The expansion of Internet trading since the late 1990s has in particular been remarkable, followed in the 2010s by the utilization of cell phones and social media. Before then, the trade was a privileged affair, channelled through old-established auction houses and well-connected dealers in world capitals.5 This high-value trade continues, though often through private sales away from public view. Invisible private sales have gained an increased market share in recent decades through the advent of art fairs, which gather together prestigious dealers and their customers for glamorous occasions of sales and socializing, and the increasing prevalence of private sales by auction houses. But the Internet has “democratized” the market, making it easier and more financially viable to buy and sell smaller, less valuable objects than was previously the case. It has caused a shift in the nature and scale of the trade: the relatively low-volume trade of high-value objects common through much of the twentieth century has been augmented with a higher-volume trade of low-value objects. The new trade in small and portable objects involves a greater number of smaller traders than was previously the case and is more loosely organized.
The character of the antiquities trade has changed over time, from the pre-1990s to today.
The traded objects are easy to conceal and difficult to detect. The small amounts of money involved in individual Internet transactions diminish the apparent seriousness of crimes, often keeping below any value that would trigger regulatory reporting, yet in aggregate the profits might be appreciable. These low values and the greater amount of work involved to authenticate and track these objects create disincentives for law enforcement to pursue this part of the market.
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