9 things you must do when selling your art online

Original art does sell online… provided you present it in the best possible way.

1. Take photographs  from all the main viewing angles

The better these images are, the more chance you have o selling the work. The images you upload only need to be sized at around 1000px on the long edge. That’s plenty big enough to see what they need to see and won’t take too long to load.

Suggestions…

1. View directly in front – whole artwork
2. View slightly from the left – whole artwork
3. View slightly from the right – whole artwork
4. View of the frame if it has one – Close-up
5. View of the back of the frame, showing how it’s finished. 

Your online art store is your own personal art gallery. But in this case, your customers can only see what you show them. You have to get them excited about the art.

Lots of relevant description about the media, framing, the paints, anything that makes it sound exciting.  Think in terms of what you want to help them see in your work. With this, your clients will truly understand what the artwork will look like as it hangs on a wall in their home or office, which is the entire goal.

On the flip side, if you leave them wondering what it will look like, they’ll simply never buy.

2. Take at least one up-close picture of the surface

Include close-up pictures of details and textures that someone might otherwise miss. This might show the thickness of the paint you apply, or the specific characteristics of the medium you have used. Also, if you’ve had your art copied by us you can crop sections from the image to show some of the finer detail.

Close-up photos allow us to experience the piece up close and personal. We gain an understanding of the texture of the brush stokes, as well as the thickness of the paint. All of this further helps a buyer internalize what this will exactly look like hanging on their wall.

3. Write a description that provides viewers with a clear meaning behind the piece

Every piece of artwork for sale on your site should have a story. Tell the story behind the piece: What inspired you? Where did you create it? What is the subject and why is it important to you? Along with your romantic description, be sure to include dimensions for height, width and depth. Also describe the medium and any important materials used. If it adds value, feel free to provide a brief description of your creation process.

4. Use trust badges

Trust badges relate to the SSL certificate you should have on your site if you are accepting payments. This is so crucial to establishing buyer-trust that without it, you will lose sales. According to a Comodo report from 2014, 79% of shoppers expect to see a trust badge displayed on a website’s homepage.

5. Give buyers a sense of scale by showing the artwork hanging on a wall.

You have to remember that most buyers don’t have a great sense of scale. Which means, when you simply list that your painting is “32×48” it actually doesn’t provide immediate clarity to a potential art buyer. Simply take a photo of the art on a wall in a nice home with some furniture to show scale will work.

If you are a BUY ART NOW artist, our wall preview tool allows your customer to not only change room settings, but also change the wall color. The wall color is another potential objection that the wall preview tool covers. If your customer is wondering whether the colors in your artwork will clash, or mesh well, then this is a point of friction that must be addressed. Learn more about the Wall Preview Tool.

6. Have a “share with a friend” tool

This feature specifically caters to a purchase decision that involves multiple decision makers (i.e. husband and wife). And let’s face it, most art buying decisions involve multiple decision makers.

7. Clearly state your return policy

I’m sure the phrase “return policy” makes you cringe. But keep in mind that returns are actually very rare, and its more about calming the “what if” doomsday scenarios that your buyer might think of. For example, what if the art shows up damaged. Or what if they just flat out change their mind once they see it.

By prominently displaying a return policy it shows that you care, and that you operate like a real business. All of this helps put buyers’ minds at ease.

If your buyers’ mind is not at ease when it comes to a return policy, it is pretty much a guarantee that you won’t make a sale. Yes, it is that serious. 

8. Clearly outline your shipping information

What are the shipping details for your originals? Go beyond prices and timelines for delivery.

Someone buying an original wants to know how you package originals for safe delivery. And what happens if it’s damaged en route? Put their mind at ease and layout every detail of your shipping protocol for original art.

9. Display a prominent phone number for customers to contact you if something goes wrong

Chances are in the age of the internet most people will forgo calling you up to ask you questions. But when you proudly display a phone number, and you make it easy to find, it says something about you and your business. And for the small percentage of people who want to pick up the phone and talk to someone, this is huge.

So display your phone number loud and proud.