Best Way To Sell Prints Of Your Artwork
More art is being sold online than ever before. Selling art online has become the new norm for artists selling fine art. Even art galleries are taking advantage of the internet. Younger galleries claim that 85% of their sale come from online sales.
Art collectors started purchasing art from sellers worldwide on platforms like eBay and Etsy. Over the past five years, more and more artists started their art careers by building their own online art galleries, promoting their artwork by writing blog posts, creating videos, and posting on social media. The internet has also made it possible for artists to take advantage of diverse income streams like writing eBooks, creating online tutorials, and selling prints of their art.
With the large variety of options available for artists increasing their income stream, we have decided to focus on how to earn money selling reproductions of your original paintings and drawings. If you are new to selling art online or are interested in creating passive income by selling art prints, we have you covered. This post will highlight some of the best ways you can earn extra money selling prints.
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Sell Local
Even though it is possible to sell your work worldwide, the best way to get started is by selling your art locally to people you know. Your closest friends and family will help you to build name recognition by telling people they know about the work you create. Over time people will start to search your name on the internet to see your online art portfolio.
Best Ways To Sell Art Locally
Local Craft Fairs
People love to go to local craft fairs to support local artists and crafters and find unique gifts and decore.
Find some local craft fairs in your area and start making a presence. Showcase your best originals and offer prints of your art. Not everyone who goes to an art fair will be willing to invest in a high-ticket item, but they will be more than happy to purchase a reproduction of your work, especially when they see the quality of the reproductions you offer.
Tips For Selling Prints At Art Fairs
- Have the prices displayed on the packages of the prints
- Make it easy for people to see the variety of prints you are selling
- Great the people when they visit the table
- Offer the brochures and business cards
- Have an email sign-up list on the table
- Offer different sizes
- Offer prints of your work on greeting cards
If you sell art prints locally, you will need to have prints made of your work.
To learn more visit, How To Make Prints To Sell.
Local Gift Shops
Another way to have your art seen locally is by selling your work in local gift shops and other small businesses that support local artists.
Many local shops support local artists and other small businesses. Take some time to find small businesses that sell similar products and build relationships with the owner.
To learn how to sell your products at local gift shops, visit, How To Sell Art Prints To Stores.
Local Hospitals
Selling art is a numbers game. The more people who see your work, the better your chance of landing a sale. As we have mentioned earlier, building name recognition locally is one of the best ways to build your online art business.
Displaying your art in local hospitals and health facilities will have your art seen by a broader audience.
Even though you will not be selling your art at hospitals, you will have your art seen by many people. The people who admire your art will look at the plaque to see who the artist is.
To learn more, visit How Healthcare Displaying Artwork Help Artists.
Open Studio Events
Another way to sell reproductions locally is to host an open studio event.
An open studio event is when an artist allows people to visit their art studio and promotes the artwork they are selling. Hosting an open studio event is a great way to sell art that has not been sold over the past few years and sell new creations and reproductions of art that has already been sold. To increase sales, sell your art at an open house event.
To learn more, visit Hosting An Open Studio Event – Complete Guide.
Sell Art Online
An artist does not need to be represented by an art gallery to enjoy a successful art career. The internet has changed how an artist conducts business and how art collectors discover new artwork.
If you want to sell art online, you have to decide what type of selling platform you will use to sell your products and what online art marketing strategies you will be focusing on.
Before we talk about marketing art online, let’s talk about how to make passive income by selling your work online.
Print On Demand Service
If you are new to selling products online and do not have an online store, a print-on-demand service might be something to consider.
A POD (print-on-demand) is a service that artists and photographers use to sell prints of their work on fine art paper, canvas, greeting cards, and merchandise like coffee mugs, calendars, tote bags, and even facemasks.
All you have to do is upload a digital image of your artwork on the site, and when an item sells, they will fulfill the order and ship the product directly to the buyer. You will receive royalties for every sale associated with your artwork.
Because more and more art is being sold online every year, more POD services are becoming available for artists and photographers.
Here is a list of some of the most popular print-on-demand sites artists use to sell prints online.
Fine Art America – Fine Art America has been around since 2006 and has become one of the largest print-on-demand companies and online art marketplace. They sell high-quality wall art and other products like home decor and apparel. Art lovers feel confident purchasing Fine Art America products because they offer a money-back guarantee for every purchase. Artists can feel confident when they sell their art on FAM, and buyers can feel confident they will receive high-quality products.
To learn more, visit How To Get Started Selling On Fine Art America.
Etsy – Etsy was established in 2005 for people to discover one-of-a-kind art and handmade crafts. As time went by and the business grew, Etsy started to allow crafters and artists to sell their work reproductions.
Etsy allows artists and crafters to build a free online shop to display their products. Artists can sell both their original artwork and copies of their artwork.
An artist will choose between printing prints at home and shipping the product to the buyer or using a print-on-demand site to fulfill the orders.
Saatchi Art – Saatchi Art is one of the most respected names in the art world and offers art collectors a way to discover new art from artists worldwide. Collectors have the option of purchasing the originals and reproductions.
Zazzle – Zazzle is a POD service like Fine Art America. They also allow artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and photographers to create designs on the platform or upload digital images of their work. Setting up an online gallery is free, and they allow you to set up the royalties you will receive for each purchase. They also allow artists to create affiliate links which will increase their profits.
Sell Art Online Marketing Strategy
The sites listed above are platforms you can use to sell your products online. However, you will have to market your products if you hope to land a sale.
Thousands of artists worldwide are trying to learn how to make money selling art prints just like you—the artists who do well have spent a great deal of time learning about online art marketing. If you want to sell your art online, you have to devote time to promoting your work by blogging, creating videos, sending newsletters, and posting on social media.
A well-written marketing plan will put your artwork in front of potential buyers, which will increase your sales.
There is a lot involved in digital marketing and too much information to put in this post. However, we have a library of posts dedicated to art marketing that will show you how to build an online store and get your art before your target audience to land a sale.
To see over 1,000 articles dedicated to increasing art sales, visit Art Business – Art Marketing Resource.
Websites
As your business grows and you build a large fanbase of art lovers who purchase reproductions of your original artwork, you might want to consider building an e-commerce website.
Web stores allow creators to sell original artwork, limited edition prints, open edition prints, and other services like online tutorials.
There are many website builders available for selling art online. For a list of popular website builders, artists visit 16 Best Artist Website Builders. It is possible to sell your art online with these website builders; however, some have a costly monthly fee to eat up some of your profits.
An alternative solution for selling art online is to build a WordPress website. A WordPress website is similar to the website builders outlined in the above post. The main difference is that you will have total control of your online gallery’s look and feel. You can continue to update your WordPress site as your art business grows, and there are no monthly fees. The only fees associated with a WordPress site are the domain name, hosting, and any premium plugins or themes you might consider using. (Most plugins and themes are free.)
For example, Bluehost offers to host starting at $3.95/month, while some website builders have $45/month.
Review your business goals before building an online art gallery to decide your best options.
Researching other artists’ websites will also help you decide on the best platform for your business. An online store’s main objective is to have a place where art collectors can view and purchase your original art, limited edition prints, and other products and services you will be offering.
Social Media Platforms
An online store is where people can go to purchase your products. However, you need people to visit your online store to sell your artwork. Promoting your art business on different social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is a great way to drive traffic to your online gallery.
Many artists sell their art on social media networks and online shops. Search for artists on different social media networks before setting up different social media accounts. You want to see where your target audience hangs out. It does not make sense to waste your time promoting your work online if the people seeing it will not purchase it. Only focus on the ones that your target audience hangs out on.
Selling Art Prints Final Thoughts
Over the past five years, more and more artists have decided to sell art online. Even galleries are taking advantage of the internet.
Even though it is possible to sell original art online, you still have to focus on building a following, and that is why we recommend starting locally before you focus on just online sales. Many artists see other artists do very well on social media and think it is as simple as posting an image of their work. There is more to it than that to increase sales.
The best way to sell reproductions is to build a following and sell your art successfully online.
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