Buying art online can pose a problem for both the artist selling the art and the buyer purchasing the art, The artists faces the problem of gaining trust and a good reputation to encourage buyers ,and the buyer faces a similar problem of trust in the artist and hoping the painting lives up to it’s online image.
ARTISTS
For the artist to sell successfully online they need to build up a social profile through various sites such as Twitter , Facebook and You Tube, that way the buyer can see you are a real person and actively promoting and selling your art. You can sell from your own website but this can be tricky to get sales from people who don’t know you and are not sure if they should trust you with their hard earned cash , they need to feel the security that they will receive a painting if that is what they paid for and their money back if it’s not what they thought it would be.
Original artwork is expensive so until you have established a good reputation with recommendations from buyers of your work , you will struggle to sell directly from a website. Websites are great to display your work , it’s your showcase or online gallery that people can browse at leisure. If set up a e-mail responder like Mailchip or Awebber and keep interested parties up to date with your work and what you are doing then this keeps you in contact with your buyers , strikes up a conversation and they see you as a real person who they can trust and may eventually buy your art.
FOR THE BUYER OF ART.
Here are some to points to remember when buying art online :
Only buy from reputable sites , ones that offer a money back guarantee if your not completely happy with your painting, sites such as eBay, Imagekind, Etsy, Red Bubble and Deviant Art are a few well know sites for purchasing art.
Bricks and mortar Galleries often have online sites where you can purchase art from, these are pretty secure and usually offer pay-pal and Visa payments.
Never buy from sites that have no contact details or sketchy contact details!
If you buy from the artists website , see if they have feedback from other buyers and ask if you can contact them to see if they where happy with their purchase.
Find the artist on other sites like Facebook and Twitter check them out to see if they are a real person!
Make sure you can pay through a secure site such as pay-pal , where they offer protection for the buyer.
Practice due diligence before parting with your cash , research your artist and then when you do buy your ‘ll be sure you’ve made the right decision and wont feel let down or ripped off.
Here is a brief list of some online sites to purchase both originals and prints :
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