Top Tips For Successful Art Auction Listings

Great article i found on http://www.theartrepreneur.com

Make your art auctions stand out and promote your art.

Why is it that some artists seem to make easy money on eBay while others struggle to break even? Seller A and seller B could be selling paintings of the same caliber, yet seller A turns a good profit year in year out and has Powerseller status, while seller B struggles to even make a profit at all. Often it has a lot to do with the look of their auction listings.

I didn't know anything about HTML, templates, how and when to list to get optimum benefit from my auctions. It's a wonder I even got off the ground! But get off the ground I did - though dogged persistence and a willingness to learn, I went from selling paintings for a couple of pounds/dollars, to earning a good full time living. These days I am a Powerseller and often get hundreds for my paintings.

So, here are my top tips to make your art auctions stand out and promote you from part - time pin money earner to top seller;

1. Think about KISS .... Keep It Simple Stupid! A listing that has lots of different colors, fonts, animated pictures, text in capitals can be very confusing for the reader. Don't bombard people with too much information.

2. Be factual in your description. If your item has a fault - list it. This way a buyer knows exactly what he/she is getting and there will be no negative feedback later. I have sold paintings that had repairs where they had had small rips in them. I was honest in the fact that the paintings weren't perfect, but my buyers were perfectly happy because they knew beforehand what they were buying.

3. Never be negative. Recently one artist who was struggling to sell anything at all (despite being a very good artist) complained how eBay just wasn't working for him. After looking at his auctions I could see why! His listings were basic to say the least, but he could have gotten away with that. What was stopping any chance of him selling were the words at the end of his auction;

"The artist is unwilling to offer this item at a lower starting price as to do so would be insulting."

Potential buyers might look at this statement and think "well I wouldn't want to insult anyone" or "well if you feel insulted, why list it?" and click away ... to someone else's paintings. Comments like this are far too negative.

4. When selling art, a picture paints a thousand words, as the saying goes. Try to make your pictures as high quality as possible. Include side views of your canvasses and possibly a room view. Don't clutter your listing with pictures of other artwork you have for sale - it's just confusing. If you have an eBay store, you will get automatic 'cross promotion' for several other items at the end of your auction anyway.

5. Don't undersell yourself / under price your work. Who takes 5 to 10 pounds / dollars as an opening bid price seriously? Only very well known, well established artists with large fan bases can get away with starting a listing so low. Until you are established, don't risk selling your art for pennies. You'll not even cover your listing fees, never mind make a profit.

6. Utilize keywords effectively. I saw a pencil drawing of a mum and baby Koala in a tree listed as "A mother's Love Original Pencil Drawing" Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that anyone will search "a", "mothers", or "love". Well maybe love .... but not in the context of an original drawing of an animal. The seller was wasting a lot of keyword space there. Better would have been something like "Original Contemporary Drawing Sketch Koala Bear Bears" Doesn't mean much as a sentence in itself, but it is packed with keywords, people might use to find that type of item.

7. Offer excellent customer service. I have always prided myself on the number of positive feedbacks I have attained over the years. On various eBay IDs I have well over 1000 unique positive feedbacks. This is money in the bank! A happy customer will come back again and again, and it is much easier to sell to an existing customer than to gain a new one. Keep your buyers happy and they will reward you with loyalty and repeat purchases.

8. Have a 'ME' page. With art buying, people like to know who they are buying from. They like to 'get to know' the artist. If you can offer a small biography and artists statement on your me page, your potential buyer can feel like they already know you. I have a bio, a photo of myself with my artwork and a recent article that appeared in a regional arts and culture magazine. This allows buyers to see a friendly face - yours - and to feel like they know a little about you and 'where you're at' before they buy.

by Gail Miller

Article Source: http://www.theartrepreneur.com

How To Sell Art on the Internet?

Whether you are an artist, a gallery or a dealer, World Wide Web should be playing an important role in your sales and marketing. With a half a billion Internet users, if you are not using the Internet to reach current and future buyers, you are missing out.

As an online leader in gallery-quality modern and contemporary art, here are some of our recommendations that should assist you achieve a wider-than-real audience and incremental sales of your artworks, whether paintings, graphic prints, photographs or sculptures:

Get Online

It is pertinent that you do not miss this opportunity; so take advantage of the vast Internet user base. Remember that there is more to a Website than simply building it. Often a Website can simply be like a store in the middle of the desert - nobody enters! If you are building your own Website, remember to reserve a large budget to market it. If you decide to use an Online Arts company, get a sense of their monthly visitors.

Once you, as an artist or as a dealer, get Online, promote your online exhibition, just as you would your gallery exhibition - use your Website address on your business cards and promotion materials, in press interviews and everywhere else you can.

Images and Information

Clear images and adequate information are two key factors in achieving both sales and new admirers of your work. Internet implies that someone is seeing your work on a computer monitor. You need to make sure that they are getting as-realistic-as-possible image of your work. If you are not a great photographer, use a professional one; even one new sale will make it all worth it.

Gain Buyers Confidence

It is important that once you are online, your exhibition enables art lovers

and collectors to make purchases in a safe and secure environment. Remember knowledgeable and prompt customer care, by Internet, telephone and facsimile, is particularly important in Internet-based sales, as is secure payment options.

"Kusum Reading" by George Keyt
Sri Lanka

Source: http://www.picassomio.com/help/sell-art/en/

Artist’s Guide to Oil Painting Brushes

Paintbrush Types You’ll Need

In the image below, you can see several common types of artist’s paintbrushes: Round, Flat, Bright, Filbert, Fan, Angle, Mop, and Rigger. Besides the differences in shape, some brushes use synthetic fibers, some use natural hair, and some paintbrushes have a blend of both.Which brushes should I buy?

Some advices:
- If you want to be an oil painter, you really only need two types of brushes in a few different sizes. Obviously, there’s nothing stopping you from buying sets of brushes, and you might even find use for each of them occasionally—but you don’t HAVE to have them, and anyone who tells you different is probably just trying to make a buck.
- Sticking with the basics: Flats and Filberts. Flat brushes will give you sharper edges when you paint, while Filberts will create softer more rounded strokes because of their shape.
- If you’re going to create paintings bigger than 18 by 24 inches, you should get a large paintbrush to speed up your painting process. Buying just those seven paintbrushes will cost you enough as it is, but if you’re bound and determined to get more, you might like having a Rigger or small Round to sign your paintings with.
- When it comes to synthetic versus natural, oil painting requires natural hogs hair brushes. Synthetic fibers are great for watercolor or inking, and can be used with acrylics occasionally, but they just aren’t tough enough to handle oil paint.
- The average arts and crafts store might not have the best brushes (or paints for that matter) if you’re planning on using oils. Go to an established painting supply store or order online from places like Dick Blick or Utrecht.

Visit this link and learn more -
http://emptyeasel.com/2007/03/02/an-artist%e2%80%99s-guide-to-oil-painting-brushes-and-the-paintbrush-types-youll-need/

Source: http://emptyeasel.com

Look after your Paintings

How to Care for your Piece of Art?

I found this cool link which shows how to care for your paintings (our souls) - http://www.thavibu.com/articles/ATC35.htm

Also you can learn on conservation by media such as oil paintings on canvas, acrylic paintings on canvas, lacquer paintings on canvas and works on paper.

How to Approach an Art Gallery with Your Paintings

Tips for artists on approaching an art gallery to represent their work.

Putting your work in a gallery is definitely a way to get recognized and build relationships with people, however, there are restrictions and other ways to get recognized.

How Do I Approach a Gallery?
There are two opinions on this: either go in cold, in person, with some photos of your paintings on your, or phone beforehand to set up an appointment. Another option would be to send an email asking to set up an appointment with some small photos of your work attached or a link to your website (though doing this relies on your email being enticing enough for the person to click onto your website).

The best approach is the ‘old-fashioned way’, that's to say: door to door selling. You must be aggressive like the old insurance guys used to be, in other words, make a nuisance of yourself. First photograph the best works that you have done, then print them out on good paper on a good computer (go to Walmart if you don’t have a good computer, and use their ‘Do-it-yourself’ enlarging machine, you can insert the memory stick directly into the machine to get great quality prints).That's assuming you have a digital camera (who doesn't these days?) Put them into a nice looking (leather if possible) binder. 8 x 10 inch photos would be best. Then make a list of local galleries, and find out who the head honcho is in each one, and make an appointment with them to review your portfolio. Don't deal with the underlings, they love to make you sweat, as they try to make themselves look important. Dress the part also, they love their artists to ‘look the part’, so dress flamboyant Above all, be confident, and talk up a good sales pitch, because you are the ‘product’ that you have to sell!

Comments:

“I was talking to a gallery staff and I asked her ‘What is the proper way to approach a gallery owner?’ She advised me to never just walk in with my work and said that I should call and ask if the owner would be interested in seeing my work. Then it would be proper to set up a time at both parties convenience. She said approaching a gallery by just walking in is very unprofessional. You would be assuming that the gallery owner has nothing better to do. The gallery owner may be in the middle of a sale.” – Brian

“It is very intimidating to go into a big deal gallery and ask for representation. If you are turned down, you are not likely to go back and try again. If you can participate in some local shows for a few years or less, you can build up credibility, you can be selling directly, and you'll get exposure -- not to mention valuable feedback. You are more likely to be approached by a gallery during a show. And you can work that show by placing a tasteful sign ‘looking for representation’ in your booth. Do an arts festival search in your area and fill out applications, it's easy. Once you are in enough shows, or in any gallery, you can then approach the galleries of your choice with that history in your favor.” – Jennifer

Why Online Art Shopping?

OverstockArt.com recently held a survey and asked online shoppers what influences them to buy art online

Short sample of the various answers are as follows;

• Price and ease of seeing what I was ordering. Putting the frame on the picture and seeing them together made the difference from other sites.
• apparent quality of product and guarantee
• Price, quality and variety all in one place.
• The quality and price of the art
  packaged properly–put together well if framed–fast service–good return policy
• convenience and selection is greater
• It looked beautiful and seemed easy to purchase.
• Convenience, price, quality.
• The only one I know that provides replica of famous painters.
• Good value and selection.
• lack of availability/selection in local stores
• Not easy to find what I was looking for from local retailers. Also saves a lot of time.
• the reviews
• Accessibility and price
• I was looking for Mediterranean scenes and you have a good selection but would like to see more.
• Convenience in shopping, selecting, and time.
• quality and reasonable pricing
• The cost was reasonable. I was able to see what I was ordering by attaching the frame and selecting my wall colors. I knew I could return it if it was not what I expected.
• larger selection, convenience, competitive price
• Choices of frames and the quality of the pictures.
• SAFE, QUALITY, FEED BACK, REPUTATION, RETURN POLICY, BENI. IE. FREE SHIPPING.
• Price, selection, and quality
• I could not find the print I was looking for elsewhere in a store.
• I hate shopping and was not sure anything in my price range was available locally. Time was also a factor–I did not have time to look around at many different places.
• Painting selections
• quality and price
• Variety, range of price points…
• Quality, price, free shipping.
• I normally would not, but I liked the print I bought from Sam’s that you direct shipped to me.
• Huge selection
• Convenience and choice.
• PRICE!!!!!!!!!!

and more....

Famous Online Art/ Painting Galleries

There are many interesting art and paintings available on web. Some of these galleries are home to many of the World's largest collection of modern & modern artworks.

These are some of the site I found out which do great job with artists as well as art lovers;

www.gallery-worldwide.com

www.redraggallery.co.uk

www.overstockart.com

www.oilpaintingsgallery.com

Any other nice online art & paintings galleries you know?