[ValarianROOT]

What are people's thoughts on selling art on Ebay? Are there any cool groups to join to get your name out?

I've got a friend that makes bank on the ol' 'bay and is encouraging me to start. So, I'd appreciate anyone's feedback on their experience with it.

JMN
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Sleep is for the weak!!!

[[Shizo]]

eBay is just like any other way of selling things. You can be successful in it, or not. You can try to make a business if you can get things for cheap. I mean, if you can steal things and sell them on eBay, you can make a lot of profit.

[Ian Jones]

Do you mean selling prints? What exactly are you selling?

I'm currently setting up an online shop, a really simple system with paypal. This allows me greater control than eBay, but without the larger market and search function which could bring customers. I'm selling very specific stuff anyway, so I target directly to the customers themselves. Anyway, I'm just letting you know there is a self managed alternative, which may or may not suit your needs.

[Gort]

About a year ago there was a article in the local paper about an artist that was doing just that - selling his paintings (not prints) on ebay, and he was doing very, very well at it. He would crank out these paintings in his studio, post them on his ebay store, sell and then ship them out. His style was more fine art (still lifes, landscapes).

I personally think this is a great idea, regardless of the style of painting or subject matter, because it frees the artist from the gallery; galleries are notorious for taking big hunks out of profits. Don't misunderstand me -I am not "anti-gallery", as some do good things I suppose, but anything that empowers artists (all types) to retain more revenue for their efforts is ok by me. I'd like to see more artists out there on ebay.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[DaveyJJ]

I agree with Tom. The high end galleries typically, in my the city I grew up near (Toronto, Ontario), take 50% of the price of your work. They frequently try to lock you into an exclusivity contract (good or bad depends on the artist's own views), and the politics between the gallery owners is something you have to see to believe.

If you can get your stuff out on eBay, directing users there from your own online site, then I'd say do it. Also, there are so many open source and inexpensive solutions to selling these days (Flash-based PayPal carts for your site, OSCOmmerce etc) I'd say go for it.

Like Tom, I'm not anti-gallery ... just wish that artists could earn more of their share of their own work and creativity.
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DaveyJJ <-- WidgetMonkey

[Naeem]

http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/ does it. he makes a 'painting a day' , posts it online, publicizes it, and sells it off. He's been doing it for almost two years now, and is very successful.
What he does is, he starts the bid at $100, and sometimes it reaches $300, which is pretty impressive. He takes about 1-2 hours a day doing these paintings.
He has some painting vids up there in his blog. GOod guy too. Answers any questions you have if you email him .
All it takes is time, and maybe a bit of money to get you some publicity on ebay .
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http://www.annisnaeem.blogspot.com/