Welcome Retiree

Make Money From Your Art – Sell Art Online Free

Are you tired of running around to galleries and attending fairs and shows trying to sell your art? Now because of the internet the opportunities to sell your art are greater than ever.  Have you researched online selling recently? Have you heard of PODs? I just found out about them and I am intrigued by the marketing concept. I am going to tell you more about them and how to sell art online in a minute.

But first a little history. Ever since I can remember I liked to draw and color. I guess practice makes perfect, because I actually made a living at it for a while, when I worked for an art studio in Chicago. I found working for clients stifling and it killed my enjoyment and my creativity.

I was very frustrated.  I wanted to paint for myself. To lose myself in the creative process and explore new concepts. Why didn’t I? I have to be honest. I hated selling. I hated promoting myself and my art.  So I kept my job. I loved my art  – but I just wanted to paint. Now I am retired and am going to take it up again.

Does that sound familiar? Or perhaps you’re okay with the selling, but you find more of your time going to promotion and less to the creative process you love. Have you been toying with the idea of selling on the internet? No more going around pounding on doors. Just put your art on the web and if someone falls in love with it they buy.

That’s the theory anyway. But does it work? Everyone’s art is unique. I can’t tell you if yours will sell.  You’ll have to try it to find out.  Where do you start.  I think a great place to start would be a great marketing tool called PODs.

 

What’s A POD? Sell Art Prints Online

PODs makes your artwork affordable and profitable. As you know, with an original work of art, to get what it’s worth in time and effort, you have to charge a hefty price. This can be a stopper for people, even if they really love the piece. By selling art prints online for an affordable price you get paid and your clients receive a beautiful picture to hang and enjoy.

In the past in order to do this, you would have the prints made and then sell them. This could be expensive and risky. If they didn’t sell you would be out the money for the prints. PODs solve this problem. POD stands for Print On Demand. This is a fascinating concept. Let me tell you how it works.

The prints are printed one at a time as the orders come in. This is pretty cool! You can sell prints of your artwork one at a time. You don’t have to pay for a hundred or two hundred prints and hope they sell. PODs allow you to offer a large variety of sizes and other options as to framed, unframed, and printing surfaces. The Print On Demand company handles all the printing, packaging, shipping  and accounting. You can concentrate on your art. You can also sell your original art if you wish. Two PODs that offer free memberships are ArtPal and FineArtAmerica..

ArtPal

ArtPal.com is free to join. You can sell your art as an original or as a print or even on a mug

ArtPal has a cool feature that lets you view the artwork as it would appear in four different room settings – over a couch, in a dining room, over a bed and over a hall table. The painting can be sized to the size you are thinking of buying and the wall color can be changed to match your walls. You can also sell your artwork on mugs. ArtPal will also sell handmade jewelry, sculptures, crafts and more.

 

 

 

 

 

FineArtAmerica

 

FineArtAmerica.com sells to a worldwide market The basic membership is free and the premium membership is a whopping $30 a year. You can sell prints or originals and they don’t care if you sell on other websites or not. If you make the sale yourself you will of course be responsible for the collecting of money, packaging and shipping yourself. Many online tools are offered, some of which are only available to premium members.

If you sell an original by completing the sale yourself and handle all the accounting, packaging and shipping you will receive the total profit, 100% – they will not take a commission.

 

Tools include:

• An online portfolio/profile page including a bio, blog and any other information you want to ad
• Watermark for security
• Full resolution view
• Sell prints on different materials
• Sell greeting cards with your artwork and the customers personal message inside
• Sell  your image on phone covers, throw pillows, tote bags, duvet covers and shower curtains
• Sell from a mobile app
• Sell on 150 store locations
• Embed their shopping cart into your website (premium)
• Create email campaigns
• License for your images
• License your images for TV (premium)
• Sell on Facebook
• Interactive community for help and support
• Create a .com website (premium)
• Create a catalog
• Post and find art jobs
• Earn 5% commission on accessories such as frames or mats purchased with sale (premium)

 

Prints

Someone buying a print of your artwork has a choice of many sizes to choose from – which enables them to get the perfect fit for their display area. Prints can be ordered on paper, metallic paper, canvas and acrylic. Every effort is made to insure the permanence of the prints. The paper is acid free and the inks are archival. Paper and canvases are treated with a UV protectorate. An acrylic print is on the backside of a 3/8 inch sheet of acrylic. If you want to check out the printing surfaces, a sample kit of papers and canvases can be purchased for $5 dollars. The kit includes the two canvas types and the seven papers with images printed on them.

Pricing

You decide on the price you want and that is what you get. FineArtAmerica marks up the price to cover framing if wanted, packaging and shipping. Payment is by Paypal on the 15th of the month, 30 days after the month of purchase, to allow for any charge backs from the 30 day return policy.

Don’t think you can set back and twiddle your thumbs, You are going to have to do some promoting in social media and with a website, If you want people to find you. PODs do remove a lot of the hassle though, and give you more time to pursue what you love.

 

The Cashiers Check Scam

 

If You Are Going To Sell Artwork Yourself Beware Of The Cashiers Check Scam

This is how it works.

1. You sell a painting to a buyer who is paying with a certified check.  You agree on a price of $1000.
2. When the cashiers check arrives it is for more than the agreed upon price – $1600 dollars.
3. The buyer says just send him a check for the extra amount when you send the painting.
4. You send a check for $600 and the painting.
5. His check is fake and you are out the painting and $600

This doesn’t mean that all cashiers checks are bad, just don’t assume they are all good.

ALWAYS WAIT FOR THE CHECK TO CLEAR!

Well that’s it for now – If you are interested in other ways of making money online check out my At Home Online Job Page 

I hope this has inspired you to try selling your art online. I would love to hear about your experiences. If you would like to contribute any insights or have questions or tales of success please leave them in the comments below.

Thanks for reading – Pat