Ebay, Craigs list...success?

[Tired Iron]

I was just visiting members websites from this community and one member said to check his ebay store. That brought up a question I have about success selling online. My brother out in California is harping that if I just sell on Craig's list I "won't have to do shows/exhibits, won't have to drive to all these galleries and try to market your stuff, won't have to spend all that time on the road blah, blah blah." His job as a consultant for museums/business/cities...gives him a "know it all" pulpit to preach from. :rolleyes: I was not seeking his opinion , I am yours. Thanks in advance for any expierience/wisdom you can provide. I am somewhat a newbie to this whole thing and by the end of this summer I had 15 stores /galleries displaying/selling my work...I am not shy. :D Still I am racking up the mileage.

[desertrock]

Before finding a gallery to sell my work I tried ebay. That meant I had to deal with shipping and insurance.
I sold 3 pieces quickly. I packaged the first one, and had the other 2 packaged by the UPS store. All three stone sculptures were broken in shipment.
I spent untold hours dealing with the customer and the UPS store. The UPS stores are privately owned, and the heat falls on them to prove proper packaging or they eat the loss if insurance denies the claim.
It took 2 1/2 months to get everything settled, and no one including UPS Store corporate was very helpful in expediting my claims.
In the end the claims were paid but for less than the insured amount. The UPS store owner where I shipped was a jerk through the whole process and sat on the claim payment for 2 weeks before cutting me a check, only after I hounded him.
Needless to say, I've found the gallery experience much more pleasant in comparison. They have a shipper who knows how to package even the most delicate pieces, and I've had no claims for damage (yet).
I haven't used craig's list because they don't have an "Art" category, but I think that could be a good market place because you'll get local inquiries, who can come see and buy your work without shipping.

Mark

[obseq]

I would advise against using Craigslist to sell your work.
Sales fraud has been running rampant there, and each day, there are scores of angry people in many cities posting about how they were "ripped off" selling items via Craigslist.

Some of the fraudulent tactics used from CL horror stories include:

-Counterfeit cash
-Bad checks
-Wire fraud
-People wishing to personally view the item(s) for sale, later expressing disinterest or the intent to return with more money, THEN literally watching your house for a few days, only to break in and rob you blind when you are not home. I've also seen reports of this on different local news channels in a few cities.

[Tired Iron]

Wow, looks like two negatives and no positives on this topic. Thank you both for taking the time to share this info with me. Any other comments out there? :confused:

[arcdawg]

I wouldnt use EBay to sell *art* cause it will lower YOUR value as an artist

I tried CL and it got flagged...no loss -

[unigami]

I wouldnt use EBay to sell *art* cause it will lower YOUR value as an artist -

Why do you feel that selling art on Ebay lowers your value as an artist?
Isn't your value as an artist determined by the art you -make- rather than how it is sold?

[weseye]

Ebay is the world's largest flea market or garage sale. Would you sell your art in a garage sale or set up a booth at a flea market?

I've talked to a few artists whom have tried to sell their work on Ebay and none had received what they listed for the price-- People look for bargains and cheap on Ebay.

But try it and see what you can do. Nothing ventured-- Nothing gained

Keep Arting!

Jeff (weseye) Wesley

[robynlynn007]

I dont know about selling art on craigslist, but I have had great success with other items. Buying mostly, has been great. We always meet at a middle point though and I never would let someone meet me at my home. We meet in Home Depot and Walmart parking lots, things like that. No shady characters yet! :)

[Harry McDaniel]

I have been listing sculptures and mobiles on eBay for several years. My main reason for starting was to sell some of my older pieces, since galleries usually just want to show work made within the last few years. My secondary reason was to draw people to my website. (I generally do not sell through galleries; I treat my website as my "gallery".) Selling on eBay has been somewhat effective on both counts. I have sold numerous mobiles in the under-$200 and one or two larger pieces ($200-1,000) per year. I have also ended up with a comparable amount of sales or commissions from people who saw my work on eBay, then visited my website. The main drawback is the labor and cost that goes into the listings. It is easy to spend an hour setting up a listing, more if you don't have images ready. Relisting is fairly quick. I typically run a listing many times before selling a piece. At $1 to $5 per listing, it adds up. Then there is a fee if you sell the item, and PayPal fees. Still, it takes a lot of listings for these fees to add up to a 40% gallery fee.

There is not an easy answer for everyone about selling this way. It depends on a lot of factors--Do you like dealing directly with the buyer? Can you consistantly deal with people in a professional, business-like manner, so you receive positive feedback? Do you mind spending a lot of time messing with auctions on the computer? Will your work ship easily? Can you deliver it? Will your style of work be popular (if your work sells easily in galleries, it will probably sell easily on eBay, and visa-versa)? Can your work be represented well in photos? The last question may be the biggest. Ultimately, a 2-D image is not the best way to understand most sculptures.

If you decide to try it, spend some time learing how eBay works first. Learn about the common scams. Buy some things, build up a positive feedback rating. You probably will be wasting your time trying to sell anything before you have a positive FB rating of at least 10. Be sure NOT to set your starting price for less that you are willing to sell a piece. Most of my auctions have ended with just one bidder. You will be selling to a small market within eBay. Good Luck!

[arcdawg]

Ebay is the world's largest flea market or garage sale. Would you sell your art in a garage sale or set up a booth at a flea market?



Jeff (weseye) Wesley


yeah what he said ^

[Baraka]

Basically I agree about the Ebay comments. However........ I did decide to try it with a few of my husbands paintings. They all sold for our price, and we picked up one client who has since bought 15 paintings and is still shopping for more!!!!! His paintings sell from $2,500 up to around $15,000, so that was worth it for us. I haven't done it since, however.