Do you use any other online venues to sell your art?

[Former_Member]

Hi guys - I've been thinking of expanding into other online venues to sell original paintings, and I wondered if there were other places that you have found worthwhile. I do plan to build my own website eventually, but I'm not there yet, so for the time being, I'm looking at existing online marketplaces.

I've tried Tophatter, and have been increasingly un-thrilled with them (poor sales, low selling prices and rising fees). I recently joined Handmade Artists (though I don't know much about them yet), and I put a few pieces up on eBay today for the first time (I've never tried eBay, so we'll see how that goes).

Just curious about other possibilities.

[sherischart]

There are many available out there. Meylah is one to check out. And Handmadeology has now joined together with Meylah I believe just this year.

Thank you for this thread Anna. I would be interested in hearing more venues tried and true. It's difficult for me to venture out.

Curious as to how one manages inventory. Separate listings f/ Etsy.

[Former_Member]

I try not to list the same painting in multiple places, Sheri. I've done so before, but I get scared about selling the same thing in two places, so I'm moving to make sure I have different inventory for each site I use. But that does require a lot of inventory if I use several venues.

I found a partial answer to my question in my e-mail inbox today, in the form of an Artsy Shark blog entry about options for selling artwork online. If any of you are interested, here's a link:

http://www.artsyshark.com/2013/01/07/125-places-to-sell-your-art-or-craft-online/

I would still love to hear anyone's thoughts on other venues from personal experience!

[Former_Member]

Anna
I tried tophatter too and felt the same as you
Years ago I sold 1 painting on Ebay
I would like to hear more ideas also
I thinking of a website but only thinking
great quesion

[smallimpressions]

I also list on Daily PaintWorks, but am finding my work sells for higher prices here on Etsy. I can link my listings at Etsy to DPW and they have an auction option that I've used, but not much bidding going on there. Prices were low and there is a $12.95 monthly fee. Not sure I will continue with it for much longer unless sales pick up. I have made my fees back, but the return has been too low for the work involved.

I'll be curious to hear about Ebay. I've never sold art there, only miscellaneous items I needed to unload. Before I started listing on Etsy, I considered Ebay, but the fees were quite high. I guess there have been some changes and there is an option for something like 50 free listings and you only pay the final value fee if you sell. I think the final value fee is quite a bit higher than Etsy, but can't really remember what it was.

I'll look forward to hearing from others!

[Former_Member]

Nancy I was on DPW for awhile and started when it was $9.95 a month and stayed on for a couple more months but I didn't sell anything

[Former_Member]

I use DPW to link to my Etsy listings (I haven't tried their auctions). It has brought me some views, and a sale or two, but hasn't really earned back the monthly fee, so I may quit soon.

Nancy - Currently on eBay the 1st 50 auction listings in a calendar month are free, and the final value fee is 9%. So the final value fee is a bit much, but it costs nothing up front (at least for that first 50 items). Don't know how things are selling, though, since I just started this week.

[smallimpressions]

Anna

Thanks for the detail about eBay. Might be my next effort if I decide to drop DPW. Hope you have success on Ebay--keep us posted on your results.

[indiscriminatedesign]

Anna, thank you for the list from artsyshark! It looks like a great resource.

My teenaged daughter suggested I post my work on Pinterest. I just started over the weekend. I created a board for my Etsy work and one for living room decor that featured one of my paintings. That's my plan to hopefully find some of my targeted customers. I've gotten some traffic to my shop in the past from boards my daughter created.

[indiscriminatedesign]

P.S. I found out that self- promotion on Pinterest is not cool if it's too obvious. So I deleted the board with only my Etsy work on it. I'm still going to use my own work in whatever boards I create, but probably only one piece per board.

[smallimpressions]

I'm on Pinterest, too. I have one board that is my own small paintings, but most everything else belongs to others. I frequently get traffic from Pinterest, not necessarily from my own board, but from other people who post my work on their boards. Haven't had any backlash about the one board. Other than people not liking it, is there a policy against putting your own work on one of your boards?

[GinsGallery]

I have my own (Etsy Shop) board on Pinterest, with all my Etsy paintings on it, and have had no issues with anyone saying it's too self-promoting or anything.. Would think it would be confusing to have them spread out on separate boards.

[Former_Member]

I also have a board on Pinterest just for my stuff, and then I have a lot of other boards too and repost things from other people's boards, so I think I'm doing Pinterest right (I'm about 10% self-promoting and 90% other). To be honest, Pinterest is just plain fun, so it's often where I spend my downtime anyway! Why not pin my own stuff?

Back to the earlier part of this discussion, I used to use outside services like RedBubble and DeviantArt, so I could sell prints and products. Well, I've just about given up on those, and am focusing on Etsy. The reason is simply because, in order for any one venue or service to really work, you have to put a lot of time into it. So if you have your work spread across multiple venues, that multiplies the time and effort you have to put into it. I think it's better, at least for me, to focus on one sales outlet at a time and really be able to put the requisite amount of work in.

Oh and I say "just about" because RedBubble offers iPhone cases - I can't seem to put that one down, even though I've only sold one case. I could do great on RedBubble, I bet - if I spent two hours a day on it.........uh, no.

[inHIShandsart]

Hi, I got advice to create a business fb page and do pinterest (but not just self-promote). I've done both.

fb is next to useless because fb limits to 15% those allowed to see it. I don't even think some in my family have seen it. Does anyone have solutions to that?

How do you know that someone came to your shop from pinterest?

[KamaraLarryStudio]

I have mostly sold my artwork on ebay up to this point. The good thing is that you can list for free 50 listings every month. I like that I can just list my artwork and then I'm done with out having to do the work of promoting. However, the downside is that the selling fees are much higher and they bill you for the final value and the shipping cost once an item sells. Also since there is no promoting within ebay you have less control in driving traffic to your items.

So there is good and bad however I have found that I have sold more art on ebay than any of the other sites I have used in the past with a lot less work on my part.

I am also on Daily Paintworks right now but I have not had a lot of customers from there.

[smallimpressions]

Kamara

Thanks for the info on ebay. I like the idea of listing and not having to promote. Promotion is a lot of work. It would be nice not to have to deal with it and still sell paintings. My experience is that promotion=sales. Would love to hear more about ebay.

[KamaraLarryStudio]

Yes I agree promotion is a lot of work! :) I feel that Ebay is nice because I do not have to work to drive traffic to my items. Also I have been able to sell items without needing to have a large starting inventory! However, from what i have seen, people are looking for low cost deals and it might be more difficult to get the same prices for your items as you would on etsy depending on what you are selling and the value of it. I generally stick to paintings under $150 and have at least 10 items listed but usually not more than 20 at a time. I usually do 7 day auctions and if they do not sell, I just relist.

There are many options to selling on ebay.
Auction: Where I can list an item lower than what I might list it for on etsy and let the market determine the price or value of the piece. Or list it for what I would list it for on etsy and if there are multiple bidders then It will sell for over the starting price.
Buy It Now: Where the person can purchase the item at the price listed with out having to wait for the auction to end.
Buy it Now w/ Best offer: they can either purchase it at the price you set or they can send you offers for what they would like to pay for your item.
Fixed Price Listing: which is similar to etsy, if someone wants your item they just purchase it at the price you set.

However, I do feel as though there are long term benefits to selling on etsy that ebay does not offer. What I like about Etsy is that I feel like the shop owner has greater control in how their work is presented and received by customers, as well as the overall success of their shop through promoting, tags, building relationships through teams, coupon codes, shop policies, and allowing customers to get to know you through your profile information. There is definitely more of a personal feel and greater substantial quality to selling on etsy. Very much like buying from your local neighborhood shop, except that person may be in another city, state or country.

I hope this is useful. There are pros and cons to selling on both sites however, I figure that collectors might discover my work on one site who might not be on the other so right now I am on both.

[JBeaudetStudios]

I also sell on Daily PaintWorks but I'm with you Nancy. I'm seriously thinking about leaving it, at least for a while. I feel like people are trying to get a good deal, unless it's a really well known artist. There is a lot of quality work on there that goes for next to nothing. I'm actually liking it on here right now (hasn't always been the case) I don't know what they changed but I've been getting pretty steady traffic and more sales than before. I did try ebay a few times but felt as though I wasn't seen at all. I've had at least one sale from pinterest (but then they bought it on here) I had a pinterest shop set up for a few weeks but didn't see any traffic at all. I should probably have given it a little more time! Facebook is also good for exposure. I've sold a few paintings directly on there.
I spend so much time promoting and sometimes wonder if it does any good! But somehow I just keep on going...:)

[Former_Member]

Great info, everyone! So nice to hear different experiences.

Thanks for the great pros/cons comparison of Etsy and eBay, Kamara! You summed things up beautifully for the two sites.

So far, I'm not doing awesome on eBay - one sale for well below retail price, and very little traffic overall. I just started, though, so I'll give it awhile and see if things pick up - still trying to work out how SEO works on eBay, which would probably help.

I'm planning to leave DailyPaintworks before my next payment is due - it just hasn't paid for itself. Too bad. I like DPW in theory, but it hasn't worked for me in practice.

[inHIShandsart]

Thanks for the summary, Kamara.

You are all talking about promoting. What are you actually doing when you promote?