Selling Art & Prints Online..?

[ethos]

Any dGers have experience or insight in selling art online as a small artist?

I‘ve looked into it a few times over the last year but haven't made a decision. I've both digital images that could be print-on-demands, but also a handful of physical media like my lenticular prints that I could ship myself. Haven't found a great setup that does both. I know Society6, Redbubble, and Printful all do print-on-demand, though they all feel a bit outdated (maybe that's just me tho). Shopify seems like a good payment platform, and Big Cartel seems like an okay spot if you're not planning on hosting very many works to sell. There's also a few invite-only sites that I've seen, though unsure if I'd be selling enough to go for one of those.

So question before, anyone have any experience or feelings on it?

 

[Andrew]

My current plan is to set up a dG shop via Shopify & use a local printer (same outfit I've used for our posters @ Millennium Strike/related events). My experience with most "set up your own shop, hassle free!" places is that their quality-of-print & payout schemes are both miserable. Inprnt especially delayed paying me so much that I nearly had my water cut off, and that was enough to turn me against those businesses as a whole.

 

[ethos]

My current plan is to set up a dG shop via Shopify & use a local printer (same outfit I've used for our posters @ Millennium Strike/related events). My experience with most "set up your own shop, hassle free!" places is that their quality-of-print & payout schemes are both miserable. Inprnt especially delayed paying me so much that I nearly had my water cut off, and that was enough to turn me against those businesses as a whole.

Love the idea of partnering with a local printer - quality is so important. I hate the idea of not knowing the quality of work someone is getting when they order from me. I know a few screenprinters in Chicago which are great quality, though not for the workflow of convenience ordering. I've made limited edition screen print runs in the past and still have leftover stock that just never sold and eventually my style & audience changed.

Appreciate the insight!!

 

[Andrew]

You’re very welcome! fwiw— my local guys ship. Let me know if you’d be interested and I’ll get you the details.

 

[ethos]

You’re very welcome! fwiw— my local guys ship. Let me know if you’d be interested and I’ll get you the details.

I might do that! Could you talk about your workflow with it - like do you order prints then sell them through an online shop? Or do you make the sale and then order the prints?

 

[Andrew]

I might do that! Could you talk about your workflow with it - like do you order prints then sell them through an online shop? Or do you make the sale and then order the prints?

So currently: I’ll order prints with them that I then take with me to shows n the like and sell there. Ideally I’ll kick things up with Shopify and get my remaining stock listed there. Just due to speed of production (and cost, which is lessened in bulk orders) I think my ideal would be to build stock first. I know that a lot of online clothing brands work by running preorders to determine demand & then placing that order in a month’s time. If these cost as much as clothing to produce I would go for it, but I pay $1.50/poster for a bulk order of 20 right now.

 

[ethos]

So currently: I’ll order prints with them that I then take with me to shows n the like and sell there. Ideally I’ll kick things up with Shopify and get my remaining stock listed there. Just due to speed of production (and cost, which is lessened in bulk orders) I think my ideal would be to build stock first. I know that a lot of online clothing brands work by running preorders to determine demand & then placing that order in a month’s time. If these cost as much as clothing to produce I would go for it, but I pay $1.50/poster for a bulk order of 20 right now.

Yeah as much as I like having a backstock, I always thought not doing pre-orders hurt me with how much leftover I have. Apparel makes sense for it, though $1.50 a poster is a great deal.

I've got a bunch of those 5x5" lenticular prints - I sold a solid handful in-person at shows and some via DMs on social media, though would love to host them. Shopify is probably all that's needed for that.