Trying Something New
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
If you've been following my blog, you know I have art available at a variety of on-line locations: Bonanza, Etsy, eBay, ArtFire, CafePress & Zazzle. I'm still trying to figure out the best combination of traffic and expense that will continue to result in (and boost!) sales - it's complicated and there are an overwhelming number of options. As I mentioned a few posts back, I'm closing my eBay store and moving that art over to Bonanzle, so that's one decision I've made in this process.
At the moment, I'm not as focused on bringing in pet portrait commissions, as I have a backlog I'd like to conquer, but while I'm working on those, it would be nice for art that's already available to sell and bring in money to buy paint and brushes (and dog food and hay and to pay my ISP, etc.)!
Well, now I'm adding another tool to my arsenal. PayPal has made it quite easy to create "Buy Now" buttons to be put on web sites, blogs, etc. I've already set up a little store on my web site with lots of "Add to Cart" buttons, but this is geared toward the sale of a single specific item. I'm not going to inundate the blog with items for sale, but when I have a new piece of art, I now have the option to offer it for direct purchase here.
So, here's my first test. A painting I call "Julep" - I was searching for a name and the minty green shade of the pup inspired my husband to say "Mint Julep?". This painting of a Jack Russell terrier was one of my first watercolor on Yupo paintings (there's a bit of color pencil on it too). It's also one of my favorites and I use the image frequently in my marketing materials. It IS for sale though, and has been since I created it. I'm not sure why it hasn't sold, but I wish it would - I'd love to see it find a great home. Yes, much like real critters, artists feel a connection to our works and hope they will end up in places where they will be cherished.
The art measures 4" x 4" and it's already framed to 8" x 10" - with a white mat in a matte (frosted) silver metal frame. The second image shows the proportions of the mat/frame. It's $95 plus $9 for postage/handling and insurance. Add in sales tax of 8.25% if you're in California. I'll mail it USPS Priority. For now, this painting is only available to US buyers through the Buy Now button, but if you're from another country and are interested in "Julep", please don't hesitate to contact me.
Nov. 2012 NOTE - This painting has sold. To see other available works, please visit my "Available Art" album on Facebook.
6 comments:
Looks wonderful Ann! The very best of luck with your blog sales.
~Mel
Hi Ann! I bequeathed a blogging award to you. Stop by my blog to pick it up. :)
~Mel
Julep is adorable! You have so many sales venues! I haven't had much luck with Bonanzle, so I was actually thinking of opening an ebay store - just the opposite of the direction you are going...Now I'm not so sure. You are right. It IS overwhelming!
Ann, your art is beautiful - so bright and colourful. I think there really are too many options out there now for selling and you do have to wonder which are the best. For me, ebay still generates the most traffic and sales, so I really have to go with that, but wish you all the best whichever way you go :)
Thanks all, for your kind comments and your thoughts on this. I'm finding that I've picked up watchers on items I converted from my eBay store to Fixed Price and have actually sold 2 pair of earrings as FP listings. So I think, for me, anyway, closing the eBay store is a sane decision.
-Ann
Post a Comment