In this blog post, I have discussed about 10 Best Places to Sell Art Commissions
Every job has a little bit of terrible work. Whether you’re an analyst right out of college or the President of the United States, there will be parts of your job that you won’t like. “Oh no, do I have to do this?”
Most of the time, “client hunting” and the business side of things are the worst parts of being an artist. In a perfect world, artists would only care about making art. But more than 65% of an artist’s time is spent on client relations like sales, marketing, writing newsletters, advertising, communicating, working on a website, and so on.
There are, of course, things that artists, especially independent artists, can use to make their work (and lives) easier.
There are essentially two ways to hunt for clients:
- Push (finding clients directly – for example, direct outreach)
- Pull (clients finding you – like someone who finds your website on Google)
Even though both are necessary, the pull method gives you a statistically better return on your time. That is, having a presence online in several places that “pull” customers to you.
10 Best Places to Sell Art Commissions 2024
If you are an artist who wants to get paid to make art, here are 8 places you should be:
1. MadeMay
MadeMay is a place where artists, sculptors, embroiderers, designers, and others can sell their work and get paid for it.
To get better artists, MadeMay doesn’t let anyone sign up. Instead, you have to fill out an application to join.
On MadeMay, all you have to do to get art commissions is make an account and wait for potential clients to check out your profile. If they like what they see, they can ask you to make a piece of art just for them. You will be told about it, and you can accept or turn down the request.
The following are key benefits for artists:
- Our digitally optimized artist profiles make you as visible as possible. Suppose someone searches “commission artist in Dallas” and you live in Dallas, Texas. You will appear.
- Artist guarantees and protections, so that if something goes wrong, artists don’t have to deal with it.
- 0 percent artist fees on commissions
2. Artist guilds
Many cities in the US and around the world have their own hub for artists. The Guild of Boston Artists is one example.
Like a gallery, these guilds and organizations will have a list of artists that customers can look through. As you might expect, most people who want a local guild will be from the area. Even though this limits the area where you can reach people, it is important to have a presence in the city where you live.
To find one near you, just type “artist guild + your city” into Google. “Artist guild in Los Angeles” is an example.
3. Reddit
Reddit is a free online community that is split into groups based on topics. These groups are called “subreddits.” There are subreddits for things like gardening, politics, and art, for example. In fact, there are a lot of subreddits devoted to putting clients and artists in touch for art commissions. The list is as follows:
- r/ArtBusiness
- r/ArtCommission
- r/ArtCommissions
- r/ArtStore
- r/Commissions
- r/DrawForMe
- r/HireAnArtist
- r/HungryArtists
You don’t have to spend a lot of time getting known on Reddit. You can just post about your art once a day on each subreddit, and every so often, someone who wants to hire you will send you a message.
Note: Scams are very common in open communities like Reddit, so be very careful. We strongly suggest that when you get a commission, you use an online platform like MadeMay (which doesn’t charge any fees) to make sure that both parties are protected.
4. Instagram
Like Reddit, artists can use hashtags in the captions of their Instagram posts to get paid to make art. There are a lot of hashtags you can use to be found by people who want to hire artists to make custom art, like portrait paintings, for them.
We suggest you choose the 30 that work best for you. For example, if you are a pet portrait artist, you can use the following as examples: #petportraitpainting, #petportrait, #petportraitartist, #petportraits, #petart, #petpainting, #petdrawing, #petartwork, and so on.
- #commissionsopen
- #commissionart
- #commissionedart
- #commissionartist
- #commissionpainting
- #commissionportrait
- #custompainting
- #customart
- #customdrawing
- #hireartist
- #hireartists
- #artistsoninstagram
- #artistsofinstagram
Make sure to use location-specific hashtags like #PhoenixArtist or #NewYorkArtist.
It’s best to post your art and use hashtags on a regular schedule, just like you would on Reddit. In sales, it usually means that it’s all about the numbers.
5. Pinterest
Pinterest is a place to find cool things like interior design, art, and fashion that real people have picked out from around the web. Having a presence on Pinterest is, of course, a great way for artists to get noticed and get art commissions.
Pinterest is better than Instagram and Reddit in one important way: it can handle more “top of the funnel” traffic.
You should use captions that your potential customers will use to find you when you create collection boards and pins on Pinterest. “Impressionist painting of a dog,” for example. This will make it easier for people to find you and hire you.
6. DeviantArt and ArtStation
Getting paid is hard for digital artists. People often use sites like DeviantArt and ArtStation to find artists.
Keep in mind, though, that these two platforms are best for fantasy and anime art, like character designs for video games. Since the market for digital art is already very full, you are likely to get lost in all the noise.
But if you’re a fantasy or science fiction digital character artist, DeviantArt and ArtStation are worth your time. The number of people using Deviantart has gone down over time, making it harder to find work there than it used to be.
The average price of a character commission here shows that most of the people who come here are younger and don’t have as much money to spend. On the forum, there is also a lot of competition from artists who are willing to work for very little money.
7. Etsy
Etsy is used by a lot of artists to get paid to make art. Like Amazon, it’s a very popular platform, so it’s inevitable that “bottom of the barrel” prices will happen. Since there are thousands of artists listed, many of whom are overseas, it’s hard for artists in the US and Europe to offer their services at prices that are competitive.
But Etsy, which has a seller fee of 6.5 percent (it will go up to 5 percent in April 2022) and is a well-known platform, is another good place for artists to build an online presence and get commissions.
If you want to get more art commissions on Etsy, make sure you add a lot of different products.
8. Personal Website
The last place where an artist can get commissioned is through their own website. Even though setting up and maintaining your own website takes a lot of time, it gives you more control over how you present yourself as an artist. With this choice, you can say and do almost anything.
You will have to spend a lot of time and attention on this option since your website has to compete with other platforms like Etsy.
By using marketplaces like MadeMay, you can spend less time on advertising and marketing and more time making art. But it’s good to have a personal website, even if it’s not your main way to get commissions from marketing.
For instance, many artists use Instagram to find people who want to hire them and then send those people to their personal website.
9. Discord
Discord is an app for hosting communities. Like Reddit and Facebook, many of the communities on Discord are about fantasy games and character art. Most Discord groups are much smaller, so when you post to one, your work will be seen by a lot fewer people.
To be successful, you will need to join a lot of discords and post often to all of them. It is better to spend your time on Reddit and Facebook first, and then add Discord communities to your posting schedule.
10. Twitter
Twitter is a social network that works because people post short messages.
The best thing about Twitter as a social media platform is that people can retweet something and show it to their followers. This means that every post you make has the chance to go viral and get a lot of attention.
If the right person retweets your work, it could end up in front of a lot of people who could become clients.
But because Twitter is based on small pieces of information, it moves so quickly that it takes A LOT of posts to build a following there. It’s a place where people can talk, and that’s what it wants from you.
Twitter wants you to share a lot, so make sure you do. Share your ideas, sketches, works-in-progress, finished pieces, something from the past, or the same thing more than once.
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Conclusion 10 Best Places to Sell Art Commissions 2024
In conclusion, there are a plethora of options when it comes to selling art commissions online.
Whether you choose Craigslist, Etsy, or any other platform, make sure that you do research ahead of time so that you understand the rules and regulations associated with each one.
You also want to think about the price point for your artwork and how much time it will take to complete each commission.
Keep improving your skills and portfolio, and keep putting your ads in the right places. At some point, you’ll have too much work to do.
Finally, always showcase your work in the best light possible; with good quality photographs and clear descriptions of what’s offered. With thoughtful consideration and patience, selling art commissions can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor. Good luck!
