Learn How to Sell Art Online and Make Money in 2024
Art is diverse, and so are the ways to sell art online. But one rule remains true as with any other business – market better and sell more! But one question remains at the heart of this. How to sell art online and what are some places to sell artwork?
Don’t worry. In this article, we’re helping you discover all those ways to market your art using modern online channels to sell artwork. They are designed to help you find clients for your art, whether it’s your website or third-party platforms designed for artists.
Before we begin, let’s highlight the main ways to sell art popular with artists that we’ll elaborate on:
- Sell your handmade goods and art on online marketplaces.
- Build your own e-store.
- Create a membership community.
Things to Consider Before Selling Paintings Online
The best way to learn is by doing, but there are definitely a few things to keep in mind about how to sell art online before you dive in.
- Understand what type of art you want to sell and shape your pricing model based on that. Original art, print, merch, digital, or custom. Some platforms focus on one type more than another.
- Consider art listing and selling fees. Check out which fixed and variable costs you should consider. Find and read artist guidelines.
- If you’re used to working with social networks, look for tools that support Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram Shops (like Shopify or TikTok Shop).
- Think of developing your brand, not just selling art.
- Read your licensing contracts well.
How Do You Sell Art Online
Well, as we mentioned earlier, we are going to look at the top three ways to answer your question of How can I sell paintings online. Are you ready to jot down the points?
Build an E-commerce Store with Website Builder
Selling your art online on your privately run store is the best way to maintain full independence from commissions you have to pay on various platforms. What sort of freedom? For example:
- You can update prices at any time.
- Change your policies and update critical pages when needed.
- Add or remove payment gateways you want to offer to potential customers.
- Run auctions when you want.
- Change the presentation of your portfolio/gallery/shop as you wish.
- Create any newsletter campaigns and send them out when you want.
- Write as much content as you want on your blog to promote specific arts.
You can build a secure shopping experience the way that works for you, with product pages for individual pieces, including details, sizes, prices, and availability.
When you are thinking about how to sell art paintings online, having an autonomous independent platform is the best answer. To start selling art online on your own website, though, you need to have many things sorted. For example, decide on your business model (originals, prints, or merch) and pick an e-commerce platform for building a site.
Typically, all popular website builders like WordPress or Wix include e-commerce options, while others are fully-featured e-commerce site builders. These would solve your query of how to sell art online.
So, what are popular website builders for selling art?
Shopify (multipurpose)
It’s a website builder for building an independent store of any kind, including various sorts of art, digital or printed. If you actively promote your art on TikTok, you might like how TikTok can be seamlessly integrated with Shopify.
WordPress (multipurpose)
WordPress is an all-purpose website builder, which has designs for online stores and provides powerful e-commerce options through plugins like WooCommerce.
Squarespace (multipurpose)
Squarespace is a perfect website builder for creative portfolios, with dedicated apps for enabling online commerce.
Big Cartel (art-focused)
Offering low-cost features to artists, Big Cartel focuses on options for various types of art. If you have an existing Etsy store, you can import your products to your Big Cartel.
Format (art-focused)
Format is always chosen by artists who need powerful e-commerce options beyond just a creative portfolio. It allows you to sell products, services, and digital downloads.
Popular Website to Sell Your Artwork
While you are exploring online channels, you are going to find multiple sites to sell your art. These artist-focused platforms support you in marketing, shipping, selling, and customer services.
These marketplaces are for art and thus have a traffic of audiences that are deeply interested in art. Thus, these dedicated platforms for one-of-a-kind products connect crafters and artists like you with a loyal customer base who will appreciate your art.
Sounds like you can click on the ‘Sell your art’ button, fill in some data about yourself, upload your art photos and information, choose your preferences, and you are all set. Right?
It’s very close to this – except for the need to pay for these services, transaction commissions, and follow the platform guidelines. And remember the competition. Big marketplaces – big competition. It may be worth it if you don’t want to deal with the commerce chores at all.
Another big advantage of selling art online with popular sites like Etsy or Saatchi Art is how they help you get your art in front of international audiences. If we try to sum up their preferences for selling art overall, it will boil down to these things:
- Big teams that help artists manage and sell their artworks.
- Secure and regularly updated platforms.
- Powerful promotion opportunities that help artists become more visible.
Etsy
Probably every artist knows this platform. Even though there are transaction and listing fees, Etsy is one of the top tools for artists seeking to sell their art.
Artfinder
Giving you a large audience of potential buyers and great e-commerce opportunities, Artfilder takes a commission on sales only.
Saatchi Art
Saatchi Art allows you to focus on your art while the platform sells to 140+ countries. You receive 60% on every artwork sold and pay for packaging and the platform handles shipping.
Society6
Society6 is another popular website that allows you to bring any art in front of thousands of customers. It fully handles production, shipping, and customer service for the prices starting at $4.99/month.
Redbubble
Here you can sell everything, from t-shirts to masks to mugs, internationally. Redbubble is available in several paid plans.
TikTok Shop
This way is popular among artists who like to promote their products on TikTok. Using TikTok Shop, you can sell art with your videos.
Sell Digital Artwork with a Membership Site
You may want to provide exclusive access to new artworks within a closed membership community. In this case, building a membership platform may be the best way to go.
Just like any independent website, this approach requires frequent updates and new releases to maintain interest in your art, but it may be a great way to attract people interested in art creation.
You can also consider maintaining a membership area in the existing art store to provide extra purchasing benefits and discounts to loyal members. How does a membership website support your cause of selling paintings and artwork?
- Tiered Plans allow you to create layers of art enthusiasts and modify the things you sell based on the fees of each tier.
- Have selected group of art enthusiasts who are interested in your work and dedicated to your platform.
- Allow internal communication between art enthusiasts for a deeper connection. This will tightly knit your members.
- You can sell individual artwork by using Pay-per-post or digital download features that are built-in with Plugins like ARMember.
Final Word – Identify Places to Sell Artwork for Easy Business Setup
These platform suggestions would help you kickstart your journey toward selling art online. Do some trial and error and check the policies of each platform. Identify what suits your skill level the best. If you can gather up some technical skills, create your own website by purchasing a domain name. You can also leverage multiple platforms at the same time for maximum benefit.
Are you all geared up to sell art online? Let us know any further questions in the comments and we shall try to resolve them super soon.
Related tutorials:
Brian Denim
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.