Selling art/paintings online?

[Teeh]

Bring something of an amateur artist it has always been my dream to paint and sell my paintings for a living. How easy is this to actually do online? Has anyone done this. I would really know where to start. I was thinking I would need to frame a painting ad that would need to be done professionally which is all quite expensive

*wouldn’t really know where to start

Don’t frame a picture you are planning to sell, people will want to choose their own frame. You can buy mount sets quite cheaply and IMO this is best as it gives a professional finish without the expense of something someone may not want.

Making a living from art is HARD, people don’t want to pay enough for original artwork even if you take commissions. You’d probably have to branch out into teaching, selling prints, getting designs put on t-shirts and whatnot as well.

Yes I did think making a living would be hard. I am not really in a position to work just now but I love to paint so I thought it would be good even for my self esteem if I could sell one or two and see where it went

So I haven't done this but am looking into selling some handmade items and thought it might be helpful to share what I'm thinking.
The first thing to decide is where you will sell / how you will get your work out there. Instagram, Facebook, a website or Etsy are the main routes that come to mind asides from a physical sale at a Christmas fayre type stall.
I am looking at starting an Etsy store as it's pretty low cost and easy to set up with an audience of millions in the UK. They recommend to have around 10 items to start your store so at the moment I'm testing out different ideas and building up my 10.
The hardest thing with all these platforms is that there are so many sellers and there's a science to getting your work to come up in searches so I think you need to learn about SEO as well, particularly if you want to try and earn some regular income.
Finally the other thing I'm doing as part of my product testing is making sure I'm costing everything properly. I've worked out my cost per item from the hot glue sticks to the nylon and add a 30-40% mark-up as this is typical for retail, then I include a per hour charge for my labour based on how long it takes me to make, a cost for postage, a cost for Etsy's fees and that's where my selling price should be.
An easier but less reliable route is Facebook by promoting your stuff on pages for local groups, clubs etc.
Hope some of that helps?! Good luck

Thank you that’s very helpful. Can anyone sell
On Etsy? I wasn’t sure if the work has to be a certain standard and be selected as a seller?

No, anyone can sell on Etsy and there's no approval process. There was a thread on here a while ago for people with Etsy shops- there were some great ones! If you search in the craft section you might be able to find it.

Here is their guide to setting up a shop:

help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115014502448-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Selling-on-Etsy

What kind of style is your art- what medium do you use? What do you enjoy painting?

Look on YouTube - there are hundreds of 'how to sell your art/craft' videos.

I put up images of work in progress on my FB page and when completed, state which art gallery it will be available from - I sell in several. The work usually sells within the week - quicker at Christmas.

I know of an artist who, after creating a stock of work, puts up the pics on FB with notification of selling them via auction on their page.

I did sell on Etsy, but discovered a 'voluntary' charge I was not initially told about. When I removed it I then got a message to say my work would not be promoted by them - not so voluntary after all then!

They also changed the way they pay you which meant they would be holding on to my money for a darn sight longer than they should. Not acceptable. . So I closed the account as it was quite frankly, a pain.

*I have sold at art fairs - very hard work as you might not sell all day but still need to cover costs.
*Art festivals - very hard and pricy just to enter - as above.

• I take commissions - you need to be very business like -no mates rates - this is your income and needs to be realistic. *I teach workshops, courses, via schools and public settings.

I had to support my art for more than 20 years by taking on other part time jobs to pay the bills whilst I got established. But for the past 10 years have been a full time artist. - and love it.

Sorry I forgot to reply earlier. I do both acrylic and watercolours and I like to do portraits and also landscape/village streets etc

I looked into this in quite a bit of detail (although in the end I decided that I have too much else going on and it would have taken some of the joy out of it for me - I may revisit when I have less going on). I think the big thing for me that I was told by other (successful) artists was that they spend a lot of time on marketing and promoting themselves - way more than on actually painting. And a lot use teaching on Patreon to supplement their income.

Emma Colbert has some really useful videos on her Youtube:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbkshqfGlew9pWGm0FL5jGt3ziy8AjUQF

The Making a Mark website is a real mine of practical information too.

And someone I know who built up from nothing in the last four years has made a real success, but had an awful lot of experience in marketing and coaching (i.e. teaching experience) before switching to being a full-time artist.

On a more specific note, I agree with PP that it's probably not worth framing acrylics and watercolours. I'd suggest a mount and cellophane or tissue paper envelope. You can always offer framing on demand, in which case you pass on the price of the framing, rather than having it as part of your price, iyswim.

And the Ask an Artist podcast is great too!