Selling art online is a great way to start a business. And selling prints/photos is an even better way to make passive income. With the advent of dropshipping, this has become easier than ever. Dropshipping your art is a great way to take advantage of on-demand print and frame services that wholesalers & dropshippers such as us here at Frame It Easy offer.
Despite the ease and affordability of dropshipping, starting your own business can still be a big undertaking. How does everything work? What exactly do you need to do to be a successful online retailer? We’re here to go over the basics. Some might seem obvious, but others maybe not so much. (Even the obvious might have a few unexpected considerations.) Keep in mind, though, that there are no ironclad rules to sell art online — you can choose to do things as you prefer to do them…in the end, it’s your business!
But we’re here to give you some helpful tips and tricks to sell art online like the pros, so let’s get to it:
Step 1: Make Art; Explore Your Unique Style & Build A Catalog
First, you’re going to want to explore different styles and techniques so that you define your style, as well as what resonates with your particular audience. It’s important to make what people want if you want to be successful and sell art online! But it’s important to satisfy your own creativity, too.
Digital art (or photography) is perhaps one of the more accessible these days, as you can create a lot of work on a single computer, tablet, or even phone! More of a “put paint to paper” kind of artist? You can still digitize your artwork after you’ve created it, usually with a scanner or camera.
No matter the kind of art you create, or whether this is your full-time job or just a side hustle, the most important thing is to find time to make your art so that you can sell it!
There are tons of good resources on the mindset aspect of art-making, especially in the morning. As a matter of fact, the late morning is a time when the human brain is at peak creativity. So if you have time during those hours, it would be ideal to get some work done. You never know what masterpiece it could turn into, either.
Once you’ve figured out a time to make your art, set aside that time each day. Work it into your routine. After some time, you should have a steady stream of work that your customer base will want to buy.
Note: As part of figuring out your style and building up your catalog, you’ll also want to give some thought to what size you’ll want to sell your art in.
Figure Out The Sizing of Your Art
Sizing can be a difficult thing to tackle. This is because individual preference is, well, individual. It can be difficult to predict what a customer wants; that’s why big companies have massive teams to do exactly that! You’re just one person, though — not a big company. So what do you do? Well, we have a great resource on common frame sizes.
Here at Frame It Easy, we specialize in custom framing and printing. This means that you can order a lot of different sizes that you wouldn’t find in your local stores. Have an oddly-sized piece that measures 15 5/8″ X 27 5/16″? We can do that. It’s great to see people finally find the solution for a long-frameless work.
That said, we can also craft common sizes. But what is considered a “common size”?
Well, those are the sizes that you can likely find in your local arts and crafts and department stores. These include the following: 4″ X 6″, 8″ X 10″, 16″ X 20″, and 24″ X 36″. This would likely be a good spot to start; there’s a reason why these sizes are common — they’re the most popular!
If you plan to use an app like Shopify (detailed in Step 3 below) to sell art online, you can easily offer a number of different sizes to your customers, as long as you start with a large enough “canvas.”
Step 2: Sell Art Online: Price Your Art Accordingly
The amount of money someone will pay for something is generally subjective. So there’s no real cut-and-dry way to price anything, especially art, which is arguably the most subjective. One person could be willing to pay a fortune for a piece, while someone else wouldn’t accept it for free; one person’s trash is another one’s treasure, so they say.
That said, there are definitely some things to take into consideration. First, how much is it going to take to make and sell your art? This is especially relevant if you are going to dropship. This is because you will be using a third party or wholesaler to produce, handle, and ship your final product. They are going to have a set cost for doing so. Apps like Shopify, which we’ll cover more in-depth in a minute, tell you exactly how much the wholesaler will charge for a certain item. You’ll then be able to set your price based on that and decide how much of a profit you’ll make.
If you take three hours to produce something, that should be a factor versus something you take less than an hour to do. The size of the work should also be taken into consideration, as that will impact how much the third party or wholesaler is charging. This also impacts how much money you’ll spend on tools to produce the piece. So, while there is subjectivity, there are definitely some concrete things you should take into account- time spent and cost of production being two key factors.
You need to also be mindful of the market around you, and how your prices measure up to similar businesses. More often than not, if your prices are very high, and a competitor offers a similar product for less, they’ll opt for the lesser-priced item. Just something to consider, as you want to have measured success in sales without undercutting your own worth.
Step 3: Set Up An Online Store; Use A Shopify App For Ease & Affordability
You’ve got a few pieces of art, figured out the sizing, and have price estimates. Now it’s time to set up your store. There are lots of options, too! There are more conventional marketplace sites, like Etsy. But sites like that still put the burden of overhead, shipping, and just about everything else on you (not to mention additional fees). That’s great if you want to go that route, but that sort of undertaking can be daunting. Everything will be on you — shipping, inventory management, etc.
This is why we recommend setting up a shop with Shopify. It’s an all-in-one commerce platform to start, run, and grow an art business.
Here at Frame It Easy, we’ve also developed our own free Shopify app that can connect to any Shopify store and provide an easy, all-in-one solution for selling framed art and premium unframed prints. We may be a bit biased, but we feel it’s one of the best art dropshipping apps out there!
Our free Shopify app works like this: Artists make their art/photos, upload the digital files into the app, choose which print sizes and frame sizes/styles they prefer to offer, set their markup price, and then let Frame It Easy do the rest. We will print, mount, package, and ship the framed or unframed prints directly to your customers. This streamlines your workflow and frees up more of your time to focus on what you’re good at (making art!) without having to worry about the logistical aspects.
It gives you a shot at entrepreneurship without any risk and very little investment. Order on-demand, and you don’t have to worry about inventory and overhead. You’ll be able to set your own prices and control your own profit margins. And with no minimums, you can decide how many (or how few) art pieces you sell.
White Label Your Orders
White labeling is a great way to remove our branding on your orders. This means that the customer will receive your art, thinking that everything came directly from you — art, frame, packaging, and just about everything! This is great for taking full advantage of dropshipping and giving your business the illusion of being much bigger than it is.
The custom messaging and logos that you’ve entered in your account will appear on the packing slip and the label stickers on the back of the frame. (Note: All orders placed through our Shopify app are automatically white labeled!)
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Step 4: Market Yourself and Your Business
This may not be the first step for starting an art business but is arguably the most important. Market your art (& yourself)! Make people aware that you exist, and then make them want to buy your product. Check out our guide to art marketing, then browse our suggestions below for key areas you’ll want to consider.
Social Media Marketing
Social media, believe it or not, is still pretty young. That said, amassing a following on social media is hard work — a lot of commenting on and liking posts, not to mention making your own!
However to sell art online, it’s still important to note that social media has given opportunities to entrepreneurs in unprecedented ways. If you know what you’re doing, you can carve out a good income with your art and turn it into a decent side hustle or even a full-time career.
Email Marketing
Once you’re able to attract customers to you, you’re going to want a way to stay in touch to let them know about new work you have or any other special offers/announcements that pop up.
There are many email marketing services out there are varying price points, so do your research and find one that best fits your particular needs.
Also, there are ways to write the best possible copy in your e-mails, just to make everything pop. The more an e-mail grabs your customer’s attention, the more likely they are to open it! You can do a bunch of things, too, to boost how catchy your copy is, including writing a totally fantastic subject line, as well as a great preview paragraph. Stick to what your audience wants, and think about the type of people you want to reach!
Local Marketing
Depending on where you live and what kind of art you offer, your local community might just hold some of your biggest supporters. Look into art fairs, exhibitions/galleries, or even opportunities to collaborate with other local businesses.
Because everyone’s community is slightly different, it’s more difficult to give objective tips about this. That said, local coffee shops are always a great place to hang fliers up, with the permission of the establishment, of course. Public gatherings like art festivals or even farmer’s markets are always great places to go out and just network. The more people you know, the more potential customers you might have!
Paid Advertising
While perhaps not as viable when you’re just starting out to sell art online, once you’re able to get your business off the ground with more organic and low-cost marketing initiatives you’re not going to want to discount paid advertising opportunities.
Whether you dabble in Google or Facebook ads, pay to sponsor a podcast episode, or even consider going back to physical mailers, in order to grow and scale a business, at some point, it is likely you’ll need to invest a few dollars. As long as you’re getting back more than you’re paying out, it can be a lucrative way to scale your business.
Step 5: Make More Art!
Coming around full circle from Step 1, once you’ve got your art business up and running and you’ve found some ways to market yourself to sell art online, the cycle needs to repeat itself! Not only will a large catalog help you attract new buyers, but if you have a regular influx of new work, previous buyers will likely keep coming back for more (and tell their friends).
How We Can Help You Start Your Art Business
Here at Frame It Easy, we want to see you succeed. We want to empower artists to not only start their own businesses with very little startup cost but maintain a growing business by partnering with a trusted fulfillment center.
We offer some of the most competitive pricing around, so when you set your own markups, you’re in the best shape to maximize your profit margins. It’s a win for everyone! Plus, if you sign up for our free artist reseller account, you get access to trade discounts, complimentary samples, and more!
Sell Art Online: Final Thoughts
Things go in and out of style. If there’s one thing that’s pretty apparent, though, it’s that art in some shape or form will always be sought after. This means that, if you’re an artist and want to sell art online, there should be an opportunity to do so. In addition, with the advent of dropshipping, it’s easier than ever to sell your products without with low startup costs.
If you have any questions about these steps, just reach out to us. We definitely want to help you get started!
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