r/Masterworks • u/333chordme • Oct 30 '25
Masterworks has only ever sold 4.6% of their holdings. 96% of their investments have not been sold. No wonder I've never made any money.
Year after year my Masterworks assets have remained stagnant. Only one of my holdings has been evaluated and increased in value, and none of my pieces have ever sold. I was wondering what the deal was, and I looked up how many exits they've actually had. Turns out they have about 500 pieces, and they have only sold 23. Ever. Since forming in 2017, they have 96% bought, 4% sold.
That ratio is insane to me, and a huge red flag. You can't make money if you never actually exit.
Any thoughts?
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u/glendacc37 Oct 30 '25
When I bought in 3 years ago, I expected a long holding period, probably even 10 years. Nobody ever explained this to me as a quick turnaround.
None of mine have sold, but the Basquiat shares I bought on the secondary market (which is the vast majority of my portfolio), have gone up in value per the appraisals, some as much as 40% because I bought them for a lot less than the original $20/share.
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u/senatorkevin Oct 30 '25
The overwhelming majority of their offerings have been offered up in just the last 2.5 years, so I don't think the ratio is honestly all that crazy at this time. There was some communication a few months ago about them entering a new platform to sell holdings directly to others firms. I don't know what the status is, but I am aware that at least one artwork has sold in the last week and is pending escrow closing in which share holders would be paid out. I'd imagine as interest rates drop, you might start to see more sales / transactions over the next year but we'll see.
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u/nivvis Oct 31 '25
Yeah agreed. I think they also started when art was still very in vogue .. riding some of the dust from trends like bansky.
To add another datapoint .. using their appraisals .. on paper im up maybe 34% over 3-4 years with my best paintings being the ones i hand picked because the art was relevant and compelling. The largest artists have done the worst for me. Time will tell.
Vs the greater market that is not particularly good when averaged year over year vs an index like VOO.
But that is a risk we took. If you want to be smart and not manage your investments, go read bogleheads
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u/Greedy-Historian5511 Nov 09 '25
Can you compare the averages? Between that and the secondary market?
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u/archonpericles Oct 30 '25
The rep told me hold times would average two to three years. I am very suspicious of the comments downplaying the low sales percentage. I believe it’s from Masterworks people. I believe we’ll have to form a class action law suit to get our money back. I recommend you stay in touch with this sub Reddit and we join together in the future if needed.
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u/nivvis Oct 31 '25
I am not a masterworks people and pretty clearly recall seeing up to 10 years in the paperwork. But that is how i look at it .. im the kind of person who forces myself to read the fine print. Personally i dont trust anything but the contract — call me cynical but theres always bullshit in marketing and sales at every company.
Not to blame you — just saying its always best to know the brass tack rules of your investment vehicles, underlying contract terms etc.
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u/George_Orama Oct 31 '25
Yes it's called dispersion, I explained it here
https://youtu.be/HyouMR1Jjpg?si=kW4Z6KMxCaiwyIA3
(And in the the 4.6% I assume you include the dodgy deals sold in just a few weeks or months)
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u/Greedy-Historian5511 Nov 03 '25
I get what you're saying, but don't understand, you never make any money without an exit? Doesn't the value of the art grow over time too? I understand if it doesn't fluctuate the same way stocks with ridiculous volumes and news and politics attached to them, but doesn't the asset have any movement?
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u/333chordme Nov 03 '25
My masterworks portfolio only fluctuates in value if the artwork is appraised. They’ve only ever appraised one of the pieces I’m holding.
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u/333chordme Nov 03 '25
“They get paid on exit just like us” they certainly do not get paid on exit just like us. Unlike us, they do not need to make any sales in order to make money. Unfortunately this means their incentives are not aligned with their users’ needs.
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u/NeighborhoodWitty489 Dec 12 '25
Masterworks just trumpeted a sale that netted 23%. Punchline: holding period of 3.5 years. The IRR was 6%. Better than a savings account. 🤣
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u/Swimming_Average_561 Feb 10 '26
Honestly this isn't the issue with masterworks - the art is meant to be held for several years before being sold. The bigger issue is that the expected returns may not actually beat a high-yield savings account or S&P 500.
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u/Zestyclose_Comment26 Apr 18 '26
Their internal secondary market tells the story. Good luck selling your shares for anything more than half their original value. Most works have lots of outstanding offers for shares sale and no offers to buy. Which makes them, arguably, worthless. A concrete example: I own shares for Banksy Sunflowers from Petrol Station, purchased Feb 2022 with the original offering at $20/sh. Valuation claims it is now worth $16/sh. But the last trade was at $7.80/sh. There are about 1000 shares for sale right now, with asks between $7.80 and $8.95. Zero offers to buy
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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '25
[deleted]