Selecting Art That Sells

Getting started with Art for Conservation's online gallery is really quite easy. As a matter of fact, the hardest part seems to have little to do with our site. These are the the three most frequently asked questions:

1. How do I know which of my images I should upload? What sells?
2. What substrates and sizes should I sell?
3. How should I price my art?

If these are concerns for you, we can make your life a little easier. It's virtually impossible to provide answers that apply to all artists, all images and all situations. What we can do, though, is provide basic information. And, we do offer a consultation service that can quickly answer most of your questions. See info at the end of this page..

1. How do I know which of my images I should upload? What sells?
   1. Keep it simple. Online buyers usually don't spend a lot of time browsing images. Thumbnails don't do a good job of showing highly detailed images. Select images that have an instant impact.
   2. Mood sells. Buyers are influenced by sunrises, sunsets, high-key contrast as well as soothing, subtle pastels.
   3. Landscapes sell better than wildlife and still life. Wildlife placed in landscape images sell better than wildlife portraits. There are always exceptions.
   4. Don't select images because they are your favorite. Your emotional ties to images are rarely the same emotional ties the buyer has. Solicit outside opinions.
   5. Don't confuse the buyer by providing too many style variations. If your specialty is Southwest landscape, focus on that. If you have other specialties, you may be able to successfully add a couple more styles to your portfolio.
2. What substrates and sizes should I sell?
   1. Again, keep it simple.
   2. Offer up to three substrates (paper surfaces). Too many options confuse the buyer.
   3. We suggest offering a couple of substrate price ranges. For example, photo paper and Epson Presentation paper cost you less to produce, and can be offered to your buyer for less. Premier Art Smooth and Canvas are higher priced products. And Hahnemühle is our eco friendly paper that is priced similar to Premier Art. Somerset Velvet is a more heavily textured mid-priced fine art paper.
   4. We suggest offering no more than three sizes. Again, too many sizes can confuse the buyer. More is usually not better. If you have three substrates and three sizes, you have nine choices for the buyer for each image.
   5. Offer a low price (under $100) item for those who like your work but may not want to pay the price for a larger images.
   6. By the way... we include a 1/2" border on all prints (canvas prints have additional borders added for stretching), Don't add borders on your own. We'll take care of that.
3. How should I price my art?
   1. We cannot provide pricing suggestions online for a number of reasons. Please contact us here for more info. See Image Consultation Service below.

Image Consultation Service

Would you like one-on-one advice on how to select, size and price your images? We offer a free 15 minute consultation to Art for Conservation artists and photographers. Click here to request a free consultation.

To see more Artist and Photographer FAQs, click here.
To Sign Up for a Self Service account, click here.  
For help in creating your account, click Create an Account FAQ or give us a call at 800-777-1141.