How To Sell Paintings Online With Free Shipping

Artists Selling Online During The Holidays

The holidays are right around the corner, and people are considering purchasing gifts for their families and friends. 

Now is the time for artists to start thinking of different online art marketing strategies to increase holiday sales. 

This post will cover how to sell paintings online this holiday season with free shipping strategies that will encourage your shoppers to hit the “BUY NOW” link.

Why Should Artists Promote Sales During The Holidays 

You will see discounts and flash sales online and offline during the few months before the holidays. 

Why do many companies promote sales and free shipping incentives during the holidays?

Companies know that people will spend more money on the winter holidays and want to take advantage of the opportunity.

Here are some staggering statistics.

In 2019 it was projected that America would reach $1 trillion in holiday spending.

Americans spent an average of $882.45 on Christmas gifts in 2019.

Online art sales declined in 2019 but still reached $64.1 billion in sales.

There is money to be made selling products online.

But with so much competition, artists need to implement strategies that have been known to work and develop other creative plans that will separate them from all of the other artists selling paintings online.

Today we will talk about increasing your art sales by offering free shipping during the holiday season.

Selling Your Art Online With Free Shipping

Can artists offer free shipping discounts to increase their sales and make a decent profit?

Free shipping becomes even more important for shoppers as the holiday season begins. (Source: Peter Roesler – Inc.com)

Before discussing different shipping options, you need to know how much profit you would like to earn this holiday season.

Instead of thinking about how many pieces of artwork you would like to sell during the next few months, think about how much money you would like to generate.

Document how much gross profit (the profit you will make minus the cost of making and selling your art) you would like to earn over the holidays.

For example, if you sell your art for $100.00 and it costs $35.00 to create it, and you spend $15.00 for advertisements, your gross profit will be $50.00. That $50.00 goes into your pocket.

Related Resource:

Art Pricing Guide – How to Price Art to Sell eBook

Now that you know how much money you want to generate, let’s review some shipping strategies to help you achieve your goals. 

3 Free Shipping Strategies

Here are three pricing strategies you will want to consider using for your free shipping promotion.

First, you can keep the exact pricing you use for your artwork and heavily promote free shipping for the holidays.

Remember that keeping your art at the same price and offering free shipping will lower your gross profit margin.

How to calculate gross profit with free shipping:

Selling price – the cost to make the product – the cost of advertising – shipping cost = gross profit.

Selling price $100.00 – the cost to make the artwork $35.00 – the cost of advertising $15.00 – the cost of shipping $15.00 = gross profit $35.00

Now let’s talk about your gross profit goal.

To keep things simple, let’s say you wanted to earn $100.00 gross profit during the holiday season. (We hope you make a lot more than that.)

To generate $100, you would have to sell two paintings without free shipping, or you would have to sell three paintings to earn $100 without offering free shipping. 

You have to ask yourself if selling two paintings with shipping costs or three pieces with free shipping would be easier?

Increase Art Prices By 10%-20%.

Related post:

How You Can Increase Art Selling Prices

Increasing your art prices will lower the loss you will take from offering free shipping.

For example, if you usually charge $100.00 and add 10%, the new price will be $110.00.

If you offer free shipping and the shipping cost is $15.00, you will only lose $5.00 from your gross profit instead of $15.00.

Many businesses and artists use this strategy, which works well for them.

You can also keep the new prices for the following year, increasing your profits.

Free Shipping With Purchase Over ($)

The last option is to offer free shipping if they spend a specific amount on ordering or purchasing a particular item.

For example, FREE SHIPPING on orders over $250.00 or receive FREE SHIPPING when purchasing regular-priced items.

These are just a few examples you can use.

Experiment with different strategies to see what works best for your audience. 

Just keep an accurate record of what you are doing and the results of the strategy you put into action. The information you collect will help you make better decisions for next year’s holiday season.

Create Urgency

Do you ever feel like spinning like a top during the holiday season?

Besides your regular busy schedule, you must find time to go to parties, shop for gifts, attend after-school activities your children participate in, work overtime, decorate your house, and so on.

Before you know it, the holidays have come and gone.

Odds are your customers are under the same pressure.

You can increase your sales by creating a sense of urgency.

Heavily promote on your landing pages, social media accounts, and website that you will be offering free shipping for a limited time during the holiday season.

Everyone hates to pay for shipping. You will inspire your buyers to hit the “BUY NOW” button. You are creating a sense of urgency by providing them with valuable savings.

Check out Thrive Ultimatum Sales Page to create banners highlighting limited-time sales or free shipping discounts. 

Coupon Code

Another tip for selling your art online is to focus on building your email list.

Related post: 

Ultimate Email Marketing Guide for Selling Art Online

You can grow your email list by promoting a FREE SHIPPING CODE for anyone who joins your email list.

You can also use the Ultimatum Sales Page to highlight a coupon code, and the banner will direct your buyer directly to the page you are promoting.

Final Thoughts On How To Sell Paintings Online With Free Shipping

The holiday season is coming up quickly. Take advantage of this time of year and create different strategies to help you sell more art.

Offering free shipping is one strategy that has helped me increase my sales over the holiday season.

The strategies I have talked about will also work throughout the year. You do not only have to implement them during the holiday season.

If there is a time when your sales are slow, offer free shipping for a limited time to try to boost your sales, and don’t forget to write well-written art descriptions to hook potential buyers.

More Holiday-Related Posts

Increase Online Art Sales This Holiday Season

How To Create A Holiday Marketing Plan For Artists And Crafters

Is Your Artist Website Ready For The Holiday Rush