Why do online marketplaces rarely work well as primary income sources for artists?

Online marketplaces are highly competitive because they’re easy to join, so everybody puts their work there. While there are certainly exceptions of artists doing extremely well, the vast majority report small revenue numbers when asked about results. More critically, you don’t grow your customer list or build your collector base when selling through these platforms—you’re working in someone else’s ecosystem without retaining customer relationships. If you can make them pay with minimal work, they’re fine as supplementary revenue streams at the top of the pyramid, but you cannot depend on them as a serious primary revenue source. Focus instead on building your own direct sales channels where you control customer relationships.

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Asked by an artist relying on online marketplaces · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2021-04-03