Selling And Trading Artist Trading Cards
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You Have Made An Artist Trading Card, Can You Sell It?
The history of this art format started with ATC's ( Art Trading Cards) and many purists still feel that selling them is heresy.
However, it happens - and I have to say that I have sold a fair few myself , as well as trading several hundred over the internet. So lets see what can be said about this topic.
first make them, then sell them - seems easy, doesn't it? But selling art is not something that happens on its own. Yes, sometimes you can be lucky and find the right buyer but more often it can be a bit of a slog. Many artists selling aceo's are what are called self-representing artists, that is they do not sell through a third party, such as a a gallery; so they have to find their own buyers. This is where Ebay and other big players come in, the artist can offer their work for sale in an environment which caters for buyers and puts the two together. Of course Ebay is not the only player, increasingly many other auction sites or art sites provide a similar function.
So first of all where are all these sites and what are the alternatives for an increasing number of artists turning out these cards.
Secondly, lets look at the special difficulties of selling on-line. And of course these same principles will be of interest to the buyers, what should they look out for when buying on-line.
If one of the alternatives to selling on-line is selected, how should the artist go about marketing his products.
This will be a tall order and I may not be able to live up to the challenge, but I will certainly make a good effort. I will be publishing this Lens as a work in progress so please bear with me BUT if you would like to contribute any polite suggestions then leave a message on my guestbook and I will get back to you. I would welcome any comments at all.
an aceo showing Glastonbury Tor from the marshes
On-line auction sites
What are the alternatives
You can read reviews of auction sites
- Ebay
- The first and original auction site
- Ebay UK
- THe UK's own version, still very closely linked but there are now some major differences with the .com site. Most worrying for many UK sellers is that listings are no longer automatically seen on .com. The buyer has to search worldwide.
- Ebid USA
- This site has many supporters, there are a number of national sites, e.g. see below
- Ebid UK
- This site has many supporters
Examples Of ACEO art cards On Ebay
Can You Do Better?
Here are some examples of what is on offer from various artists on Ebay
More Alternative choices
- Yessy
- Not too many original ACEO's on here the last time I looked but many artists offer prints of their work in various sizes including the ACEO format.
- Etsy
- Has become a great site for handmade craft and art items. You will find many ACEO cards for sale here. A favourite with craft workers.
- Art Fire
- Another well recommended site, again I have little personal experience but claims to be the premier artisan marketplace.
- Art Cards Wanted
- A different site since this offers to produce copies of artists work in short runs, whilst selling to buyers.
- Appee - online shop
- Not strictly for art but is a 'free' on-line shop with many features. I have no knowledge of its facilities/costs
- Cafe Press
- Sell your designs rather than your art work. This site offers buyers a number of items with your designs printed on them, from clothes, small gifts to cards and stationery.this is known as Print On Demand or POD.
- Zazzle
- This site also offers to sell your own images on everyday items and gifts on the Print On Demand basis. I have recently opened a Zazzle store and am commenting on my experience there in a new lens, My First Steps On Zazzle.
After opening the store with just a few designs, I made a couple of sales but this has not yet worked for me. Successful stores have many hundreds of products (i.e.using the same designs in different ways) so far I have only posted approximately 100 products to try the water. May not be enough! - Bonanza
- This is another auction site, which does not charge until an item is sold. I am currently looking into this but have heard some good things about it. I have posted some of my artwork in what they call a booth, I will let you know my experiences in due course.
Early days are not proving very successful, maybe I need to work harder on promotion. It is an easy site to use and free to post items for sale. - ArtByUs
- Another art sales site. It does cater for all formats and styles of art but does seem to have a good backing from the site itself and a good associated community. Again I have to say I have no personal experience of this site but after browsing through its pages. It is one that I will be trying out in the very near future.
Selling Art On-Line
What Should You Know - And Do?
My apologies this module is still under construction.I will be talking about how to increase your chances of selling your art on-line,
Emptyeasel.com gives simple tips for increasing the chance of a sale; including a good description and here I would suggest that the image you are displaying is very important. Blogging, advertising and using social networks are important to get potential buyers to your picture and don't expect immediate results, give it time.
Emptyeasle.com also has tips on where to sell art on-line but this will be targeted at larger art works rather than the small format ACEO's I am covering here.
Other sites giving tips and help for selling art on-line are:-
ArtBusiness.com
Imagekind.com
Ezinearticles.com
and here on Squidooo
Tips for selling your art
and Selling ACEO's
Many of these tilps will be suitable for all artists and all art forms, however I intend to distill the advice that is available for artist specifically interested in selling ACEO art cards. I believe that there will be a core of the advice which will be particularly relevant in this situation.
Examples Of My ACEO's
A SHort Show-reel On You Tube
Selling Artist Trading Cards Through A Craft / Art Shop
A Bricks and Mortar Outlet for Selling Art
Recently I was asked by a good friend to let her have a consignment of artist trading cards, painted in watercolour, for sale at a new art gallery which she was opening named Fairwinds Studio . Although it seems to be attracting the crowds in the mall, Market Place Of The Americas, and making some sales my artist trading cards do not seem to be selling. A couple sold but despite drawing lots of attention, the buyers do not sem to know what to do with them. A new display has offered a number of ways of showing off these so I am waiting patiently to se how it works.On this experience it would seem that they are too new for people to really accept them, or maybe my paintings are not appreciated. But collectors do buy over the internet, sooner or later a market will develop in galleries.
But this should not stop you from trying to arrange with a gallery owner to put a few on display. If you have other formats this would make it easier perhaps to show off yourself as an artist. The usual way is to forward the works of art on consignment. I.e sale or return. Standard forms are available on the internet if the gallery does not have its own contracts. Further reading:-
Selling art by consignment
Art Market Advice, Should I Consign Or Sell
Selling wholesale, part 1
Selling wholesale, part 2
Selling Artist Trading Cards At Craft Fairs
A Little Extra Help From Amazon
Trading Artist Trading Cards
The original idea of this lens was to focus on selling art cards but I am intending to add info on trading ATC's. This will be included in a future update. I have no date for this but will try not to leave it too long. If you need advice on this topic please leave a comment below.
My Series Of Lenses Featuring Artist Trading Cards
Others in this series and related lenses are:-
Do You Know Of More On-line Outlets For Art
I Would Love To Know
As I said I am publishing this as a work in progress, It has been sitting around for far too long. I know there are many more auction sites and other alternatives, many specifically for art but I am hoping to experience them for myself before adding them. If you have any suggestions for inclusion I would love to hear about them. Personal recommendation is a great thing.
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lynda1814
Mar 5, 2012 @ 4:10 pm | delete
- You could also try www.folksy.com, there are plenty of ACEO's on there but not many as good as yours! x
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Warrenpeace21 Apr 10, 2011 @ 7:39 am | delete
- This is a great lens. Thank you so much for all the interesting information. This is a wonderful hobby, which I plan to pursue. All the best
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sorana
Feb 12, 2011 @ 7:54 pm | delete
- Very interesting lens. I am not an artist so I don't make art cards but I love them.
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artyfax Oct 21, 2010 @ 3:53 pm | delete
- thanks for your comment, I love the small format for some things, mainly sketchy, impressionistic landscapes but as you say some artists do quite incredibly detailed art cards
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WildFacesGallery
Oct 21, 2010 @ 7:10 am | delete
- I've done only a couple of aceo and they were reproductions off my originals, but I had really good luck with them on ebay. But it's been a few years since I've done any. Too small a format. :) I'm amazed at how detailed some artists can make these tiny artwork jewels.
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Who Is Artyfax?
by artyfax
I am a largely self-taught artist with a long time interest in the creative arts. After school I studied metallurgy and achieved two higher degrees in... more »
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