Selling Art Online - Does It Work?
If you are interested at all in art and photography, you will no
doubt have noticed the huge number of impressive looking online
galleries all over the internet. Judging by the numbers of
signed up artists and photographers they seem extremely popular.
But do these online galleries actually sell the work they
display?
Well yes, quite often. It is a fact that many artists do very
well selling art and photography on the internet. However, as
with any offline gallery, showing work simply provides the
opportunity to be seen by a larger audience thereby increasing
chances of making sales. That said, the internet is a gateway to
a worldwide audience and by joining an online gallery an artist
has the potential of tapping into it. A word of caution though;
some galleries are far easier to find than others. This is very
important because no matter how attractive the layout of an
online gallery appears, if customers can't find it then the
artwork is not going to be seen.
So where are the best places to sell art online? Well, there are
now many options open to both professional and aspiring artists
and photographers. It all depends on individual objectives. For
high visibility, joining one of the larger online galleries who
get many thousands of visitors daily might be a wise
consideration. A visitor count is usually provided somewhere on
the homepage of these sites. There are some excellent ones to
choose from but each is slightly different in terms of selection
and joining procedures, how they assist in promoting work and
how work is displayed on the website. Also, attention should be
paid to areas such as who takes payment for work sold and how
money is received after a sale. Commission taken from a sale is
another important factor and can vary from 0% to 40+%.
Can one really make any money from selling art online then? The
short answer to that is 'probably'. A good indication is whether
the art sells in the 'real' world or not. If it does, then it is
likely to be also successful online. If an artist hasn't yet
ventured into selling, then there is nothing to lose by dipping
a toe in the water by joining an online gallery. One place to
test the waters is eBay but another word of caution here. If
work is already selling at top end prices, it is very unlikely
that these can be commanded on eBay. It is very important to
avoid dropping prices for the purposes of selling on eBay too,
or anywhere else online for that matter. Current customers won't
like it. It devalues their purchases and also makes them feel
they have been ripped off by paying higher prices. That said,
some artists are making a good living on eBay with its
phenomenal number, and still growing, of daily visitors.
What about fine art and photography prints, do they sell well
online? Well, yes actually! Very well. In fact it would be fair
to say that although the art print market is very competitive
online, with huge websites offering everything from
impressionist style canvases to Disney posters, there is still
room for original art and fine art photography prints. The fact
is that whilst people may be hesitant to spend a huge amount of
money on an original artwork without seeing it 'in the flesh',
prints are a safer gamble as they are much more affordable. As
more and more people become comfortable with shopping online for
a variety of goods, this can only help online art sales too.