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What is the biggest mistake artists make when trying to sell their work online?

The biggest mistake is treating art like a commodity product. Artists upload flat 2D images to a generic website or marketplace and expect buyers to purchase based on that alone. But art is a high-friction, complex purchase. Buyers need to understand size, media type, finish, how it will look on their wall, and the quality differences. Selling art online requires showing the actual products, educating buyers, and removing all doubt. Most artists skip this entirely and wonder why they’re not making sales. It’s like trying to sell knives without ever showing the knives.


Asked by general teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Nick · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-09-08