Sotheby’s Pitches Premium Plastic

What’s in your wallet? If you’re a jet-setting, art-collecting, Grey Poupon-spreading multi-millionaire, Sotheby’s [nyse: BID] hopes it’s their new World or World Elite MasterCard.

In the 1990s, under the leadership of galleria guru Alfred Taubman, Sotheby’s was largely credited with pioneering the auction trade’s shift from a sleepy, dealer-to-dealer business into a super-luxe shopping mall environment. Now, by proffering plastic, it has cannily motored a few miles further down the retail highway.

Of course, membership will have its privileges. Baseline perks include gratis admission to a dozen or so major museums, a complimentary subscription to Sotheby’s Preview magazine and the option to use reward points to make cash donations to cultural institutions.

Most credit cards let you redeem rewards for nights out at Applebee’s and gift certificates to Best Buy. If you are chosen to receive Sotheby’s World Elite card, which is available by invitation only, you can cash in your points for such art-world bragging rights as:

*access to museum facilities for private tours and events
*visits to prominent artists’ studios and tours of major art fairs
*use of a Sotheby’s auctioneer for your own charity auction, or a Sotheby’s wine specialist to hold a local tasting event.
*access to purchase luxe perks such as private jet shares, celeb golf outings or chartered yacht cruises.
*personal travel agent and concierge services, and first-class upgrades.

And the cost of all that social cachet? Priceless.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 14th, 2007 at 9:06 am and is filed under Inside the Biz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.