Social media - Facebook in particular - has created great opportunities to sell lower-price art online. I 'like' several artists on Facebook and watch them hold regular or occasional 'sales' of their work.
They create a sale album of photos and list the price of each piece. First to comment 'SOLD' on a photo gets to buy it. Products are usually in the price range of £20-£90 (higher ticket items are sold elsewhere).
Quite fascinating to watch the frenzy - and to see how disappointed people are when they miss out. Having a limited number of items for sale each time employs the old marketing tactic of suggesting scarcity - hence the resulting frenzy.
Last night I watched an artist do her first ever sale of work on FB and raise more than £800 of sales in 20 minutes. She has just over 2,000 followers so clearly some work has gone into building her brand, but I've seen artists with far fewer followers regularly sell £100-£300 in a matter of minutes with their flash sales as well.
I've seen this FB tactic used successfully with all manner of handmade products too, not just paintings.
Not suggesting it's dead easy - these artists have worked really hard to get to where they are. But - as with any business - if you DO put the effort into building your brand and creating a loyal following (this is the tricky bit!), it can be done. You do have to be really serious about putting the time in for the long haul though, as it won't happen overnight. The most successful artists I follow have been posting regularly on FB for at least a year and they've worked hard to get their personalities across in their posts.
The artists I follow all do shout outs for each other too, so it's worth doing some networking to get your name out there. Giveaways to celebrate reaching particular follower counts always seem to be popular too. Look at the successful artists on Facebook and study their methods!