Article: Marketing Your Art #8

Selling your work online by SKC

There are so many venues online with which to sell your hand-made artistic goods, be they traditional or functional. The web offers a great deal of exposure. With so many options (eBay, etsy, online consignment store, custom store, template store, etc.) it can be hard to know where to start. Below is a high-level overview for those looking to dip their toes in.

eBay
(http://www.ebay.com/)
This auction site has been online for many years now and has grown to be a trusted resource for sellers and buyers.

Pros:
• There is plenty of documentation available via bookstores and online to get you started.
• eBay is a trusted website and well known.
• eBay records thousands of visitors a day, making your potential exposure quite great.

Cons:
• The site can be complicated given how robust the options are.
• You need to build up a reputation and positive feedback on your profile before you can offer larger ticket items.
• The site as a whole is a bit of a mish mash, offering everything from junk and trinkets to luxury homes.
• As an artist, it can be difficult to stand out among the competition.
• You have to reach a minimum positive feedback rating before being able to set prices for items rather than auctioning.
• Some buyers may never make payment, leaving you with the bill for commission to Ebay until you can resolve it with administrators.

Etsy
(http://www.etsy.com/)
Etsy has been around for a number of years now as an alternative to eBay for creative sellers and buyers seeking one-of-a kind artwork.

Pros:
• Membership is free and listing fees are pennies per item.
• The audience provided by the site are already tailored towards fine art, prints, hand-made jewelry, pottery, stained glass, sculpture, book binding, etc.
• The site is simple and intuitive.
• Using the message boards and chat rooms can give you a sense of community and often helps answer any questions new members may have.
• The appearance of the site is clean and attractive.
• The opportunities for additional exposure on the site are varied and can be quite effective.
• No commitment is required, you can close up shop at any time.

Cons:
• As with eBay, you are sharing your audience with every other seller on the site. Visitors to your store can, at the click of a button, zip to a competitor’s. This works for and against you.
• You cannot tailor your “store” within the site to match your own website look and feel. A simple banner and user icon is the extent of customizing.
• You will need to maintain your shop regularly in order to appear at the top of searches and keep the cobwebs away.
• Some artists claim they are not able to sell expensive items here – this has not been my experience. The most expensive item I have sold via my Etsy.com exposure was roughly $600.

Online Consignment Shop/Gallery

Pros:
• If the site is well established your work will get great exposure without the same competition as Ebay or Etsy.
• The store most often handles the shipping and sales, giving you commission on items sold.
• There is no need to have some kind of payment gateway set up (Paypal, Google Checkout, etc.).

Cons:
• Because there are many online boutiques and shops, you will need to make sure to find one that is well designed and curated.
• Often the store requires you to ship your artwork/items to them prior to inclusion on the site. While this can be good in the sense that they are responsible for the work and fulfilling orders, it does mean that you won’t have access to the work for shows or sales of your own.
• Giving over your artwork to an online store a long distance away can be risky. If they shut down you do run the risk of never seeing it again.

Custom-made Shop
A custom made shop would be something that you have a web designer build for you using paypal or another payment gateway to accept orders.

Pros:
• You have complete control over the look, feel, and functionality of your site.
• You do not share your audience with any other artists or shops.
• Payment acceptance options are unlimited.

Cons:
• Custom websites alone can be expensive, while custom stores and shopping carts would be well beyond the usual expense.
• Any glitches, errors, or down time is entirely up to you and your web designer to repair.
• As the site ages, certain coding may no longer work properly.
• If your web designer doesn’t build in proper security your site could be at risk for hackers.
• Maintaining security certificates can be complicated and pricey.
• Building a custom site will take more time than a normal site and depending on complexity you may need a lead time of anywhere from 3 months to a year.
• It is 100% up to you to provide marketing and exposure to recover the expense of building and maintaining the store.

Customizable Template Storefronts
(http://www.shopify.com/)

Pros:
• A template site like shopify.com has been built and tested by a team of back-end web developers and coders who maintain the inner workings and constantly work to improve and add new features – downtime and errors are rare.
• These are often well planned and intuitive systems that make building a storefront a snap.
• Shopify in particular offers a free store to start so you can test it out and “decide before you buy” and upgrade to a paid account.
• Because hundreds of people use the system, special functionalities are often shared among shop owners to enhance the buyer’s experience.
• Some online template stores also allow shop owners to sell their goods in their general market place giving the items greater exposure.
• Templates are relatively easy to customize and with a good web designer, the sky is the limit.
• Many template stores do not require a contract, if you decide to close up shop, you can do so at a moment’s notice.
• Adding products and maintaining the store are simple and don’t require knowledge of any coding.
• Upgrades in functionality to your shopping cart and order tracking system are automatic.
• Because all your order data is in one location, it is often easy to export contacts for mailing lists and marketing.
• The cost of maintaining a storefront using a template site like shopify.com is minimal and doesn’t require the extra expense of domain name purchase, hosting, or security certificates (all provided by the site).
• There is no chance of credit card purchases being abandoned before payment is captured (with shopify.com) as the system will not allow completion of an order without proper payment first.

Cons:
• To 100% customize the look of your store you will still need access to someone who knows how to design for the web.
• Limitations in functionality come with the territory although a vibrant template company will often take suggestions and work in improvements for future upgrades.
• If your template site doesn’t provide a general market place, much like a custom site, you will be responsible for driving traffic to your store.

I’m sure there are more options than those I’ve listed here today, but this at least gives you a general feel for what is available. Keep in mind that many artists have their work in a communal market place like eBay/Etsy and have their own custom or template storefront in addition.

Do you have your own etsy.com or other artwork storefront? If so, please share it with us now and if you like, tell us what you like about the system and what you feel could be improved.