Policy
Editorial Standards
Every guide on this site follows the same rules: topics come from real collector questions, facts get checked against primary sources, and paid relationships are labeled where you can see them. This page spells those rules out, in plain English, so you can hold us to them.
How We Choose Topics
Topics come from two places: questions collectors ask us at the gallery, and questions people type into search engines that nobody answers well. If Artsy or Artnet already covers something properly, we skip it. We write where advice for buyers under $10,000 is thin, vague, or written by someone selling something without saying so.
How We Check Facts
Prices, auction results, and market claims are checked against primary sources: auction records, published gallery price lists, and our own sales history. Where a number is an estimate, we call it an estimate. Marcus pulls the data, Daria verifies it, and nothing goes live until both have signed off. When we find an error after publication, we fix the page and update its review date.
Disclosure Policy
We use one label across the site:
[affiliate] marks partner platforms that pay us commission when you buy through our link.
Everything without a label is unpaid. Commission does not change what we recommend: partner or not, a platform only appears in a guide if we'd tell a friend to use it. Recommendations are written before any commercial terms are discussed, and no partner sees a draft before publication. If a partner ever asks us to soften a criticism, that criticism stays and the request gets mentioned in the guide.
How We Update Guides
Every guide shows a “Last reviewed” date near the top. We re-check each guide at least twice a year, and sooner when a platform changes its terms, a market moves, or a reader flags a problem. Small fixes, like a dead link or a corrected price, don't reset the date. A full re-read of the guide does.
Contact the Editorial Team
Spotted an error, or think a guide has gone stale? Email editor@collectorprimer.com. We read everything and usually reply within two business days. You can see who you're writing to on our About page.