When it comes to selling art online, there are a lot of options out there. It can be hard to know what the best options are. Below are a few of the places that I sell art online, as well as a couple of options that are popular with other artists. These are things that work for me and could work for you too.

Etsy:

I think one of the first online platforms that comes to mind for many people when looking for places to sell art is Etsy.

It can be a really useful platform for many and it is how a lot of artists are able to make a living from their artwork. You can sell anything on the site as long as it is handmade.

I personally have used Etsy in the past and from that experience (although I didn’t sell anything) I wouldn’t rule it out as an option in the future for selling certain pieces of art. 

They don’t take a big commission from each sale which is great news. Currently they take a total of around 9% per sale, which is made up of their commission as well as transaction fees. To list your work, it is only 16p per piece (based on the current conversion rate.) 

I would say the main downside to using Etsy is the amount of competition on the site. It can be hard to get your work seen amongst all the talent, however there is the option to promote your work within the site, and you can always promote yourself on Social Media etc.

Redbubble:

Redbubble is good because they do most of the work for you. They are a print on demand service, so you create the artwork and they do the rest. They handle the printing, shipping, and customer service which makes it really easy for sellers, and it means you have more time to focus on creating your art and less of the admin side of things. 

Pricing of products works a bit differently. Redbubble will give a ‘Base Price’ of each product which basically just covers their service costs for making the product. As the seller, you then decide on the margins for each product. The two costs together form the retail price for the customer. It means that you can choose how much you earn per sale. 

You can get your art printed on anything from t-shirts to phone cases. It can even be made into stickers and posters. 

It is free to sign up and start selling, and although you may have to sell more items to make a good profit, once your art is uploaded you can pretty much let it run itself!

Social Media:

I follow a lot of artists on Instagram, whose main means of selling their artwork is directly through the site. They simply upload an image of the piece they want to sell and receive offers for it via email or DM (direct message). 

Of course getting to that point isn’t easy. You need to build up your profile and following which requires a lot of time and dedication, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. The key is not just the number of followers that you have, but making sure that they are actively engaging with your content regularly. 

There is a lot of advice on how to build your Instagram profile, and I’m thinking of doing a blog post on it soon, so check back soon!

Your Own Website:

Having your own website can be really beneficial as it gives people the chance to find your work through a simple Google search. It also gives you a bit more freedom with how you want to represent yourself to your audience than you get with other platforms. It’s also a great option for your online portfolio.

The main piece of advice I would give when looking to get a website, is to hire a web developer. There are options and ways you can build a website yourself (e.g. Wix) but if you want a really sleek and individual look, then a professional web developer is the way to go and it won’t be too hard to find someone that can do it for not much more than it would cost to do it yourself anyway.

It can be hard to get your website seen but it can be done with some simple SEO (search engine optimisation) implementation and other tricks. There is so much advice online that you could easily do it yourself, or if you have the funds you can hire someone to help you. It’s also really easy to share your website online and on social media to get some good traffic.

Another good way to bring in traffic to your site is by having blogs. It can get your more exposure.

Hopefully a combination of these things will help with getting sales.

Saatchi Art:

Saatchi Art is an online art gallery that showcases art on their website. You can make an account for free and upload artwork ready to sell. 

A bonus to using Saatchi Art is that they sort the shipping for you once a piece of artwork is ordered, they send out a courier to pick up the piece. As long as you’re over 18 you can sell paintings, drawings, sculptures and photography among other things.

A 35% commission is taken for every artwork sold, which sounds like a lot, but is much less than an ordinary gallery. It can be a valuable platform to sell your art on, so it may well be worth the commission.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels