how to sell digital art online free shipping

shifacantika8    April 26, 2023    Comment   

Have you ever wondered how to sell digital art online on Etsy? Are you Stuck on how to get started selling art online to make money from home?

I’m here to share with you this post, which will show you how to sell art online on Etsy and other platforms.

In this post, we will talk about why Etsy is an excellent place to start selling art online. How to make money selling digital downloads – and create a passive income from home.

How And Where To Start Selling Your Art: A Guide For Artists

A digital download is where you sell to the buyer a file which they then download at home and print independently from you. You are not responsible for the cost of printing or shipping the item.

For me, I have two shops selling art online on Etsy. In the first shop, I did use a lot of clip art, for which I was able to purchase a license. Allowing me to use that artwork in my own designs and sell them.

My second Etsy shop is solely my own watercolor paintings, which I painted myself and then created digital downloads with them to sell on Etsy. This artwork is Copywrite to me and can not be used by anyone else for resale.

How To Sell Digital Downloads Of Your Artwork... Part 1

There is the upfront work needed to create the download in the first place. You will need to scan your artwork with a scanner and upload it to Etsy in a suitable file format. Allowing the customer to access those files after purchase.

Some customers do run into difficulty with the file delivery, often they are expecting a print in the post, or they just don’t understand the file labels correctly.

Until a few years ago, when selling digital items on Etsy – you needed to store your files off Etsy and direct the buyer to download them. Now Etsy delivers the files for you. So once the payment has been completed, you can sit back while Etsy ensures the files reach your customer.

How To Sell Digital Art Online For Free [guide To Selling Art In 2023]

There are a limited number of files that Etsy will host for you. It’s a total of 5 files with a maximum of 20mb each. It sounds like a lot, but it isn’t if your artwork is large, or has lots of details and necessitates larger files.

I host a couple of my files within a Dropbox file. I deliver the link to Dropbox to the buyer via a PDF they download immediately after purchase.

I scan my artwork into my computer (I use an iMac) using a simple scanner. If you don’t own a scanner or intend to purchase one – I find this scanner works really well for scanning artwork for sale.

Of The Best Digital Products To Sell

I also use Photoshop, which is an Adobe paid app. I like Photoshop better for artwork as it helps maintain details in large prints. Some of my A4 sized prints are printed at A3 size, which means the detail must be concise.

Erank and Marmalead, both paid tools to help you with tags and titles on Etsy. You can pay monthly for both of these and stop them until you have a collection of items to upload and prepare for sale on Etsy.

You can also try newer options with more to offer such as SaleSamuri (get 20% off with code ohshecreate)or EtsyHunt (get 10% off and free access to the pro plan for 3 days) I wrote more about EtsyHunt here.

How To Sell Graphics And Digital Art With Wordpress

When you upload your prints for sale on Etsy – you may also wish to invest in some good mockup artwork to show off your prints. These mockups are vital for making a connection with your buyer and ensure your shop looks professional.

You will need to clean up your artwork in Photoshop and remove the background from your image. This is quite a tricky process, let me know if you need help with this.

As my scanner is only A4 size – then I ensure my artwork is no bigger than this. Which is a little restricting but does make life easier later on, when you have to scan in your piece several times and join them up in Photoshop.

Best Ways To Sell Digital Art Online

So create your art no bigger than your scanner bed size if you are just starting out. Later on, you can use a process to scan larger scale artwork.

Included in the listing is a total of 6 files for my digital prints on Etsy. These cover all the various sizes a buyer might be looking for. Although 6 file sizes may seem like a lot – it does mean fewer requests and fewer questions from buyers.

This, in turn, makes the whole buying experience more streamlined and hands-off, allowing me to get on with making more prints to sell.

D Realistic Online Shopping On Landing Web Page Or Mobile Application Concept Of Vector Digital Marketing Template. Isometric Paper Art For Digital Store Promotion, Payment, Delivery, Big Sale, Ads. 4819731 Vector Art At Vecteezy

Remember, these are digital prints, so it is of little extra cost to you to grant the buyer 6 files instead of 1 specific size. The cost of selling the items is the same for you.

All of my prints are JPG files. I used to use PDFs, but since switching to Jpg, I’ve never been asked for a PDF file, so I know the buyer is happy with Jpg files.

I use my files in a Ratio format. So each file comes in one size, which can be printed at a larger scale while maintaining the same ratio.

D Realistic Online Shopping On Landing Web Page Or Mobile Application Concept Of Vector Digital Marketing Template. Isometric Paper Art For Digital Store Promotion, Payment, Delivery, Big Sale, Ads. 4724823 Vector Art At Vecteezy

A file with a Ratio of 2:3 = the buyer can print that file in any size, within those guides. E.g., 2x3inches up to 20x30inches.

To make this option very clear to the customer – my digital downloads come with a link where they can find more information on which size to use and where to print it.

Following the purchase of a digital product on Etsy, the customer receives an email confirmation from Etsy with a link to download the purchased files. They can also log into their Etsy account and find the files under purchases.

How To Sell Art Online

I store 3 of my files within my personal dropbox storage. The link to these files is included in the PDF, which Etsy sends the customer after purchase. The downside of this is that anyone with that link can download your files.

As I mentioned, I have 6 files to include, so in order to get them uploaded, I compress the smaller files into a ZIP folder.

As we are selling digital, the relisting happens automatically since you do not need to restock or create another item to sell.

How To Sell Art Online And Make Money

If you opt to use Paypal, you will also be charged a percentage fee for the price of each item sold. On physical items, you will also be charged for shipping, but as we are selling purely digital, this is not a factor.

Many of us have had the advantage of being able to create artwork in our spare time. We do it because that’s what we love to do. So the thought of selling it off cheaply time after time is somewhat grating.

Remember, if you can resell the same print over and over again – of course, you are helping more people solve a problem with your artwork.

Free Shipping Fast Moving Shipping Delivery Shopping Cart Line Art Vector Icon For Transportation Apps And

We also want it to appeal to the largest audience possible, so the price point must be a factor in this calculation.

Shops are selling digital prints for 8 or 9 $ each. I find this a little high, as the customer then must factor in the cost of printing the items and the cost of shipping if they have printed using an external company.

Large scale prints can cost upwards of 20-40$, so selling your single print for 6$ over and over again at no extra cost to you seems like a good deal.

How To Sell Art Online? 5 Best Places To Sell Creative Work

What I also do each time if follow up with a message to each buyer suggesting they sign up for my mailing list. This way I can legally contact them again and again later on.

The numbers here can vary vastly from shop to shop. I’ve had good months where I’ve sold 1500$ a month, and very slow months where I made less than 300$ for the month.

If you follow my Etsy boards on Pinterest, I pin helpful inspiring pins that show you just how much your shop can grow.

The Best Places To Sell Design Online

I recently placed my whole shop on 50% off sale and made double what I usually make at full price. This gives me confidence that my items are selling, but can I keep that traction going after I put my products back to full price. – we will see.

Doing a little research into your completion on Etsy is favorable before you put in lots of time creating artwork. Or before buying artwork if you plan on using licensed work to sell.

If you can’t link to the shop you wish to see, it’s helpful to do a separate search on google to find the store on Etsy as I’ve noticed some of the names don’t match up.

How To Sell Art Online In 2023: A Complete Guide

Once you have completed a little research, find those shops, and check out their reviews. Usually, it’s a good indication of which products they are selling the most of.

Search for your main keyword on a broad term. For example – you might search for Blue digital art prints. Some may have the Best Seller badge. You can