Buying & Selling Art | ArtShowcase Review

Traditional way of buying & selling Art

Buying & Selling Art has followed the same path for a very long time, but times are changing.
As a print & design company we have dealt with numerous Artists / Photographers over the years and are often asked to advise on how an Artist can promote themselves online. Up to the age of the internet, Artists pretty much totally relied on Bricks & Mortar establishments who often charge commission up to 50%.

So, if an Artist creates a piece that they think is worth £1000 then they are left with only £500 after the gallery takes its commission. The only option for the Artist, if he or she is to achieve the £1000 is to sell the piece at £2000, i.e. £1k each for Artist and gallery.

Obviously, this is bad news for the Artist and the prospective buyer. From the Artist’s point of view, there is now less chance of selling the piece at a realistic price and from the Buyer’s point of view, they are paying far more than they should be.

The gallery naturally has to charge a large commission as they have all the usual costs with running a bricks & mortar business, which can be substantial.

Buying & Selling Art online

Many Artists are now utilising offline and online selling. With the advent of websites such as Shopify, Etsy etc. it is now very easy to upload your portfolio and create an online shop. Even building your own website and installing an eCommerce plugin to sell your Art has become the norm for many.

Now we also have sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit etc. which enable one to interact with like-minded individuals.

The only downside to the above is – it takes a hell of a lot of work to manage a website, online shop or multiple social media accounts. To add to the problem – you can have the best looking online gallery in the world, but if no one can find you, then you are lost in space with thousands on thousands of other sites.

Unfortunately, many people think that it’s simply a case of creating a website, sticking a gallery portfolio on there and Google will send people flocking to you to buy. This just does not happen In the real world. Getting noticed on Google is very difficult, even for those who understand the workings of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which is basically building a site in a specific way that doesn’t ‘bend’ the Google rules.

What are my options?

There are now many online sites that will allow you to upload your portfolio and give you a ‘page’ of your own, with space for information about you, the Artist. A common theme seems to be a monthly fee plus a commission charge (on average 25%) on anything you sell. As far as promotion of your gallery, well that is often left to you to share the link on your social media accounts. Also, you may be sharing the website platform with hundreds of other Artists so getting seen by a potential buyer could be difficult.

If you’ve read this far, you might be wondering if there is actually a solution that might fit the bill for you personally.

Well, we think there is, and the site in question is called ArtShowcase (artshowcase.co.uk)

Buying & Selling Art – the ArtShowcase way

The site is run by a Web Developer and professional Artist who between them have produced an exceptional website that caters for Artists, Artisans & Photographers.

What is unique about ArtShowcase is that they do all the hard work for you. Here are a few ways they promote your Art;

• A Bio section with one image + unlimited text
• A stylish picture Gallery (up to 20 images) that loads into a full screen display
• Each image displays: Title / Dimensions / Media & Price
• A link to your Website (if applicable)
• Links to all your Social Media accounts
• A personal contact form allowing potential buyers to message you privately
• All Showcases are optimised for the search engines (Google, Bing etc.)
• All Showcases will be promoted on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter
• All Showcases will also be promoted around the site e.g. sidebars, featured pages, homepage slider etc.

And if that isn’t enough . . .

There is NO COMMISSION (Buyers deal directly & privately with the Artists)
Plus NO OBLIGATION & NO CONTRACT

You’re probably thinking this is going to cost upwards of £20 a month? (Shopify for instance charge £24.50 per month).

No, the amazing thing is you get all this for just £4.50 a month. No catches, no hidden costs, nada.

So, if any Artist now asks us what online option do we recommend then, as far as we are concerned, ArtShowcase beats the opposition hands down!