BeckerArt FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter Dec 13th, Selling Online

Published: Tue, 12/13/16

Hello 

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #84, Selling Online

It looks like many of us in the midwest and then the east coast were hit with snowstorms the last couple of days... if that was the case for you, I hope you got shoveled out. To put a positive twist on snowstorms I always feel as an artist it gives me a chance to get some real good photo references. The snow makes everything look so beautiful in the winter, even though it is a pain in the butt to shovel and travel in, it makes for great paintings.

Last week I talked about finding places on the internet for getting your paintings printed on all sorts of gifts. This week I what to find places where you can sell your original artwork along with some of those wonderful gifts you get made.

Last week at the Lakes Region Watercolor Guild I did a demonstration with 90lb Arches hot press watercolor paper that I said I would film for you....Well, I was all set-up to film it, but low and behold I never pressed the record button. Sorry about that.... I will do another in one of my classes soon that I will record and post.

David

Yes to Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville on December 15th
Yes to Class at The Studio in McHenry on December 17th at the NEW building
No Class at the Rivellino School of Art  in Long Grove until the New Year, If you are interested in this class please let the Rivellino School of Art or myself know.

 
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Selling Online
Last week I showed you many places online where you could get your artwork printed on many different things. I then received some emails asking me if I sell any of my artwork or the gifts that I talked about online.
The sad answer to that was no I do not sell my artwork online yet but I really should. Thanks to those emails I told my classes last week that we all should make that our new years resolution to sell our art online next year.

This week I went looking online to see where would the best place online to sell my artwork. The one thing that was important for me was finding a place that was free or that costs very little and it has to be easy to use.
Here are the places I found and I want to be clear that they are not in any order because I haven't tried them yet to see which I like the most  yet. That will have to come when I try them all.
  • SquareUp.com- is a place that you as an artist already probably use for getting payment when you sell your work in-person. Did you know they also have an online marketplace where you can sell your artwork? It looks very easy to set and it costs nothing to set up but costs 2.9% + 30¢ when you sell a piece of art.
  • FineArtAmerica.com-  is a place where you can sell your artwork but they make and sell the prints for you. You can also sell your originals through this site, this site takes no commissions for selling originals but you would need a service like PayPal to collect the money and then PayPal would get the percentage of the transaction.
  • Etsy.com- many artists use this site to sell because of how easy it is to use and set up. They do however take a $0.20 listing fee and a small commission fee and a standard payment processing fee. 3.5%, 3% + $0.25
  • YourOwnWebsite with Paypal.com using your own website is also a way to sell your work. You can use Paypal buttons on your site for selling. The problem with using your own website is you first have to know how to build your website. If you are tech savvy then this is a great way to go and probably costs you the least. 
  • Wix.com- If you aren't good with building websites then a place like Wix.com is for you. For a monthly fee, you can get a storefront website and it is fairly easy to build. Your costs would be a  monthly fee and a PayPal fee. Weebly is another place like Wix
  • Ebay.com- Most artists don't think about eBay being a place to sell your art but there was a time I actually sold my work on eBay. I have to admit that I didn't get the prices I wanted for the artwork, I always went real low to sell.
Listed above are just a few places I saw on the web for selling your work and I don't have a favorite yet. I will be asking around and trying a few of these in the near future so stay tuned to future newsletters.


If you have been selling your work online and would like to share your experience, good or bad, please send me an email and I will share it in my newsletter.

Happy Selling
David

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Get that special person in your life a watercolor workshop gift for the new year. Check out my workshops for next year at:
www.davidrbecker.com

If your organization is looking for a demonstrator, workshop instructor or an exhibition judge
Please contact me at BeckerArt@gmail.com

 
Artist of the Week

Carol Carter- I know Carol has been artist of the week before but I love how Carol paints and promotes herself. 

Carol also takes an easy approach to selling her work online. She prices her work in the gallery page of her website and then just has buyers email her to purchase. It can't get any simpler than that.
 
Book of the Week
After spending a bit of time searching the internet good ways of selling online I came across this book that I ordered. The reviews of the book on Amazon looked good so I will read it and hopefully get back to you with my findings in the future.
 
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Get that artist in your life a special gift like a BeckerArt Watercolor Brush set!

1 1/4" Flat Series 020, #16 Round and a #4 Rigger Holbein Gold, Short Handle, Superior Synthetic Blend Watercolor Brushes. Made to my specifications, which were, The point of the 1 1/4" flat brush and the # 16 round had to come to a razor sharp point, along with a bounce back to straight action when applying watercolor to paper. The # 4 Rigger had to be the perfect length, the perfect thickness, and the perfect point.

Click Here to Purchase​​​​​​​

 
 For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com