The On-line Art Sales Puzzle.

Back in the days of the .com boom it seemed that everyone was starting up an on-line gallery. Even big players like Southby's got in the act. Now that the .com boom is over it seems that many of these sites are gone too. That got me thinking about who is buying art on-line? Doing a quick Google search it looks like most art sold online falls in the category of color landscape with black and white photography selling the least. In terms of price, most internet sales are under $100.

Unfortunately, many people are reluctant to by art on-line because what you see on your computer is not always what you get. With the typical home PC monitor being what it is the quality of a piece of artwork is hard to discern. If you order something and it's not what you expected then you have the hassle of returning the piece or accepting the feeling of being ripped off.

I know in my case that most of my internet sales come during or right after an exhibition. I always market my website during a gallery show and it seems to pay off. Sometimes nothing will sell at the gallery, but an order or two will trickle in on the web after a show. I think one reason for this is my work is available in several size and price ranges on-line while the gallery usually shows the larger more expensive limited edition original. A $50 open edition print is more likely to sell than a $350 original.

Any comments concerning on-line sales would be most welcome.


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