As an artist, it can be difficult to know where and how to sell works of art. The exhibition in local galleries will allow the artist to arrive only at a limited audience, and sales will depend completely on who arrives through the door on a given day. An online market has a truly global reach, allowing the work to be discovered and bought by an international market for international art purchases.
There are dozens of acceptable ways of selling original works of art online. From the use of social media sites and groups, to create a custom website, a store in an online market or join an online art market or an online art gallery. The election depends exactly what is sold, the planned public, the profile of the ideal buyer and the requested price.
In line markets for art
Art markets or online galleries are the art galleries of the world online. Some of these online galleries are very selective in the work they promote, choosing to stick to a certain style or gender or be particularly concerned about the processes and quality of each piece. Others will require a certain level of previous success before considering a piece, effectively eliminating new artists.
Other artistic markets and online galleries go to the other side and allow anyone to publish lists. These sites are useful for new artists, but they are not as lucrative or are as successful in attracting sales as the most established artistic markets with a solid reputation behind them.
How galleries work online
Most artistic markets and online galleries make the sale for the artist, operating very much like a gallery. The piece and its details are published online (generally according to strict photographic standards) and are available for the visitors of the site to see. The client puts the order online, the artist sends the piece and provides shipping test and the market pays the artist, except his commission.
The commissions can be as high as 30% and the responsibility is in the artist to ensure that the piece is properly sent to arrive completely intact and without damage, except natural disasters and civil disturbances. So why is the commission so high? Indeed, the artist is getting access to a gallery, advertising and marketing, where the payment of these services is only made when closing a sale.
Services offered
It is not a bad business if it is considered that artistic markets and online galleries are in the marketing art business. The more jobs they sell, the more money they earn. They have a personal interest in selling art works on their lists. Many destination sites are for serious art buyers, exposing new artists to a wide audience of customers who pay.
In addition, online galleries can be searched. Seeing a particular list can incite a buyer looking for the artist’s name and other works, or even finds his website (if he has one, which is advisable). Another advantage is that the names of the newcomers appear together with the names of the established and estimated artists in the industry. There is nothing like being in good company.
What to look for
There are a number of popular art markets and online galleries and innumerable smaller independent galleries online as well. The best option is to find one that is completely free to join and that does not have membership rates. This will ensure that money is not lost before it is done.
An online gallery must also train artists to play an active role in the creation and administration of their own store, ensuring complete control over their listings and online profile. However, the online gallery must also market and promote listed for free. Preferably, an online gallery must charge a commission below 30%, unless its service offer is exceptional.