[Susann]

I know a few people here use Art America, and wondering what others might use?
What are the pros/cons of having Art America or other companies print and ship orders?
Thanks in advance for your help.

[Patrick]

You can try
art.com
redbubble.com
imagekind.com

To understand the pros and cons, think of it this way. Everything comes down to either time or money. if they company markets, sells and processes the order you have to decide is your time better spend doing those steps or letting another company do it for you and take a cut of the sale?

If you want to wrap each print or poster, sign it and place it gently into the mail truck, then doing it yourself might be the way to go. Of course that takes time. and you only have so much of it per day.

or
you can let the company do it for you, take a cut and give yourself more time to market elsewhere, shoot new work or make new contacts.

It all comes down to time or money.

[monicab28]

Patrick, what is the "trick" if you will, to actually getting stuff sold on those sites? I have had some of my stuff on there for a long time and have only sold one print, so can't even get paid for it yet!

[JCFindley]

I have yet to find an artist sign up on art.com and have been looking. If you know where it is perhaps you could send a link.

I have tried imagekind zazzle fineartamerica and etsy.

Etsy: Kind of like an ebay for artists and YOU do everything before and after the sale. It is also highly saturated with photographers and also primarily a craft market. For the most part it is an 8x10ish market for images though people do sell larger at times. I don't lose money there and it has lead to some pretty large sales for myself and others. (Hotel orders for some folks I know and retail outlet for myself.)That is what keeps me on there as the couple prints I sell each month are not really worth the time.

Etsy Selling tricks: retag all your images with the Etsy recommended trends each month such as phlox purple or nougat brown. (I kid you not) Also spending hours and hours building treasuries so that you get featured in treasuries and might make the front page. WAY to much effort for to little return to do that much. Probably why I sell two a month.

Imagekind: It is an OK POD IF you market your own work and need a place that will print and ship. In the two months I was there I grew to HATE IK. Not a single image for sale showed up on Google. The internal search on IK is broke worse than a 1980 Yugo. Seriously the more key words you search for the broader the search gets. If you search for Chesapeake Bay you get like 1000. But do Chesapeake Bay Bridge and you have 10K. Chesapeake Bay Bridge Sunrise. 18 thousand results with an Apache Helo flying in Iraq on page one because it has the keyword sunrise. If that were not enough you assign a profit margin percentage for each image. That doesn't sound bad until you realize that if you set a % to get ~30 dollar 8x10s your 36x24s go into the thousands. If you set a reasonable 36x24 price then that % makes your 8x10s like 8 bucks…… (I think Redbubble is like this too)

Imagekind trick to selling: Not a clue how anyone sells anything on there unless THEY direct that buyer to the site. And then that buyer might wander off and buy from someone else so IMHO you are better off on Zenfolio than IK.

FineArtAmerica.com: Easy to use and effective. You set a price you want on each size. (The price you set is what you net) Cost is reasonable at 30 per year. Quality of prints is great. Internal search works. Images show up on google. Most sales are large framed or canvas prints. They pay out on the 15th of each month with no minimum threshold. (The 15th after your sales have cleared which is 30 days after the sale.)

FAA selling tricks: Easy as pie; shoot things that people want to buy OK the real secret is shooting things people want to buy that have NOT been shot to death or at least are not well represented on FAA. I know a guy that shoots a lot of bald eagles and wolves and cougars. They are spectacular shots and people would buy them IF they could find them. But with thousands of images in EACH of those categories he is lost in a sea of anonymity. My key to selling on there is being on page three or above. IF I can make page three or better I can be found and I can sell it. If you shoot the Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman’s Warf you will be lost. If you shoot Abilene Texas you will own the market. With ten thousand plus flowers plus it is critical you find a niche (Or ten) that is not over-represented. I would say that more images in more categories is a good thing as well.

Zazzle: It offers the most ways to present your art but for me it was way too much time for a little return.

JC

[Susann]

JCFindley, on 07 October 2011 - 03:13 PM, said:

I have yet to find an artist sign up on art.com and have been looking. If you know where it is perhaps you could send a link.

I have tried imagekind zazzle fineartamerica and etsy.

Etsy: Kind of like an ebay for artists and YOU do everything before and after the sale. It is also highly saturated with photographers and also primarily a craft market. For the most part it is an 8x10ish market for images though people do sell larger at times. I don't lose money there and it has lead to some pretty large sales for myself and others. (Hotel orders for some folks I know and retail outlet for myself.)That is what keeps me on there as the couple prints I sell each month are not really worth the time.

Etsy Selling tricks: retag all your images with the Etsy recommended trends each month such as phlox purple or nougat brown. (I kid you not) Also spending hours and hours building treasuries so that you get featured in treasuries and might make the front page. WAY to much effort for to little return to do that much. Probably why I sell two a month.

Imagekind: It is an OK POD IF you market your own work and need a place that will print and ship. In the two months I was there I grew to HATE IK. Not a single image for sale showed up on Google. The internal search on IK is broke worse than a 1980 Yugo. Seriously the more key words you search for the broader the search gets. If you search for Chesapeake Bay you get like 1000. But do Chesapeake Bay Bridge and you have 10K. Chesapeake Bay Bridge Sunrise. 18 thousand results with an Apache Helo flying in Iraq on page one because it has the keyword sunrise. If that were not enough you assign a profit margin percentage for each image. That doesn't sound bad until you realize that if you set a % to get ~30 dollar 8x10s your 36x24s go into the thousands. If you set a reasonable 36x24 price then that % makes your 8x10s like 8 bucks…… (I think Redbubble is like this too)

Imagekind trick to selling: Not a clue how anyone sells anything on there unless THEY direct that buyer to the site. And then that buyer might wander off and buy from someone else so IMHO you are better off on Zenfolio than IK.

FineArtAmerica.com: Easy to use and effective. You set a price you want on each size. (The price you set is what you net) Cost is reasonable at 30 per year. Quality of prints is great. Internal search works. Images show up on google. Most sales are large framed or canvas prints. They pay out on the 15th of each month with no minimum threshold. (The 15th after your sales have cleared which is 30 days after the sale.)

FAA selling tricks: Easy as pie; shoot things that people want to buy OK the real secret is shooting things people want to buy that have NOT been shot to death or at least are not well represented on FAA. I know a guy that shoots a lot of bald eagles and wolves and cougars. They are spectacular shots and people would buy them IF they could find them. But with thousands of images in EACH of those categories he is lost in a sea of anonymity. My key to selling on there is being on page three or above. IF I can make page three or better I can be found and I can sell it. If you shoot the Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman’s Warf you will be lost. If you shoot Abilene Texas you will own the market. With ten thousand plus flowers plus it is critical you find a niche (Or ten) that is not over-represented. I would say that more images in more categories is a good thing as well.

Zazzle: It offers the most ways to present your art but for me it was way too much time for a little return.

JC

WOW, thanks JC!!!

Art.com has a section called artist rising. Go to the bottom of the main page you will see artist rising. That is where you sign up!!

[JCFindley]

I read where art.com pays 15% commission period and there is no way to change that. If that is true it is not for me as I will not sell my work at 15%. To put that into perspective if you sell a $200 piece you get 30 bucks. That may be fine for some folks but I better be getting at least 100 off a 200 dollar sale.

[Susann]

Okay, so I just signed up on Fine Art America. I uploaded a few photos and I am excited to see if I sell anything!!!!
Wish me luck!!!!!

[monicab28]

Susann, on 08 October 2011 - 06:16 PM, said:

Okay, so I just signed up on Fine Art America. I uploaded a few photos and I am excited to see if I sell anything!!!!
Wish me luck!!!!!

Just don't do what I did and sign up and then forget to upload images!! Lol...

[dgrits]

monicab28, on 09 October 2011 - 05:49 PM, said:

Just don't do what I did and sign up and then forget to upload images!! Lol...

LOL!! That does make it a bit difficult to sell them!

I'm on FAA, and I've sold 1 print so far. It's just a matter of having what someone is looking for... so it seems.

[Susann]

dgrits, on 13 October 2011 - 11:59 AM, said:

LOL!! That does make it a bit difficult to sell them!

I'm on FAA, and I've sold 1 print so far. It's just a matter of having what someone is looking for... so it seems.

I signed up and I have had a few people comment on how beautiful my stuff is but no sales yet!!! I am hopeful and you are right, it has to be what someone is looking for.

[pvincent]

Hi all,

If I might ask, what features are most important to you when choosing a site that helps you display and sell your work? Are there any features you would like to see from this type of site that you have not encountered yet?

[Patrick]

pvincent, on 13 October 2011 - 01:35 PM, said:

Hi all,

If I might ask, what features are most important to you when choosing a site that helps you display and sell your work? Are there any features you would like to see from this type of site that you have not encountered yet?

to me, marketing is one of the top reasons to go with a site. Some sites offer all this stuff to you then turn around and say " all right, now go out there and market it!" Lets see, you create it, market it and they take a cut. Yeah, that is real fair.
I can give you numbers etc in an email.

[Patrick]

Susann, on 13 October 2011 - 01:04 PM, said:

I signed up and I have had a few people comment on how beautiful my stuff is but no sales yet!!! I am hopeful and you are right, it has to be what someone is looking for.

Same here about FAA but in the same amount of time, Ive sold 30 on Art.com ( and 60 offline because of Art.com)

[JCFindley]

I may have to rethink Art.com I have not been able to find an official answer but have been told the commission rate there is 10% take it or leave it. Is that correct? My rate on FAA is ~70-75%

The comments on FAA are basically meaningless BTW. Well, as far as sales go they are. They are a nice touchy feely good kind of thing but it is fellow artists making comments and they are not your core market as they have their own art and are often broke anyway. It is nice to get the comments but doesn't help with sales other than it moves you up a little on the internal search.

[CSI: Photo]

I signed up for FAA about 3 months ago. I noticed a few fellow MPIX'ers on that site and talked to another local photographer on there. He was able to get me some real insite to the site. Since signing up I have sold 5 prints, mostly 20" or larger.

The thing I like most about FAA is you set the price you want to make at all the different sizes. Sure there are a lot of people there that are happy to make $5 no matter what size print they sell. But, those people are not really your competition. The people buying my prints are people looking for a particular print. Not just someone saying oh that's nice and it's only 10 bucks...

The local photographer told me he tried many of the other sites and felt FAA was the best of the bunch. I regular see his prints selling. And I try to follow his suggestions, such as entering contests and joining groups. Both of these help steer traffic to your work.

[Patrick]

JCFindley, on 08 October 2011 - 08:39 AM, said:

I read where art.com pays 15% commission period and there is no way to change that. If that is true it is not for me as I will not sell my work at 15%. To put that into perspective if you sell a $200 piece you get 30 bucks. That may be fine for some folks but I better be getting at least 100 off a 200 dollar sale.

JC,
I agree that it is a small percentage. I find that the exposure I get thru the site outweighs the commission, meaning It is the monthly contacts that want to buy other sizes or actual prints that make up the difference. that is when I make $200 - $400 per print. Another aspect is maybe how I think of it. I had a lot of work sitting on my hard drive doing nothing. now, around the 23rd of each month, art.com sends me a check, each month since 2004 it has arrived.


now, I have people contacting me who bought a poster years ago, now have the money to buy the print version. over the years One retail chain bought 80 prints and another one 50 large prints directly from me because they saw it on art.com. I am right now working with a hotel chain that wants 60 prints. ( but they seem a little flaky) so I overlook the 15% for a larger 'picture' if you will.

My favorite story is that I was on the subway a few years ago and this kid had an art.com tube. I asked him to see it and he pulled out MY poster! that made me feel good.

but you are right, it is not for everyone

[JCFindley]

Thanks a lot for the insight Patrick...... I am not totally against selling for less but the numbers would have to make up for it for me and I am a big believer in being anyhere someone might look for me...... COOL story on about the subway!

Dave is right on on FAA. There are people that sell right off and people that sit forever with nothing. I have sold 16 images in the six months I have been on there and most are 24 inches or longer.

JC

[Patrick]

JCFindley, on 16 October 2011 - 08:38 AM, said:

Thanks a lot for the insight Patrick...... I am not totally against selling for less but the numbers would have to make up for it for me and I am a big believer in being anyhere someone might look for me...... COOL story on about the subway!

Dave is right on on FAA. There are people that sell right off and people that sit forever with nothing. I have sold 16 images in the six months I have been on there and most are 24 inches or longer.

JC

To me, the funny thing is I put my work on FAA and redbubble for WAY LESS then art.com for the past year and have sold -0-
so to me the sites market quite differently