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17 Platforms to Sell Art Online
Fine Art America
Fine Art America is one of the best ways to sell your art online because it’s the large online art marketplace in the world. The company has been in business since 2006. It’s a great place to find artists, graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, and other creatives.
In recent years, Fine Art America has branched out into print-on-demand technology, and the site continues to grow.
You can upload your work to the site with a few clicks and set your price for sale to a huge global audience of potential buyers.
Any material products are manufactured at one of sixteen different production facilities and delivered with a 30 day money-back guarantee.
Aside from being a marketplace, Fine Art America also has a number of tools to help any artist develop their career further.
These include:
- E-newsletters,
- Augmented reality stores,
- Print selling via Shopify
- Branded web stores.
Amazon
Amazon is well known for selling mass produced products. But many artists don’t know that the company started selling fine art back in 2013.
If you peruse the Amazon Art sections of the platform, you can find “Guest Curators” that create a gallery of work for a digital market audience.
To sell your art on Amazon, you need to pass a pre-approval process. You cannot sell three dimensional pieces on the platform. If you want to sell sculptures, crafts, and other items, you need to look at Amazon Handmade as an alternative.
ArtPal
ArtPal is an online art gallery that represents more than 170,000 artists, and it’s free to view the work. You can decide to sell items you create or use the print-on-demand service to allow buyers to access your art.
If you want to sell your original artwork and prints alongside each other ArtPal is a great platform. The company charges no commission, and there are no membership fees to worry about. This allows the artist to focus on being creative while ArtPal handles everything else. This platform also has a number of useful features to help artists price and market their work, and it only takes a few minutes to set up your own ArtPal free online gallery.
Etsy
Etsy Summary
- Easy to set up & maintain your store
- Market to a large audience – 45+ million active Etsy buyers
- Built-in analytics to analyze your performance & make data-driven decisions
- No shop fees
Etsy has been in business since 2005, and this platform is still a popular way to sell art online. Many creative people sell a wide variety of arts and crafts on the site. It’s easy to set up your own Etsy store. The platform charges a listing and transaction fee, but Etsy has a large reach. That’s why there are more than 1 million sellers.
The platform also provides a number of helpful resources to increase your chances of succeeding. This include:
- Branding advice,
- Marketing tips
- Bookkeeping advice.
Minted
Minted is a great resource for custom cards, invitations, and more. If you’re an artist, photographer, graphic designer, or illustrator that enjoys design competitions, this is the site for you. Users vote on the artist’s work, and the winners could win a cash prize and earn extra commissions for their unique designs.
It’s easy to set up a Minted storefront. This is a great platform if you want to build a reputation.
Storenvy
Storenvy is a marketplace for new and emerging brands, and it only takes a few minutes to set up your free online store. There are many custom tools to make your store stand out, and even more features are added if you go with a paid monthly plan.
You can sell pretty much any kind of art on Storenvy, and you have ready access to millions of potential buyers.
Society6
If you want to sell art reproductions or get ready access to printed products, take a look at Society6. It’s very easy to upload art to this platform to create items such as phone cases and art prints.
Society6 takes care of the order fulfillment for the artist, and you will retain all the rights to your work. You can set your own royalties on items such as stretched canvasses and art prints and have set fees for other items.
Zazzle
Zazzle Summary
- 3 different ways to earn with Zazzle
- Earn up to $200 per day as a Designer
- Decide on your own royalty fee (up to 99%)
- No fees to join and unlimited uploads
Zazzle allows an artist to sell art or products with print-on-demand support. It’s free to set up your own Zazzle store, and you set your own royalty percentages. Zazzle takes care of all the order fulfillment for you, including shipping and handling.
While this may not offer the same immediate cash, effectively you are creating a passive income stream.
Casetify
Casetify makes it easy for artists to sell their work on consumer tech accessories such as phone cases and watch bands. Upload your artwork, set each design for a product.
When you make a sale, the platform fulfills it for you. As an artist, you retain all the rights to your artwork, and yet you still earn a profit on each item sold.
Ebay
eBay Summary
- High user traffic – over 187 million users
- No listing fees for small scale sellers
- Promote your listing from as little as 1%
- Quick processing time for payouts
The art category on the eBay platform shows a large variety of pieces for sale. The company is one of the earliest online retailers. They’ve been in business since 1995.
One of the best things about eBay is the “How to Sell” guides that help sellers to make the best use of the platform.
As a well established platform, eBay has a huge reach. This makes it an attractive option for artists that want to sell art online.
Red Bubble
Redbubble is an Australian company founded in 2006 which offers a comprehensive print-on-demand service. Artists can upload their artwork to the set to sell on a wide variety of products and as reproduction prints.
It’s easy to organize your earning potential because you set your profit margins, and there are traffic analytics to monitor your progress. If you need a reliable print-on-demand partner Redbubble is a great option.
Artplode
Artplode has been around since 2014. The platform was designed for artists, dealers, collectors, and galleries to deal in art. Artplode doesn’t take a commission when your art sells, but you pay a flat listing fee for each piece.
If you pay an additional fee, Artplode can connect you with a consultant to help you market and price your work. As an artist, you can decide if you want to pay shipping or pass through the costs to the buyer instead.
Saachi Art
One of the most recognized names in art and advertising is Saatchi. Saatchi Art’s founder is Charles Saatchi. He set up the business in 2014.
Although the company has changed hands, it’s still a great platform to set up a free online shop for your artwork. The prices of pieces tend to range from $500 up to $10,000 or more. The site charges a flat 35% commission. A courier is dispatched to collect the sold artwork, but the artist is responsible for packaging for safe shipment.
Saatchi Art has a large platform of art lovers. They produce a printed catalog that they distribute to more than 1 million homes.
UGallery
UGallery was founded back in 2006. It’s a serious endeavor designed to curate artwork and avoid the need for multiple outlets. The entire platform is directed towards easy browsing of art online, and the experience is almost like spending an enjoyable day at a gallery. Each artist is chosen, the piece of art is exhibited, and the artwork is all make exclusive for UGallery use.
This may seem perturbing, but this is an excellent way to boost your exposure if you a mid-career artist. Any sales are split 50/50 between the artist and UGallery. They provide the shipping materials and you need to pack the sold artwork for shipment. UGallery has a dedicated audience of art lovers, and selection is certainly a boon for any artist’s career.
Artsy
Artsy is a venture founded online gallery with huge reach. They sell art created by artists from all over the globe. The mission of Artsy is to make art accessible to any person with an internet connection and act as a resource for education and collecting.
The company takes no upfront fees. The auctions are kept on a confidential basis, and you keep all the rights to your work until it’s sold. Artsy works hard to match art collectors to work that they would be interested in, and this makes it easier to sell your art.
You can submit your work with images and details, and Artsy reviews and approves a submission before acceptance. If your artwork is accepted, you will get consignment offers from their list of curated galleries, auctions, and auction houses.
Don’t worry too much about the details. Artsy specialists will help you to choose the best method to sell your work.
Is Selling Art Online Profitable?
The global art market has a value of $67 billion. There are approximately 40 million art transactions each year. While you may not be a serious collector, there is no reason why you couldn’t get a piece of this action.
If you’re creative and produce your own art, you may feel daunted by the prospect of visiting galleries. So, here I will delve into how to sell art online.
You may have thought about how to sell art online, but this does come with a certain set of challenges. Every artist needs to consider the visibility of their work, how to make a sale and turn a profit at the same time.
This may seem hard at times. But if you have a creative outlook, an eye for detail, and you’re not afraid of hard work, it is possible to sell art online and make a good income! You can even create a passive income stream by uploading your artwork for print on demand designs.
How Do I Price My Art?
If you’re looking at how to sell art online and make money, the first question that you need to ask yourself is, how do I find a price for my art? At first, this may seem a tricky question to answer because, after all, I are talking about art, which has a subjective value for each person. But, if you adopt a more pragmatic approach, things are much easier to quantify.
Everyone deserves to earn a reasonable hourly rate. Add in the cost of your art materials, and then you have an asking price.
For example:
You create a piece of art, your hourly rate is $20, it took 10 hours, and the materials cost $100. The price of the art would be $20×10 (hours)=$200 + $100 (materials)=$300.
Following this hard and fast rule is a great way to price your art as you get started. If your reputation grows, this needs to reflect in your final price with a higher hourly rate.
How do I Start Selling My Art?
If you want to sell your artwork online, it’s important to start thinking about marketing your work as a business. Here are seven tips to help you get started:
- Get your art online because people need to see it.
- Network with art lovers and other creatives to boost your profile.
- Build a loyal and solid client base of people that love your artwork.
- Use your social media and upload regularly to maintain interest.
- Sell art commissions when it feels right.
- If you’re not getting the results consider hiring a consultant.
- Understand the needs of your audience.
