If you are wondering what are the best websites for artists to sell their work (paintings, sculptures, designs, diy creations, etc) or how to sell copies of your art on objects (mugs, posters, canvas, clothing, etc) WITHOUT having to spend time packing and shipping everything, then keep on reading!
Selling art online isn't easy, specially since there are sooo many options to choose from... Shopify, WordPress, Etsy, Printify, Printful, Ecwid, Wix, Squarespace, and so many more.
It's no wonder so many artists are confused about which option is the best one for them.
So in this post, I will highlight the most commonly used platforms for selling art and highlight some of their pros and cons so you can choose the best one for you.
And because I know that putting your artwork out in the online space is only the beginning, I will also give you some extra tips and tricks to help you grow an audience and make a profit.
Let's get you out of that "starving artist mentality".
Disclosure: Keep in mind that the following info is subject to change, so please do your own research and double check the selling fees, entry fees, membership costs, and the fine print of the platform that you decide to use so you don't get any surprises once you start using that platform!
My Top 3 Recommended Platforms
Shopify
Best Personal Website
For artists that already have an audience. Free customizable templates. Shopify takes care of everything from marketing and payments to secure transactions and shipping.
Printful
Best Print-on-Demand Platform
Turn your digital designs into premium products. Printful has no upfront fees, no order minimums, & 343 premium products. Can be integrated with many ecommerce stores (e.g. Etsy, etc)
Online Gallery
Best Marketplace Gallery
Best gallery platform for beginner artists who still don't have an audience. Easily setup your art page in minutes. Sell digital & physical products in your shop and their auctions for a small monthly fee.
Online Marketplaces
#1. FineArtAmerica
FineArtAmerica is the world's largest marketplace with a huge audience. It allows you to sell both, your original work without a commission or digital prints of your art using their print-on-demand services to place your designs on tons of products like home decor, apparel, phone cases, tote bags, and coffee mugs, more.
You can start selling with a Free account which allows you to upload 25 items. If you want to become a member and create your own website, the cost is only $30/year.
Since this site is huge and many artists use this platform, your products will get lost in the crowd. So you must market yourself either through paid Facebook or Google ads, or social media to generate traffic.
Other than that, FineArtAmerica is probably one of the best sites to sell art online.
#2. Amazon Handmade
Amazon Handmade, another very well known platform (but pretty saturated as well), could be a great place to start selling your artwork if you already have an audience. However, keep in mind that Amazon has a pre-approval process.
If you are approved for their program, 15% of your sales will go towards your selling fees. However, Amazon Handmade doesn't charge listing fees and will waive your Professional selling account fee of $39.99/month one month after your application is approved. So you only pay if you make a sale!
#3. Online Gallery
Online Gallery is a fast-growing online art gallery platform based in the Netherlands but with artists from all over the world. They have a secure payment and buyer protection system.
The thing I love the most about this platform is that they are commission-free! Meaning that you get to keep all of your profits when you make a sale.
For a very small monthly fee (packages vary from € 0,00 - € 8,99) Online Gallery allows you to exhibit your artwork on your very own online art page, offer your art on their online auctions, attract new customers with over 100,000 unique visitors per month, and possibly even get highlighted or promoted on their website or social media.
Their web pages are optimized for organic traffic so that your site and art can be found on Google easier.
They even have a referral program that allows you to refer other artists and get 30% off your monthly subscription payments. How awesome is that???
It's cheaper, faster, and easier than hosting your own website!
#4. Artplode
Artplode is a huge online gallery marketplace that let's buyers and sellers deal directly with each other. Sellers keep 100% of the sale price of their artwork, since NO COMMISSIONS are charged by Artplode.
But, there is a catch!
There is a one time listing fee of $60/item which allows you to keep your item listed for an unlimited amount of time. You also have the option of paying extra to have your art be included in one or more of Artplode's featured categories.
The great thing about listing on Artplode is that it attracts buyers and collectors from all around the world. Your art can get more easily discovered since those buyers can browse by the country of origin of the artwork and the location of sellers as well as by categories, subject, style, price, size and more.
If you are planning on selling digital prints of your artwork through print-on- demand technology, then this site is NOT for you!
#5. Cafepress
If you are only interested in selling digital prints of your artwork on tshirts, mugs, shower curtains, tote bags, canvas, etc, then check out this site.
Cafepress allows you to open up your shop with no up-front costs. You can make money by selling your designs on 250+ products.
Choose one of the two options below depending on what type of fee works for your business.
Option A: Pay 10% commission or up to $10 maximum of your royalties (not total sales volume).
Examples:
- If you earn a $40 royalties for the month, Cafepress deducts 10% ($4) and mails you a check for $36.
- If you earn a $400 royalties for the month, Cafepress deducts only $10 (not the full 10%, which would be $40). So you get a check for $390.
Option B: Save money by pre-paying. You can choose to prepay every month, every 3 months, every 6 months, or every year as follows.
- $6.95 per month
- $18.45 for 3 months ($6.15 a month)
- $34.95 for 6 months ($5.83 a month)
- $59.95 for 1 year (only $5 per month)
#6. Ebay
Even though eBay is a very well known marketplace platform, it is not used solely for selling artwork. However, there are tons of successful sellers and it is possible for you to sell your art through this platform.
You can sell your original artwork as well as your Print-on-Demand products since Printful and Printify integrate with eBay.
The have zero listing fees for up to 250 items/month when payments are managed by eBay. Their sales fees are $0.30/order + other fees which roughly add up to 13% of your total sale (including cost of artwork, taxes, and shipping costs).
And if you use Paypal for the transactions, you can also incur some extra charges of 2.9% of the payment, as well as a 30% transaction fee.
So keep all of those fees in mind when pricing your artwork. You can see their updated fees policy here.
#7. Etsy
Etsy is a popular platform in the USA that allows artists to sell their handmade artwork. It also integrates easily with Printful and Printify so you can sell your Print-on-Demand products with an almost hands-off approach.
Because Etsy has been around for quite some time, customers trust it and are inclined to purchase from it as long as they like what they see!
But in order to see significant sales in your shop, you have to constantly list new products and drive traffic to your own shop through social media or paid ads. Use good keywords in your product's title and description if you want to drive organic traffic to your products.
Etsy's fees vary depending on where you are located at, so I am only going to list the standard fees as it pertains to the USA. For more info on their fees check out this page.
The listing fee for someone selling in the USA is $0.20 for a 4-month period, 5% selling fee (for the listed price of the item + shipping), and a processing fee of $0.25 + 3% of total product price (including shipping).
#8. Redbubble
Redbubble is a marketplace that also allows you to sell print-on-demand products. It is easy and free to use.
Redbubble is well known, therefore has tons of visitors coming to it's site. To stand out in the crowd, make your products unique and target a specific niche.
#9. Saatchi Art
Saatchi Art is an online art gallery used by many emerging and established artists to sell their artwork.
If you want to sell your artwork on this website, you will have to go through a submission process. Their 35% commission is pretty high, however, since it is one of the world's leading online art galleries, your artwork will be visible to many interested customers.
Saatchi Art handles the shipping. The artist must take care of the packaging.
Print-On-Demand
#10. Printful
Printful is a print-on-demand service. So if you want to put your designs on a physical product like a t-shirt, mug, or tote bag, then check them out!
This company is the one I use for my print-on-demand items, and I LOVE THEM!!!
They have high-quality products and easily integrates with your e-commerce store like Shopify, Ebay, Etsy, Woocommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Edwid, Amazon, and more.
The nice thing about using Printful is that when someone places an order on your site, Printful automatically prints your design on the product that your customer chose, packs it, and ships it. This process is hands-off for you!
All you have to do is upload a design onto a Printful product. That's it!
Just remember... you can't just sell your products directly on Printful. You need to have a store setup somewhere (WordPress site, Shopify store, Etsy shop, etc)! Printful will only print your designs on one of their chosen premium products and fulfill your customers' order when they make a purchase on your site.
Your Own Website
#11. WordPress
Guess what? I also own a WordPress site in which I sell online courses and could potentially also sell physical products with the WooCommerce plugin.
WordPress is free and one of the world’s biggest blogging platforms.
Well written blog articles can drive organic traffic to your site without the need to have social media presence. At the same time, you can sell physical items like artwork (or anything else that you want to sell).
However, there is a steep learning curve when it comes to using WordPress. Selling physical items will require you to install several plugins like WooCommerce and integrate it correctly with a payment processor. All these integrations and manual adjustments can cause big headaches to someone who has no technical skills.
You are responsible for doing the updates, maintenance, and fixing any errors that happen on your site, unlike having a Shopify shop where Shopify takes care of all the updates and fixing all the errors themselves.
Plus you have to pay for the hosting for your site and for a building tool that will allow you to design your site without coding experience.
It's a great platform but not the best for beginners!
#12. Squarespace
Squarespace is a content management system (similar to Shopify) that allows you to create a website with ecommerce capabilities. You can sell products, blog, register a custom domain name for your site, and track analytics from the same platform. Their templates are lovely and easily customizable to suit all your needs.
Even though the sales tools from Squarespace are less advanced than Shopify's tools, Squarespace is more affordable!
Check out their 4 plans here.
#13. Shopify
I honestly believe that Shopify is one of the best platforms to sell art online for any artist that already has a following on social media but has no technical skills.
Shopify will make selling art online a breeze!
Their templates are beautiful and easily customizable. You can get your store started in just minutes without any experience at all. They even have videos and articles that explain how to do most of the setup and customizations that you need.
Their stores allow you to track the analytics from within the same platform, so you can easily see where your traffic and customers are coming from and therefore focus your efforts on what will make the most impact on your sales!
Integrating your shop with social media is pretty easy as well!
You can even purchase your mailing labels at a discounted price right from your shop. And Shopify will automatically notify your customers when an order has shipped!
How awesome is that!!!
I sell mixed media embellishments using a Shopify store, and let me tell you that I LOVE IT! I truly believe that their monthly subscription price is so worth it!
Shopify even has an email marketing app that allows you to send up to 10,000 emails/month to your customers (right from your shop) FOR FREE!
This email marketing service alone makes my Shopify subscription worth it!
Shopify makes selling sooo easy and effective for beginners!
Just remember that you will have to drive your own traffic to your site. This platform is not a marketplace (like Etsy) that brings in it's own traffic.
-- FREE TRIAL -- Build your art business using a 14 day FREE trial of Shopify, the platform with all the ecommerce features that you need to start running and growing your business.
Start your
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Try Shopify free for 14 days, no credit card required.
Trusted by millions of businesses worldwide!
Social Selling Channels
#14. Facebook Marketplace or Personal Profile
Now, you don't have to go all fancy when it comes to selling your art. It can be as simple as posting your art on your personal Facebook profile or even in Facebook Marketplace.
#15. Instagram
Did you know that many artists who sell their art only post their artwork on Instagram?
Yes, many of them don't even have a Youtube channel or a website. They simply post all their artwork on Instagram and have an email where interested customers can reach out if they like a piece.
Posting on Instagram is another great way to get exposure for your art!
Other Selling Avenues
#16. Ecwid
Whether you are a designer, make DIY projects, are an artist, or even want to sell online courses or masterclasses, you can start selling online with your own Ecwid store.
It is easy to sell almost any type of art on Ecwid, whether it is a tangible good, downloadable item, or an e-course. Here are some examples of what you can sell:
- Photos
- PDF files
- Illustrations
- Digital Artwork
- Physical pieces of art
- Sculptures
- Other DIY projects
- Online Art Courses
Ecwid is NOT an online shop, it is a plugin that can be integrated with a website (WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc) or also used to sell on other platforms like Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy.
Ecwid can also be used to sell on social media accounts (Tiktok, Whatsapp, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, etc) or in person.
So essentially, Ecwid allows you to turn your existing asset into an online store.
Since Ecwid is also not a marketplace, you will have to drive your own traffic to your store through social media, referrals, emails, etc.
#17. Pinterest
Pinterest is not a social media platform... it is a search engine just like Google. So when it comes to selling your art, Pinterest can be a great platform where people can not only visually appreciate your artwork but can also make a detailed search for a particular type of item that they want to purchase.
#18. Classified Ads
Who hasn't sold something using a classified ad? Why does selling art have to be different? It wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
Let's say you want to reach customers in California... then post your artwork in an online California classified ad.
If you want to reach local customers, then post in a local classified ads.
#19. Local Shops & Businesses
This option is not a website, however, I decided to include it here because it is a very effective way of selling art! In fact, I would say that this is the way that many artists start getting customers.
Visit several local shops or businesses (bakeries, cafes, banks, restaurants, dentist office, beauty parlors, etc) and show them several of pieces of artwork. Ask if you can display several pieces of your artwork in their shop and offer a commission for any pieces that sell.
Best Place to Sell Art Online
So what is the best place to sell art online? Well, that depends on your particular situation. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I have an audience?
If you don't have an audience or social media presence yet, then you will probably want to start listing your art in a marketplace type of platform (Etsy, FineArtAmerica, Ebay, Artfire, etc)
If you already have followers on social media that like your art or maybe even a few customers, then opening up your own online shop like Squarespace or Shopify is probably best! - How good are my technical skills?
If you feel like you struggle with anything that has to do with technology or are not good at figuring out how to fix things, then go with a marketplace or an online shop that makes setup easy. In my experience, Etsy (a marketplace) and Shopify (an online shop), are easy enough for beginner's to setup. - How much time and money do I have to invest in setting up a store?
Setting up your own store will take time and money. If you are not ready for that kind of commitment, then choose a social media platform, a classified ad, or exposure through local shops and businesses. Get your art some exposure and get some raving fans before attempting to sell anything!
So the best website to sell paintings or anything art related will vary from person to person. Let me know in the comments below which of the platforms to sell art online did you choose!
How to Start Selling Your Art
Here are a few video tutorials that show how to setup a Shopify store step-by-step and helpful tips to learn how to start selling your art online.
Enjoy!
-- FREE TRIAL -- Build your art business using a 14 day FREE trial of Shopify, the platform with all the ecommerce features that you need to start running and growing your business.
Start your
14-day trial
Try Shopify free for 14 days, no credit card required.
Trusted by millions of businesses worldwide!