How Do I Start Selling My Art?
Step 0 - Make Art
Umm… duh? I know, I know, but it is a necessity before moving forward. Have a small collection of pieces you’re ready to start selling. Paintings, drawings, digital art, ceramics, clay sculptures, jewelry, clothes, resin art, ANYTHING!
Step 1 - Merchandising
Do you want to sell original paintings or make prints? Find a manufacturer for stickers, bags, pins, etc.? Make everything one-of-a-kind, or create batches of similar products? What would YOU want to buy? Here are a few resources I used to get my shop started:
Prints - I use Cat Print to order all of my prints. They’ve always had good turn around times and donate to several animal charities which makes me happy to support them. They have a variety of papers and formats to give you more creative inspiration.
Stickers - I use Rockin Monkey. They are US based and create high quality stickers that are water and UV resistant, and even dishwasher safe! Perfect for water bottles or any other sticker needs.
Pins/bags/journals/and more - I have more recently been using Vograce to produce more functional products. They have a wide variety of products and low MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) which is wonderful for new artists. They are based overseas and can take a month or two to manufacture and deliver your products, but it’s definitely worth the wait. These have become my best selling products. They also have very friendly and helpful customer service.
Digitizing any physical art to be turned into prints or other products can be a bit of a struggle. I called around to a few local shops but was met with pretty pricey estimates. Through enough research I eventually decided on buying an Epson - Perfection V39 Advanced Flatbed Color Photo Scanner for around $100. The quality is amazing! The only additional hurdle is if you have larger pieces you want to scan, you can take multiple scans and then use Photoshop to merge the scans into one large file.
Step 2 - Pricing
This is a very important step! It can be really easy to want to offer things for as cheap as possible without taking into account the time and resources you used to create your beautiful product. Don’t sell yourself short!!! There are a lot of people out there that love supporting small artists, and don’t mind paying a little more. Determine how much you spent on any materials or manufacturing. You also need to determine how much time you spent on the whole process. Your time is incredibly valuable, and your creative skills are an asset that is worth asking for a livable wage for.
Step 3 - Sales Platforms
Now you’re ready to actually start selling. Do you want to sell online, in-person, or both?
Selling Online
If you want to start your own website, I recommend using Squarespace. I was a freelance web designer and always found Squarespace the easiest to use, and it integrates with lots of other amazing services. I think I pay about $35 a month for their basic e-commerce plan.
Another option is to create your own Etsy page. Etsy is an extremely popular platform and if you can find the right niche it can be very lucrative. Take the time to understand how much Etsy collects from your sales, and that it can be very difficult to show up in people’s search results. A lot of artists have huge success on Etsy, and a lot of artists have decided to step away from Etsy, so make sure to explore several opinions.
You can also sell through Facebook and Instagram. For a start-up guide visit https://business.instagram.com/shopping
There are also several other platforms available that you can upload your art to, and they sell all the prints for you so that you don’t have to keep an inventory or worry about shipping. I have a gallery on InPrnt which allows me to immediately upload new scans or digital art to start selling as prints. They can do small prints, framed prints, posters, and even phone cases.
There are lots of other online storefronts to choose from such as Society6 and RedBubble, but they have varying commissions that may not be enough for your goals. When starting the convenience can outweigh the need for profits until you can grow towards having your own inventory.
Selling in-person
Search for local artist collectives. They often have regular events you can sign up for, a website you can be featured on, or at the very least a good starting point for getting to know other local artists.
Search for local farmers markets, art walks, or other events to see if they offer a vendor application. It can be difficult at first to know how to sign up for craft fairs and local events, but there are usually Facebook groups dedicated to sharing vending opportunities in your state or local area.
If you have a local shop that sells other people’s arts or goods from the community, then reach out to them to inquire about being added to their inventory.
Also, don’t be shy about directly reaching out to other artists in your community. I’ve talked to so many other artists that are more than happy to share advice. It can be uncomfortable to get yourself out there at first, but you’d be surprised how many incredibly kind and awesome people are out there.
Conclusion
Be kind to yourself as you go through these steps. It’s easy to get frustrated with how slowly the process can go, but each baby-step forward is worth being proud of. Have patience and determination, and you too will be a successful artist. I believe in you!
