Buying art might sound like the reserve of the super-rich, but it can actually be more affordable than you might have thought.
The Affordable Art Fair in London, which runs from 18-21 October, presents thousands of original works every year, priced from just £100 ($131) to a cap of £6,000 ($7,889).
Business Insider spoke to Fair Director Lucinda Costello and Recent Graduates' Exhibition Curator Cassie Beadle to find out the biggest mistakes people make when buying art.
Scroll down to see what advice they had to offer.
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The artist doesn't have much consistency

It's incredibly important to do your homework, Costello says, when choosing the artist whose work you're buying.
If you're hoping to buy a piece of art as an investment, then it pays to research the artist's portfolio beforehand.
If there's a lack of consistency in their portfolio, it could denote a lack of maturity in their work.
It could be a red flag, "if you're seeing things that look like they could have been created by different artists," Costello says.
"If there isn’t much consistency across their portfolio then they may not have defined what they're doing yet, which can mean they need more time to develop."
"That's not to say they won't go on to become fabulous artists," she adds, "but, if you're playing it a bit safer then noticing colour palettes or a certain quality, just something about the overall feel of the work... [will make it] a bit more of a comfortable gamble."
You don't check where the artist studied

Unfortunately, not all art schools are born equal.
"Statistically some of the bigger institutions, like Central Saint Martins or the RCA, have produced more successful artists," Costello says.
And, although she stipulates that "this should never be a bigger factor than the quality of their work," it can sometimes be a safer investment to buy art produced by graduates of the more prestigious institutions.
"The tuition they'll have had and the peers they'll have been exposed to probably accelerate [the artist's] maturity."
You don't buy from a gallery

"Whilst buying from the artist direct can feel like you are 'cutting out the middleman' this can be problematic both for artist and collector later on," Beadle says.
Buying from galleries guarantees the collector with essential credentials and documentation of their work, which is key if you want to sell the piece(s) on in future.
It also allows you to build a relationship with the gallerist, Beadle says, who can inform you of trends and developments in the art market, and offer you wider context on purchases.
"Gallerists are the professionals in selling art, knowing art, doing their homework and presenting it in a retail situation to a visitor and being able to have conversations about all of their artists," Costello adds.
This has benefits for the artists too, she says, as they are then free to focus on their craft, rather than travelling the world's art fairs and keeping their social media accounts going.
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