The online marketplace is huge, making it super easy for artists to get their work into a buyer’s hands. Now that you have put in hours upon hours of crafting, creating, and perfecting your art, it’s time to put your work out in the world and make a profit too.
But how? It can be confusing trying to pick a place to showcase and sell your art. But don’t worry, here is the perfect list of places and ways to sell your work online, plus some valuable tips to make the most of your selling journey!
Choose your online selling platform
A great step you can take to get your work online is by choosing one or multiple marketplaces. There are tons of places to sell your work. We’ve put together a list with the pros and cons of each to help you decide which platform may be the best fit for you.
1. ArtPal
Why It’s Great: ArtPal is a great platform for professional or newbie artists to sell their work without paying a ton of fees. With no membership or commission fees, it doesn’t cost you a thing to start selling on ArtPal (unless you want top exposure). You get to set your own prices and get 100% of the profits. This platform features artists in all types of art from photography, prints, painting, design, pottery, jewelry, crafts, sculptures, and more.
The Drawbacks: Some users say that the exposure of an artist’s work is not good, therefore you would need to pay some money to gain more exposure and elevate your profile. If your art isn’t making any sales, ArtPal offers the opportunity to “move” your piece up towards the top, but for a price.
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2. Artplode
Why It’s Great: Artplode is a great choice to market your art if you’re not wanting to lose money from commission fees. On top of receiving all the profit of a sale, this site provides an optional, but a helpful, tool called “Artplode Assistant” to help artists figure out how to price their art. As the artist, you can even decide whether you or the buyer pays shipping costs.
The Drawbacks: Since Artplode doesn’t take any commission out of your sales, they do require you to pay a listing price for each piece of art you’re wanting to sell. Each listing cost is a one-time fee of $60 and will be valid until you sell the product.
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3. Fine Art America
Why It’s Great: Perfect for professional artists who seek a massive audience, Fine Art America is one of the largest online art marketplaces in the world. Artists can simply upload pictures of their work and Fine Art America uses their print-on-demand technology to provide buyers with quality products while taking care of the packaging, framing, matting, and shipping costs. Marketing and sales tools are also available to artists who want to boost and expand their business.
The Drawbacks: Only your first 25 images would be free to upload; after that, you would need to pay the $30 annual fee for unlimited postings. You would also only get a proportion of the money made from a sale, as FAA takes a high percentage of it, and with such a huge network of sellers on the site, there is no guarantee that your work will be discovered.
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4. Shopify
Why It’s Great: If you’re the type of artist that is a go-getter or likes to do things on their own, then opening up a Shopify store might be your thing. With this e-commerce store, you can build your own website to showcase your best art and use Shopify’s helpful marketing tools to grow your business and attract visitors. If you’re a little hesitant to commit, Shopify offers a 90-day trial so you can try it out.
The Drawbacks: After completing the 90-day trial, if you find that you love Shopify, you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep your store going (starting at $29 for the basic plan and $299 for the advanced plan).
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Follow these tips & best practices for selling your art online
Completing the step to getting your artwork out there is only half the process. Now that you have a good idea of where to sell, follow these super helpful and practical tips to get ahead of the game and increase your chances of making a sale.
1. Learn the value of your time and work
As an artist, you put forth so much time and effort into your creations. They are worth being paid for! Your time and work are valuable, and you should know that before you start selling. Depending on your form of choice, materials can be very expensive. So, knowing that your time is precious can have a great effect on the way you present yourself as an artist.
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2. Figure out your pricing strategy for your work
It is important that you don’t undersell yourself. To figure out a pricing strategy that works for you, do extensive research on your target market, other artists, and online or in-person galleries. Keep your prices the same for all platforms you sell on so your buyers don’t feel cheated when they buy your art. Analyze your time and effort put into your work, collect your research, and stand by your prices with confidence.
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3. Optimize your website and artwork descriptions for search engines
This is an important tip if you want to increase the traffic to any websites you have that promote your products. Using search engine optimization (SEO) tactics is a great way to get your website to rank higher on search engine pages. The most common way buyers get their products is by searching the internet! Using the same keywords in your descriptions that they do in search engines can increase your chances of ranking higher.
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4. Promote yourself and your artwork
After you have picked one (or multiple) selling platforms, settled on some prices for your work, and optimized your website or artwork descriptions, start promoting yourself. It can be a scary thing to put you and your work out in the open. But marketing your work via social media, blogging, forums, or e-newsletters is one of the best ways to gain more exposure and it’s mostly free to do.
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FAQ
If you are still contemplating the best ways to sell your work, maybe the answer to these frequently asked questions can give you some clarity.
Is selling art online worth it?
It is perfectly reasonable to question whether selling your art will actually be worth it. While there is no guarantee of success, you will be glad to know that it is totally possible to make a living selling artwork online, depending on the way you go about it.
It takes commitment, sacrifice, and hard work, but if you are passionate about what you do, it can be worth it in the end.
How do I price my art?
Conduct some research on your target market and other artists creating similar styles; after that, you can use formulas to help you come to a general idea of a price.
For example, multiplying the hourly wage and the hours of work put in plus the cost of materials is one way. Another is pricing your art by the size of it (in inches) and the cost per inch. Whatever formula you use, knowing your value as an artist will help you stand firm in your pricing.
How much money can you make selling art online?
It all depends on the prices you set and the platform you use to promote and sell your work. Commission fees, listing fees, membership fees can all add up when selling on third-party platforms.
Using social media as a way to promote and sell can cost less money. A full-time and experienced artist may earn from 3,000 to 40,000 per month all depending on expertise, marketing strategy, experience, and type of art being sold.
Is it hard to sell art online?
It is easier than ever to make money from selling artwork online. Many online marketplaces (such as the ones above) make it very easy to set up an online presence and get your work in front of a buyer’s eyes.
Most art-selling platforms require you to set up an account (with some including registration fees or application processes) and then you can get to selling!
What kind of art sells best?
You can look up trending art styles on many art platforms and magazines. A huge trending style is printing-on-demand products. Buyers love to use artistic designs and photos and either print them on canvases or other products like mugs, t-shirts, or pillows.
Nature landscapes have made a resurgence in the art world as well, grabbing attention in the form of paintings. Modernistic and contemporary art pieces also claim a spot as the more popular themes in the art community.