Creating art is a delight, but selling your art prints pays the bills. So there is no surprise that many emerging artists struggle financially initially as they don’t know how to sell aggressively.
If you have just started your art business, this article will help you understand where to find potential buyers for your original artwork and how to sell your art offline.
What Is the Best Way to Sell Artwork?
The best way to sell artwork depends on the type of artwork you do, the potential buyers you want to target, and the goals of your art business. Successful artists sell their work on both online and offline places to maximize their art sales.
To start selling offline, you should look for fairs, coffee shops, museums, online auctions, online galleries, and online marketplaces are good places to begin selling online.
How to Sell Your Art Offline
By selling your artwork offline, you can reap multiple benefits, including bigger exposure, personal interactions with potential buyers, better pricing, etc. This is why many artists prefer to sell their original artworks offline.
Here are some tips to become successful in offline selling:
- Determine the right venue that suits the type of artwork you create and the audience you target. For some artists, art fairs work. And others find success in brick-and-mortar art galleries.
- Present your artwork professionally with appropriate lighting, signage, and labels to help potential buyers understand and appreciate your art.
- Offer discounts to incentivize sales.
- Provide additional value to buyers, such as giving a handwritten note along with your artwork.
Last but not least, you should engage with your audience enthusiastically. Artists who sell most in offline places are often friendly, approachable, and prepared to answer questions regarding their artworks.
Best Places to Sell Art Offline
The following places will help you connect to potential buyers and get a better selling price for your original art:
1. Art Fairs
Art fairs are excellent places to sell your art. This is because a diverse audience visits fairs, including art enthusiasts, art collectors, interior designers, and people who want to buy artwork for their homes.
Making your booth visually appealing, showcasing diverse artworks, and engaging amicably with potential buyers can maximize your success at fairs.
2. Brick and Mortar Galleries
Brick-and-mortar galleries earn a good reputation with art lovers, curators, and collectors. Moreover, leading art galleries also promote exhibition dates and participating artists.
So showcasing your artwork in a leading brick-and-mortar gallery can help you grow the exposure of your work and increase sales.
3. Coffee Shops
Coffee shops are also a good place to exhibit your artwork. The relaxed atmosphere of coffee shops encourages people to feel comfortable and inclined to engage with paintings. This is why coffee shops are becoming popular places to sell artwork.
And the best part is you can showcase your art in coffee shops affordably.
4. Restaurants
If you display your art in good restaurants, hundreds of people will look at your paintings monthly. This will increase the chances of your artwork getting sold.
Besides, you won’t have to pay a considerable fee to showcase your art in restaurants. Restaurants often allow artists to exhibit their artworks in exchange for a small commission on selling paintings.
5. Pop-up Shops
A pop-up shop is a temporary retail shop that you set up for a short period in high-traffic areas such as shopping malls/centers.
Low overhead costs, flexible location and duration, and direct interaction with potential buyers make pop-up shows an excellent way to sell paintings and grow your art sales.
6. Craft Markets
Craft markets are the ultimate destinations for art and craft lovers, and these folks visit these places to buy art and craft items. Showcasing your paintings in leading craft markets will build your brand and increase your sales.
7. Art Museums
You can sell your artwork to museums. Arts museums often showcase collections of artwork for the public. However, museums usually buy paintings of well-known artists. So it would help if you first made a name for yourself. Then, contact any museum to know if it is interested in buying your paintings.
8. Art Auctions
Art auctions cater to art lovers who are interested in buying art. So participating in art auctions is an excellent strategy to sell your paintings.
Like art museums, art auctions also include artworks of leading artists. So you should approach art auctions after earning a name for yourself.
9. Local Small Town Holiday Events
If your town happens to have holiday events or bazaars, you can leverage these events to sell your art. Contact the local chamber of commerce in your area to know about future holiday events in your locality.
You should showcase your low-priced paintings at these events as inexpensive items sell well during these events.
10. Interior Designers
Interior designers work with diverse clients, and the high chances are some clients are searching for good art pieces to decorate their homes or offices. As a result, reaching out to interior designers can be an excellent strategy to increase your art sales.
How Do You Price Your Artwork to Sell?
When pricing your artwork, you should consider the cost of art materials, the size and complexity of your artwork, the time spent to produce artwork, and your brand value. Also, you should research how much other artists charge for similar work to determine the ideal price for your work.
Pricing your artwork can be tricky. So you should make sure that you balance pricing your artwork reasonably and making it accessible to your potential buyers.
How Is Selling Art Online Different From Selling Art Offline?
Selling online is different from selling art offline in many ways. And the biggest differentiator is reach. You can reach a broad audience globally when you sell your art online. You can target potential buyers on social media, online marketplaces, art galleries, and other places. On the other hand, offline places like fairs or pop-up shops have limited exposure.
Is Selling Art a Profitable Business?
Yes, selling art can be profitable if you have a passion for creating original art and the ability to market your work.
You should sell your work online and offline to make your art business successful. Doing so will help you reach a broad audience. Also, you should work on your brand to create to build credibility and enhance visibility.
Read More:
- How to Sell on Redbubble
- How to Make Money as an Artist
- How to Sell an NFT
- 25 Places to Sell Handmade Crafts Online
- Where to Sell Art Online – 24 Great Spots
- The Best App to Sell Stuff Locally
Image: Envato Elements
