Miniature Picasso

[nikapaints]

Hi everyone! I recently finished up this Picasso- A Dream for a commissioned work, and I'd like to show it! =)

I have a question for fellow miniature artists- I seem to have trouble making sales in my store. I've had a couple commission requests, but I'd like sales in my store as well. Do you guys have more luck selling things on ebay than etsy? Or somewhere else? Are my prices too high/low? I feel like with the difficulty level of the paintings they're fair but perhaps I'm wrong?

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Nika

[havanaholly]

Nika, have you checked out CIMTA?

[Dalesq]

Wonderful painting!

[Creamcheese]

Your painting is beautiful!

[Dalesq]

Don't be discouraged, you just need to find the right way to market your work.

Your prices seem fair to me for original paintings, but for duplicating the great masters much of their work is in the public domaine, so it's easy for people to copy and create their own miniature paintings. Of course, they aren't actual paintings like what you are selling.

I suspect eBay won't be a good selling tool for you, but it's always worth a try. I suggest that you don't undersell your work though. eBay can be hit or miss, but it also works for some people really well. Just don't be discouraged by eBay.

Holly's idea of joining a guild is a good idea and will give you a way to reach buyers looking for artisan work, so I'd definitely try that too.

And even though I'm not a big fan of Facebook, it is a way to spread the word and market your work.

[Deb]

That's gorgeous Nika. I've had much more luck selling on Etsy than eBay for a lot of reasons. Buyers looking for OOAK minis gravitate more to Etsy and they have an "Alchemy" feature that hooks up buyers with sellers who take custom orders and commissions. The price for selling there is VERY reasonable and if you use the Etsy wizard for tagging your items, you'll get higher rankings on Google and other search engines.

Artfire is another option tho not as well known as Etsy. Debora's suggestion about Facebook is a good one and so is Holly's. There is also CDHM who help buyers and sellers find one another. I recommend setting up a Flickr account as well. Even tho it's just galleries and you can't sell there, it's a great way of getting your work out in the public eye. Flickr also pops higher in search engines if you tag your items correctly. In other words, work on your web presence so that you're in half a dozen places (and be sure to include the link to your Etsy store so folks know where to go and buy) and it won't be long before you find yourself becoming more and more well known. It's work to maintain and stay active but well worth it.

Oh, one more thing about Etsy. There are teams you can join (TeamMIDS is the one I was on) that can help you pop higher in the search engine on Etsy by using their tags. Getting involved with a team is a great way to get started because your team mates will offer advice and feedback. You should also surf around Etsy and make favorites of other mini sellers who will do the same for you. The more followers you have, the more people will see your name in other shops and come to visit yours.

Hope that helps! Your work is too good not to be seen, admired, and sold.

[Cheverly]

The above suggestions are great. I also think doing some SEO work on your tags could be helpful. I'm not sure if this is still the case, since it's been a while since I've done Etsy-related research, but at one time, the tags you used needed to be duplicate words that are in your titles, and the tags needed to be more that just one word themselves. So, for example, your title might read something like "Dollhouse Miniature Van Gogh Painting..." and your tags could be combos of "dollhouse miniature, van gogh, miniature van gogh", etc. Again, it's been a while since I've worked on Etsy, so you might spend a few minutes in the forums double-checking that this is still accurate.

And keep in mind that you've only been open since April. I know this seems like a long time, but a lot of successful sellers talk about how long it took them to get their first sale, but once they did it was like the floodgates opened. Keep tweaking your listings and painting your amazing art, and they will come.

Good luck!