Selling your work on the Web

[Tbronze]

I have been selling art for over 20 years and just started selling art on the big WWW in the past couple of these years. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on selling your art works over the web. My sales are reliably good at Oregon shows and the Saturday Market here in Portland. But over the web I only get a couple of sales a month. Do you find this odd? Should I raise my prices or lower them? More views of the same works? A better description of these works? A better selection in the medium? Different themes? What?

The web is a weird market place. I have known that selling art is a numbers game, but this is ridicules. My work is spread out over 10 different web sites and countless links. I can easily adapt my marketing layout and the selling pitch at different markets to make sales. I am at a lost on the web. Any Ideas?

I’m crying the tune for an example of how getting started in self promoting your art on the web is just a part of the process in creating art that have sales in any venue. The same tune every artist goes through when they need to eat to create. The drama of the starving artist, in all it’s glory of the romanticism that has haunted us through generations of celebrated works that dreams are contrived from and to. The works that are labeled unknown have their place in our history of darken corners for the artist did not go that extra couple of steps to share the meaning of it. To promote the necessity of art in healthy living is really up to the artist and their followers. Promoting and encouraging each other are other keys to your growth in becoming the artist that is in your true potential.

James Taylor


http://www.artpier.com/artists/details.php?ar_id=26

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Have a vision not clouded by Fear

[sculptorsam]

Hi James,

Have you ever tried listing anything with Ebay? I think it has been good for a lot of 2D artists but not so much with 3D. I list my stuff on there but mostly just to adverise my work: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2872410060

I can have a presence on Ebay for a month for around $10. I thought I'd try it for half a year or so and see what happens. I have been contacted by a couple people and have seen the hits on my main site go up pretty dramatically. But still no sales. I don't have enough experience with figurative bronze work to venture a guess if your works are priced too high or too low. I do like The Rock though.

Good luck,

Sam

[Araich]

Sam, that is simply a great idea. I think I'll take a shot at it.

It does mean that you have to sit on that work for a month though right?

[sculptorsam]

A standard auction is 7 days. I extend mine to 10 for an extra $.10 but you can make them as short as one day if you want. So, to be on for a month I have to list three works @ 10 days each auction. I believe you can end an auction early if you sell the piece before it ends.

Sam

[obseq]

"But over the web I only get a couple of sales a month. Do you find this odd? Should I raise my prices or lower them? More views of the same works? A better description of these works? A better selection in the medium? Different themes? What?

The web is a weird market place. I have known that selling art is a numbers game, but this is ridicules. My work is spread out over 10 different web sites and countless links. I can easily adapt my marketing layout and the selling pitch at different markets to make sales. I am at a lost on the web. Any Ideas? "


James,

I took a look at the link you included. From what I can tell, the peripherals available are very limiting with regard to what you, as the artist, can actually show. 2-D image with a javascript zoom.

The problem is that you are on a site where every other artist has the same access to identical peripherals. If you are limited to the 'two-step' image on that site, I would strongly suggest investing a bit of time and money on your own website. Aim to improve the experience for people that would want to purchase your work.

I suggest checking out a website with great navigation and peripherals: www.norbertattard.com

This site has a great layout for documenation but more importantly completely bypasses the "click-on-2d-image" litany.
If you are relying on web income, investing in a small digital video camera, a timeline-based design program like macromedia's Flash or Director, some upgrades on your computer, and some time to learn how to use these things, you will have a site that wont leave potential buyers guessing about your work, or at least minimize that occurence.

If you have a stand-out web-presence, your work will be able to do all of the talking! :)

Hope this helps.

[sculptorsam]

I think there are some issues of taste involved here, obseq. The site you linked to is very well done but it's not my cup of tea. What I look for in an artist's website is ease of use, simplicity, and primacy of the work. I'd rather the site itself disappear as I'm looking at the work. I don't like websites that seem to be a work of their own. Of course, this only works well for artists that view themselves as "object-maker." I realize that view is somewhat antiquated.

Also, most people still run a dial-up (as I do) on a modest computer and it just takes too long to load. I strongly agree that James should get his own website. But I would advise him to keep it simple, clear, and let the work speak for itself. Check out my site at: http://www.sculptorsam.com to see what I have in mind and you can tell me if you think I'm way off base.

Sam

[RustyBlade1964]

All approaches have validity. I find the www.norbertattard.com site is close to what I had envisioned for my self. And like the familiarity to poping over to eBay to see a persons work. For the most part I plan to let the retail be handled by nitch dealers.