Best website to sell art online

There is one question that I get asked on a regular, pretty much daily basis by artists venturing into the world of selling art online. I get asked so regularly that I thought a post addressing the issue would be a good idea. The question is "What are the best websites to sell art?" And the answer? It's surprisingly simple. The answer is "your own website" The best website to sell art online is... your own! Sadly there are no magic websites that will do all the work for you. That you can just upload your images to and then forget about and wait for the money to roll in. Wherever you put your work for sale you will need to promote it to get visitors to view and buy it. And why put your time and energy into promoting someone elses site? Why not spend it on promoting your own website and domain name? Etsy, Facebook, Zazzle, Redbubble etc all offer a brilliant service but it's best not to rely on them exclusively for your online sales. What if they collapse, close or change their terms of service in way you don't like and you want to move? What happens to all the hours you have spent getting links and promotion to your shopfront? All gone in the click of a mouse... Rent your property or own your own home? If you own your own domain name and website you are in control. You can then point visitors from there to your Etsy or Redbubble shop if you want but all your promotional efforts take visitors to YOUR domain name and website first, so you can easily swap shop providers should you wish to without losing all your visitors. I love the metaphor that it's like the difference between renting or buying a house. You dont want to spend loads of energy and money fitting a swanky new kitchen in your rented pad only to be turfed out by the landlord next month, but any improvements made to your bought house are an investment for the future. Still not convinced? Here are some more good reasons why your own website is the best plan for selling art online. 7 good reasons for setting up your own website You will look more professional You can control the way the site looks rather than being reliant on a parent shop sites generic style. You can create your own brand The design of your website can fit in with the style and branding of your work - again making you look more professional and giving your work a coherent showcase You can control your own domain name Registering and using your own domain name {ie www.yourname.com} looks great, helps with search engine results and allows you to have a proper associated email address too. No more shoddy looking hotmail addresses. And your domain name is yours to keep, so you always get the traffic directed there. You can stand out in the crowd Its very easy to get lost in amongst the bazillions of users on the large selling sites. You own website allows you to be able to stand out in the crowd and be easily found by search engines. You won't have to pay commission Anything you sell on your own site is commission free. Hooray. [Although you may have to pay a small transaction fee to Paypal]. You have freedom You can stop or change to another selling site easily with no problems. You won’t lose your client list or the advantage of all the promotion you have done as it will all still point to your personal website. Just change the links to your new shopfront and away you go! Endless possibilities... There are no constraints on what you do with your own site. You can make it your own little corner of the web. Every bit of promotion is an investment for the future. You can build your own domain and art career step by step... if you are serious about selling artwork online or setting up a creative business then the best website to sell your art is most definitely your own... Setting it up is a crucial step that will pay dividends in the long run.