The best places to sell your artwork online to support your creative business.
In the past, artists faced limitations in selling their art, relying on physical galleries, street sales, or art fairs to reach buyers. However, the internet has revolutionized the art market, making it easier than ever to share and sell artwork online to a global audience.
Selling art online is akin to starting your own business, but how do you go about it? Let's explore some of the best websites for selling art, helping you transition your business online.
Process of Selling Paintings on Online Platforms
1. Global Reach:
Broad Audience: Online platforms offer access to an international market, allowing artists to reach a wide range of potential buyers.
2. Established Marketplaces:
Many online platforms have a large user base, increasing the likelihood of attracting buyers interested in unique and expensive artwork.
3. User-Friendly Tools:
Ease of Setup: Most platforms provide straightforward tools for setting up a shop, listing products, and managing inventory.
4. Marketing Features:
Built-in marketing tools, such as advertising options, promotional discounts, and social media integration, help sellers promote their artwork effectively.
5. Community and Support:
Active Communities: Many platforms have vibrant communities of sellers and buyers, offering opportunities for networking, sharing tips, and collaborating.
6. Customer Support:
Comprehensive support resources, including help articles, webinars, and customer service, assist sellers with any issues they may encounter.
7. SEO and Discoverability:
Search Engine Optimization: Online platforms are often optimized for search engines, improving the visibility of listings and helping potential buyers find artwork through organic searches.
8. Tags and Categories:
Using tags and categories can increase the discoverability of artwork, making it easier for buyers to find relevant listings.
9. Payment Security:
Secure Transactions: Most platforms handle payment processing, providing a secure and convenient way for buyers to purchase artwork and ensuring sellers receive their payments reliably.
Here some website where you can sell your paintings
1. Etsy
When discussing online platforms for selling art, Etsy stands out. Since its launch in 2005, this widely-used marketplace has become a go-to destination for artists, designers, and crafters to showcase and sell their work.
Etsy offers artists the opportunity to connect with a vast global audience of art enthusiasts, making it one of the largest online communities for craft and art lovers.
However, its popularity also presents a challenge: the competition. With numerous independent artists vying for attention, breaking through and reaching the right audience can be difficult.
How to Sell on Etsy
Selling your art on Etsy is straightforward. First, create your own Etsy shop, acting as your online store to showcase your art. Once your shop is set up, list your products with high-quality photos, start marketing, and make sales.
Etsy provides various tools to help you reach the right audience. Regarding fees, Etsy charges a small listing fee. When your art sells, you'll pay a 5% transaction fee and a 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee. Additionally, there are advertising fees if you choose to promote your products on or off the Etsy platform.
2. Amazon
Nowadays, Amazon has become a go-to for purchasing almost anything, including art. Whether you're selling handmade crafts or fine art like paintings and photographs, there are opportunities on Amazon.
Amazon Handmade showcases homemade items, while there's also a section dedicated to fine art, featuring unique paintings, drawings, and more from partner artists.
How to Sell Art on Amazon
Amazon offers various fee structures depending on how and where you sell your products. For Amazon Fine Art, you need approval and pay $0.99 per unit sale, plus a referral fee of 5 to 20% based on the total cost.
You can find detailed fee information on Amazon's seller pricing page. For Amazon Handmade, the referral fee is a flat 15% per sale.
(listing your art is free).
3. Fine Art America
For versatility in selling your art, check out Fine Art America, one of the largest online art marketplaces worldwide. It offers both traditional gallery-style sales and extensive print-on-demand options.
Whether you're selling original artwork or offering prints, T-shirts, iPhone cases, or greeting cards featuring your art, Fine Art America has you covered.
How to Sell Art on Fine Art on America
Selling art on Fine Art America is simple:
Open an account.
Upload photos of your artwork.
Choose which products to feature.
Set your prices, and you're good to go.
When it comes to pricing, Fine Art America sets a base price for each product. Then, you add a markup, which you keep when the product sells. For digital downloads, you receive 100% of your asking price. Fine Art America adds a 30% markup, which they keep as a commission. If you sell an original piece, you keep 100% of the sale.
4. Saatchi Art
If you're seeking exposure, consider Saatchi Art. This online gallery and marketplace has a large audience, with around 12 million page views and 1.6 million visitors monthly on their website.
They boast nearly 500,000 Facebook followers and over 650,000 on Instagram. Saatchi Art reaches a global audience, facilitating art sales worldwide. They've sold to collectors in over 80 countries to date..
How to Sell Art on Saatchi Art
Getting started selling on Saatchi Art is easy. Simply create a profile and upload photos of your artwork. When you sell a piece, you just need to package it up; Saatchi Art takes care of shipping and charges a 35% commission on the sale. For further details on selling your artwork online through Saatchi Art, refer to their Artist’s Handbook.
5. UGallery
If you've always dreamed of having your art displayed in a prestigious gallery, UGallery might be for you. This online art market carefully selects paintings, illustrations, sculptures, prints, and photos to appeal to art enthusiasts and collectors.
They focus on showcasing new and exciting art, featuring works from emerging and mid-level artists that are original and exclusive to the platform. UGallery aims to recreate the high-end gallery experience in the digital space, offering a curated selection of art for online shoppers.
How to Sell Art on UGallery
UGallery has a strict application process for artists. To begin, you need to submit digital copies of your art, along with an artist statement, a completed application, and a $5 fee. If approved, UGallery handles marketing your art to their audience.
When you make a sale through UGallery, the proceeds are split equally. Their team provides a custom box for packaging your artwork and covers all packaging and shipping expenses for the buyer.
6. Society6
If you're eager to see your art featured on a wide range of products, Society6 is an excellent choice.
As a print-on-demand platform, it offers one of the largest assortments of products in the industry.
Customers can discover your art across various categories such as furniture, tech accessories, home decor, wall art, prints, and apparel.
How to Sell Art on Society6
To begin selling your art on Society6, create an account and upload your artwork to your artist's shop.
Then, select the categories you want to enable and feature your art in, such as apparel, wall art, phone cases, or furniture. Buyers can then choose from the available print-on-demand items.
Society6 handles marketing, fulfillment, printing, and shipping, making it relatively easy to sell art online. However, artists earn just 10% of every sale, which may not be as lucrative.
Despite this, there are additional revenue-driving opportunities, such as an affiliate program, and the ability to set higher markups for certain items like art prints, framed prints, and canvas prints.
6. Shopify
Not all artists rely on websites to sell their art. Sometimes, if you aim to turn your artwork into a source of income, the most effective approach is to take control yourself. That involves setting up your own website and selling your artwork online independently. Shopify is an e-commerce platform that simplifies the process of selling art online. Through Shopify, you can effortlessly create a visually appealing and user-friendly e-commerce site to exhibit your creations – whether they are art prints, print-on-demand products, crafts, or other forms of artwork – to potential buyers and generate revenue for your business. Shopify offers a range of features, such as website templates and various marketing tools, to help you establish your online shop quickly and effectively.
How to Sell Art on Society6
To build and host your art shop, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee. You’ll also need to set up a way for your customers to pay when they buy your art. If you use Shopify Payments, there are no transaction fees—but if you choose to use an external payment gateway, transaction fees range from 0.5 to 2%.
Want to give Shopify a try but aren’t sure you’re ready to commit for the long term? The e-commerce platform offers a free 90-day trial, so if you want to try building a website and selling your artwork on your own, you can do it—risk-free and at no cost.
As a professional watercolor artist, you will need to use one or more of the above methods to sell your art and get it in front of a wider audience. So go full steam ahead and showcase your wonderful art online and make money off your passion!
 | Shikha Garg is an artist, illustrator and like to blog about travel sketching and watercolor painting. Her newly launched venture, Travel Sketch Love, organizes art tours and workshops in India under the top art instructors from around the world. She leads South India at the international watercolor festival, Fabriano Inacquarello, Italy and is always looking for ways to connect artists and build communities. Connect with her on instagram: @Shikhagargart Website: www.shikhagargart.com Email: shikhagargart@gmail.com |
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