Happy New Year to all! I know this topic has been discussed before but I would love to hear people’s personal experiences selling their paintings using auctions vs a direct pay pal link. When I look at the statistics on “whats selling” Auction sales are always the lowest. I have continued to offer my paintings through the auctions with a buy now option because I feel that the paintings will get more exposure being listed in two places, on the home page the day of listing and then the auction pages when people are actively searching through those. I have never had anyone buy using the buy now link in an auction. Have people made the transition from auctions to just buy it now pay pal link and noticed any change in sales? I am curious what the other sales listed in the statistic section are? Are they referring to Etsy, Ebay, personal website…? just wondering if there is really any reason to stick with auctions and have a percentage taken out when I do make a sale, or just make it easier for the customer and switch to pay pal link. I seem to make most of my sales when I actively share the paintings on FB and Instagram and only twice have I had auctions that were bid up from the starting bid price.
Another unrelated question but something I am curious about. I have been a member of DPW since last March, focusing primarily on 6x6 paintings. I found this a good format because I spend half of my time care taking my elderly mother and it gives me something to do and accomplish in the short amount of time that I do have to paint. But when I do have longer periods of time where I can paint I haven’t painted larger paintings because I feel as though I don’t have the patience for the process. I have gotten so used to working small and quickly. I am curious if others have experienced this? The larger paintings I have done all remain unfinished! Curious if others who paint small run into this issue?
Regarding your second question, I also have been painting fewer larger paintings since focusing on daily paintings on small panels. However, that doesn’t bother me because larger paintings tend to pile up and I don’t have room to display them. I can group a collection of small paintings in the space that one large painting takes up.
I also enjoy painting on smaller panels and canvases more than large. I can complete paintings quicker and experiment more with compositions, techniques and materials. If a painting doesn’t work out, it’s no great loss. If I really like a small painting, I can always paint a larger version, and I do that regularly. I painted a dozen or so small paintings for Christmas gifts, and I never could have done that with larger surfaces.
Hello , first of all, I’m french and I hope that you will understand my poor english … I’m new on DWP, and I subscribed here because I was very interested by painting daily and I amways enjoyed to paint small sizes… I have been selling for several years on Ebay before 2008 and I liked also the surprises that we can have by selling in auctions.
So, here, I have listed all this first month in auctions. But you’re right ! when looking at the number of active auctions with bids, less than 20, and the number of sold paintings in a month, it seems that people prefer the Paypal link … perhaps, because they know exactly how much they will pay for the painting ?
Auctions are though a way to pay a smaller price ?
So, I don’t understand why there are so few active auctions at a given time …
Putting a painting on auction is a good way to get it seen. It’s easy marketing. But in answer to your question, I sell more with the paypal link than with the auction. The nice thing is you can have the best of both by putting a “buy now” link into your auction.
Re. the caregiving, I used to paint while I took care of my Mom. Give her your love while you can, and whatever you have the energy to paint, just paint that. All the best to you.
Hi All,
I have sold through Ebay using the auction and the Buy it now options. Sometimes the auction option paid out and sometimes not. Many times, just when I thought I was getting lucky, the bidders just dropped out. If I don’t sell a painting after three attempts on Ebay, I wait for several months before I post it again. Ebay has become more and more ridiculous regarding how any one can search for original art, listed by artist and by date of creation. If I didn’t know how to navigate Ebay, I would be lost.
Daily Paintworks is a site that I really enjoy. I haven’t used the auction option as of yet as I find I get immediate buyers through PayPal. I sold my first painting in less than 24 hours after joining DPW and have sold several more to date. I am really not sure that many buyers are interested in messing around with following auctions and keeping track of the bidding on a daily basis. For me, just offering Buy Through PayPal has worked best. I have been told by many customers that auctions are just not convenient, If they like it, they will simply use PayPal and it’s a done deal.
Selling art is an art in itself! There are so many ways to market it but you have to be ambitious and explore many ways to make it happen. Galleries, giclee prints, greeting cards, local restaurants that will feature your work for a month, libraries, banks, you name it!
Hello Sara and Happy New Year to you, too!
I have been using DPW for about 5 years. I send everything to auction and offer a Buy It Now option as well (which disappears if anyone bids). After the auction, if unsold, my painting reverts to Buy It Now via PayPal.
I haven’t gone through my figures, but my gut feel is that about one third of sales generate a bid and a sale at the auction minimum price (I have only had 2 competitive bidding situations in this time) and the remaining two thirds are bought via the Buy-it-Now button either before the auction has ended or shortly afterwards (or, occasionally, two or three years afterwards!)
I am very happy with DPW’s system. I think it is extremely artist friendly. I like the promotion you get from sending something to auction. However, I do set a minimum (reserve) price usually of $50 sometimes more. My thought process is, if someone won this for just one or two bucks would I cry? If the answer is ‘yes’, and it usually is, I set a reserve that won’t make me cry. If by any chance the answer is no, one or two bucks is fine, then I toss the painting. Hope that makes sense.
I am also struggling to paint big. It feels like the difference between writing a tweet and writing War & Peace, which is RIDICULOUS and I am annoyed with myself. This year I have resolved to have one large painting on the go at all times and to stand it in front of my easel so I am forced to consider it when painting small!
Sara, I came back to painting after a 30 year break when caring for my elderly and demented mother. There is no harder job and no greater blessing. I’m your opposite: I have difficulty painting small! 12 x 12 is small for me. I only do the Paypal listing. Don’t sell that much, but hey, it’s painting every day that helps. I hope to do THAT, too!