With the construction of my personal studio space nearing completion, I am looking for ways to sell art to fund adding new tools to my collection. I am a metalsmithing guy and tools for my discipline do not come cheap. In my search I have found many great sites and thought it would be cool to share some of these. My search was focusing on marketplaces that allowed selling original artwork, but I also included some of the print specific sites that I found.
By no means is this list all inclusive, so please drop others in the comments below. Thanks!
1000Markets.com
Listing on 1000 Markets is free and the sales fee is 5.5%+$0.50 for each transaction. 1000 Markets feels more like a store but it is clean and easy to use. I don’t feel the search tools are as useful as some of the other sites, but they do an excellent job of sorting the products into categories for browsing.
Artfire.com
Artfire harps on the fact that they don’t have any transaction fees and they allow the artist to control the look and feel of their store. Artfire gives artists basic use of their tools to sell online for free. They do offer an upgrade to access many more features for $15.95 monthly. Overall I like this site, but it is not as simple and clean as some of the others.
Bigcartel.com
Big Cartel is not a marketplace, but instead sells the tools to do it yourself. The price ranges from free to $20.00 monthly + transaction fees associated with using PayPal. This option will require more work to setup, but you will have more control of look and feel. The obvious drawback here is that you lack the marketplace exposure.
Dawanda.com
DaWanda is a marketplace where you can sell your goods in 3 languages (German, English and French). DaWanda also has great search tools but feels more like a store than a community. This store feeling is not bad, just something to consider as this site may appeal to a different audience. For now there is no listing fee, but DaWanda mentions to expect one soon. DaWanda also charges a 5% sales fee on artwork that you sell in their store.
Etsy.com
Etsy is a huge marketplace to sell traditional art and handmade goods. Etsy has a community feel and excellent search tools for buyers to find items of interest. Etsy charges a listing fee of $0.20 per item and a 3.5% sales fee. The site is clean, simple and has kept the small community feeling that got them started.
Folksy.com
Folksy is clean and easy to navigate. Currently sellers need to reside in the UK, but they will soon be expanding to international markets. I look forward to seeing this site’s growth. Folksy charges 20p to list an item and a 5% sales fee.
Papernstitch.com
This is a beautiful gallery and a place to feature your work wherever you sell it. Papernstitch regularly chooses new artists to feature, and links to their items in the marketplace they are listed. If your work is accepted, the monthly fee is $45 monthly.
Supermarkethq.com
Supermarket is a very clean and beautiful marketplace, and despite the name, has a community feel about it. This is a curated marketplace and they do not list their fees. This looks like a great place for your work if you are accepted.
Marketplaces Targeting Printed Items
ArtyBuzz.com
ArtyBuzz is an art marketplace with a strong community feel. ArtyBuzz is currently geared toward selling printed products but will be adding the ability to sell original art.
Mysoti.com
Mysoti is a trendy creative site where artists can print their creations to Ts, posters, etc. They also include voting to help users find the “most wanted.”
Orangepiel.com
OrangePiel gives you a number of creative ways to print your artwork. From window shades to fine prints OrangePiel has you covered.
RedBubble.com
RedBubble is super clean community driven marketplace to sell and display your printed work.
Society6.com
Society6 is has strong community of artists and the site is clean and easy to use. Society6 allows artists and users within the community to “promote” the work of others, allowing the cream rise to the top.
Spoonflower.com
If you wish to print your art to fabric, Spoonflower is for you. Spoonflower sells a variety of printed fabrics for fashion designers to use in their creations. I absolutely love the idea of this.
