5 Reasons Why Traderspace is better than Saatchi Art, Fine Art America, and ArtPal

Selling art online as a means of finding new customers isn’t anything new. However, each year, new platforms are made and try to outdo their competitors. In this article and in the video above, I will be talking about Traderspace. Based out of Australia, Traderspace is a new platform not only for artists to sell their work, but small and large businesses to sell their products. There is a lot to say about them so let’s just get into here.

I have a longer full review of Traderspace if you would like to read/watch it. Here is the link: https://briansloanartist.com/traderspace-review/

I will first give you a little more background on Traderspace and then get into the top five reasons why I think Traderspace is better than other big online marketplaces for art such as Saatchi Art, Fine Art America, and ArtPal.

Traderspace is owned by an Australian tech start-up called OpenAirApps. They launched traderspace.io in 2019. It is a universal selling and trading platform that is said to be a hybrid between Etsy, eBay, and Gumtree. Their goal is to be able to provide people with a cost-effective way to do business. It is meant not only for established businesses but new businesses and hobbyists as well. 

At this point (January 2022), they are in the alpha/beta phase of production. There are a lot of pros to this that I will mention throughout the article. They will be moving to the beta phase when the mobile app is released later in 2022.

They have just over 300 registered accounts at the time of writing this article. This is very small compared to some platforms that have tens of thousands of accounts or more. Yes, this means that they may not get as much traffic as some of those larger companies, however, they are on track to grow a lot in the near future. If you get in early and get established, I believe this will help as their traffic increases.

1. No seller fees/cheap premium subscription

If you have been selling your art online for a while now, you know that many websites have both high subscription fees as well as high commission fees once a product is sold.

Traderspace has zero commission fees. This means that when you sell artwork, you keep all of the money. To have a platform like this is almost unheard of. The transaction takes place between the customer and the artist without any third-party fees in the middle. Most other platforms I have worked with will take anywhere from 5-40% commission fees on each sale. That is a huge chunk of money that you don’t receive as the artist and creator of the work. 

Traderspace has both a free account and what is called a Trader+ account. Let me briefly give you the details on this:

As you can see, with a free account, users get one storefront, ten listings, and limited access to features.

With the Trader+ account, users get access to unlimited storefronts, unlimited listings, options to have their Traderspace (storefront) and listings featured by Traderspace, as well as the ability to make announcements to their followers. The Trader+ account fee is $10 USD a month.

Some platforms have similar subscription fees, and others have higher ones. $10 a month for access to features is also a very good deal. Most other platforms have the ability to feature your work but for an extra cost. 

So between the no seller/commission fees and a $10 a month subscription fee, if you choose to subscribe, you are getting a lot of bang for your buck. The zero commission fees are a big one. If you are selling five products a month or five hundred products a month, your fees never change. Most other websites gouge on their commission fees which are basically penalizing you for selling more. Not on Traderspace, they reward you for selling more.

2. Great Support / Willing to Take Feedback

Traderspace has a great help page and guidebook, however, sometimes you may have a question that you just can’t seem to find the answer to. This is when contacting support is very important. When trying to deal with many of the larger platforms such as Fine Art America and ArtPal, I have had countless people message me with questions and issues that they are having. They have tried to contact customer support but have never received a reply. This is where Traderspace really stands out from the rest. They are very quick to answer questions, allow you to create a “ticket” on their help page to make it easy to contact them, and they follow through even days later to make sure everything has been resolved. I have had contact on numerous occasions with the support team from Traderspace and have even had the chance to communicate with the CEO. Each communication has been nothing but pleasant and helpful.

They also have a great help page. It is full of how-to’s in order to help you use their platform to the fullest. Here is a link to it: https://help.traderspace.io/hc/en-us

This one almost blew me away at first. Traderspace wants your feedback. As artists, we like things a certain way. Granted, I may like things one way, while others like things other ways. But there are some overall features that many people want. Traderspace is willing to listen to our feedback, deliberate on it, and implement it if possible. I have never seen any other platform do this before. The transparency with Traderspace makes it very amicable and trustworthy.

3. Focus on helping artists

Have you ever felt like some websites are just trying to get your money from you? This isn’t the feeling I get with Traderspace. The first reason is the zero seller fees and low monthly subscription costs. Secondly, they are dedicated to helping artists succeed. They have and are in the process of creating selling guidebooks, groups where artists can collaborate, and much more. They are not only dedicated to their website but dedicated to their users. I don’t feel like I’m a drop of water in a lake like I do being a part of some other platforms.

If you want to join the community on Facebook, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/traderspacesellerscommunity/

4. Support Local

Traderspace also focuses on customers shopping locally. With their search bar attached to a map, customers can easily see where the products they are searching for come from.

I absolutely love this feature. This is such a simple idea but I really believe it helps build a connection between the customer and the artist.

5. Allows more than just art

Traderspace is for more than just artists. People can sell other products as well as services. This may seem irrelevant to artists, however, I believe it is a good thing. More people will have the opportunity to see your art this way. Also, maybe you would like to offer a service instead of just your artwork. For example, I offer paint nights and workshops. This is something I can offer right on my Traderspace instead of having to have people contact me or just not even mention it on other platforms like Fine Art America, and Saatchi Art. You can have everything in one place on Traderspace.

Now, I’m not saying Traderspace is perfect. Everyone platform has its quirks to figure out. However, I would consider these pros when weighing your options on what site to use to sell your art.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to me and I can do my best to answer. However, I would suggest checking out the Traderspace website and social media accounts and reaching out to them. They are the most knowledgeable and willing to help!

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/traderspace.io

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Traderspace_io

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/traderspace_io/

Discord – https://discordapp.com/invite/xytVKbw

Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/r/traderspace

If you want to read and watch my full review of Traderspace. Follow this link: https://briansloanartist.com/traderspace-review/