If you purchase art, where do you purchase it?

[SinkGirl]

I’m just getting back into selling my artwork (I’m a paper artist so mainly paper cut items such as maps, sometimes layered photographic pieces or geometric pieces etc).

I have an Etsy shop which is fine, but I find lower priced items tend to do better there. For example small custom maps in the £40-80 range. I’m considering not on the high street although they also have very high commission and although they do have some more expensive stuff, they’re more like Etsy I think in terms of ideal price range.

In art terms my work isn’t massively expensive (the stuff in my Etsy shop varies from about £40 for a small piece up to £400 for a very elaborate piece, although I’m currently working on a few things that will be in the £500-£1500 range because of the complexity and time involved - eg. Working on a triptych of London where each of the three panels would be about £500).

I’ve had a look at Art Finder but the commissions are insane (40% IIRC) and I’m sure local galleries are similar although I may approach some.

Just wondering if anyone has any good suggestions for websites / places I should look at.

Or if you sell your work online, any tips on where would be great :)

I work in a gallery which sells art and artisan goods. What I've learned is that very few people in general can afford or want to pay more than a few hundred pounds. Those who can afford to spend over 500 on art are wealthy...it's a luxury...and they tend to frequent more upmarket galleries.

Our bread and butter is work that's priced between about 50 and 300 pounds.

We do stock things which run into about 5 thousand when we have exhibitions though.

We have resident artists who work extremely hard to make any sort of a living and the most popular are not only selling in our gallery but through their own online stores and through other galleries and shops.

My advice is to look into opening your own store and getting your things into shops and galleries.

Because of Covid that's tricky...but for now, use Squarespace to start a website, utilise social media too. A lot of the artists I work with sell a tonne on Insta and Facebook.

Do you know much about Social Media?

ArtGallery.co.uk

Thanks all. DH is a web developer and is building me a site. Most of my stuff is definitely in the £50-£200 range so that’s fine. It’s just about getting in front of more people really which I’m struggling with. I’m trying with social media but I’m not brilliant at it - I’m sure I’ll get better with time.

Going to investigate some of the online galleries and see how that goes, even if the commission is pretty eye watering!

@SinkGirl

Thanks all. DH is a web developer and is building me a site. Most of my stuff is definitely in the £50-£200 range so that’s fine. It’s just about getting in front of more people really which I’m struggling with. I’m trying with social media but I’m not brilliant at it - I’m sure I’ll get better with time.

Going to investigate some of the online galleries and see how that goes, even if the commission is pretty eye watering!

Learn about taking photographs for social media...it's vital that you show your work to it's best advantage. Can you share a link? I'd love to see it.

Affordableartfair.com

Galleries mainly. I don’t normally buy art online

Local art society shows and occasionally local galleries.

I'm reluctant to buy on-line, it feels less personal somehow.

Yes I totally understand reluctance to buy online. I really need to look at what’s available locally. The next town to me has a outdoor art fair every summer so am planning to make a range of small affordable locally themed pieces and get a stand there next year. Obviously smaller ones are easy to sell for personal gifts, but it’s really fun working on crazily detailed bigger ones so would be nice to find a customer base for those / people who want to commission them. The London one I’m working on at the moment is really intricate and I can’t imagine ever selling lots of ones like that, as they will be costly, but if I’m going to sell any bigger pieces then I need to get them out there more.

I find a lot of contemporary artists I like through instagram and twitter - I started following a few artists and then they like and retweet works by others. so I would make sure your socials are updated regularly and have links to your etsy or website. I've purchased directly from one artist this way, and via a gallery after visiting the artist's socials first.

I don't like to buy online.

I buy from a local cafe who display artists work. Sometimes i'll see something and just fall in love.

Another cafe in London, not local, called Crocodile Antiques I think. I used to go there specifically because they were known to display artists who I had had an eye on. At the time, a few years ago. I follow artists I like, might like, have heard about on insta and go along if it they're displaying somewhere that's not too far from me.

Have bought Art from markets too. But lower ££ than what you're talking. Covent Garden market in particular for me but there's loads.

I’m not a big spender by any means but the last art I bought was because of a sponsored post on Instagram. I thought I was reasonably resilient to buying unplanned items because of advertising, but gosh insta is good at showing me things I might like.

I buy art on my travels from art galleries, craft fairs , markets, auctions, car boot sales, museums & charity shops

I follow some artists on Facebook, who also have websites & Etsy shops

I've bought from a couple of friends who are artists too

One piece of art that I purchased, some of the proceeds went to a charity

I'm about to buy a big painting from Etsy. Feels a bit scary to order without seeing it, but the reviews are really good. I'd love to go to a gallery but I didn't have a clue where to start and imagined it'd all be really expensive art.

I buy lots of original art, and have bought on Etsy in the past, spending in the nature of £50 per piece. I’ve also bought through being introduced to artists on Instagram, as they are followed by artists that I follow, and I have spent between £100 and £400 on art there.

Anything more expensive, I would have to see in person. An artist friend actually opened his own gallery, selling his own and other artists’ work, as he was so unhappy about the commission that galleries took (between 40 and 50% of sale price), and took a much reduced commission rate. Sadly it closed.

I find that galleries in London are really pricey, so I tend to buy from galleries where I grew up (South Wales) and always look in galleries when we are on holiday or away for a weekend.

Castle Fine Art spring to mind.

I have also bought at the Affordable Art Fair.

I’ve recently bought a limited edition print from King & McGraw and was really impressed by their service. No idea if they sell original art though.

I'm sending you a PM OP. I'm a curator and want to give you some advice... if you'd be interested in hearing it of course.

I have a couple of strings to my craft selling business:-

• my own website shop and I work social media hard, both facebook and instragram mainly

• I also do art fairs - they can be expensive to get into but can be very lucrative. There's Handmade, Makers and Top Drawer to name a few headliners. I also do more local ones, such as art trails, where you can open up your studio to visitors or join with other artists in a larger venue

I suggest you join a local art group / guild; many counties / regions have them, eg Oxfordshire craft Guild. They'll have a lot of useful local knowledge and will also hold their own events

40% commission rate is not unusual for galleris..Artfinder has its downsides but I occasionally sell on there..otherwise try local scenes in local venues ... cafes and craft shops can be quite good for small prints and images , and if you can make cards and prints of your original.work that can be lucrative ..lots of small things add up and promote your original work . Good luck !

OP. Your link to Etsy comes up as insecure on my browser, (Chrome). You might want to check that.

That’s really strange, I have no idea why that would happen - it’s a standard Etsy format. How annoying!

www.Etsy.com/shop/CutScenesUK should also work though

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I will have a look at them today :)

It was for me too, but the link you’ve just posted is working fine

Your work is great value. Love the Line of Duty references!

Also wanted to say that it’s great that you’re able to spend more time on your art. I hope you feel good for it. From one mum of a child with classic ASD to another!

Thanks @WellTidy :) It’s nice to have some time to be creative again now they’re at school!

Have you been doing this long? I have a very similar map of london (bright pink and purple kind of ombre). A moving in present from a friend 7 years ago. I wonder if it's one of your prints