Where To Sell Your Art Online – Volume 3
Where To Sell Your Art Online – Volume 3
Welcome back to another volume of “Where To Sell Your Art Online”. This is our third volume where we take a look at websites where you can sell your art online. I’m sure you are aware that selling anything online allows you to reach millions of potential customers from around the world. However, finding those customers isn’t always the easiest. There are many platforms that have been created over the past two decades that try to help you find customers. Some seem to work better than others.
In this article, we will be taking a brief look at twelve websites where you can sell your art online. Each of them will have pros and cons that I will try to address. However, I don’t have a lot of experience with many of them but will just simply be passing on information that I find.
If you haven’t already, check out my other two articles where I look at a combined twenty-four websites where you can sell your art online. After volume three, you will have a list of thirty-six websites that you can try!
Here are links to the other two:
Here is a list of the 12 websites we will be going through in this article:
- Traderspace
- Teemill
- Gelato
- Printify
- VSUAL
- Zatista
- Arto Galleria
- Artquid
- BlueThumb
- ArtPlease
- OnlineGallery.Art
- Art Store Fronts
Traderspace
Traderspace is an Australian-based e-commerce platform that has the goal of helping artists from around the world succeed in their work. However, they don’t just allow you to sell art, you are able to sell just about any product or service through their platform.
The biggest plus about Traderspace is that they don’t take any commission fees! You can sell your art and actually keep all of the profits!
They have a free account that you can use that allows one storefront with fifteen listings. There is also a Trader+ account which allows unlimited storefronts, listings, and access to promotions/advertising. This is $10 a month.
I have been on Traderspace for a few months now (Currently April 2022) and have yet to sell anything, however, they are still in the alpha/beta phase and the full release is set for June of this year. In the time that I have been with them, I have felt a connection that hasn’t happened on any other website/platform. Traderspace offers more than just a place to sell your art, it has many projects and collaborations currently happening and planned for the future that is to help artists succeed.
One of the ways they do this is by having a Facebook group where artists can talk and share ideas or ask questions when they need help. Here is a link to the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/620384195684272
I also made a full review of Traderspace, follow this link to check it out.: https://briansloanartist.com/traderspace-review/
And if you want to know why I like Traderspace more than some other big-name websites, follow this link: https://briansloanartist.com/5-reasons-why-traderspace-is-better/
Teemill
Teemill is a print-on-demand company that focuses on sustainability in production. It is actually quite a cool story and the details are too long to get into here, but if you would like to read about it, follow this link: https://teemill.com/about-teemill/
And you can watch the Ted Talk on them here:
They don’t have quite the range of print-on-demand products that some other websites have but that is because their focus is on producing sustainable products. Everything that they sell can be sent back to them to be recycled for store credit. This means that if you purchase a t-shirt from them and it is worn out, send it back for free to be recycled and made into a new one! You also get credit for sending products back so you can purchase new ones.
They have two levels of subscriptions. The first is free, which allows you to have your own shop URL with “teemill” as part of it and 30 listings. The biggest downside to the free account is that you can’t change the markups on the products, this means that you don’t really control your profits. The pro account is £10 a month. For all of the perks of the pro account, follow this link: https://teemill.com/teemill-plans/
This isn’t a platform that customers use to search for products like others. You get your own website to create through Teemill to sell products. By sharing your products and website, you will drive customers to your shop.
I have had communication through email and video calls with the Marketing Executive and even from my brief experience, this company has the right vision in mind. I am looking forward to supporting them in the future.
If you would like to sign-up for Teemill using my affiliate link, I would greatly appreciate that! Here it is: https://teemill.com/?aff=briansloanartist
Gelato
Gelato is a type of print-on-demand service. It is different than platforms like Redbubble and Society6 in that customers don’t go on to Gelato to search for products. It is a type of extension that you can connect to your existing e-commerce shop or website so that when people order print-on-demand products from those places, it is automatically sent to Gelato so they will take care of the production and shipment to the customer. This leaves you more time to keep on creating!
The products range from clothing, wall art, calendars, cards, mugs, and more. They boast reliability and sustainability as two of their main draws.
To get an idea of price comparability, an 8×10 stretched canvas print starts at $10.90 CAD and a Men’s Large T-shirt starts at $9.70 CAD. On Redbubble an 8×10 stretched canvas print starts at about $60 and a Men’s Large T-shirt starts at $20.50 CAD. If you could see me while writing this, you would see a very shocked look on my face! I didn’t expect a discrepancy of this much. I don’t know if Redbubble has recently increased their base prices because I don’t remember them always being so high. Granted that Redbubble is its own platform that people go to search for products if you have your own strong following and are just looking for a producer of products, Gelato seems to have very good prices.
It can be connected to places like Shopify, Etsy, Woocommerce, Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce, and through API.
I don’t have any experience with Gelato but it seems to be a good option for getting print-on-demand directly to your existing e-commerce shop.
If you would like to sign-up using my affiliate link, that would be much appreciated. Here it is: https://gelato.pxf.io/c/2235863/1217163/15091
Printify
Printify is similar to Gelato in that it is a print-on-demand extension that is attached to your own website or other e-commerce shops. It launched in 2015 and has over 2 million merchants. They average 10 000 products generated daily.
They have 3 different subscription levels:
In order to compare it to Gelato. An 8×10 premium canvas print starts at $11.30 CAD and a large men’s shirt starts at $10 CAD. So actually very similar in prices between the two.
It can be connected to Etsy, Shopify, Woocommerce, Wix, and Squarespace.
With over 500 products to put your designs on, there are endless possibilities.
If you would like to sign up for Printify with my Affiliate Link, that would be much appreciated: https://printify.grsm.io/bsloanart
VSUAL
VSUAL is a print-on-demand platform. Unlike many other print-on-demand platforms, VSUAL focuses solely on art prints. They want to provide museum-grade art prints to their customers instead of offering hundreds of products like shower curtains and pillows.
An 8×10 print on VSUAL has a base price of $17.99. Though this is a little higher than both Gelato and Printify that I’ve talked about in this article, the quality that they boast should make up for some of it.
It is free to use and sign up for.
Zatista
Zatista is an online gallery representing established and emerging artists from around the world. There is an application process to sell on Zatista. Once you have completed your profile and uploaded 3-5 artworks, you can submit your application to Zatista which will be reviewed for approval. The board members meet every three months to approve applications. So if you just missed a meeting, it may take a while until the next meeting to hear if you are accepted or not.
Though there isn’t a listing fee, Zatista takes a 45% commission on any sales. This is one of the highest commission fees I have seen from an online platform.
You can also check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zatista
Arto Galleria
Arto Galleria is an online art gallery. Their focus is on having a simple platform that allows people to find affordable art.
There is no monthly fee for artists. However, there is a 25% commission fee for any sales made. You can list original art as well as prints of art to sell. You must ship and fulfill any orders.
There is also an application process to sell with Arto Galleria which means that you have to be accepted to sell through their platform. This allows them to more easily monitor the content and keep the quality of their website higher than many others.
They also have an artist community where you can meet and connect with other artists from around the world.
Artquid
Launched in 2008, Artquid is an online art marketplace where you can sell original art and prints of your art.
They have two levels of subscriptions. The first is free. With a free account, you can have up to ten listings and access to a 3D gallery. The premium subscription costs $29.95 a year and gives you access to unlimited listings, 3D gallery, VR Gallery, and much more. See all of the premium perks here: https://www.artquid.com/exhibit-sell/#premium_offer
They allow customers and the artist to be in direct communication so that the transaction can take place outside of Artquid if they choose. This allows for the artist to receive 100% profit. There is a transaction system that can be used through Artquid if chosen and it takes a 10% commission fee on each transaction.
This is the first VR Gallery experience I have seen on an art marketplace website. It is a neat idea that I think could be advantageous.
BlueThumb
BlueThumb is an Australian-based platform specifically made for Australian artists. Founded in 2012, its goal is to connect buyers with Australia’s emerging and established artists. To read more about their story, follow this link: https://bluethumb.com.au/about
It is a platform made for selling paintings, sculptures, photography, prints, digital art, and more.
BlueThumb does not charge a signup or listing fee but it does take a 30% commission when an artwork is sold.
Though you have to be from Australia to sign up, it seems like a great platform for those who can!
Art Please
ArtPlease is another online gallery where anyone can sell their art. They offer a unique service of giving a valuation service for your art. To my understanding, this means they can help you price your artwork.
Once a price is decided, you can list that price as the “net” price, which is the amount of profit you will receive. They then add up to a 10% commission fee that they take. I am unsure how they decide exactly on this percentage.
You can sell original paintings or prints, photographs, sculptures, works on paper, and more.
OnlineGallery.Art
Online Gallery is a fast-growing platform based in the Netherlands. Through Online Gallery, you can create your own website, list works for auction, and sell artworks directly to customers.
Online Gallery allows you to set up your own website through their platform. However, they are also a search database where customers can find you.
There is a monthly subscription fee but they do not take commission fees when you sell work. Here is a breakdown of the differences.
On Online Gallery, you can sell original paintings, sculptures, designs, new media, jewelry, prints, and more.
Art Store Fronts
Art Store Fronts was created by a team in Austin, Texas. They differ from some other websites mainly because they aren’t a platform where people go to search for your art, they are a tool that allows you to build a website and use their resources to then manage and run the website. They have a built-in print-on-demand, framing options, blog, podcast, and more. As of March 2022, they represent over 4000 artists and 300 museums, art galleries, fine art studios and photo labs that use their services.
I personally don’t have any experience but most of the reviews I am seeing across a few different platforms are all positive.
The startup cost from what I can gather is $500. They will set up a personalized call with a member of their team to help you go through the steps and make sure your website is up and running. After that initial fee, it is between $29-$59 a month.
If you have experience with any of these platforms, we would love to hear from you in the comments. This is meant to be a place of discussion where artists can share their insights with each other!
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And again, if you want to check out my other articles about places where you can sell your art, follow the links below:
VSUAL went out of business in 2023, which is a pity as they were a very nicely designed site I seem to remember. I was with them for a while, but must admit there didn’t seem to be much going on. In the past year a few new sites have popped up, and I wonder how many will last to be honest. Some seem to survive mainly from subscriptions charges rather than any sales the artists might make, which I’m not sure is a sustainable business model.