For artists, it’s easy to make content accessible online to collectors outside of their local galleries and studios. It’s not as simple as uploading a photo to an art website or marketplace and hoping to make a sale. To get the best market for your listing, you will need to keep these factors in mind: pricing, information, photography, shipping, and presentation.
Both new to an art market and veterans able to list art for years can be impacted by tiny errors, impacting visibility, buyer confidence and ultimately sales. Some of the oversimplified rules that artists trip up on—and some that they don’t!Some of the simpler rules artists get wrong — and some that they get right!
1. Using Weak or Inaccurate Artwork Photos
When shopping for a painting, sculpture, photograph or drawing online, the potential buyer does not get to `taste, smell, touch, and see’ the piece before buying it. Your photos, then, will have to convey information that a face-to-face review would give.
One of the worst things that can happen is to use low light journal images of poor quality: blurry, obfuscated, and/or heavily edited. The images should convey as accurate a sense as possible of the artwork’s colour, size, texture and condition. Secondary images can also provide purchasers with an understanding of the complex that they cannot easily get from the primary image.
Artfinder expressly recommends sellers use secondary images that accurately convey the scale of the art so it is easily understood, and Artfinder’s sellers guidelines prohibit watermarks as this could interfere with the promotional use of images.
To prevent it: Take photos with well-uniform lighting. Utilize multiple views (when applicable), detail shots for texture and contextual images to allow the buyer to see a sense of scale. Don’t use filters that significantly affect the image.
2. Writing Vague Product Descriptions
Beauty is not just a visual appeal. It’s impossible for any decision to be made confidently without first having this sort of practical information.
Vendors that describe their paintings as “original abstract paintings” will not provide answers to questions. With which mediums has it been processed? What is the actual size? Is it framed? Is it original or is it a print? Which year did it come into being? What were the materials used?
Accurate descriptions are also crucial since a marketplace can have sellers liable for inaccurate or deceptive listings. For instance, Artfinder’s current seller terms say that the artist is responsible for making sure that listings accurately depict their artwork.
How to prevent it: Conduct a thorough discussion between you and a prospective collector. List title, medium, size, year, framing, materials, condition and any other information that would be relevant to the sale of the piece.
3. Guessing at the Price
It can be difficult to put a value on art, especially for budding artists. There are others who undervalue their work due to fear that nobody will purchase their work. Some just select a price because another artist has set a similar price.
The two methods don’t offer a clear price system.
Saatchi Art believes that the consistent use of set principles that are based on facts is the most suitable way of valuing artworks and that the following principles be used in keen consideration of the type of material, labour and similar works. It also recommends artists can provide reasoning behind their pricing.
Avoidance: Determine a rule for setting prices based on size, medium, materials, labour, experience, past sales and similar pieces. Most importantly, be consistent with pricing of the same product on different channels. Artfinder’s suggestions for artists selling their art onsite also call for holding prices consistent throughout venues.
4. Forgetting Marketplace Fees and Other Costs
An artist is not guaranteed the amount shown as the selling price from this.
Artists can experience packaging costs, shipping costs, taxes, customs charge, commission, transaction fees or other deductions on a particular platform, depending on it. These are potential costs that can eat away at what may appear to be a profitable sale.
Avoidance strategy: Be informed about the platform’s existing rate of sale or facing fees and terms before setting a pricing. Understand and estimate the cost of packaging, transport, production and any taxes and fees that may apply – then determine the amount you need to recover per sales transaction.
5. Treating Shipping as an Afterthought
Shipping original artwork is very different to shipping an ordinary consumer product. Framed canvas or artwork and sculptures can require special packing and precise dimensions.
sShipping problems can arise because of inaccurate information. Artists must fount: Shipping dimensions and weight (eg. for Saatchi Art) and is now reminding artists to record packaged artwork prior to sending it on.
Artfinder is another company that recommends sellers check out shipping charges before assuming they and also needs precise dimensions and a weight of art works.
How to prevent it: This involves weighing and measuring the artwork after it has been packaged, researching the actual shipping rates from the given country, checking international shipping conditions, and protective materials. Factor in the cost of building packages when calculating prices.
6. Letting Listings Become Outdated
Imagine a collector discovers your work on an art marketplace, decides to buy it, and then learns that the artwork was already sold somewhere else. It creates unnecessary frustration and can make your professional practice appear disorganized.
This is especially important for artists who sell through multiple websites, galleries, social platforms, and offline events.
How to avoid it: Update inventory as soon as an artwork sells. Saatchi Art recommends keeping sold works visible while clearly marking them as sold, while Artfinder instructs artists to update stock when a listed artwork sells through another channel.
7. Ignoring Searchability
Uploading excellent artwork does not automatically mean buyers will find it.
Marketplaces typically rely on searchable information such as titles, descriptions, categories, and tags to help shoppers discover relevant work. Generic terms alone may not communicate what makes a particular piece distinctive.
How to avoid it: Use accurate, relevant keywords that describe the artwork’s subject, medium, style, color, and theme. Avoid stuffing listings with unrelated popular terms. Artfinder explicitly recommends SEO best practices to improve discoverability within its platform.
Think like a collector: What would someone actually type when looking for a work like yours?
8. Ignoring Copyright and Intellectual Property
On the other hand, artists must ensure that what they sell or repro vision online is rightfully theirs.
When using photographs, recognisable characters, logos, images from other artists, or material from elsewhere the importance of this becomes even more crucial where the artwork is concerned. An artist may not take the right to utilize another artist’s intellectual property with an artist marketplace listing.
There are also restraints on the platform. In the case of Artfinder for instance, for instance, listings that infringe the IP rights of others are not allowed.
How to prevent it: Avoid plagiarizing or infringing on the rights of original material, which you have no rights or permissions to use. If licenses or permissions are required, maintain documentation of these; if they are not required, check the intellectual property policies of each platform you sell on.
9. Expecting Immediate Results
One of the other common pitfalls that people come across is that they think that as long as they put some art pieces, they will sell.
In an art marketplace, a doorway will provide access to prospective buyers, but just visibility and trust is the requirement, and that takes a while. A solid portfolio, profile, and listings along with consistent activity will help make you more real.
What to do to prevent it: Consider alternative types of listings. Create a good portfolio, keep the profile up to date, regularly post relevant work and steer in the right direction for people looking at your website and social feeds so that they visit your marketplace listings.
10. Forgetting That the Buyer Is Buying an Experience
But for all intents and purposes, selling art online is not just a sale. The credibility of the artist is also a subject of collectionists’ assessment.
The buying experience is enhanced through clear communication, accurate descriptions, reliable shipping, thoughtful packaging and responsive customer service. Even if they encounter something unexpected, a smooth lead-in is helpful in building confidence.
Marketplace policies for the most part have the ability to feature returns or refunds, which is key to consider for this reason. On Artfinder, they have a policy in place for customer returns across their sites, and they also highlight a commitment to accurate listings and right shipping – a couple of methods they say to minimize avoidable returns.
Turning Marketplace Mistakes Into Better Practice
The best way to sell art online is to view the address you use as a reaction to your job of being an artist.
Prior to posting a listing, ask yourself: Are the photos accurate? Are all the measurements accurate? Are the words provided by collectors to answer their questions? Are costs a fixed and sustainable price? Are the costs involved with shipping and packaging taken into account? Has the art piece been preserved?
From attending big markets to using a market place to listing features on multiple platforms, these points can make your work discoverable, and buyable.
The art marketplace can bring together artists & collectors globally, but it is the artist that creates the “first impression.” Leave a lasting, correct and good impression.
