Selling art online...

Christine Dion

Hello all. I have an “inactive” Fine Art America account, meaning I haven’t uploaded new work to it in several years. Deciding whether or not to stay with them or find a better online site. Looking for feedback on what sites you’d recommend that I can link to my art website.

Thanks!
Christine

TessaW

Redbubble and Society6 are the 2 sites I hear about most from artists I follow online.

Whitney Simms

I was wondering the same thing. I’ve heard to be cautious of paypal too. Make sure it’s set up correctly or they can freeze your accounts.

What about print on demand? Have you used any of those. I’m not sure I want to jump into shipping and printing from home at first.

Chip Valecek

@whitney-simms who would freeze your paypal? Just curious, I setup a business paypal account many years ago when I was developing a website with a shopping cart. I have not has any issues with it. I do believe if you are going to link anything to paypal for income it needs to be a business account vs a personal account.

rcartwright

You will have no issue with Paypal when you set up they charge you a dollar to make sure it goes through your account and everything is legit, however I don't think it really matters which of these sites you use they all take roughly %95 of the profit for the work they do. I have sold shirts and prints through them for a few years just to get my work out but don't go into it thinking you will make money. Red Bubble has over a million artists. To make money you really need to print your own work and sell it.

Eli

That is a thing with PayPal--here is a video with one artist's experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsY3AMtneFI

I think in the vast majority of cases, it's fine, but just something to be aware of...

Whitney Simms

@chip-valecek Eli posted the artist that I follow who had a problem. I guess most things are okay. I guess just dot your I’s and cross your t’s If you’re going to start pullin in serious cash. Which is my hope for all who set out to sell their work. Glad that most people are not finding the same issue. That’s comforting and reassuring!

Whitney Simms

@mrsdion good luck! Link it here so we can see it once it is set up!

rachy

@mrsdion Hello! I don’t know anything about fine art America if your selling original paintings or printing and shipping yourself I’d recommend using something like a squarespace e-commerce site. I use mine to sell prints & paintings (when they’re not in an exhibition). I like how I’ve got my portfolio and everything all in one place and it works quite well for me.

I have got some things on redbubble for bags & t shirts etc - the things i don’t want to pay to get manufactured to ship myself. Ive had a few sales, but I haven’t really marketed it at all as I’m not too comfortable putting the time, effort and money to market someone else’s website when they can change the terms and conditions and things at a whim.

Christine Dion

@chip-valecek I have not had a problem with PayPal freezing my account but they did freeze my daughter’s. It does happen and it’s a royal pain in the neck.

Christine Dion

@whitney-simms I’d like to avoid doing any extra work on my end which is why I liked Fine Art America. They printed and shipped when orders came in. I was looking to see if anyone liked other sites better before I go and upload current work and revive my account with them.

Christine Dion

@tessaw Thanks! Society6 is the other site that I’ve heard more about. I think I’m going to research a bit more to see who has the highest traffic. Not sure if consumers are willing to deal with newer sites versus ones that have been established for a few years.

Christine Dion

@rachy Thanks for the input! I have my own website and rely on that mostly for commission work. I want to see my work on products and I don’t want to go through the hassle of using separate companies and having to ship the pieces myself. I’m also going to begin licensing my work and one of Lee’s videos is really good for that so I’m going to be tweaking my website to behave more like a photographer’s website.

rachy

@mrsdion ah okay, wasn’t sure which way around you wanted to do it so was going on my experience. I have a friend who does quite well selling products on Etsy that she gets manufactured on demand through printful and redbubble here’s her Etsy if u want some idea of what she does. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/nemki She’s based in the UK but sells internationally and I think the products are mainly printed & shipped from the USA.

Christine Dion

@rachy Awesome, thanks! I’ll check out her site!

K.Flagg

@chip-valecek one of the artists I follow on YouTube had a bad problem last November where her PayPal funds were frozen for like a month. It sounded awful. She posted a blog about the whole thing.

K.Flagg

@chip-valecek
https://youtu.be/qsY3AMtneFI

Whitney Simms

@mrsdion that’s kinda where I’m at too. I’m ready to sell (i finally have a chunk of work ready), but can’t dive into owning a business yet. The printing and shipping scares me to death. I’m flighty and not really good at shipping things on time.

Whoopidoo

@rachy I never would have thought to do that via Etsy and I'm guessing you could do it through Folksy too - what a great idea. I'm not at that stage yet but I'm going to think on that one for when I am .