to our audience of savvy design buyers, as well as to align ourselves with the trust and design authority of the Sotheby’s brand.”
