If you’re an artist or illustrator, selling art prints or original paintings and drawings can be an excellent way to generate new revenue streams, build your portfolio and connect with potential clients and buyers.
Whether you’re just starting an art business or looking to expand into a new market, here are some great places where artists and illustrators can sell their original artwork and prints.
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Sell Prints On Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace created to purchase and sell handmade goods, home decor, original work, prints, vintage items, digital art, and supplies.
Etsy is a perfect option for new artists wishing to sell art online. Many art marketplaces, like Fine Art America and Saatchi Art, are available for selling art online. Still, Etsy has built a large audience searching for unique handmade products and wall art with no membership fees.
Etsy charges 20 cents for every listing you create for four months or until the item is sold. For each sale, you will be charged a transaction fee of 6.5 percent of the selling price plus the amount you charge for shipping.
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Types Of Prints To Sell On Etsy
Fine Art Prints – independent artists can print reproductions at home or purchase them from a local printer and ship them directly to your buyer.
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Print-On-Demand – you can print to order from a POD service, such as Printful.
Printful is an online print-on-demand service for buying and selling user-created designs on products like t-shirts, coffee mugs, canvas prints, iPhone cases, and planners.
You can also create custom art prints through their print shop, which allows you to choose from various sizes and paper options.
You can open a free account in just a few minutes and start selling print-on-demand products quickly on Etsy.
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Digital Downloads – Etsy allows Etsy shop owners to sell digital downloads of patterns, art, graphics, and fonts.
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Greeting Cards – Greeting cards are also popular on Etsy. You can sell reproductions on greeting cards or create one-of-a-kind handpainted and personalized cards.
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To sell your prints on Etsy, upload a jpeg image to their site and provide basic information about the product, such as the size, medium, and relevant details. Share your listings on social media and send newsletters to your email list.
Tile art – Ceramic decorative art tiles are becoming very popular.
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Selling Prints At Local Art Fairs
Selling at local art fairs and markets is a great way to sell your prints, original paintings, and drawings.
The best time to sell your artwork at local craft fairs is during holiday weekends like Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving weekend.
Prints and greeting cards sell well during the winter holiday season.
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Tips For Selling Prints At Craft Fairs
Before attending a local fair, you want to decide what size prints to sell. Offering different sizes will attract more potential buyers and increase your chances of making sales.
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You might also consider offering prints of your art on merchandise like greeting cards, tote bags, metal, ceramic trivets, ceramic coasters, and mugs.
When selling at a craft fair, it’s a good idea to sell a range of items for different price points so that your customers will have something they can afford.
For example, you can sell greeting cards and art prints priced between $5 and $20, with the larger prints costing more. You can also sell original paintings for $500 to $2000.
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Build A Website
Online art sales increase yearly and will reach 7.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
An artist’s website is essential if you want to sell art prints online.
A website gives you an online platform to share information about yourself, your art, and any shows or exhibits where your art will be shown.
Starting a WordPress website is easy and affordable with BlueHost.
BlueHost is a reputable and popular website hosting service used by many artisans.
WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that allows you to build beautiful, professional websites without coding knowledge or experience.
If you do not have the time to design a website, you can outsource the job to an expert from Fiverr.
Fiverr links businesses with freelancers who provide digital services in more than 500 categories.
Turning a WordPress website into an e-commerce website with a shopping cart and marketing tools is easy and free with WooCommerce.
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Host An Open Studio Event
Another option is to host an open studio where people can come and buy your art prints.
You will need to make some preparations, though, before hosting an open studio event. You need to stage a photo shoot of your work and prepare a list of prices and sizes. If you’re selling greeting cards, note that they cost less than other complex products like framed prints.
You can also arrange a presentation to talk about your experience as an artist and how selling art prints has helped you succeed.
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Sell Art Prints In Local Gift Shops
A great way to build name recognition in your local area is to sell your work at local businesses.
Customer traffic in these shops may be lower than selling on Etsy, but it still provides a way to reach new customers.
In some cases, selling your work at local gift shops can also lead to selling opportunities with other businesses that sell your prints as part of a promotional product on their end.
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Know Your Business Objectives
The list of best places to sell art prints above is a sure way to boost your income.
However, it is best to know the best places for your business objectives before prioritizing them and getting the best results.
As an artist, what matters most to you?
Do you want to make more money or settle with lower profits while gaining name recognition in your community?
Knowing your business objectives will help you decide how best to sell your art prints.
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Pricing Art Prints
The next step is to set prices for all of your products.
Price consultants can help you price your art prints if you don’t want to put in the math.
You need to provide them with information about how much it costs you to do business, and they’ll work out your price point for profits.
However, to price your art prints, you must research the market and discover what potential art collectors are willing to pay for your work.
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Final Thoughts On The Best Place To Sell Art Prints
As a working artist, your main objective is to enhance your business skills and get your work ahead of as many potential customers as possible. The best way to get started is to have an online gallery where art lovers can admire and purchase products on your online shop. You can either create a WordPress website or use Etsy to showcase products. The next step is to build name recognition in your local area by making a presence at craft fairs. In time you will become an established artist.
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