Different courses for different horses

In this instance, I am referring to the relationship between artist, gallery and buyer.

Today, while chatting with an acquaintance in the industry, I was given a glimpse of what a couple of art dealers market fine art in Malaysia.

This is what I heard.

The art dealer finds a young and/or relatively unknown artist. He may invest in this artist's work, or he may not. When he sells to a prospective collector, he will sell it at, say RM X. He will then tell the collector that he is happy to help the collector sell the painting at his shop a couple of years later, at a higher price. Alternatively, he can buy it back at RM X + Y. Guaranteed return, as I see it.

The artist sells his paintings, the collector gets to keep it for a couple of years, rent free, and the art dealer gets to find another artist and a couple more collectors and repeat.

Question is, is it sustainable? In a small market like Malaysia? Is this sustainable in the long run? Will the collector be able to 'unload' the painting a couple of years later at the agreed price? Hmmmmm. Would like to know more!