What is the best way to sell original art, other than by getting ripped off by going through a gallery?
Most galleries take at least a 50% commission, yet make the artist pay to frame the piece as well! If a painting sells for $1,000. retail, yet I put $200, into having it properly framed & matted, I have only made $300. on that sale!
I have researched selling art on E-bay & most barely sell for enough to pay for the materials to produce them!
Upscale flea markets.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Upscale flea markets.
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December 28th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
ebay
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December 28th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
i was going to suggest ebay, but your work might be too advanced for that…sorry!
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December 28th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
My friend gets word-of-mouth referrals. Sometimes friends buy his already painted piece and then someone will commission him to paint something. He only has the pieces framed and matted that he is certain can only be done in one way to compliment the piece or if the person who requisitioned the piece asks him to.
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December 28th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
you can always make a web page displaying ur art. use pay pal to get paid and fedex 3 day shipping is about the cheapest and they cut u great deals when u ship a lot with them. good luck. oh yeah u can try selling outside ur house knew a lady who did that. Also flea markets, garage sales for ur smaller pieces. There are also gallaries online you can check out.
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December 28th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
If the artist has name recognition, you can use eBay. Or like the 1st answer suggests, upscale flea markets, and also art festivals/fairs. Anyone with art can rent a booth at a festival.
The other option is to allow the artist to help you sell it to his collectors, and pay him a commission on the sale, maybe 30-40%.
Artists get ripped off the most often by galleries, so I’m sure that he’d be sympathetic to you, and it would let him make money off of his own art without having to do produce a piece.
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December 28th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Well quite frankly ASSUMING your work is good…. You should put ads in the newspaper, build a site to sell it, or if you have enough money open up your own shop… Honestly though untill you get the money I would put ads in the paper or build a website… Get the word out there that youre selling art and from then on you shoould start selling them pretty fast. Also if you do this then you dont have 50% taken out… If you need some one to build a site for you, you can e mail me at o0lolipop0o@hotmail.com and I will give you the name of someone who does them on a daily basis… GOOD LUCK
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December 28th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Hi, I work/run an art gallery and our artists always include all of their costs when quoting their wholesale prices. You should include the price of the framing in your cost, as well as your time and other materials, and a profit. So if it costs you $200 for framing and you are expecting to get $500 for your painting, you need to state a wholesale of $700. All of the paintings in our gallery are sent framed by the artist, many artists build their own frames. If the client wants a different frame, it is up to them to foot the bill. 50/50 is a standard split, galleries are a buisiness and many have high overheads/costs since they are often in prime locations, such as tourist destinations. You are also paying them to sell your work for you, and the gallery’s job is to be knowledgeable about your work and all of the other artists they represent. That takes alot of work to become familiar with you and your work! Our gallery has been in buisiness for a long time and represent about 100 artists, many of whom have shown with us for years. Art is a finicky buisiness, it is not unusual for a piece to hang in the gallery for three or so years until the right person comes along. I’d say it is a good supplement, but not something to rely on as your sole income. Have you considered submitting your paintings into juried exhibitions and juried art/fine craft fairs?
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