Frequently Asked Questions

Top questions

These are the questions we get asked most frequently. Don't forget that you can always contact us if you have any other questions.

Marsoum Art Collective connects art buyers with artists, sometimes directly, and at others through partner galleries. 

When you order an artwork through Marsoum Art Collective, we share the order information with the artist or partner gallery and the artwork is shipped directly to you through a trackable, expedited mail provider. For more details on shipping, click here.

We operate on a consignment basis, which means that the majority of the proceeds go towards supporting an artist that would not normally be able to sell their artworks internationally or online. In exchange for our commission, we assist artists in gaining exposure and making a living by featuring them on our website, blog, social media, search engine marketing campaigns, and live pop-up exhibitions. For more information on our mission, click here.

Shipping times are indicated on the artwork detail pages, and typically range from 3-10 business days, depending on your location, that of the artwork, and other factors.

We send you two emails when you order something from us. The first confirms that we received your order information and payment. The second email usually follows within a week and confirms that your artworks were shipped out, including details such as the tracking number. For more details, head over to this page to learn about our shipping times & methods.

We take what we do very seriously, and that includes a strict vetting process of all artworks that we feature for sale, whether online or in-person.

Any artwork we sell will come directly through the artist, or the artist’s representing gallery. In either case, your artworks are signed by the artists that created them, where applicable.

We also provide digital or printed certificates of authenticity upon request, which are signed by either the artists or the gallery’s highest authority, in order to certify that your artwork is original and consistent with what it was advertised as.

We want you to be completely satisfied with your new artwork(s), so we give you 15 days from the date that the artwork reached your address to return your unused artwork(s) in its/their original condition & packaging (or packaging that offers the same level of protection as the one you received it in). 

In order for us to process your return, we must receive your artwork(s) within 15 days of the date the tracking information shows that your artwork reached its destination. Please account for the time it takes for your carrier to ship your artwork(s) back to where it came from.

Artworks that are discounted (on sale), and ones that were paid for with a gift card cannot be returned. Also, any artworks marked final sale cannot be returned either.

Please keep in mind that we don’t refund any shipping costs you may have incurred to either clear the artwork or to return it to us/its place of origin.  

Read the full policy here.

As a general rule, we do not offer direct exchanges due to the unique nature of the majority of our artworks. For more details and exceptions, head to our Return & Refund policy page.

Take photos of the artwork & packaging in full, and zoom in on the damaged areas of the artwork itself and the damaged packaging.

Email the photos you just took to us at ishi@marsoum.co, in addition to your order number, and any other details you think would be important (don’t worry, we’ll ask you if we’re missing any information from you).

Wait for us to review your case and respond with return instructions. This normally takes a week at most.

Return the item to us, in the same way you would return our item per our Return Policy.

Once our team or partner has received and inspected the artwork, we will refund your credit card for the value of the artwork, less shipping, customs and duties incurred while sending the artwork to you, and upon your sending it back.

Keep in mind that if six months have passed since you received your artwork, we won’t be able to refund you, even if the artwork has been damaged. 

We negotiate preferential volume rates with our partner carriers & pass those savings on to you. You can rest assured that we do not mark up shipping costs with the intention of making a profit on them.

We use expedited courier services that charge us based on the following:

Size

Weight

Artwork Value

Place of Origin

Destination (categorized into zones based on distance, with each zone having a set cost per kg)

Special Requirements, if any (e.g. extra padding for fragile sculptures)

Please submit a link to your bio & portfolio using the contact form on the contact page, or send them as attachments to ishi@marsoum.co. Due to the volume of inquiries that we receive, we apologize in advance if we don’t get back to you right away.

As a rule of thumb, anything below 1,000 (one thousand) USD is considered “affordable” art, although some define it as anything under 10,000 USD.

Pricing is probably one of the biggest mysteries in the contemporary art world, so we will do our best to provide the biggest factors to consider when questioning the price of an artwork:

 Is the artwork unique or of multiple editions? More editions = cheaper

How big is the artwork? Larger = more expensive

What materials or media did the artist use? Oil is more expensive than watercolor, was any gold leaf used?, etc.

How long did it take the artist to produce the artwork?

How well-established is the artist? Artists that have been creating and selling works for a long period of time usually have a consistent level of demand for their works, which helps dictate a fair market price as any given point in time through benchmarking. An emerging artist, on the other hand, doesn’t have a lot of brand equity, or sales history. We work with emerging artists to set fair asking prices based on the other factors mentioned above.

The following factors, while still valuable, are not as reliable when assessing the price of an artwork:

Were any of artist’s works featured in an auction recently? One-off and charity auctions should be used with a grain of salt and only for artworks that are very similar to the one being assessed. 

How old is the artwork? Mostly if the artist has gone through several eras and one is considered more desirable than others.

Is there any secondary market data available? All artists go through a stage of establishing a secondary market for their works, where there is discrepancy from the gallery prices—and only a small number of artists really make it beyond this point.

Is this artist alive? Certain artists’ works appreciate in value when an artist is deceased & therefore supply of his/her works is limited, but this isn’t always the case.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Marsoum Art Collective connects art buyers with artists, sometimes directly, and at others through partner galleries. 

When you order an artwork through Marsoum Art Collective, we share the order information with the artist or partner gallery and the artwork is shipped directly to you through a trackable, expedited mail provider. For more details on shipping, click here.

We operate on a consignment basis, which means that the majority of the proceeds go towards supporting an artist that would not normally be able to sell their artworks internationally or online. In exchange for our commission, we assist artists in gaining exposure and making a living by featuring them on our website, blog, social media, search engine marketing campaigns, and live pop-up exhibitions. For more information on our mission, click here.

As a rule of thumb, anything below 1,000 (one thousand) USD is considered “affordable” art, although some define it as anything under 10,000 USD.

Pricing is probably one of the biggest mysteries in the contemporary art world, so we will do our best to provide the biggest factors to consider when questioning the price of an artwork

 Is the artwork unique or of multiple editions? More editions = cheaper

How big is the artwork? Larger = more expensive

What materials or media did the artist use? Oil is more expensive than watercolor, was any gold leaf used?, etc.

How long did it take the artist to produce the artwork?

How well-established is the artist? Artists that have been creating and selling works for a long period of time usually have a consistent level of demand for their works, which helps dictate a fair market price as any given point in time through benchmarking. An emerging artist, on the other hand, doesn’t have a lot of brand equity, or sales history. We work with emerging artists to set fair asking prices based on the other factors mentioned above.

The following factors, while still valuable, are not as reliable when assessing the price of an artwork:

Were any of artist’s works featured in an auction recently? one-off and charity auctions should be used with a pinch of salt and only for artworks that are very similar to the one being assessed. 

How old is the artwork? Mostly if the artist has gone through several eras & one is considered more desirable than others.

Is there any secondary market data available? All artists go through a stage of establishing a secondary market for their works, where there is discrepancy from the gallery prices—and only a small number of artists really make it beyond this point.

Is this artist alive? Certain artists’ works appreciate in value when an artist is deceased & therefore supply of his/her works is limited, but this isn’t always the case.

We take what we do very seriously, and that includes a strict vetting process of all artworks that we feature for sale, whether online or in-person. Any artwork we sell will come directly through the artist, or the artist’s representing gallery. In either case, your artworks are signed by the artists that created them, and also ship with certificates of authenticity, which are signed by either the artists or the gallery’s highest authority in order to certify that your artwork is original and consistent with what it was advertised as.

You can stay up to date on our developments and events by:

Joining our Newsletter

Reading our Journal

Using the Live Chat box at the bottom of our Store pages. 

Sending us a message using our Contact Form

Sending us a message by Email

ARTISTS

You can find out more about the artists that we represent by checking our artist bios, following us on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, or by checking out some of the artist interviews we post on our Journal

Our artists are ambassadors for the region’s rich heritage and diverse art forms, first and foremost. We carefully pick our artists so that they embody the following:

  • Pride in their heritage & alignment with Marsoum’s mission
  • The ability to tell compelling stories that represent the region’s contemporary side 
  • A distinct aesthetic & unique style

We work with most of our artists on a consignment basis, and their input on pricing is combined with ours to arrive at price points that are fair to them, to us, and to you as a collector. Attempting to sell an artwork that is listed on marsoum.co outside of our portal puts the artist in breach of contract, which means that they could lose all future potential business through us should we find ourselves having to terminate their contract.

Please submit a link to your bio & portfolio using the contact form on our contact page, or send them as attachments to ishi@marsoum.co. Due to the volume of inquiries that we receive, we apologize in advance if we don’t get back to you right away.

ORDERS & PAYMENTS

For tangible artworks:

We use Shopify Payments, an industry leading payment gateway that allows us to accept VisaMasterCardAmerican ExpressDiscover, and other leading credit and debit cards. If your bank or credit union is equipped with Apple Pay capabilities, you can also make your payment using a card connected to your Apple Pay compatible device. You can find out more about Apple Pay by clicking here

We also sell and accept Gift Cards. Learn more about those here.

We currently do not accept PayPal, cash or checks.

For NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens):

We're currently working on integrating payments into the store itself. In the meantime, we have a few NFTs available for purchase through Ethereum (ETH) on our OpenSea profile.

1. Add an artwork (or several artworks) to your cart, as you normally would.

2. Once you are ready to checkout, look at the Order Summary & find the “Discount Code” field on the right (on desktop) and at the bottom (on mobile).

3. Input your discount code in the field, hit the Apply button next to it, and your subtotal will be updated, along with a the discount code's name to show that it was successfully applied.

4. You will also get a second chance to apply a code in the Payment section while checking out.

Start by verifying your billing information, as it needs to match what the bank that issued your credit card has on file. If you enter a different address, phone number, or name than what your bank has on file, then your order won’t go through. Past that point, feel free to contact us, and we'll be happy to help you find a solution.

You’ll know that your order was successfully placed if you are directed to an order confirmation page that includes your order number. By reaching this page you can safely assume that we’ve received your order and will begin processing it very shortly.

You will also receive an email with the same confirmation number and a summary of your order within minutes of placing the order. Please check your junk folder if you don’t see this email.

A few days later, you’ll receive another email confirming that your order was shipped, along with a tracking number.

Your order can’t be canceled or modified once it is confirmed. We do this to help us get our shipments to our customers as quickly as possible. 

However, you may be able to take advantage of our return policy once you’ve received your shipment. Head over to the Returns policy for details.

SHIPPING & HANDLING

Check the tracking number in the second email you received from us for your order. 

We send you two emails when you order something from us:

The first confirms that we received your order information and payment. 

The second email usually follows within a week and confirms that your artworks were shipped out, including details such as the tracking number.

We make every effort to ship artworks out within a maximum of 15 days from the order date. In some exceptional cases, this might take a bit longer (airline disruptions, partner gallery holidays, etc.). 

Keep in mind that your artworks will ship via trackable courier, and that packages require  signatures upon delivery.

Feel free to contact us at any point to get an update.

We can’t guarantee that. Because of the nature of our business, different artworks might ship to you from different partner galleries or artists’ studios all around the world.

You will receive separate tracking data for each shipment if we have to send you your order in multiple shipments.

You'll only be charged for shipping once.

We provide insurance for loss or damage during transit on shipments through trusted partners.

Contact us as soon as you become aware of an issue so that we can resolve it swiftly.

Depending on the country that you’ve picked as your artworks’ destination, you might have to pay import duties, customs, clearing fees, and other taxes and duties.

These fees are your responsibility, which is why we strongly recommend that you check with local authorities on them before placing an order through us.

The countries that we can ship to are listed below. Please note that these may change at any time, and without notice, as they are controlled by our shipping partners. We update the list on this page whenever we are made aware of any changes. 

Afghanistan 

Germany

Nigeria

Albania

Ghana

Niue

Algeria

Gibraltar

Norway

American Samoa

Greece

Oman

American Samoa/Tutulia Island

Greenland

Pakistan

Andorra

Grenada

Palau

Angola

Guadeloupe 

Palestine, State of

Anguilla

Guam

Panama

Antigua and Barbuda

Guatemala

Papua New Guiena

Argentina

Guernsey

Paraguay 

Armenia

Guiena

Peru

Aruba

Guiena-Bissau

Philippines

Australia

Guyana (British)

Poland

Austria

Haiti

Portugal 

Azerbaijan 

Honduras

Puerto Rico

Bahamas

Hong Kong

Qatar

Bahrain

Hungary

Reunion Islands

Bangladesh

Iceland

Romania

Barbados 

India

Russia

Belarus

Indonesia 

Rwanda

Belgium

Iraq

Saint Helena

Belize

Ireland

Saint Kitts & Nevis

Benin

Italy

San Marino

Bermuda

Jamaica

Sao Tome & Principe

Bhutan

Japan

Saudi Arabia

Bolivia

Jersey

Senegal

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Jordan

Serbia

Botswana 

Kazakhstan

Seychelles 

Brazil

Kenya

Sierra Leone

Brunei

Khyrzstan

Singapore 

Bulgaria

Kiribati

Slovakia

Burkina Faso

Korea (South)

Slovenia 

Burundi 

Kosovo

Solomon Islands

Cambodia 

Kuwait

Somalia

Cameroon

Laos

South Africa

Canada

Latvia

Spain

Cape Verde

Lebanon

Sri Lanka

Cayman Islands

Lesotho

St Barthélémy 

Central African Republic 

Liberia

St Lucia

Chad

Libya

St Vincent & The Grenadines

Chile

Liechtenstein 

Suriname

China

Lithuania 

Swaziland

Colombia

Luxembourg 

Sweden

Comoros

Macau

Switzerland 

Congo

Macedonia 

Tahiti/French Polynesia

Congo D.P.R.

Madagascar 

Taiwan

Cook Islands

Malawi

Tajikistan

Costa Rica

Malaysia

Tanzania

Côte d’Ivoire 

Maldives

Thailand

Croatia

Mali

Timor-Leste

Curaçao 

Malta

Togo

Cyprus

Marshall Islands

Tonga

Czechia

Martinique

Trinidad & Tobago

Denmark 

Mauritania

Tunisia

Djibouti 

Mauritius

Turkey

Dominica 

Mayotte

Turks & Caicos

Dominican Republic 

Mexico

U.A.E.

Ecuador 

Micronesia

U.K.

Egypt

Moldova

U.S.

El Salvador

Monaco

Uganda

Equatorial Guiena

Mongolia

Ukraine

Eritrea 

Montenegro 

Uruguay 

Estonia

Montserrat 

Uzbekistan 

Ethiopia

Morocco

Vanuatu 

Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

Mozambique 

Vatican

Faroe Islands

Myanmar

Venezuela 

Fiji

Namibia

Vietnam

Finland

Nauru

Virgin Islands (British)

France

Nepal

Virgin Islands (US)

French Guiana

Netherlands

Western Samoa

Gabon

New Caledonia 

Yemen

Gambia

New Zealand 

Zambia

Georgia

Niger

Nicaragua 

Zimbabwe 

Don’t see your country on the list? Contact us and we’d be happy to find a way to get to you.

We negotiate preferential volume rates with our partner carriers & pass those savings on to you. Our partner carriers charge based on the following:

Size

Weight

Artwork Value

Place of Origin

Destination (categorized into zones based on distance, with each zone having a set cost per kg)

Special Requirements, if any (e.g. extra padding for fragile sculptures)

Our website is configured to automatically calculate shipping based on the criteria we just listed, so you should not expect to be charged any adjustments for shipping after placing your order. You can rest assured that we do not mark up shipping costs with the intention of making a profit on them.

RETURNS, REFUNDS & EXCHANGES

We want you to be completely satisfied with your new artwork(s), so we give you 15 days from the date that the artwork reached your address to return your unused artwork(s) in its/their original condition & packaging (or packaging that offers the same level of protection as the one you received it in). 

In order for us to process your return, we must receive your artwork(s) within 15 days of the date the tracking information shows that your artwork reached its destination. Please account for the time it takes for your carrier to ship your artwork(s) back to where it came from.

Artworks that are discounted (on sale), and ones that were paid for with a gift card cannot be returned. Also, any artworks marked final sale cannot be returned either.

Please keep in mind that we don’t refund any shipping costs you may have incurred to either clear the artwork or to return it to us/its place of origin.  

For more details, check out our full Return Policy.

As a general rule, we do not offer direct exchanges due to the unique nature of the majority of our artworks. For more details and exceptions, head to Returns + Exchanges.

Take photos of the artwork & packaging in full, and zoom in on the damaged areas of the artwork itself and the damaged packaging.

Email the photos you just took to us at ishi@marsoum.co, in addition to your order number, and any other details you think would be important (don’t worry, we’ll ask you if we’re missing any information from you).

Wait for us to review your case and respond with return instructions. This normally takes a week at most.

Return the item to us, in the same way you would return our item per our Return Policy.

Once our team or partner has received and inspected the artwork, we will refund your credit card for the value of the artwork, less shipping, customs and duties incurred while sending the artwork to you, and upon your sending it back.

Keep in mind that if six months have passed since you received your artwork, we won’t be able to refund you, even if the artwork has been damaged. 

Return the item to us, in the same way you would return our item per our Return Policy.

Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund. If you refund is approved, a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days, depending on your bank.

To return your product, you should mail your product to the mailing address that we share with you upon contacting us.

You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.

Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.

If you are shipping an item over $75, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.

Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund.

If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.

If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account. Then contact your credit card company, it may take some time before your refund is officially posted.

Next, contact your bank. There is often some processing time before a refund is posted.

If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at ishi@marsoum.co.