Makers of fine art

Makers of fine art most likely have space in a gallery — or a website — where consumers can buy original pieces.

However, you can also turn to online galleries to sell your art. And, if you’re a painter, you can make money by selling prints of your originals, too. Better yet, you won’t have to do the work of transferring the images. A wide array of so-called “print-on-demand” operations will do that for you, paying you a royalty each time your art sells.

All of these options can bring in additional cash without additional work, leaving you free to create new pieces and prove that the old adage about “starving artists” is passe.

Money-Making websites for makers of fine art

SaatchiArt is an international art dealer that invites artists to sell originals through the site. The art can consist of paintings, photographs, sculpture, mixed media — pretty much anything. You price your art and upload photos of it. The site helps market it through its website, social media, featured stories, and advertisements. When an item sells, you pack it up for shipping and Saatchi will send a courier to pick it up. The buyer pays for shipping. You pay a 35% commission to Saatchi on each sale. Learn more about Saatchi here.

TurningArt works with corporate clients that want to rent or buy artwork to adorn the walls of their office buildings. The site has a wide variety of ways artists can make money, ranging from selling original paintings or photographs to “leasing” your art for temporary use. The artist sets the price of originals, and pays a 40% commission to the site when they sell. However, if TurningArt sells or leases prints or giclees, the prices are up to the platform. You get between 20% and 40% of the revenue from any of these transactions. Learn more about TurningArt here.

Print-on-demand

FineArtAmerica is one of the oldest and largest print-on-demand operations in the U.S. With most products, FineArtAmerica sets a base price that represents the cost for the site to produce and ship the product to the customer. The artists adds their mark-up to come up with a final price. The site suggests standard — and relatively modest — mark-ups. For instance, it suggests you set your mark up at $10 for a 36″ x 27″ print, which will sell for $208. If you, instead, want to earn $50 on that sale, the print will cost $248. However, the site also licenses art and makes it available for digital streaming. Learn more about FineArtAmerica here

Society6 generally sets the royalty rate for you. The one exception is with prints. If you’re selling a print, the site will tell you its cost for each size and you add whatever royalty rate you want to come up with a final price. With the other products, Society6 simply pays you 10% of the sales price. Learn more about Society6 here.

Redbubble puts your art on t-shirts, hoodies, notebooks, stickers and posters — and a wide array of other products. However, where Society6 sets a price per product and tells you how much you’ll make on each, Redbubble has a dynamic pricing formula where you can set your own margin. For instance, if a t-shirt’s base price is $18.50, you can add a $10 mark-up and the site will sell it for $28.50. Or, you could decide to accept a lower mark-up to sell at a lower price. Learn more about RedBubble here.