Want To Learn How To Sell Art Online?
Good job! Selling art online is one of the best ways to make money doing something you love. Many people around the world spend on creative art prints and designs, the global art market is worth more than you think at around $50 billion.
Now with all the tools at your fingertips, you can set up an online art store anytime to showcase your prints and merchandise and start accepting payments for that art with ease from people all over the world. can do Although a gallery showcase is still a great way to promote your work, the online market offers a great opportunity to reach a larger audience.
Whether you’re a beginner artist just dipping your brush into some new sales opportunities, or you’ve been a creative genius for years, here’s how to sell your art online in 8 easy steps.
How to Sell Art Online: Easy 8 Steps to Success
1. Original or reproduction? Take your own pick—when you.
When selling artwork online you have to make a very careful first decision as you begin to fully focus on your business. You have the power to choose. Many entrepreneurs sell a collection of different art forms to attract a wider audience. Your options include
Original work: drawings, paintings, and other visual artworks designed by you. You can also easily sell prints and reproductions of these artworks.
Limited Edition Prints: If you want to create more interest in the items you can sell a certain number of prints for a limited time.
Custom Art: These are artworks that you design after a client takes some commission from you. For example, when you can draw a person’s cat or a good friend. These pieces are generally one of a kind.
Merchandise: Thanks to print-on-demand companies, it’s easy to put your designs on all kinds of t-shirts, enamel pins, and more.
Licensing: Yes of course you can license certain works to other companies, such as photography or illustrations designed for a brand.
Digital Downloads: Templates, desktop wallpapers, artwork that people can take home, and many other digital downloads are popular (and easy to sell).
2. Make your prints.
If you want to produce more prints, you first want to find the best way to make your prints. Fortunately, there’s a lot of beauty here for you to work with. If you have a printing machine at home, it is great for you then you can make DIY prints on high quality ink and all kinds of beautiful paper.
DIY printing can be a great way to maximize profits if you spend a lot as a beginner artist. If you can’t have a printer at your home, you can also use a local printing service directly when someone can provide one for you. As the number of orders increases, you are going to consider using online printing so that you can repeat your work more often.
An on-demand print and option to keep your costs down. The nice thing about print-on-demand is that you can print on something other than just paper. Companies in the POD landscape today also allow you to print your works on canvas, metal, and signage, such as bags and mugs.
3. Digitizing Your Work.
Digitizing your art to sell online can be difficult, as you know, simply taking a photo of your latest work may not be the best way to accurately show all the details of your piece. Photos leave a sheen on the photos and colors may appear slightly different than their shade in person. Everything from your lighting to your choice of camera will affect the quality of your photos. Here are some tips to follow when photographing and scanning your art.
Take multiple photos: Take clear shots and zoom-in photos from multiple angles to show detail and texture. Lifestyle photos (like the artwork on your bedroom wall) are great for making an emotional impact on your audience.
Edit images: Recalibrate the image after digitizing using contrast, brightness, and other settings to make it look as true to life as possible. Avoid using any filters or additional features that make users uncertain about what they will find.
Crop photos: Remove unnecessary edges and background elements unless you’re providing a contextual shot. Make sure that hands and accessories are not visible, as they can distract from your piece.
Also, remember to save the data in the correct format. PNG images are often higher resolution and better than JPEG files.
Pro tip: For flat or 2D images, it’s often better to use scanning, as the scanning machine carefully parks and uploads images pixel by pixel.
4. Get the pricing right.
Pricing is one of the hardest parts of starting your own business. Choose too high a price, and you risk scaring away customers. Something is priced too cheaply, and you convince your audience that they’re not getting the best quality — it’s a fine balance.
Valuing original art is especially difficult because it’s hard to value your skill. If you’re just starting out and don’t have many followers or fans, you may want to start with simple pricing. For example, combine your time and labor costs with material costs and expenses. Add a small markup at the end to give yourself a profit. Once you have a better sense of the demand for your art and have built up a following, you can consider charging a premium. Also, think about your competitors and the prices they offer. Should your fees be lower or higher?
If you’re selling curated art or prints, pricing becomes a little easier. You just need to take the cost of printing and add your markup (profit) along with print sales and marketing fees. You may charge a bit more for limited edition prints.
Pay attention to your competition and the market to see what kind of pricing your customers respond best to. Don’t be tempted to cut yourself short just to attract more customers. You need to make a profit to make your effort worthwhile. Check out pricing strategies to better understand how much to charge for your artwork or merchandise.
5. Create Your Online Store.
It’s finally time to build and launch your online store. You can create a store in 30 minutes with a solution like Shopify. This eCommerce site building service comes with everything you need to showcase your art and start making a profit. You can customize the theme to fit your brand image, set up a checkout page, and even add apps to help sell your art.
Shopify’s app market is full of tools to make life easier for creative professionals. For example, there are
Email marketing tools: These are great for keeping your customers updated on your latest pieces, creating hype about new collections, and even informing clients about their previous orders.
SEO Solutions: SEO apps help in keyword research and tracking to ensure that you can increase your visibility online. If you want your customers to find your art when they search for certain terms on Google, you need SEO.
Print-on-demand apps: If you are selling art supplies and want to work with another printing company to print your products on a large scale, then print-on-demand services will be a boon. Make sure you choose a POD service that you can trust to produce high-quality products for your customers.
Shopify also has a range of free applications, such as countdown timer apps if you want to create a sense of urgency and convince people to buy. Everything you need to supercharge your online store is available in the Shopify App Store.
6. Explore additional platforms to sell online.
If you really want to maximize your chances of getting more sales, you’ll need to sell on more than just your website. There are dozens of art-focused marketplaces online with pre-existing customer bases, making it easy to find potential buyers. Options include.
Etsy: Probably the most popular site for artistic creations and crafts. Etsy is an online marketplace where you can list your art with other local and global creators.
CafePress: A solution for turning your art into unique products and collections, CafePress helps you unlock new formats for your art. You can also get your pieces featured in front of a larger potential audience.
ArtFire: Like Etsy, Artfire is a marketplace for makers and craftspeople around the world. Artfire helps you capture the attention of your target audience with podcasts, articles and more.
eBay: If you are selling one-of-a-kind creations, eBay may be a good choice for you. It was the biggest wickets site in the world, where you guys were bad.
Art Finder: Art Finder is a dedicated marketplace for curated artwork. If you want to be featured, you will need to apply on the site. There are many seller plans available and different commission options to consider.
UGallery: Aiming to democratize the sale of art, UGallery connects artists directly with collectors. This is a great site to consider if you are selling one-of-a-kind pieces. The website has an application process to ensure that all art sold through the site maintains a high standard.
You can also consider selling directly through social media channels like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Alternatively, check out wholesale sites like Handshake to sell photos and prints in bulk.
7. Protect your work.
One of the hardest parts of building your brand as an artist is protecting yourself from those who would try to steal your talent. It is common to see people online claiming to have created a particular design or even replicating a piece of art to sell as a print through various websites and marketplaces. Hiring a legal team can be extremely expensive and complicated, so it’s best to be proactive and work to defend yourself from day one.
Get your big pieces copyrighted as soon as possible, and keep an eye out for anyone trying to copy your design. When you distribute your art online, it’s important to work with both reputable marketplaces and third-party sellers.
The right print-on-demand companies, marketplaces, and curators will work with you to protect your art and notify you if others try to copy your images.
8. Market your art brand.
Now you’re ready to get out there and generate some buzz for your art brand.
There are so many great ways to focus on your site and your creatives. For example, you can start a social media page where you share snippets of your latest work. Instagram and Pinterest are perfect environments for this. Other options include:
- Run paid advertising campaigns with PPC on Facebook and Google.
- Invest in word of mouth marketing through engaging contests and events on social media.
- Reach influencers and connect with press in your industry.
- Learn about SEO and naturally improve your rankings with sites like Google
- Use unique content marketing to drive organic traffic to your website.
- Consider offline marketing options, such as participating in art shows and working with galleries to expand your reach to new audiences.
Summary: How to Sell Art Online in 2023
Selling art online is a wonderful way to turn your hobby into something that pays the bills.
Whether you choose to create custom pieces for customers around the world or sell prints of your photos online, there are plenty of ways to get started.
You just need to jump.
In summary, all the steps to selling art online are:
- Decide whether to sell originals or reproductions
- Print your works with DIY printing or print-on-demand.
- To digitize photography and scan art
- Select a price point.
- Create your own online art store
- Identify other places to sell your art online.
- Copyright your art pieces.
- Promote your art brand.
FAQ
What is the best way to sell art online?
It depends on your personal preference. However, most artists say they like the attention their website can draw. Building your e-commerce site with a platform like Shopify gives you a professional image and helps you reach customers around the world. You can also sell through social media accounts, online marketplaces, etc..
Is Selling Art Online Profitable?
Yes, you can definitely make a lot of profit by selling art online. The first step is to make sure you choose the right prices, taking into account things like time and materials. Make sure you also have a good marketing strategy to attract customers.
Which art is the most profitable?
Art is a broad and subjective concept. Different people love different types of art. Your best bet is to start by deciding what type of art you’re most likely to enjoy selling. Once you’ve set up your store, you can start tracking which of your pieces get the most attention from shoppers. Over time, store analytics will show you where to focus your attention to get the most return on your investment.
