ArtTalk

Selling your wares

For many artists taking the plunge to sell anything for the first time can be a daunting, nerve-racking and a harrowing business. Art is a very personal thing to do and as artists we can be nervous enough just putting on an exhibition of our work online let alone setting up one at home or in a venue.

There’s the additional costs of advertising and associated literature from posters, flyers, quite aside from promotional items on which to display your work or business logo. As if that isn’t enough there’s the layout on the internet itself, the labelling, the pricing the packing the posting aside from the logistics of securing the money from the sale, even for amateurs just selling something for a few extra pennies of income. Nightmare!

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However, there are simpler ways to do it. You can sell your artworks at a local fare or market, a community event, maybe just to clear out old stock to raise money for a charity. There are car boot sales and you can pop into a local gallery to see if they will sell them for you but they usually will charge you commission of upwards of 50% of the sale price. It can be cheaper to rent a hall and a much quicker means to raise revenue.

Then there’s getting the word out that you are selling. Social Media is undoubtedly what people usually think of now, especially when they have a website just with images on and a contact for actual sales via email. You can use Etsy but here’s a link to ten more

https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/etsy-alternatives

Getting things printed

To just get something printed you can use, as I have, Vistaprint. For my needs I’ve never had a problem. They are well established, courtesy and efficient but are they the most economical option for you? Do they print things exactly as you would wish them to be printed with regard to the type of paper, the layouts and colours, the quantities, the price per unit?

Having worked in typesetting as my first career, here’s how such companies work. They rely on volume of customers to enable them to bring the price of printing a flyer or even one calendar down. They print from your uploaded design on the same stock (paper) as everyone else, at the same time as everyone else and computers control when your order is filled to enable them begin someone else’s. It is never economical to do a limited edition this way, and it doesn’t make your marketing for it look special, but it is an option. Here are some alternatives to Vistaprint and you may find precisely what you need from them

https://www.g2.com/products/vistaprint/competitors/alternatives