Selling artwork?

[catmom]

Hey all… hope everyone is doing well!
I am an artist and love collecting old prints and paintings. I always pick up artwork at estate sales with the intention to clean them up and resell. Unfortunately i’ve been having trouble selling old paintings.

Does anyone here have any luck selling artwork? Is there just no market for lovely old oils of flowers, landscapes and sculptures?

Any strategies for selling artwork? Maybe I need to stop picking them up? thoughts?

Thanks! Liz

 

[Jay]

Unsigned art is some of our favorite stuff to find and sell. Some pieces we like so much that we hang them in our rentals for others to enjoy while the pieces are listed for sale.

But it is tricky because there is a lot of really bad amateur art. Uninspiring topics, poorly executed techniques, and unpopular styles.

It’s the same as selling coffee mugs and trucker hats. They are so plentiful, easy to find and cheap to buy….but you have to have the eye to choose the ones people will want.

[debitendcredits]

But… never forgot that other peoples taste may be wildly different than your own….

[debitendcredits]

It can take years for the right person to come across your listing.
Since 2019, I’ve sold about 26 paintings for a total $1,500.00 net profit.

The average sale price is $60.00.
For paintings that sold, the average time in the store was 194 days.

Some paintings sell within 24 hours, and the longest I have held on to one is 1048 days.

Here is a link to some of my listings for paintings. As my descriptive skills are terrible, I tend to let the photos speak for itself. However, if you are good at writing copy, you should probably add more descriptions to your listings.

[Zach]

Unless the artist is at least somewhat well-known, it is really tough to sell. I usually don’t even pick up unsigned work (usually, the artist didn’t sign it for a reason). You have to be willing to wait a long time (often years) to find the one buyer who 1) likes the painting 2) finds the painting online among thousands of others 3) has the funds to purchase it 4) has a place to put it.

Can you believe no one has picked up this unsigned gem I found, even after 5 years?

Scary Outsider Art Painting of Demonic Girl -31.5 x 25.5″ | eBay

[Ryanne]

that is an amazing painting, i’d put make offer on that one though, it’s rad, but it’s like freshman year art school goth piece, if someone offered $100, that would be amazing.

i don’t think art needs to be signed, but it does need to have some kind of redeeming qualities to get someone’s attention. we have lots of art that is not my style at all, in fact if it was my style i would keep it and use it in our rentals or at our house. but everything else gets listed and it it must have something that you see as being cool.

[catmom]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the responses! I had responded yesterday but for some reason my posting disappeared?! anyways… Ryanne, Jay and Debit… great advice and I will def. review my listings and add more descriptives and adjust my prices.

Zach… that painting is totally creepy!

Thanks for the responses everyone! Hopefully this reply gets posted. Have a great day! Liz

 

 

[debitendcredits]

You may also want to reference Carnival of Souls. Subject looks a bit inspired by this image:

https://imgur.com/a/DBsCWqf

[Zach]

The person I bought it from said it was a high school painting made by her friend after a bad breakup. The face in the girl’s mouth was supposed to be the ex-boyfriend.

Goth. That’s a great descriptive word. Thanks. Maybe someone will find it with that word in the tile.

[Ryanne]

Goth, Angst, Breakup. those might be good keywords!

[debitendcredits]

Haunted Goth Girl Emerging From her own Mouth against Necronomicon Swirl Spiral –

Put the dimensions in the item specifics, not the title.

You need to hit as many keywords as possible.  That is a great piece someone will purchase it.

[BigSally]

I agree with all the feedback Catmom, I have over 200 pieces of art in my 800 item store. Within this art category some are signed numbered prints, paintings, photos, posters, maps. Storage is a huge consideration. Climate controlled and plentiful to store framed art, prints etc. –  I agree patience is a must. So far this year art is about 25% of my sales. I hope to be over 50% art related in the store someday….  Glass or bronze sculptures sell well. Flat prints are easy to store and can be shipped rolled – I love art !

https://www.ebay.com/str/sallysuniverse?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=4cZjHYslRdC&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=4cZjHYslRdC&store_cat=35435737012&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

 

[debitendcredits]

Great store!

[BigSally]

Thanks! ….made possible by Scavenger Life….woot woot!

[Steven S]

I’ve also dabbled in the art department, i pick up items that appeal to me or at times were part of a larger buy. It seems that if you’ve properly described it you just need patience waiting for your buyer.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dmd=2&_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_ssn=steven81458&store_cat=8843877010&store_name=vintagevariety5anddime&_oac=1

[debitendcredits]

How long have you had the Owl on sale?  I think you are way under valued.  If you don’t mind holding for a while, I’ll be you could get at least $100.00 for it.

[Steven S]

Its been listed for almost a year, I thought it was pretty nice but no action on it at all.

[Antique Frog]

Think this has come up before, but unless the original artist or purchaser sprung out for some form of archival framing, the framer will have messed things up where it’s not visible. For example, backing the paper-based art with hardboard or cardboard, using painter’s masking tape to hold the artwork, using cheap board to make the mount so that the artwork gets acid burn, gluing the artwork down to wrapping paper. Then the dunderhead will put a label on the back advertising their framing business.

A big New York-based antique print dealer (can’t remember the name) won’t touch framed prints at all.

[Author]

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