Crafting a Living: How to Sell Art Online
The world is full of art. Wherever we look, there’s a trace of it. We can see it in the shape of each building and the placement of each window made to let the light in during the best times of day. We can find it in the movies and series we watch daily, its sets and costumes designed meticulously to the smallest detail, the storyline directed and presented in full vibrance. Everything we use from our clothes to our shoes, bags, and even computers, keyboards, and wallpapers contains art.
Art brings beauty and joy to our otherwise boring human existence.
But if art is so important and its work so essential, why is it that artists are often portrayed as struggling dreamers who often cannot afford rent unless they were born into wealth?
Why is it that in a world of art, very few artists find commercial success?
The unfortunate fact of life is that most artists are undervalued. And even when hired, the job offers usually run on the lower end of the salary spectrum. In fact, a study commissioned by Artfinder found that 75% of artists in the US made $10,000 or less per annum from their art.
As such, one of the best things artists can do to uplift themselves is to start their own art business. In that way, they are able to put a value on their work themselves, giving them the credit they deserve.
Yet, with an inclination to art rather than business, many artists find themselves failing in their ventures.
Among their common frustrations are:
- Failure to find enough paying clients
- Failure to compete with other well-known artists
- Failure to market their skills and outputs
- Failure to manage logistics and accounting
- Failure to get a return on investment
Despite their talents and skills, artists often get constrained by their limited knowledge of business.
And we’re here to change that.
Discovering the ART of business (online)
If you’re a struggling artist, quitting your day job and investing your money to have a physical store is probably not the best immediate choice for you. One, it would cost a considerable amount of money. Two, a physical store has limited reach, constrained to foot traffic. Three, art enthusiasts can be few in certain areas, making your sales potential quite small.
That’s why for starters, go with an online business.
With an online business, you can start as small as you want. Work with your available inventory, sell, and grow as you are able to at your own pace. After all, artists are far from machines that can churn out work day in and day out.
You can also sell digital art online should you prefer digital mediums.
Going the online business route and opening an online store also lets you tap into the 5 billion internet users (Statista, 2022), widening your art’s potential reach and improving your sales potential. You are more likely to find someone who will appreciate your art around the world rather than within your small town.
Not only that, ecommerce solutions providers like Cafe24 can offer free online selling platforms. Without monthly fees to be worried about and with apps to automate business processes, you can focus on making art and managing your business.
With that said…
How to start an art business online?
While selling art online instead of offline is the better choice for struggling artists, it still requires some effort and planning.
Listed below are some of the considerations that you must make as you start your venture.
Whether you plan to sell your physical artworks or offer your services, answering the following questions and pushing through with the consequent actions will help you sell art online.
What are you offering to your potential clients?
Before anything else, assess yourself.
What are your skills and talents? As an artist, you have probably dabbled in various forms of arts and crafts. But which among them do you particularly excel at? In answering this question, you identify what you can sell to your clients with relative confidence.
Then ask yourself what you want to sell. Focusing only on what you can do well can have you feeling burnt out in no time, especially if you want your art to be your main preoccupation and business.
Find that balance between what you can do and what you want to do. Perhaps choose the craft you’re good at but choose the subjects or themes based on your interests. That’s just one of many ways to do it.
How fast is your turnover rate per product? That’s the next question you should ask. In doing so, you can give your clients a realistic completion and delivery date after a request.
Finally, find out how your artworks stand out from others. That will be your main marketing point and should be your focus as you work on your designs.
Based on your answers, you can begin to wean your options as to what kind of product your online art business should be about. Below are some product types you can choose from:
Product types
- Physical crafts/artwork
This refers to tangible products such as paintings on canvas, sculptures, resin art, sketches on paper, prints, and graphic t-shirts.
Among physical crafts and artworks, machine-assisted products are easier to mass-produce and sell. For example, a single t-shirt design can be reproduced in the hundreds if you have a t-shirt printing machine or if you partner with a printing company should you be starting an online t-shirt business.
However, original works that are harder to reproduce like paintings and sculptures can sell for higher.
- Digital art
This refers to art that exists digitally, without a tangible physical form. This includes digital prints and photographs, icons, wallpapers, website elements, and NFT.
This type of product is easier to store, requiring no physical storage space. Depending on copyright, you can also sell multiple copies without limit.
Among the different kinds of digital art, the newest addition is NFT which stands for Non-Fungible Token. It is stored in a blockchain and is often paid for using cryptocurrency such as Ethereum. While copies of bought NFT art can still circulate online, the blockchain keeps a record of ownership, removing the question of who legally owns it.
- Designing/Crafting services
This refers to made-to-order products, often customized for clients. Common requests for this type of product include logos, portraits, clothing, and web theme designs. If you don’t have too much capital for your online business, services for sale can be the way to go.
Who is your ideal clientele?
Before you start a business, first find out who your target market is. These are the people who you would ideally be interested in your product and service so that when you sell your art to them, it would most likely be a success.
Identify their traits and unique preferences to tailor your art and make it more attractive to them. Identify their defining characteristics that would affect their ability to buy your product including age, location, and spending power.
Identify as well when and where your product can be used. This will help you construct the ideal product that answers the needs within the context you want them to be used. Is your art for indoor use or is it ideally placed outdoors? Note that products for the outdoors require sturdier, more weather-proof materials.
In identifying your ideal clientele, you can also decide whether you will sell limited edition products or opt for mass-produced items.
Limited edition vs Mass-produced
- Limited edition
These products are only produced in small or limited quantities. Haute couture clothing, for example, is often made exclusively for a client and not made available to the masses. Big-name fashion artists that create haute couture pieces include Gucci, Versace, and Alexander McQueen.
Yet limited edition products are not just for the well-known. In fact, opting for limited-edition products is ideal for small-scale selling, especially when you’re just starting an online business. It creates demand, especially if a design catches the attention of consumers.
Limited stock of an in-demand design, artist, or brand can bring prices higher as well as attract high-paying collectors.
The downside is the smaller number of products in inventory. Sales can be big but few in between.
- Mass-produced
These are products that are reproduced or replicated in huge quantities. This is ideal for big-scale selling such as when you start a t-shirt online business targeted towards the masses.
Given how many items are produced at one time, it requires more budget. As such, it is best for established art businesses that already have a following like Yeaaah Studio.
For mass-produced artworks, sales numbers can be high, but the selling price is relatively cheaper. And while on one hand, it makes your products more accessible and easier to sell, it also puts on the pressure to sell as many pieces as possible to earn a lot of money.
Where will you sell your work?
Just like in physical businesses, your business location online, or your online platform, highly affects your discoverability and sales.
Listed below are sales channels you can check out. Choose where your product type is most likely to flourish.
- Ecommerce website
An ecommerce website is our first choice for starting artist entrepreneurs. They are just so easy to use! Since it is built specifically to empower business owners to sell online without in-site competition, it comes equipped with everything you’ll need to run an online business.
It usually comes with an order management system where orders and transactions can be recorded and tracked.
Not only that, but if you choose a well-established online platform like Cafe24, you also gain access to apps that connect you to various service providers, making logistics, payments, and marketing easier.
You can also have your pick of available web theme designs for your brand. Should you prefer a customized layout and look, you can insert HTML as well.
The possibilities are endless!
- Online marketplaces
Online marketplaces are also a great option for the fact that they are just so popular. Amazon alone can pull about 5.2 billion visits in a month (Statista, 2022). It’s also built for online selling, so features easily let you make transactions.
The downside, however, lies in the high in-site competition. It can be quite hard for an up-and-coming artist to get attention when thousands of other sellers are vying for the patronage of the same target market. To be presented alongside more well-known competition can nip the bud of your business prematurely.
Moreover, since you have to follow the rules and regulations as well as conform to the built-in layout, design, and marketing standard of an online marketplace, you will have limited branding opportunities and marketing possibilities.
- Social media
Social media is great for networking and garnering UGC or user-generated content. Since so many people use it both for personal and commercial reasons, it also has a great reach. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok combined easily have billions of users worldwide.
However, since they are still primarily used for communication rather than commerce, they have relatively limited ecommerce solutions which need to be complemented with manual processes or other ecommerce solutions from other providers.
- Online auctions
Online auctions are a great place to sell if you’re selling limited edition art. eBay and Artsy are popular options for this. If you’re more well-known, you can also join premier online auctions of art curators.
While there are relatively fewer people in the online art auction market, its buyers come with more intent to buy, and the potential profit per product has no limits.
- NFT marketplace
The NFT marketplace is one of the most ideal places to sell digital art online. A budding industry, interest in the market is currently at its peak. Even Heart Evangelista, a crazy rich Asian with a talent for painting, tried it out for herself and made around ₱3.6 million. OpenSea is a well-known example of this type of marketplace, offering artists a way to easily mint their art and sell them as NFTs.
Note that in this selling platform, cryptocurrency is the preferred payment. As such, every transaction will involve gas fees for the blockchain technology used.
Moreover, given the volatile nature of cryptocurrency, changes in the value of the coins used are frequent.
But it is also that same nature that can lead to bigger potential profit.
What is the value of your work?
Pricing can be tricky, yet it is so important that it can make or break your business. Proper pricing ensures that you get acceptable profit, thus making your art business worthwhile.
To determine the price of your product/artwork, consider:
- the amount spent on developing/creating your products/artworks
- the amount paid for marketing your products/artworks
- the amount spent on business operations (ex. platform fees, apps, etc.)
- the amount spent on logistics (ex. packaging and shipping)
- the spending power of your target market
- the availability of the products/artworks and the demand for them
- the originality of the product/artwork
- your own valuation of your skill/experience as an artist (Note: It can be based on credentials or honest self-belief.)
Notice how we put that last one in italics? That’s to emphasize how important it is that you put the value in your work and that you give it the credit it deserves. After all, you’re probably doing this to get away from a (corporate) job that undervalues you. That being said, make sure that your pricing remains realistic and also puts into consideration the quality and price of the product’s materials. Consider your buyers as well.
Important note:
In selling your art, make sure to include in the description the specifications of the product and the rights that your buyer inherits after the purchase.
If you’re selling the copyright alongside the work, price it a little higher since you won’t be getting royalties.
If you’re selling the right to use the art piece but want to get royalties from subsequent profits, stipulate it clearly and make sure to include a binding agreement in the sale.
If you’re selling just the art piece and not the copyright, make it VERY clear that the art featured in the product cannot be sold and replicated without your explicit permission.
Dealing with art is a little more complex than selling and buying other commercial products. Make sure to check out the copyright laws in your country or state. If in doubt, consult a legal professional to protect your art and your business.
Market like there’s no tomorrow
A sellable artwork and a working ecommerce platform are not enough for commercial success. To complete the equation, you should also learn how to market your product like there’s no tomorrow.
In fact, this part is also where many artists fail. It’s not unusual to hear of artists being the people who least believe in themselves and their work. As a result, they hesitate to self-promote and limit their clients to their close circles.
In order to succeed in art and in business, your first have to believe in yourself. Be confident! Be shameless! Show the world your art and tell them its worth!
Critics will always be there, so focus instead on the people who might appreciate your art.
Share word about your online art business! Use the power of social media. Post samples of your work and share your portfolio. Show potential clients what you’ve got. Talk about your credentials. Join online challenges. Join growth campaigns done by small business owners online. Do some Q&A sessions. Show your artistic process in a time-lapse video to boost your credibility and authenticity.
Be inspirational!
In getting your art out there, you begin a conversation about it, its subject, and its relevance to the human experience, thus igniting interest in the art and the artist alike.
And that’s how to sell art online and make money you deserve.
To help you, Cafe24 offers an easy-to-use ecommerce platform that you can customize with our free and paid apps that let you market and sell on various social media channels and online marketplaces.
And for struggling artists and dreamers out there, we make the offer sweeter with a no monthly fee and registration fee guarantee. Upload as many products/artworks as you want and manage them smartly with our advanced order management system.
You can also opt to partner with us and offer your creative services to our millions of clients as a designer, photographer, and more.
Cafe24 appreciates the talent and hard work of artists around the world. And to give back, we help them with the business side of things so they can enjoy their art while making money.
