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With $64.1 billion in sales in 2019, the art market dropped by 5 percent compared to 2018, as “The Art Market 2020” report by Art Basel and UBS indicates. However, if we split selling offline in the galleries and online using platforms and websites, the picture looks a lot brighter for e-commerce.

According to Statista estimates, the global online art market value in 2019 was $4.8 billion, which is 7.5 percent of the market. And online art sales are forecast to increase to a total of $9.32 billion by 2024.

E-commerce technologies penetrate the art market, making it more accessible and opening doors to new players. Small galleries with turnover under $1 million have already taken 12% of the overall online sales made in 2019.

But the market is a habitat for two creatures: the seller and the buyer. Selling art online has been driven by a new generation of customers: millennials. According to the report, millennials now make up nearly half (49 percent) of all collectors globally. And 92 percent of them buy art and collectibles online.

Due to coronavirus, and the subsequent cancellation of significant offline art events in 2020, the online art market鈥檚 future looks bright and promising. Like in any other niche, the art selling experts say that lockdown presents a great opportunity to start selling online.

Art has always been hard to sell, even though it鈥檚 an essential contributor to our everyday lives and culture. The complexity lies in the variety: each artist is different, their mood is never the same and this translates to their work. The same is true with buyers, who also flow from one mental state to another. A particular piece of art might not match a specific buyer鈥檚 mood. But when the buyer鈥檚 and the seller鈥檚 tastes align, purchasing magic happens.

So is there a way for artists to influence this alchemy?

Yep! Actually, two of them. If you want to sell your artwork, you can:

• follow trends in your field and create what鈥檚 in demand or;
• scale your reach and raise the chances of finding a buyer who likes the same things you do.

That is the central question. Inspiration, education, and beauty itself won鈥檛 pay your bills. If you want to dedicate 100% of your life鈥檚 work to art, it has to feed you.

So, how much can you earn by selling art?

The answer is: as much as the effort you put into it. If you sell only physical art, then you鈥檙e missing a fantastic opportunity offered by the digital world — selling digital products (digital arts or digital copies). If you turn your art into digital products, selling art online might be difficult at first. But in a little while, you will find yourself able to sell the same pieces that you created years ago, without running out of stock. And that鈥檚 the beauty of selling art online.

From $10 to $50,000 per piece — the sky鈥檚 the limit as far as price is concerned. Well, taking into consideration how much your customers are willing to spend, of course.

If you鈥檙e an artist and want to sell your pieces online, you鈥檒l have to think about how best to repurpose your art. There鈥檙e so many ways you can create different products based on a single piece of work.

Imagination knows no boundaries. However, it鈥檚 a good idea to understand market preferences, and offer something that will attract potential buyers. Good demand requires great supply, as they say.

Here are the Top-5 most popular art styles according to Benart art gallery, New York:

• Abstract art
• Impressionism
• Pop art
• Cubism
• Modern art

If we鈥檙e talking about the themes or topics of the art pieces, Art Business News magazine has spotlighted the following:

• Traditional landscapes
• Local views
• Modern or semi-abstract landscapes
• Abstracts
• Dogs

Why do you think it isn鈥檛? Just do your best when, follow your artistic impulses, and work hard to get your piece to the market so people will see it!

Of course, fame and glory don鈥檛 come in a day. But if you keep doing what you like, exploring trends in your field to get inspired, you might just work up to shocking the market with your talent.

Still feeling a little apprehensive about your artistic “worth”? Well, if you submit your work to an offline or online (recommended!) gallery, they will provide an assessment (usually for free). This way, you will know exactly how much your painting is worth. You never know, it might be worth more than you think.

This topic could fill its own guide. But to make a long story short, tangible pieces of art are already copyrighted. Unfortunately, their digital copies are not, unless they have any identification sign (like a watermark) that proves that it鈥檚 a copy of your original artwork.

It means if you didn鈥檛 sign your painting and someone took a picture of it 鈥� you're in a very vulnerable position. But if the painting has your signature, even the photos (images, prints) of it will not be allowed to be sold without your permission.

Another great way to protect your property is to register it! In the US, you can copyright artwork by submitting individual pieces to the Library of Congress Copyright Office. It will create a proof of ownership and entitle you to ask for more money if you need to sue someone for copyright infringement.

Getting started isn鈥檛 easy. There is a long checklist of things to consider. And it will depend on the type of art you create and the materials you use. However, we鈥檝e taken the liberty of outlining some major things to think about to get the ball rolling.

Professional photography. Submitting your art to online galleries or selling them online will require high-quality images of the works in order to faithfully represent what a buyer is purchasing. Writing descriptions. These should be engaging, emotional and tell the story behind the painting so that buyers can emotionally connect with the piece.

Packaging and delivery. If you assume that any delivery service will take good care of your painting, you could be wrong. Do some planning in terms of packaging to make sure your art pieces are safe on their journey to the buyer.

Uploading to market. It will take time to organize your inventory in online galleries or art marketplaces. Budget that time into your planning now, rather than later.

Starting a website. Your art needs a (virtual) home where your fans can find you, connect with you, and, most importantly, buy from you. Try one without commissions. We have some suggestions, below.

You know the phrase: more is more. Try to introduce yourself to as many people as possible through the internet. Expand to all possible channels that your potential customer might visit.

Some ideas:

• The big three: Amazon, eBay, Etsy. Each has a dedicated section for artists.
• FineArtAmerica. One of the largest art marketplaces in the world.
• Saatchi Art. a marketplace with 1.7 million monthly visitors.
• Society6. An awesome place to print your art on things and sell them.
• Art(dot)com. If you can鈥檛 find your category here, you won't find it anywhere.
• Artsy. A massive online gallery for artists from all over the world.

A website is a must-have! Not only because it鈥檚 so easy to create a website (or online store) these days, but because it鈥檚 more convenient for buyers looking for something specific to find you and shop in one place.

Paintings, prints, merchandise — with a website, everything you have to offer can be seen and explored on one storefront without other vendors getting in the way. It鈥檚 just a more friendly and authentic customer experience to have customers shop directly from you, instead of working through a third party interface.

Plus, you have control over the entire website. Colors, typography, layout, galleries, combinations, collections — you can organize everything the way you like it.

You can use your website/online store to sell arts and crafts, and connect your inventory to multiple sales channels: social media, marketplaces, POS, etc.

Your website or online store should reflect your individuality as an artist. A perfect online store to sell art should have:

• Actual inventory. If you don鈥檛 have anything — it鈥檚 time to make something!
• Large images with a zoom-in feature.
• A clean design to keep customers focused on the art.
• Collections to gather different products with common looks or themes.
• Extensive descriptions to tell the story behind each piece.
• Secure checkout to build trust with your customers.
• Comprehensive legal docs (especially on your shipping policy).
• A page with a story about the artist to build an emotional connection with your customers.

No magic. Only classic techniques.

If you sell digital copies of your art, you can skip this question. Your e-commerce platform or marketplace where you list your products will send the buyers links to the copies.

But if you sell physical pieces, make sure to take care of the following:

1. Use wooden crates to ship large unframed pieces or mid-sized framed ones (18"x24").
2. Cover the art with protective material like cardboard, bubble wrap, or cloth to avoid damage.
3. If you ship several flat pieces in a tube, put glassine paper between them and make sure they鈥檙e facing the same direction.
4. If you鈥檙e shipping paintings with glass, tape several strips of painter鈥檚 tape on each in an X-shape and wrap the pieces with a cling film.
5. Use cardboard corner protectors to secure your artwork鈥檚 edges.
6. Wrap up each of the art pieces you ship with two layers of bubble wrap — whether it鈥檚 a single work or several in one crate.
7. Don鈥檛 leave any empty space in the box (or tube, or crate) — fill it completely with bubble wrap, paper, or packing peanuts.
8. Seal your container with heavy-duty, high-quality packaging tape.