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Anyone tried selling original artwork on E-Bay?? (1 Viewer)

buzzard12

Well-known member
Just sitting here waiting to go to work watching a documentary about E-Bay on Discovery channel. Strikes me I have tons of sketches sitting around, now that I can scan them onto my computer for reference for future paintings etc. Wondering whether E-Bay might be a serious option to sell the original drawings...
Curious as to whether anyone out there has auctioned any work on E-Bay and if so how it went....
 
If you want to sell work for a fraction of what it's worth then eBays ok, as long as people look, I've tried twice and had ten people look and no bids. What might work on eBay is daubing a canvas with pretty colours, I've known a few people make a bit of money that way, but I think that bird art is too specialist to get the right audience there.
 
Agree with Nick, people buying on E Bay want "cheap". At one stage thought of trying my limited edition prints (not birds) but when I saw how cheap prints were selling for decided not to bother.

Phil.
 
I know an artist on another forum who earns drinking money by selling her stuff on Ebay. All you need is a sensible price and a niche to fill!
 
I tried it Alan, with mixed success. But I wouldn't give the medium a high recommendation (for what you are proposing, that is - as Nick says, it's a medium for bargainhunters). Absolutely no doubt in my mind that the way to use Ebay to further your bank-balance would be to buy some professional dye-cut mounts of a sensible generic size - get your drawings mounted and hold a 'Pub Exhibition'. I've done a few - invited friends, family, press and TV (they all turned up - 'cos it's a PUB!!! (and I bet you know one or two) and had an effing ball. As a student we had things like 'Under The Bed' exhibitions (not as raunchy as it may sound - means all work so crap it's been stored under the bed) - the same feel to it, get some beer, get a few journalists and a couple of snappers and you have an event. Can't fail. This is also where Nick' s carboard box and bluetak exhibition can also take shape.
In my opinion, if you can be ars*d to paint 5 puffin pictures a day, then you'll make a living out of Ebay sales (but I doubt you'd have the craic and social life you enjoy at the mo.!) Whatever you do - good luck (I'll be bidder #1) Cheers.
 
I've noticed some folk sell lots of ACEO's, but usually a buyer just takes to a particular style, and buys the lot. There's lots that don't sell. Perhaps worth looking at, though.
 
I've had a bunch of Original Art Cards sell between $10-20 on eBay. It depends on whos eye you catch on eBay. There are several high stakes bidders that rome the self-representing artists category, but it all depends on if you can get noticed or not. ACEO do alright on ebay, for the right people. You really need to market yourself and put out consistant quality. Also, you have to build a reputation, which can be hard at times. People worry about frauds on eBay and it can take several listings before someone will purchase your art. It takes a persistant attitude to create a market for your work on eBay. Some do very well with it.
 
Yes, Irina does pretty well! She's got about 88 sales for the past month and that ACEO ended at $109. Now, remember an ACEO only measures 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, the same as a standard trading card. That's inches of work for over $100. No, not everyone's art will ever do that well, but she markets herself well and she's rather creative. If you've got art sitting around collecting dust and NO one is enjoying it... why not put it up on ebay and let someone else love your work and give you some $ for good measure? lol Is it really worth a whole lot if it's sitting on a cupboard and no one knows it exists? My work just piles up if I'm not careful. It helps pay the bills if I put the work out there to be bought. ;)
 
I wouldn't sell original work on ebay at all. I have sold a couple of prints with minimal success and seen some other people sell a couple of my prints with some success but never reaching retail value. You could put an original with many hours of blood, sweat and tears and get an insulting $25. Then, a collector could happen upon that and wonder why you price your originals "so high"? Not worth the risk if you ask me...
 
I sold one of my wargames models for over £100 on ebay a few years ago. Key points that went for it were that it was a brand new model from Games Workshop, for one of their most collectable armies (chaos), that was not yet available in the states. It was a nicely sculpted model, which was very useful as a gaming piece and I painted it to a very reasonable standard.

Did not have much success with any other models I tried to sell. Other than than that, I sold a painting of a dragon for about £25.
 
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