When it comes to figuring out how to sell art online, using an online store builder is the one of the best ways to start. In fact, it’s now easier than ever for artists, designers and illustrators to share their work online and monetize their success.
From picking the right online platform and mastering website design, to creating your marketing assets and deciding how to price your work, here are the most important things you need to know about how to sell art online.
How to sell art online in 8 steps
01. Build your artist brand
In order to give your pieces the promotion they deserve, it’s imperative to create a brand. Like any product being sold, people buy it not only for what it can do or how it looks, but they’re buying the brand, too. You can start by creating a name for your business, whether that be your own name or using an artist name generator for help.
Next, think about who your target market is and the mood you’d like your artwork and online eCommerce website to evoke. Create a consistent visual language to make your brand feel tailored and unified, with a well-crafted color palette and a selection of one to three fonts. Then, create a logo with a free logo maker to create your very own personal emblem.
Once you set the right tone and have a logo that represents your brand, make sure to carry both across all your marketing channels, not only your store – from the design of your online art portfolio, social feeds, newsletter and business cards.
Making a website is a great way to get started with building your brand as an artist, and a crucial part of selling art online. There are also plenty of great best portfolio websites to draw inspiration from.
Learn more: What is branding
02. Decide what types of art to sell online
This will depend on what type of art you create and what your goals are - and you may choose to mix and match approaches. Artists that use classical mediums, such as painting or pencil drawing, may choose to only sell originals, while digital artists may exclusively sell printed versions of their work.
However, that’s not to say that painters can’t also sell prints. You may also choose to take custom orders, creating a single piece of art for a specific order. The opportunities for how you sell your work are truly limitless, so think this through before you start selling your art online. It will affect if you need to work with a dropshipper or printing company.
Here are several avenues to consider:
Create your own original art: This is the most straightforward approach. You can sell original pieces that you create, such as paintings, pottery, or digital illustrations. You can even print your work on merchandise products like t-shirts, cell phone cases and mugs via print on demand technology.
License or resell work by other artists: Partner with a local or independent artist, or buy art that you can resell and license for reproduction. Artists may be open to a consignment arrangement, whereby you receive a percentage of each sale in exchange for handling marketing and transactions.
Search the secondary art market: Buy artwork through galleries, dealer networks, auction houses, or art fairs. This option may be more expensive (and require a very different strategy) than licensing or buying directly from an artist, but it could help you get your hands on a large collection of in-demand pieces.
03. Price your artwork for sale
Correctly pricing the artwork you sell is important for the success of starting your business and for your own peace of mind. The trickiest part is landing on a price that attracts sales but doesn’t undervalue your work. This step will likely take some experimentation, research and analysis.
You’ll want to keep the below factors in mind when naming your price:
The time it took you to make the piece
The cost of materials
The cost of selling (e.g., commission rates) on a channel
Your experience level
The market value for similar artwork or products
What you need to cover your business costs (e.g., overhead, marketing strategies, advertising, shipping)
Once you have a handle on your costs and the going rate for similar pieces, you can start to set prices. Of course, pricing—especially for artwork—is not all about hard numbers. You may be able to command higher prices (and thereby higher margins) if you’re a more experienced or well-known artist.
In another instance, a limited-edition, made-to-order or co-branded piece could warrant higher pricing as well. In any case, you’ll want to be consistent with how your items are priced across multiple channels.
Remember to keep tabs on the constantly changing appetite of the industry, and while art isn’t generally a “discounted” product, you can still test promotions to entice buyers or clear out older inventory.
04. Photograph your art
Photography is key for selling art online. Even if buyers can’t see the real thing before purchasing, they need to get a sense of your product’s quality and condition.
Use these tips as a guide:
Quality camera: A quality camera will provide you with better image quality, low-light performance and a range of features to enhance your photography. Pairing it with a sturdy tripod will help eliminate camera shake and ensure stability.
Neutral backdrop: Use a white or neutral-colored background for your images so that each product stands out without distractions.
Proper lighting: Use diffused natural light (e.g., next to a large window) or artificial light that mimics natural light as best as possible. It minimizes glare and accurately captures colors.
High-resolution: Photographs should be at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) so that customers can zoom in on details without losing quality.
Angles: Feature multiple angles or views of each piece so buyers can understand its dimensions and texture. You can also include lifestyle shots showing how your art might look in different contexts.
Edit images: Use photo editing software for color correction, cropping, and resizing. You can also use design tools to create mockups of your art on products.
05. Set up your online store
While you may already have a physical gallery or studio that’s open for business, an online presence can broaden your reach and serve to generate sales even when you’re asleep. Your online store should visually represent you as an artist and brand, and intrigue shoppers to continue scrolling.
With Wix (which is arguably one of the best website builders for artists) you can create a completely customizable website that acts as your store and portfolio in one. Utilize a unique eCommerce template and choose colors and fonts that match your branding and emotions you want your art to convey. You can even start a blog if you want to connect with your customers and share your ideas about the art world.
In addition, here are some other tips on how you can customize your website store and make it unique to you:
Clarify what you sell. Your homepage should explicitly explain the type of art you sell. Make sure you include a paragraph or bullet points along with images that explain the inspiration behind your work. It’s also worth including an About section to let buyers know who you are and give them an opportunity to make a personal connection.
Bring your products to life with photos or mockups: Display high quality images of your work out in the real world as a framed poster up on a wall or a tote bag hanging on someone’s shoulder. Achieve this either by setting up a photoshoot of your products or with the help of mockups. This will let buyers envision your work integrated into their own lives and make them more likely to make a purchase.
Implement design features that make your website more interactive and user friendly. Two incredibly helpful elements include:
Hover effects. Provide more information about a product each time a customer hovers over it. This will entice them to click and ultimately, make a purchase. Hover effects can be used to zoom in on a product, show it in a different setting, or introduce a different version of the same product, such as an additional color scheme for the same item.
Magnifying glass: Allow site visitors to zoom in on your product pages using a magnifying glass, giving them a view into the intricacies that make your artwork one of a kind.
Include clearly displayed prices and store policies. Business transparency is incredibly important for building trust and retaining customers. For this reason, the prices of your work should be easily identifiable and clearly written next to each piece of artwork. In addition, include a section in your store that explicitly states your refund, delivery and cancellation policies.
Make sure your check out process is simple. Nothing blows a sale quite like a complicated check out process. Poor UX design when someone is ready to buy can lead to potential customers getting frustrated and clicking off your site. To avoid them abandoning their cart, keep required fields to a minimum and make sure each step is clearly numbered.
06. Choose how to ship physical art
The most important thing to keep in mind when shipping artwork is that you need to protect your piece from getting damaged. This means using sturdy packaging materials like bubble wrap, cellophane, packing peanuts or foam board. You should also consider investing in shipping insurance to protect yourself in case the artwork is damaged in transit.
There are three primary shipping approaches you can use for physical art (be it a framed work, merchandise or other object) including:
DIY - Pack and ship the artwork yourself. When you’re just starting a business selling art, this could be the most affordable option. However, as you scale, you’ll likely need to outsource work to prevent this step from cannibalizing your time.
Third-party logistics partner (3PL) - If you're selling high-value artwork, you may want to consider using a professional shipping service like Arrow Express or ShipBob. Outsource fulfillment to a service that has experience handling high-value items like artwork, and has the materials to package it right.
Print-on-demand or dropshipping website - This is a good option if you don't have the time or resources to ship—let alone create—artwork on your own. Dropshipping and POD providers handle all tasks related to printing, packaging and shipping your products.
Keep in mind that the unboxing experience can impact a buyer’s impression of your brand. While you don’t need to necessarily go all-out in the packaging, always include clear instructions on how to safely unpack and care for your artwork. This will not only demonstrate your attention to detail, but also help ensure that your piece remains in pristine condition for a long time.
07. Promote your art
Once your store is set up and ready to go, it’s time to start promoting your online art store. Harness the power of social media, email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to get the word out.
Social media
Create social media accounts specifically to promote your work and include a link to your online store in your profiles. On all channels, be authentic and help followers to get to know you by sharing what inspires you. Let your fans know if you’re excited about the launch of a new product, or when you spot a color combination that sparks your imagination. This will make your personal brand feel relatable and foster a more meaningful connection with your audience.
Other helpful tips for social media marketing include:
Create a social media calendar: You can also use social media as an outlet for announcing sales, discounts, contests and giveaways. Create a social media calendar so that your posts are designed and ready to go up by each holiday or special occasion that you’d like to commemorate.
Announce new or upcoming products: Let your followers know each time you add a new item to your store with a post inviting them to check it out. You can also build anticipation by offering a sneak peek into something that’s about to be released, prior to putting it up for sale. This helps your fans feel like part of the process and keeps them more involved in your work, a big part of how to sell art online.
Engage with followers with user-generated content: Cultivate a community around your work by building relationships with your followers. Share others’ posts featuring your products. These honest, real-life testimonials are gold. They show just how happy your customers are with their purchase – and they can make new customers excited about the items, too.
Polls: Conduct quick polls with questions about your products, asking anything from which design your followers like better to which new items they’d like to see in your store. Be sure to respond to followers’ comments and messages with authentic, genuine replies.
Email marketing
Email marketing can be an incredibly effective and creative way for artists to market their work. The most important thing is to develop a strategy and stick to it. Start by including an email signup form on your website so people can easily subscribe to your mailing list.
However, before you begin sending out emails regularly (once a month is a good place to start), be sure to have enough subscribers to make your efforts worthwhile. According to Campaign Monitor, the average open rate of marketing emails is 18%, so if you have 75 subscribers, you can assume that approximately 13 people will open it. Using an email marketing tool is a good way to track these statistics - not to mention organize your content and subscriber list and create branded and well-structured emails.
Once you have a subscriber list, you’ll need to determine the type of content you want to send. As an artist, you have the opportunity to make your email incredibly creative and visually appealing by featuring your work. Your target audience will be more likely to open your emails if they find the content interesting worth their time. Images of new artwork, announcing gallery openings, images of yourself working, deals and discounts and short art blog posts are all types of content you could include. It’s also worth testing out a few different types of emails and seeing what performs best - then create more of it.
SEO
To increase the chances of potential buyers finding you on Google, you’ll want to optimize your online store for SEO. This process includes incorporating a variety of content and specific keywords throughout your website. To get started, your Wix online store comes with SEO features including an SEO setup checklist. You can also use a free SEO tool like Google Keyword Planner or invest in a paid one, such as Ahrefs, to identify keywords and phrases people are searching for that are relevant to your niche. Try to incorporate shorter keywords, such as newborn photographer, as well as longer, more specific keywords like how to do newborn photography, throughout your website content. The combination will give you more opportunities for your store to rank on Google.
08. Manage your shop
To manage your art shop, you will need to:
Track your inventory. This includes keeping track of what artwork you have available for sale, where it's located, and its current status (e.g., for sale, on hold, sold). You can use a spreadsheet or inventory management software to track your inventory.
Process orders. Once you receive an order for a piece of artwork, you'll need to process it and ship it to the customer. This includes packing the artwork securely, calculating shipping costs and creating a shipping label.
Manage your finances. This includes tracking your sales and expenses, and making sure that you're profitable. You can use a simple accounting program or spreadsheet to track your finances.
Printing items to sell. If you use a print on demand service such as Wix Art Store, Printful or Printify, then printing, packing and shipping are all taken care of for you. However, if you do this yourself, you’ll need to invest in a quality printer, ink and paper. Printing your own work can keep your costs down. However, as your business grows, you may find that you need to outsource the task as volume continues to increase.
10 best platforms to sell art online
01. Wix
Wix for artists provides multiple opportunities for selling your artwork online, helping you find the right fit for your needs as a freelance artist. Create your online store by choosing any of these eCommerce templates to get started. You can add the Wix Art Store app to your website, which offers a print on demand service for selling digital illustrations, prints and other merchandise. The Art Store’s all-in-one solution takes care of the packaging, shipping and payment for you, so you don’t have to worry about technicalities. It’s also free to install and completely commission-free to use.
You can also integrate print on demand services, Printful or Printify, with your online store. That way, you’ll be able to custom-design a wide array of products, such as posters, T-shirts, mugs and much more, with these easy-to-use dropshipping apps. The fulfillment and shipping of the products will be taken care of by Printful or Printify for each new order.
02. Etsy
Etsy is a marketplace for creative goods that specializes in handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. Sellers can create and customize elements in their shop, such as the shop banner and profile image. This is helpful when you're just starting out and learning how to sell art online.
Etsy charges nominal listing and transaction fees. Their store comes with added marketing and promotional tools for managing orders and promoting your listings. Etsy merchants can also use the print on demand service Printify.
03. Society6
Society6 was founded in 2009 with the goal of carving a welcoming space for both independent artists and their audiences. This print on demand service offers a wide variety of products, from wall art to home decor, furniture and apparel.
All order fulfillment aspects are taken care of by Society6, including printing and shipping. The website pays artists a set percentage of each product they sell.
04. DeviantART
With over 47 million users, DeviantArt is the world’s largest art community. Artists can personalize their profile and set up a shop to promote and sell their deviations, either in the form of commissioned work or prints and digital downloads.
For artists who want to make their own NFTs, they can also submit work to DeviantArt and receive alerts if and when someone tries to mint it as an unauthorized NFT on a public blockchain.
05. Big Cartel
Geared towards artists, makers and small brands, Big Cartel is a platform for creating and customizing stores for selling art online. The store can also be part of your online portfolio website.
While Big Cartel doesn't charge listing fees, artists can choose from a variety of monthly plans depending on the amount of products in their store. For budding merchants, stores with five products or under are free of charge.
06. Shopify
eCommerce platform Shopify allows users to set up their own storefront and sell products directly on their websites, social media platforms and other marketplaces. Artists can sell physical products, digital products, services and more.
07. Redbubble
Redbubble is a marketplace for print on demand products created with user-submitted artwork. Designs can be printed in the form of posters, T-shirts, vinyl stickers, mobile phone cases and more.
Redbubble coordinates the printing, shipping and customer service for each of its sales. In addition, artists can choose their preferred profit margin and retail prices, based on a set base per product.
08. Fine Art America
Fine Art America is the country’s largest online art store and print on demand website that services the entire globe. Artists can sell all types of art, from original canvases to prints to tapestries and home decor. Fine Art America takes care of both printing and shipping in one of their manufacturing facilities - and every shipment comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Sellers can set up a free standard membership or a Premium account for $30 which provides more exposure and sales opportunities. In addition to a practical storefront, Fine Art America also provides administrative and marketing tools for their clients including an online store, tools to create and send out newsletters and access to members-only groups.
09. Artfinder
To sell their work on Artfinder, artists need to undergo an application process in which they submit a work sample and tell the company a bit about themselves. Artfinder will then select artists they want to work with to sell on their site, taking a 33%-40% commission. And unlike some other online art stores, Artfinder only allows artists to sell original artwork, with an emphasis on photography and paintings - they do not sell or produce prints.
10. UGallery
UGallery also carefully selects which artists to feature on their site by requiring an application process. Their goal is for buyers to feel like instead of scrolling through a website, they are strolling through art galleries and connecting with the pieces in person.
Everything showcased is handpicked with UGallery, providing a selectively curated and extremely upscale shopping experience. Once a piece is sold, UGallery splits the profit 50/50 with the artist.
How to sell art online FAQ
Is it profitable to sell art online?
Yes, it's possible to make a profit selling art online. However, it's important to be realistic about your expectations. The art market is competitive, and it takes time and effort to build a successful business.