Gallery & Industry Terms
Reserved Status
Last updated on September 6, 2026
In the traditional art gallery industry, Reserved Status (often referred to as being "On Hold" or indicated by a half-red / orange dot) means that a specific collector has expressed serious intent to purchase an artwork, but the transaction is not yet finalized.
During this period, the gallery agrees not to sell the artwork to anyone else. This status is typically used while the client confirms dimensions for their wall, consults a partner, or processes a wire transfer.
The Reserved status in yatelier helps manage inventory by preventing double sales. Here are the three key rules for reservations:
- Reservation Recall After Confirmation: Even after a reservation is confirmed, gallery staff can manually recall it if a sale falls through. This action removes the hold and reverts the artwork back to Available.
- Automatic Reservation on Issued Invoices: To minimize manual entry, when an invoice is generated and issued for an available artwork, yatelier automatically changes its status to Reserved.
- One Contact, No Expiration: Every reservation is strictly mapped to a single contact profile to prevent ambiguity. Furthermore, holds in yatelier are deliberately not termed and do not automatically expire. They remain in place indefinitely until the sale is finalized or the reservation is manually recalled.
