Selling your Art Online?

[solorpower]

I've noticed that some sites like DeviantArt keeps more than half of the sale of your art after costs ~ which I think is ridiculous since they are making money off artists that seems like a rip off.

Are there any better sites out there with fairer practices in selling your art? I know that having your own site is the best way to go, especially if effective marketing is in place. I know of CafePress, but has anyone actually benefited as an artist using any of these sites?

[Noah Bradley]

While I can't say I know of any better websites (though I'd be interested to find out), I can say that taking "about half" of the money is some standard, at least as far as my understanding of galleries is concerned. Percentages from galleries (as I've been told... might be wrong here) range from 30% (in smaller galleries) to 50% in places like New York. I know this isn't exactly a gallery you're talking about, but it's true that they need to make money, just like you.

*shrug*

Let me know if you find a better place, though. :)

[bhanu]

What about ebay...people sell their paintings there ...... all the time....might wanna check that out
Most gallerirs take around 30% of the sale....a whole lotta amount also I think goes in the taxes...so the amount the artists gets is relatively small.

[solorpower]

I agree that galleries need to make money. I think that traditionally over the years artists usually get the low end of the bargain. It would be simply fairer if artists made out better instead of the "standard" 50-50 of gallery sales, which is established by gallery owners, not artists.

Looking along the lines of Cafe Press, where your art can be sold in a printed form on just about anything, I'm curious to know what kind of demand there is in this type of sales, and I haven't come across any other website that does this on a scale Cafe Press does. I'm about to find out just how good Cafe Press is.

Anyway, I see a hidden niche market here and I'm looking into establishing an online presence with a new site similar in regards to Deviant's and Cafe Press sites, but to favor the artists, not the gallery owner. While these sites have been up for a while, its about time that a better site came along and favored the artists more.

[MiniGoth]

Think about it for a second.

You've made the image, true.

Then DA takes care of printing that image, packaging and shipping, whatever taxes there may be, etc.

I'd rather have someone else do all that work.

Try it yourself, and see if you prefer doing it solo.

[Mirana]

Like MiniGoth said...have you ever attempted to make and sell your own prints before? Printing, the paper, the credit card process, the time, the marketing....these things are NOT cheap.

CafePress was the first print-on-demand online shop. Their commission is very high (or it used to be anyway), such that unless you had a fanbase to buy work it made it not worth the effort to set up a store. DA at least connects the actual art and marketing part TO the print part.

[Serra]

On Etsy.com you pay $0.20 to put an item up and Etsy takes 3.5% before shipping. BUT you have to make the print, collect the money, and ship the print (or original). So they take a much lower fee than other sites, but at the same time the artist or shop-owner is doing more of the legwork.

:)

--Serra