We’re constantly working to make Artsy the safest online art marketplace for buyers and sellers. This guide includes our recommended practices for selling safely online.

Keeping your account secure

Artsy CMS is where you control your gallery’s presence on Artsy. Here are some tips for keeping access to your CMS account safe and secure.

Create a strong password

On Artsy.net, new requirements stipulate that passwords must be strong, which means they have at least eight characters including one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, and one digit.

Strong passwords are not easily guessed (e.g., your gallery’s name, consecutive numbers).

Avoid reusing passwords. If your email account and Artsy account can be accessed with the same password, both accounts will be more susceptible to hacking. The password you create for your Artsy account should not be the same as any password you use for other accounts.

Think your current password isn’t strong enough? Change it here.

Use a password manager

It can be difficult to remember all of your log-in credentials, especially if you use unique, strong passwords. That’s where a password manager can come in handy. A password manager is a tool that easily generates new, strong passwords and lets you store all of your log-in credentials behind one master password. Our experts recommend 1Password or LastPass.

Set up two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is one of the most powerful ways to protect your account, adding an extra layer of security. When you enable two-factor authentication, you’ll be asked to enter a security code in addition to your username and password each time you log into your Artsy account. This code can be sent to you in a text message or generated in apps like 1Password or Google Authenticator.

Set up two-factor authentication now.

Don’t share log-in information

Once you’ve secured your account credentials, don’t undermine your efforts by sharing that information with anyone—including members of your team. All Artsy partners are granted unlimited user accounts, each of which provides access to your Artsy CMS. Always create a new user account for each person who needs access to your profile.

What’s the difference between a contact and a user on Artsy?

Your users have access to your Artsy CMS account. If someone needs to control your gallery’s Artsy presence (e.g., to publish artworks or add shows), you can add them as a new user by following these instructions.

Contacts, unlike users, do not have access to Artsy CMS, but can receive updates on inquiries and orders via email. Add a gallery contact by completing these steps.

If a new user logs into your account, you’ll receive an email alert from trust@artsy.net letting you know when and where this activity occurred and what to do if you don’t recognize the new user.

Connecting with collectors securely

Using Artsy Conversations

Artsy Conversations—the direct-to-collector messaging tool in CMS—enables you to manage inquiries and review collector profiles.

Here are some Conversations features that help keep Artsy’s marketplace secure:

• Mark as spam: This feature allows you to report suspicious messages directly to our Trust and Safety team, while also keeping your Conversations inbox organized. Pressing this button means you will not be able to reply to the thread in CMS, and you will not see any of the new replies from the user. Learn more.
• Hyperlinks: A hyperlink’s URL is always visible within a conversation, ensuring that you aren’t led to a new page by surprise. 
• Dismiss inquiries: If you don’t plan to respond to a particular inquiry, you may dismiss it at any point in your conversation by clicking “Dismiss inquiry”. More detailed instructions can be found here.

Education is another great way to protect your business and buyers. Experts estimate that over 95% of cyber fraud relies on social engineering to gain access to your password or sensitive information. Learn how to detect and avoid common online security threats in the art world by reading our security best practices. 

Additionally, our inquiry process helps buyers stay up to date on the best security practices. A short note in the footer of each inquiry response reminds collectors about online security and gives them guidance on how to transact safely online.

It is safer to keep conversations on Artsy as our Trust and Safety Team is only able to review conversations on the Artsy platform. Moving forward, we encourage you to keep all of your conversations on the Artsy platform so that we may monitor and intervene when necessary.

Purchases completed on Artsy enjoy our full suite of buyer protections, guaranteed. You can learn more about this in Our Seller Protection.

Accepting payments

There are several ways to accept payment in Artsy’s marketplace. Here’s a quick overview of the most secure methods:

• Buy Now and Make Offer: Available in the U.S. and Europe, Buy Now and Make Offer are the safest transaction options for buyers and sellers. Only buyers with a pre-verified payment can make offers or submit order requests. Once you confirm an order or accept an offer in Artsy CMS, the client is charged the full amount of the sale, including the artwork price, shipping, and sales tax (if applicable). Stripe—a payment platform that offers best-in-class fraud protection—processes this payment and immediately begins to remit the net amount, minus the transaction fees, to your designated bank account. Transactions are also monitored by Artsy’s Trust and Safety team, who are there to work with you in case something goes wrong.

Important note: As of September 1st 2021, all eligible partners must enable Stripe. For assistance in setting up Stripe, review Getting Started With Buy Now and Make Offer or reach out to the Partner Support team at partnersupport@artsy.net.

More resources

Our help center features a series of articles dedicated to common online security threats that have affected our gallery, fair, and auction partners. These articles provide resources to protect yourself, your clients, and your business, helping you transact online with confidence. Stay ahead of the curve on cybersecurity by reading the articles below:

• Phishing: How it works and how to protect your gallery
• Gallery impersonation: How scammers target your collectors
• Buyer fraud: How to identify suspicious collectors

Our Trust and Safety team is dedicated to keeping Artsy safe and secure. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to them directly at trust@artsy.net.