ACEOs are only 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches. I usually offer free shipping within the US. I put them in a vinyl sleeve (same type used for baseball cards) along with the invoice and my business card and mail them in a small envelope with just a stamp. I’ve had no trouble. Of course if one sells for 15 or 20.00 then I pack them in a manilla envelope and pay for postage thru Paypal to be sure they receive the painting.
Thank you for your reply Patricia! I don’t really know how to change to paying for postage through paypal if the card sells for more. I looked at some of your cards and they are adorable. I must admit some days I just want to give up but then think about all the time spent learning and all the money spent on supplies. I hope your sales on these cards continue for you!
The only downside with eBay is that they also get 10% of the shipping. Then again no matter how you offer your art, there is always a cost of doing business.
Most folks just LOOK whether it’s here on DPW, Facebook, Etsy, etc… most are just looking for inspiration to create their own art… the majority are just window shoppers, they only look and never intend to buy. They enjoy art and can get their fix by just browsing the vast array of what’s available online…they don’t feel the need to actually own the art.
Ask yourself how many times you see a piece of art that you really love, but do you ever actually buy it?
With everyone having the freedom to have a store…simply by joining sites such as DPW or offering their art on Etsy, Ebay, etc… and even some having their own website… the amount of art to pick from is mind boggling. There seems to be more folks selling art…than there are buying art. So I feel that when I sell a piece of art… it’s certainly a miracle!
It’s not just the flat art world though. I’ve been in the craft pattern business for over 30 years and it’s the same there. Every one that has ever sewn a doll, now has their own pattern company. Because it’s as simple as joining a site. At one time there was no way you could be in the business of designing patterns unless you attended trade shows or placed expensive ads in magazines. It’s truly a wonderful thing that we all have the freedom to have instant stores…but, the downside is…it sure is hard to get a teeny weeny piece of the pie.
Good Luck To You All!
Sonja/Funked Up Art
Tie yourself to one site and you won’t go anywhere. The more sites you are on the more chances to sell your work. As for commission…that’s the least of it 
Thank you Patricia!
So Very True. You Have To Just Keep Plugging Away.
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We absolutely understand the frustration with trying to sell art online these days. Believe us, this is something we have given much thought to.
Our understanding of the situation is the same as what others have said in this conversation - this is not a DPW specific issue but, instead, due to the saturation of the online art market. As with most things, being in on a new thing early on has its benefits. In the early days, circa 2006-7, selling art online was the exception and so the field wasn’t crowded. Artists who began selling online then often did very well and built loyal and durable followings that have served them well since. These days, as it has been said, the online art field is very crowded - huge offerings of beautiful art are just an easy click away. Because of this, many of the artists that are doing well selling their art online are those that stand out by broadly promoting themselves and their art through blogs, workshops, and books.
We do wish there was something more we could do to improve sales for our artists. We have tried advertising, both online and in magazines, but found that the thousands of dollars spent each month did very little to increase traffic to the site. For example, a few months ago we decided to try advertising on Pinterest for the first time, where we have over 25,000 followers. After a few days, we saw we were spending an average of $30 a day for about 30 click-throughs to the site - so an average of $1 a click per day. Not bad perhaps, however, when compared to the over 500 cost-free click-throughs we get from Pinterest just from having DPW art pinned, it is clearly not an effective or efficient investment.
Instead, we do what has proven to be effective, which is to promote our members’ art on Facebook, in weekly interviews and giveaways on our blog, and in Pinterest. The word-of-mouth promotion this creates is much greater and both more authentic and durable than that generated by paid ads.
While we can’t control market forces, we have continued to focus our efforts on consistently improving DPW, not only as a platform for showing and selling your art, but also as a community for artists, where they can support and inspire one another. And, we will continue to improve and expand DPW without increasing the cost of membership.
As always, many of the best ideas for improving DPW have come from our members and visitors, so please, when you have observations, ideas, and suggestions, let us know both here on Art Talk and by clicking the Support tab on the left side of the DPW website!
Yours in Art!
Carol and David
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I am new to DPW but I really appreciate the opportunity to participate in this group. I sell occasionally, not on DPW yet, but I am hopeful. I do notice that when I post my paintings to FB the # of looks goes up both to my blog and my DPW gallery. So this does work. Sold a box of note cards to an old friend this way a few days ago. It is hard work and I consider it my job and part of being an artist.
I think David and Carol are doing a great job and I appreciate their hard work to help artists. It is hard not to get discouraged, but if I sell nothing, I will still be happy to be a part of DPW. I must admit, I am a retired teacher with a small retirement income, so I do not depend upon sales. I am just trying to be the best artist I can be and am inspired by all the great artwork on DPW. Thank you Carol and David and DPW.
In total agreement; one just needs to read a smidgen of macro economics to know when times seem tough, people don’t spend on the non-essentials, which many poor souls include art.
Cheers and great work as always.
With continued thanks
Bev Thibault
In 2015 (my first year) I made enough on DPW to pay for the monthly fee. In 2016 I made enough to pay for my monthly fee and all my art supplies. I have learned that when I paint every day I get better. And if I post more often I sell more. I think its working. 
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Your completely right about the saturation of the online market. Probably one very important thing to do is by the members themselves, promote your art linked to DPWs on all the social media, FB, G+, instagram, Twitter all them you can. Getting people to the site so see your art will help everyone.
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Hi David,
Here’s an observation. I recently posted an item for auction which attracted 124 clicks on the buy link but no sale. This seems unbelievable to me so I asked my husband to try it to see if there was a problem of some kind. As I understand it he was required to create a login in order to proceed with the purchase. That leads me to think that maybe buyers are deterred by this additional process - I know I myself will leave a site if I’m required to create an account. Thoughts? Is it possible to complete the purchase process without this step?
Thanks
Jane
@janer, Many visitors will click the link to the auction, which registers as a buy click so they can view additional information about the work and the auction. This isn’t necessary since all of the important information is in the popup that opens when a thumbnail is clicked, however many visitors don’t know that. This is why you may see many buy clicks for a work without there being bids. Also keep in mind that buy clicks accumulate for a work as time goes on, across relisted auctions.
As for requiring buyers to register first before bidding in an auction, I absolutely agree that it is important to make buying art as easy as possible without creating unnecessary roadblocks.
It is important to note that with DPW generated PayPal links, there is no need for a buyer to register. Instead, all they need to do is click on the PayPal link to purchase the work. They don’t even need a PayPal account since PayPal allows a buyer to make a purchase directly with their credit card. Also, when a purchase is made through PayPal, DPW is able to collect important identifying information about the buyer from PayPal, such as their full name, email address, and shipping address.
Bidding in DPW Auctions is different. Buying through a PayPal link is definitive - the purchase is made or it isn’t, and, if it is made, it is immediate. In contrast, placing the winning bid in an auction only creates the obligation to pay, but cannot force the bidder to pay. Because of this, it is important to first gather reasonable information from the bidder before they can bid. This information includes their shipping region, so we can keep them from bidding in auctions when the artist doesn’t ship to their region, and their email address, which we confirm, so we can let them follow an auction or know if they are outbid or if they have placed the winning bid. Further, DPW offers each bidder a my Auctions page where they can view the status of the auctions they are bidding on or following. All of this requires some way to definitively identify the bidder, which in the online world, requires a registration so that they can sign in.
Another important reason for requiring a registration, beyond providing updates and durable information to the bidder, is to create a reasonable deterrent against malicious or non-serious bidding. Unfortunately, it is human nature that anonymity often lets people feel free to disregard the simple rules of good behavior and character we all learned in kindergarten. Simply by asking bidders to first enter their email address, which DPW confirms as theirs by sending them a quick email to reply to, goes a long way in inspiring good manners and a sense of obligation when bidding. Lastly, when a winning bidder fails to follow through with a purchase, having them first be registered with DPW allows the artist to flag the bidder’s account, sending them a friendly reminder to pay. If they don’t, most importantly, it prevents them from bidding again in any DPW auction.
I hope this makes why we require registration before allowing bidding more clear.
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Thank you David for the thorough explanation. Makes sense.
I wonder how many artists on this site are actually doing their part in bringing in traffic?
I personally had never heard of DPW until 2 months ago. Happened to come across an artist that mentioned it in one of her blog posts. And I have visited 100’s of artist blogs, websites, watched youtube videos, etc.
So that makes me wonder just how many artists are actually putting in the effort to market DPW??
I personally spend at least an hour every day marketing. I cross link all my sites, 2 blogs, Etsy Store, my personal website and now DPW… also do tags on Instagram and do YouTube videos, and Pinterest that have links to everything. I do a bit on Facebook, but it’s not my favorite and I see less sales from Facebook than any of the other places I mentioned above. (and it’s turned into more of a political arena lately)
The beautiful thing about the internet… ALL the marketing I mentioned above is FREE! It just takes a little time each day to put in the effort to do it! This is the BEST art site on the internet in my opinion! We should all be working as hard as possible to bring in traffic. DPW is small enough that your art doesn’t get lost, but large enough to keep folks coming back!
I remember when eBay first became the cat’s meow… I was digging through my attic finding dolls and crafts I’d made years before that I considered out of style… and they were bringing ridiculous sums of money on eBay…I was doing NO marketing at that time… those days are over though. EVERYONE is selling something these days, and those that are marketing are getting the biggest slice of the pie!
Just think if everyone on DPW spent an hour every day marketing this site!!!
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Has the online market picked up for anyone? I find no evidence of any increase on online sales. My Ebay auctions and DPW auctions together amount to one sale a month. That sale only covers my cost and leaves nothing for my time. I am trying to put some of my older paintings back on auction so I have more auctions going at one time. I hope this helps. Any advice or comment would be apprecicated.
It’s certainly not as active as it was this time last year, I was selling regularly then. I check the Active Bidding page each day, and most days there are 30-40 paintings listed (there used to be 70-90 when I joined.) Most of them are by the same few artists, I suspect they’re the ones who’ve built up a dedicated following over time. For those who haven’t got that following yet, things are more difficult. The Statistics graph suggest that sales are up since summer 2016- but sadly I’m not feeling it!
I’ve only had one sale on Daily Paintworks in 2017 so far. I’m fairly active on social media, posting all my daily paintings to Blogger, Pinterest and Facebook- I post frequently on Instagram as well, and occasionally update my Deviantart account. Oh, and I have my own website which links to DPW! So it’s not for lack of trying. At least I’ve had a few works accepted into local exhibitions recently, and I’m really hoping something will sell there.
I just keep painting, stay active online, keep my eyes open for opportunities, and hope for the best. I’m not sure there’s much else I can do…!
I posted on this topic in April 2017. I did have one month with four sales due to a repeat buyer other than that it has been slow. In fact I am loosing money, my cost are over what I sell. I tried lowering my prices on Ebay and nothing. I gave up on Esty no sales for over a year. I am starting to believe that online selling is hitting bottom. My friends are telling me that craft pieces and teaching others to paint their own paintings is trending now. I am debating on taking a year off from selling not painting. I will post my paintings on my blog where my followers can buy them. I really love this site and I am worried that if I leave my followers will be lost. Does anyone have thoughts in this direction? I taught art for many years and I know how much planning goes into giving classes. I am pretty much burnt out on that idea and galleries in this area are worst than online sales. Are there any others planning on changing things up?
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