SELL ART: What's in this section?
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  • Many artists want to know how to sell art....
  • ....but hate selling!
  • Some options for selling art make you money....
  • ....and some are a complete waste of time and money. ​The important thing is to know the difference.
SELL ART focuses on topics relevant to selling art. 

Each of these art business topics has a page of its own.  

Below is an INDEX to pages within this section. 
published sections have a red button - hit the button to visit the section
so you can see what is planned but not yet published.
PUBLISHED PAGES have a dark red  hyperlink.
​Topics which have been published can also be accessed via the links on this page or the top menu.

"Planned but not yet published pages" - NOT in bold
Sections without a link are in development - and coming soon! ​
Picture
(with thanks to by Paula Mould and Leigh Shenton for the quote)

​SELL ART - Contents INDEX
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Selling art is about converting interested prospects into paying customers
BELOW you can find
  • an outline of
    • what's published - with an overview below that each page published to date
    • what's in development - to be published in future
  • my quick start summary about the different options and channels you have for selling art. Some already have support pages while others are in development
  • how not to get into trouble when selling art

REGULATORY MATTERS - NOT OPTIONAL!!
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IF you want to avoid fines and/or prison!   READ:
Regulations re. other countries will follow in due course and/or are highlighted on relevant pages.
Rules & Regulations re. selling online on your own account and via third parties

SELL ART: Via Third Parties
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These are INDIRECT SALES - which happen when you are dependent on A. N. Other to get your art sold
including:
  • Display your art in a room context
  • Online Art Galleries
  • Print Art on Demand

SELL ART: Direct to Customer 
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covers regulatory and permission issues
includes lists of open studio organisations
from your website / through shopping retail software
Whenever I have to slap on my salesman's hat, I cringe.  I hate having to sell.  I'm just not a natural-born salesperson.  Although there are books and YouTube videos to advise me on how to fight my inclination to shrink into a dark corner, it's still hard for me.  I'm lucky if I remember to restock my wallet with business cards, and luckier still if I remember to give you one.
The Painter as Salesman by Michael Chesley Johnson

PLUS  More "need to know" info for selling art!
ELSEWHERE ON THIS WEBSITE
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How to price your art
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How to price your art (in the MONEY section) covers

How to present art
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Aspects of selling art elsewhere on this website which apply irrespective of whether you sell art direct or via a third party.​

BRIEF OVERVIEW of OPTIONS for selling art
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​This is my quick start summary about the different options and channels you have for selling art. It doesn't tell you everything you need to know - but tells you enough about the pros and cons of different options for getting your art into the hands of your future customers

BUT FIRST - Please tell me about what you have found to be the most profitable places / channels to sell art in recent times.
This is a chart of 107 responses between January 2022 and May 2022. .
Profitability for different options of selling art in 2021
Profitability for different options of selling art in 2021 - ranked from zero to highest

Alternative ways of selling art
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You can make a living selling art outside the art gallery system - but you have to have a portfolio of income streams coming from various venues and opportunities online.
“All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” Bob Burg

Ways of selling art without using an Art Gallery
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You control ONLY what you can control
  • Open Studios
  • ​Commissions

Online - you are dependent on third party assistance for the host - but you have:
more control
  • Website
  • Blog
  • Instagram
less control
  • eBay
  • Etsy
  • Amazon Handmade
  • Print publishers
With Third party assistance:
  • Juried Art Society Exhibitions
  • Juried Art Competitions
  • Licensing - direct to enduser
  • Licensing - indirect via an agent
  • Art Fairs
  • Niche Events
  • Local Community Events
  • Local Places eg cafes, restaurants, theatres, libraries, community centres, health facilities
  • Wholesale to individuals eg to Interior Designers (originals and/or reproductions)
  • Wholesale to venues eg Hotels and other places which use original art

How NOT to get into trouble when selling art!
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NOT OPTIONAL: Compliance with Regulatory Requirements - Whether selling with the aid of a third party or independently - on your own account
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You MUST make sure you comply with all the relevant law and regulations. These relate to ALL BUSINESSES. Artists and art businesses are not an exception!
​
Regulatory requirements will vary by location.  (I hope to develop more information over time)

Typically they can be located somewhere on official Government website pages relating to the conduct of business transactions

Your ignorance of such requirements is no defence in law if you are found to have ignored them.
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  • Trading Standards for Artists - (UK Only) This page reviews what legislation and what trading standards apply to in terms of: what you sell; where you sell and how you sell. Although for UK artists only the principles and requirements are similar to a number of other locations.​
  • E-commerce for Artists - How to sell art online. Do you know and meet all the legal requirements for selling online? Regulations in this area are becoming tighter and more specific as legislators act to deter scams and fraud.
How to Sell Your Art Online: Live a Successful Creative Life on Your Own Terms
by Cory Huff

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rated an average of:
  • UK: 4.4 out of 5 stars by 144 customer reviews
  • USA: 4.4 out of 5 stars by 172 customer reviews
​ If your goal is selling the work, read this book.
How to Sell Your Art Online covers
  • How to make a successful living from your artwork
  • Why selling direct can make more money for the artist
  • Use effective business strategies necessary to make artistic creations pay
  • Find your niche and ideal collectors
  • Build a website that sells
  • Build your mailing list
  • how to use social media and PR to market your art without selling your soul
  • how to be businesslike and focus on dedicating time to business and  focusing on the right things
Cory Huff is the man behind the popular website The Abundant Artist

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Harper Design
Publication date: June 28, 2016

BUY THIS BOOK

How to sell art via third parties
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This section is about when you use a third party such as a gallery, an art fair, a licensing agent or an online gallery to help you sell your art. 

​It involves contracts and payments to third parties for their contribution
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Selling in Art Galleries
  • A Guide to Art Dealers and Galleries - this focuses on art dealers and retail galleries and how they operate - and how to get started with them
  • The Artist-run Gallery - for those artists who want to co-operate to exhibit and sell art - without the involvement of a commercial or public art gallery. 
  • The Vanity Gallery - Do you know how to recognise a Vanity Gallery? More importantly, do you know how to be smart if one contacts you? This page is dedicated to raising awareness of Vanity Art Galleries and equipping artists to be smart when dealing with them
  • Art Competition and Juried Open Exhibitions - often considered as a shortcut to generating interest from galleries

Selling via Third Parties
  • A Guide to Art Agents & Consultants - this focuses on agents for illustrators and fine artists and consultants for corporate clients, art collectors and artists needing art business and marketing advice​
Selling at Alternative Venues
  • The Art Fairs - Larger prestigious fairs are Gallery/art dealer biased. Regional and local art fairs are open to artists that meet their criteria. This is a halfway house option. You sell direct to the customer but still need to have a contractual relationship with a third party (either a gallery or the art fair organiser) which provides the space and generates the traffic.
  • Alternative Options for Exhibition - looks at other options such as artists' co-operatives and renting space from commercial art galleries

Selling Online [NOT PUBLISHED YET]
  • ​Online Art Galleries - this provides a guide to the range of places you can place your art online and whether or not they get any traffic
  • Online Marketing with Facebook - how artists sell their art using Facebook

Licensing Art [NOT PUBLISHED YET]
  • Things you need to know about licensing your art
  • How to sell art via Print on Demand (POD) - ways of selling art via sites which print your art on demand

Selling art direct to the customer
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This section is about the options the artist has to sell art on their own account

PLUS all the retail regulatory requirements which an artist must also comply with.

Nobody helps you.

​All the marketing, meeting/dealing with purchasers, selling and regulatory compliance is down to you!
Commissions
  • Commissions: Things you need to think about - practical pointers for keeping everything on a business-like level - and how to avoid difficult situations!

Selling Art "Face to Face" from Home
​Selling Art Online from home 
  • see E-commerce for Artists 
  • Why sell art online? - reasons for marketing and selling art online
  • How to sell daily paintings - via blogs and websites and venues listing daily paintings
  • Online Art Stores - places where you can set up your own art store online (without a third party)
Two Critical Success Factors for selling online
The more successful an online  platform for selling art is:
  • the more people will be on it and
  • the less chance you have of being seen.

CRITICAL Issue #1:
  • YOUR ART must stand out from the crowd.
  • YOU MUST produce quality artwork which does not look like anybody else's
CRITICAL Issue #2:
My experience of listening to and watching people who are successful online tells me that:
  • YOU need to identify the platform which has the right audience for your art
  • YOU drive the traffic to your presence on that platform - it does NOT just "happen" (i.e. "build it and they will come" is a philosophy that does not work online)
Bottom line it's all down to YOU - not the platform
  1. Are you producing quality work?
  2. Do you present it well on a platform which people have confidence in re. making purchases?
  3. ​Are you driving traffic to places where it can be bought by people who will be interested in your art?
REFERENCE:
​Below are some links to articles on other sites which explain different ways artists have used to sell their art (and the year it was written)UNDATED
The Artist's Guide to Selling Work (2nd Edition) by Annabelle Rushton

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rated 4.9 out of 5* by 10 customer reviews (UK)
This is an excellent book for contemporary ways of selling art. So many books which purport to tell artists about the art business are dated and have not caught up with the changes that the internet has made. The second edition of this book helps artists to address the demands of marketing and selling work in an online world.

It focuses on how artists can be independent and help themselves as well on which services can be helpful to the artist.
Author: Annabelle Ruston is an editor with the Fine Art Trade Guild, one of whose main functions is to guide its members through the potential pitfalls of selling their work

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts; Edition:2nd Revised edition
Date: 21 Nov. 2013

BUY THIS BOOK
Plus a video by Susan Mumford of Be Smart about Art with her top three tips to selling art
  • when you're getting started, sell to people you know - friends, family, peers etc - and find out if people value it enough to buy it
  • it's much easier to sell to existing client
  • have a 'make it happen' attitude to selling art
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