Below is a list of some of the top online galleries for selling your art online to an international audience.
This list is most suited for visual artists creating original works for sale such as paintings, collages, limited edition photo-prints or other unique pieces.
Why Sell Your Art On Online Galleries
The key reasons for selling your work via online art galleries :
- Potential sales.
- These galleries have a broad audience and they have already established a ‘know, like and trust’ factor that makes buyers feel comfortable pressing ‘buy’.
- They do the marketing for you.
- A minor benefit: it improves the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for your own website. Include a link to your own website wherever possible.
- It’s a good starting point while you are still building your own website.
Some Cons to Selling Your Art on Online Galleries
- You are just one of many artists on a gallery website so it can be difficult to stand out.
- You may not make any sales.
- You pay a commission – this commission is the payment you make for them doing the marketing for you. It’s fair, but if you build your own audience you can keep that money for yourself.
- Some galleries have terms and conditions that may not be in your best interests.
Choosing an Online Gallery or Galleries
When choosing which online galleries to sell your work on you want to consider the following:
- What is their commission rate is and is it reasonable for the service they provide?
- Is there a fee to sign-up and if so what is provided for that fee?
- Can set your own prices?
- Can you list the same artwork on multiple sites or do they request exclusivity.
- What is the quality of the other artwork being presented? Is there an application process so that only high-quality work is presented?
- Are they appealing to the right buyers? When you land on their website is it geared towards selling art or is the emphasis on enlisting artists to sign-up?
- What prices are the other works selling for?
- How do they promote the work of their artists?
- How broad is their online presence? Do they have regular featured artists, Instagram, Facebook, regular mailing list etc?
- Are there opportunities for new artists to be featured?
- What are their processes and requirements for shipping and can you meet them?
- Will they offer discounted sales of your work and are their terms outlined clearly? This is a controversial term in some online gallery contracts that can be off-putting if you don’t want to sell your work for any less, or don’t want to have prices competing between your online galleries.
- Can you establish a direct relationship with your buyers after a purchase or is that discouraged?
- Do they have built-in analytics so you can see how many people are viewing your pieces?
Always read the terms and conditions carefully.
From your side of things, you want to be a reliable seller:
- Keep your pricing consistent across all galleries including your own website.
- Deliver the artwork in a timely manner.
- Ensure the artwork is well packaged to prevent damage.
- Even better, package the artwork beautifully with a personal note. This encourages returning buyers.
- Keep your profile updated, easy to read and add new work regularly.
List of Online Galleries for Artists
1. SaatchiArt – SaatchiArt is by far the most well known and established online gallery. It provides a lot of support for artists setting up and boasts a high sales record. That said, many artists report being listed on there for years without making any sales so it can be difficult to stand out. Others repost making a few sales per year. SaatchiArt takes care of the shipping for you (you still have to package) which is a great benefit as shipping can be a tedious part of the process.
Anyone can join, but they have curators that choose the works that they feature so what you see on the website is still of a high quality. Getting started details are here.
Commission rate: 35-50%
2. ArtFinder – Another big player with a lot of benefits for artists and well set up to make it easy for you to sell through them. Offers financing to art buyers to make it easier for them to purchase. They don’t organise the shipping for you but they have a comprehensive guide to make it as easy as possible.
You need to apply to be accepted, this means they can keep the quality high.
Commission rate: 33%-40%+VAT depending on your artist subscription which ranges from free to 12€/mth.
3. RiseArt – This is another gallery to keep your eye on. As of time of writing, they are closed for submissions so terms are not available for viewing. They offer art leasing services and financing amongst other options.
4. DegreeArt – DegreeArt specialises in representing artists graduated from university level art and design courses. It’s based in the UK and UK focused. They offer a variety of services to art buyers including financing, support for interior design, commissioned art and framing. They have some ‘real world’ exhibition opportunities.
They request exclusivity for the artworks you list.
You need to apply to join.
Commission rate: 20-50% +VAT depending on which channel it is sold through.
5. SingulArt – Selective about who they choose. Currently overwhelmed with submissions but still accepting. They don’t list their terms on the website as far as I can see. One to watch.
There are so many more!
This list is far from comprehensive. Different countries have their own top galleries (for example, ArtLoversAustralia) so do your research for what exists in your area and abroad if you’re looking to tap international markets.
You may choose to be on just one to start with or try out a few and see which ones give the best results.
At minimum, it’s valuable to explore these websites when you’re starting out to see how they professionally market the art to collectors.
Finally, manage your expectations regarding sales on these online galleries and continue working on building your own audience and website.
Do you have any experiences to share with these or other online galleries? Which online galleries have worked for you? Please share in the comments!
Happy Art Selling!