How to Sell Paintings Online

Do you have an eye for beautiful paintings? Did you know that you can turn your passion into cash by learning how to sell art online?

If you’re interested in making money selling art online, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, you’ll find out what size and type of paintings sell. Then, we’ll teach you how to sell artwork online and locally.

Keep reading to find out all you need to know about how to sell paintings online.

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How to Sell Paintings for a Living: Getting Started

Starting your own business can be scary. While it’s true that there are almost infinite ways to make money, there’s also plenty of room for failure. The best way to succeed is to educate yourself as much as you can before making your own online shop.

Do any of these questions sound familiar?

Luckily, selling art isn’t as difficult or overwhelming as you might think. In fact, with guidance and a little determination, you can make a profit selling prints pretty quickly. Here at Ecwid, we know a thing or two about selling online, so let’s jump right into answering your most pressing questions.

What Kind of Paintings Sell the Most?

First, you need to decide what type of paintings you want to sell. If you’re an artist, the obvious answer here is to make a profit off of your original artwork. If you want to sell your own art, you need to connect with the art community and understand the marketing tools available to professional artists. Luckily, selling original art is mostly the same as selling artwork.

Even if your last attempt at a masterpiece looked more like kindergarteners finger painting, you still have options. An excellent business model can be selling artwork from established and emerging artists.

Here is a quick rundown of the best painting styles to sell online:

Depending on the art market you’re selling to, you should also consider the subject of the artwork carefully. Some sellers choose to only offer a particular style of painting, such as landscapes or street art. You can also choose to offer a wide selection to match up with as many tastes as possible in your audience.

What Size Paintings Sell Best?

With so many different paintings out there, you must be careful before you sell artwork online. Before you can decide what size paintings to sell, you must first determine who your target audience is.

A target audience is the group of people that you gear your business towards. In other words, who is your ideal customer? People want paintings for many different reasons. The home decor industry was worth $727.6 billion in 2021 and continues to grow. That means that there’s plenty of money in selling paintings for people’s homes.

The most commonly produced painting sizes are 20” x 24”, 11” by 14” and 16” x 20”. These sizes are ideal for home decor in living rooms, bedrooms, and even kitchens! People usually prefer to hang framed prints, so framing could also be a part of your business model as well.

On the other hand, commercial buildings like hotels and restaurants will always need décor and have almost unlimited space. One perfectly placed, high-end painting has the capability to transform a room. If you gear your online shop to this global audience, you’ll need to focus on a mix of small, medium, and large offerings to fit a wide array of spaces.

Where to Sell Art Prints

Choosing the right online medium to sell paintings is essential to the success of your business. There is no shortage of options out there, with each having its own strengths and weaknesses.

Luckily, you won’t need to scour the internet to find the best place to sell prints because we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Here are our favorite ways to sell art and what we like the most about each:

How to Start Selling Art Online using eBay

Selling paintings on eBay is a great way to get started. There’s no doubt that this online marketplace is one of the most well-known today. For you, that means with just a few clicks you’ll find a sea of customers ready to connect with you to buy art online.

However, with the popularity of eBay, there’s also no shortage of competition. You’ll need to curate unique, valuable pieces if you want to stand out.

Unfortunately, scammers and fraudulent sellers frequently try to set up shop on eBay. Proving that you’re legitimate can be an obstacle. Make simple efforts like taking high-quality pictures and offering a return policy can help your clients feel confident.

eBay is an online store, which means they must also make a profit from sales. Each time a painting from your online gallery sells, eBay takes a portion of the sale, which equates to about 13% of the sale price.

Although this price might seem steep, it’s worth it for the exposure to a global audience and the infrastructure that eBay offers. Plus, it is an extremely user-friendly option.

If you’re new to eBay, you should check out this article: How to Sell on eBay for Beginners.

How to Sell Paintings Locally

Selling locally at an art market is arguably the quickest way to get money into your pocket. Meeting face-to-face reduces your chances of getting scammed and you won’t need to pay fees.

On the other hand, selling paintings in person can be dangerous, especially when it comes to high-value works, so proceed with caution.

How to Sell Paintings to Hotels

Selling paintings to hotels is a great way to reach a client base with a higher budget than your average person. However, it can be difficult to find a way to reach hotels, especially when third-party interior designers do most of the work for these buildings.

If you’re wondering how to sell art to hotels, you’ll need to get creative. Research local interior design firms that deal in hospitality settings and ask questions. Tell them a little about your art and what makes it unique.

Sending cold emails to interior design firms is another great way to find leads. Just make sure that you keep your emails professional with perfect grammar. It is also helpful to link a reputable, high-quality online gallery or provide a professional business card to help build trust in your potential clients.

Sell Paintings Online with Ecwid

Selling paintings online is challenging. The last thing you need is to work with a website that’s confusing, expensive, and tough to navigate. That’s why Ecwid is the best place to sell art prints online.

With unmatched and supportive customer service teams, a resource gallery to help you succeed, and a user-friendly platform, you can’t go wrong. Don’t have any cash to get started? No problem! Ecwid doesn’t require you to put a single penny down to get started and no credit cards are required with our Free plan.

Want to make money selling artwork online? Sign up and start raking in the cash today!

 

About The Author
Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at Ecwid. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs’ daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.

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