I’ve subscribed to DPW off and on for a couple of years now. The first year I sold enough paintings to consider the experience worthwhile. Then, I dropped out for awhile. The next time I joined, I had no sales, so I let my membership lapse again until just recently. However, I’m not getting that many views and no sales. Is DPW still a good place to market art?
Timely topic Katharine. I am wondering the same thing although this is the first year of my membership. I joined last December and sold some pieces steadily for 4 or 5 months. I have not had a sale since and the views have dropped down to their lowest levels yet. Part of the reason that I joined was to give me an incentive to paint more regularly and I am now feeling much more confident with my whole process. This is been worth it for me thus far. My original goal was to commit for the calendar year and so I’ll be evaluating the cost of membership (Canadian dollar is at .76 cents U.S.) vs the non-monetary benefits in December. Marketing art seems to be a very difficult business these days. In Canada, we always hear that that this is easier in the states because of the exposure to a large population. I was very excited at the prospect of ‘somebody out there’ wanting to buy original art at a reasonable price and rest assured I’ve tried lots of other ways with sporadic success but a lot more cost and labour . Daily Paintworks is a terrific site and I don’t know what more can be done if people just don’t feel like buying. And so, I write off the monthly expense as advertising and re-read Art and Fear by Bayles and Orland and then go back to the studio to begin again. Katharine, don’t know if this helps answer your query but you are certainly not alone in the dilemma!
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Daily Paintworks is slowing down as far as interest and sales, but other sites are by no means better per se. Most people do not conceive purchasing original art and the few that do will look for the lowest price possible in most cases, though they will purchase work that appeals to them. Most likely there are more people posting art on the internet for sale than there are people searching for original art to buy. Not selling is the norm, not the exception. I can count the artists that do well on a few fingers of one hand. On DWP only some 2% to 3% of the auctioned art sells and more of that is lower priced than not.
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It is horribly slow right now. People, I think, are unsure about what is happening in our world … food and shelter usually come before buying artwork. Hang in there. I think this a good spot with the online gallery, challenges and new daily paintings.
Thank you, Kathy. It’s good to know that I’m not alone in this, but sad to know that you, too, have experienced slow sales. I hope things pick up for you!
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Thank you for your insight, Peter. It makes sense!
Thanks for your encouragement, Patricia! I shall stay the course for now.
This is my first year with DPW and sales have been disappointing. A few artists seem to do very well but I’m sure they have taken several years to get there and establish a following. Competition in the online galleries is increasing. I wonder how many views DPW is getting and what kind of marketing it is doing to get more. Any time the elections start people get wary with their money.
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Thqnks for sharing your thoughts, Andrea. You raise many questions that I, too, have pondered. It would be helpful to know how many of the views I get are by other artists on DPW or by actual potential buyers. And, it would be helpful to get the daily statistics on how many new viewers visit DPW. Statistics used to be posted on the home page a couple of years ago.
Peter, again you hit the nail right on the head. You must be a carpenter. 
I have been reminded that no one is going to drive down the driveway and ask to see your work…DPW works.
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I let my membership go because sales were so slow after having a pretty good run, but that was when I was also selling at a low price, pretty much giving it away. I find I do better when people actually see my work and get a connection to it, and get five times the price. For awhile I stayed with DPW because it helped to drive people to my web site and blog, love the challenges and the people connections, but in the end decided to take some time off from it because I was feeling so discouraged. I was so happy to see this thread because I was feeling pretty alone in this. I also realize that everything is cyclical, particularly with sales…I worked for many years in art galleries and have watched how that works. DPW is a great site and I’m sure I will get a gallery up and going in the future, just my time to turn away and come back fresh…Best of luck to every one!!
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Jill,Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I feel the same way and am frustrated about the lack of sales at this point. I’ll give it one or two more months aif sales don’t pick up over the holidays I’ll terminate. Best of luck to you!