9 Best Websites For Selling Art Online

Square is a good option for an artist without a big budget because you can build and operate a Square Online store for free.

Your only expense would be payment processing fees when your customers make an online purchase from you; at 2.9% + $0.30, Square Online’s payment processing fees are squarely in line with industry standards.

Square Features

Square Online’s Free plan lets users add an unlimited number of products, sync inventory and orders with Square POS for in-person sales, and utilize social media integrations that make it easy to sell your art on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can even use the Free plan to sell digital downloads of your artwork, if that’s a part of your business model.

The Free plan does limit users to 500 MB of storage, however, which may not be enough if you plan to include many high-res images of your artwork.

Square Pricing & Fees

Square’s generous free plan may be enough for you to sell art online. If you need more storage and some advanced features, you can upgrade to a reasonably priced paid plan, starting at $16/month.

Square Online’s paid plans range from $16/month to $79/month. Read our full review of Square Online for more in-depth information on pricing, features, and more.

Payment Processing

Square Online stores are powered by Square payment processing. Expect to pay a competitive rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the free plan.

Where Square Really Shines

Building a Square Online store is simple, even for eCommerce novices with little tech skill or interest. Square Online uses the popular website-builder Weebly’s framework for creating standalone online stores. It’s a versatile and easy-to-use software that you can use to build a store and start selling quickly. And you won’t need a lick of technical experience or have to spend a dime in order to build a functional store with Square Online and start selling your art online.

Shopify offers the right mix of useful complexity and ease of use at various prices, which means there’s a plan to fit every budget.

Even if you don’t have experience with web design or coding, you can use Shopify to set up an online store and start selling quickly. When ready, you can add advanced features and enable high-volume online sales.

Shopify Features

Most Shopify plans come with the eCommerce basics to operate an online store. That includes a POS system for in-person selling, social selling, discount codes, unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth. Though most bring an added cost, more advanced features can be added from Shopify’s well-stocked app store.

As an artist, you probably will appreciate Shopify’s stylish templates. They are among the best in the business. Of more than 100 mobile-responsive Shopify themes, you’ll find eight that are completely free and supported by Shopify. Paid themes are available for a one-time fee of $140-$180.

Shopify Pricing & Fees

Shopify offers a range of paid plans to fit most budgets. Shopify Starter Plan costs $5/month and allows you to sell via social media, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and anywhere else you can post product links. If you want a full online store, plan options range from $29/month to $299/month.

Shopify plans include transaction fees and payment processing fees that you can avoid only by choosing Shopify Payments as your payment gateway. If you choose a different processor, expect to pay transaction fees as high as 5%, depending on your subscription level.

Payment Processing

Shopify allows you to choose among 100+ payment gateways, including international options. Each of these payment providers has its own processing rates. However, if you use anything other than the in-house option, Shopify Payments, you will incur transaction fees that start at 0.5% and can go up to 5% on every sale you make.

If you use Shopify Payments, processing rates will depend on your subscription level. Expect to pay from 2.9% + $0.30 up to 2.4% + $0.30 in processing fees.

Where Shopify Really Shines

Shopify is truly an all-in-one solution for artists who want to build a sizeable online store while also selling on social media sites and in person. And although you can build an impressive online store using Shopify, you won’t need an impressive tech resume to do so.

If you don’t have time to read a full review, check out our crash course on using Shopify to see how easy it can be and how your art business can benefit.

Designed for artists and musicians seeking a venue for online sales, Squarespace offers templates with both stylish designs and top-notch performances.

It’s a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) that requires only a monthly subscription to set up and operate an online store. Plus, Squarespace supports appointments, custom orders and requests, and in-person selling.

Squarespace Features

Squarespace web pages allow creators and makers to add a free link to their bio connecting social media, contact forms, and creative work. You can also set up a portfolio site, for $16/month, that does not support online selling but lets you include contact information with samples of your work.

Sites above these levels include basic eCommerce tools, such as unlimited bandwidth and storage, tools for inventory, taxes, shipping, product catalogs, and more. Each of the four eCommerce plans allows unlimited products. More advanced tools are available on higher-level plans.

Squarespace Pricing & Fees

With plans running from $0-$65/month, Squarespace allows users to create an artistic sales space without taking too much money out of a lean budget. However, if you’re interested in using a Squarespace site to sell art online, you’ll need to sign up for a plan on the Business level or above, priced at $33/month up to $65/month.

A 3% transaction fee applies only to sales made using stores on the Business plan. You won’t have added transaction fees if you choose a higher subscription level.

Payment Processing

You can accept payments on a Squarespace store using Stripe, PayPal, and Square POS. You can also accept Apple Pay and Venmo payments. For in-person sales, you can connect to Square POS and accept payments with a Square credit card reader.

Where Squarespace Really Shines

Unlike other online sales platforms, Squarespace was designed specifically for artists and makers. Aside from its superior templates, Squarespace also gives users tools to refine custom images, such as Image Zoom, Set Focal Point to center the best part of each image in thumbnails, galleries, automatic image scaling, and display effects. Photographers especially will appreciate progressive image loading, a trick that speeds up image loading times for visitors.

Squarespace sites also include blogging capabilities, allowing artists to tell the story behind each piece of art included on the site. Overall, Squarespace is an affordable, user-friendly option for any artist seeking an easy-to-use, design-forward business website that leaves you plenty of money to buy all those art supplies you know you need.

Etsy is a global online marketplace for artists and crafters that limits listings to originals and vintage items only. Etsy has a large art subcategory where you can find original creations in almost any media, including original art and prints. Top sellers include digital prints, drawings and illustrations, and paintings. Custom artwork is a vibrant category, with original paintings of pets and animals among the top sellers.

One advantage to selling original art on Etsy is that shoppers are already interested in buying unique, hand-created objects, and they’re willing to pay for what they want. However, Etsy is a crowded field, even for original artwork.  So you can’t necessarily depend on art lovers to find your shop there on their own.

If you decide to sell on Etsy, be prepared to drive traffic through advertising and social media marketing.

Etsy Features

Etsy aims to make selling artwork simple, and the tradeoff is that some of its features are fairly basic, especially compared to some of the all-in-one options that are available, like Shopify. (Take a detailed look at Shopify vs. Etsy, if you’re trying to choose between these two platforms.) However, keep in mind that Etsy is a marketplace, not an individual store. So you won’t have to work as hard to draw in customers.

Open an Etsy store, and you can sell on the marketplace and social media sites and operate an independent, linked store using Etsy’s Pattern software. If you use Square to take payments, you can also use Square POS to sell in person.

Etsy Pricing & Fees

Etsy offers two paid subscriptions. The Standard plan costs $0/month and lets you operate a basic Etsy store, with few advanced tools. At $10/month, the Etsy Plus plan gives you more advanced customization options for your store and useful selling tools.

You’ll find a host of added fees that can be bewildering at times. Here’s a rundown:

• Listing Fee $0.20/item
• Transaction Fee: 6.5% of the sales price
• Shipping Fee: 6.5% of shipping cost
• Gift Wrapping Fee: 6.5% of the amount you charge for giftwrapping
• Currency Conversion: 2.5% of sales amount
• Etsy Offsite Ads (Required): 12%-15% of the sale amount
• Etsy Onsite Ads: Set your own budget
• Pattern Website (Optional): $15/month

You can read more about Etsy seller fees to understand the true cost of selling on this marketplace. Despite the added costs, which can be onerous, many artists find success with Etsy. So long as you are aware of the costs associated with selling there and accept them as the price you’ll pay to gain entry to this powerhouse marketplace, Etsy can be a great choice for selling art online.

Payment Processing

Etsy Payments is the required payment processor for almost all Etsy sellers. Etsy Payments allows you to accept credit and debit card payments, Etsy Credit and Etsy gift cards, and PayPal transactions. You’ll also be able to utilize some bank transfer services and digital wallet payments such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Where Etsy Really Shines

Etsy’s marketplace averages more than 350 million visitors each month. Each of them is motivated to purchase handmade arts and crafts items, and they’re not always as price-conscious as visitors to other marketplaces. Although Etsy’s fees can seem high, don’t overlook the fact that Etsy is designed to connect artists and makers with willing buyers. You’ll have to work a little harder to make that happen on your own.

Best known as an auction site where buyers can find a little bit of everything, eBay also has a dedicated and thriving art section. eBay Art includes drawings, photographs, posters, prints, sculptures, paintings, and even NFTs.

And with eBay’s total revenue topping $2.38 billion in 2022, artists and art resellers looking for additional sales would do well to take another look at the site. With a little extra effort at the listing stage, artists can even sell digital downloads of their work.

eBay Features

Artists selling their works on eBay can list them as auction items with a minimum price requirement and include a “buy now” price. eBay artwork policies are broad and allow lawful sales of original artwork, reproductions that don’t violate trademarks, exact replica paintings that are listed as reproductions, and art with alterations or repairs as long as the listing description includes details about what work was done. Sellers are responsible for the authenticity or legality of items described as genuine and must be able to provide evidence of authenticity.

eBay Pricing & Fees

eBay charges listing fees and transaction fees. Transaction fees are based on the final sale value and start at 10%. You can also expect to pay a listing fee between $0.35 and $2 per item.

Payment Processing

eBay uses an internal payment processing system called eBay Managed Payments. All major credit cards are accepted through this system, plus PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Payment processing costs are usually included in the transaction fee.

Where eBay Really Shines

Artists and art sellers who operate a standalone store on Shopify can link their Shopify store to eBay to facilitate sales. While anything can be sold successfully and for a profit on eBay, art is not one of the auction site’s top-selling categories. However, we believe that eBay can work well for artists when it’s used as one sales channel among others.

Saatchi Art is a global online art gallery, representing artists in 100+ countries and with 12 million+ monthly page views. There’s no charge to set up an account as an artist, and Saatchi handles payment and shipping details for you.

Saatchi does not require exclusive arrangements with listing artists, so you can list with Saatchi and continue selling in other channels.

Saatchi Art Features

Saatchi is a curated art sales website that includes a printed catalog, featured categories, and editorial features such as Rising Stars and Artist of the Day. In exchange for a 35% commission fee on sales, Saatchi offers social media promotion, curation services, social media promotion, paid online and offline advertising, and PR support. An artist newsletter offers tips for improving sales, and an artist handbook and blog share best practices, opportunities for promotion, and general tips.

Artists of all types, working in almost all media, are eligible to join the marketplace. As a non-exclusive online gallery, Saatchi allows listings from artists under gallery representation elsewhere.

Saatchi Art Pricing & Fees

Saatchi takes a 35% commission on all sales conducted through the site. Artists set the prices for their pieces. The buyer pays the cost of shipping artwork, although the artist is responsible for packing the work in a suitable container for shipping.

Payment Processing

Buyers make payments to Saatchi Art, and artists can request a payout seven days after the buyer has safely received their artwork. Funds can be paid by check, wire transfer, or PayPal, with most payouts completed within 14 days from the date of the payout request.

Where Saatchi Art Really Shines

Saatchi Art is an online art gallery that draws serious buyers from around the world. If you’re struggling to find an audience for your work, Saatchi could help you connect and sell.

What if you could set up a website and put your artwork in front of a global audience, at no cost to you?

That’s the basic premise of ArtPal, and it seems to live up to the promises it makes. With no membership fees and no commissions on sales, you can use ArtPal to sell your art online on a website that gives you unlimited selling space. ArtPal handles the payment for you, securely processing customers’ payments and transferring funds directly to you.

ArtPal Features

ArtPal is an inclusive art site where shoppers can find paintings, prints, photos, sculptures, jewelry, crafts, and more. It’s appropriate for artists, collectors, galleries, and anyone with any art to sell. You can even use ArtPal’s print-on-demand services, at no cost. Customers who select print services will pay the printing and shipping costs directly.

Setting up a gallery on ArtPal is quick and easy. You’ll be assigned a unique URL that you can use to drive traffic to your site. You can set up one big store or subdivide by collections, to make browsing easier. Be sure to set up your artist profile, with a profile image and an About You section.

If you want, you can pay a $0.99 fee to highlight any piece of your artwork, so more people see it. After you add an item, you can activate social media automations so that posts are made to your choice of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. That’s an effortless method of multichannel marketing that costs you nothing.

ArtPal Pricing & Fees

ArtPal is free to use. You’ll pay no membership fee and no commission on sales. If you use ArtPal’s print-on-demand to sell your artwork, the printing costs will be added to your base price, so you’ll still receive 100% of the sale.

Payment Processing

ArtPal handles all the details of the sale, including payment processing. The buyer pays you immediately if you sell and ship your art yourself. If you sell print-on-demand items, your sales will be paid out on the 15th of every month. ArtPal transfers funds to you via PayPal.

Where ArtPal Really Shines

Did we mention that ArtPal is completely free? It’s also a non-exclusive marketplace, so you retain all rights to your artwork and can advertise and sell elsewhere. With tools to help artists expand their reach and connect with new buyers at no cost, ArtPal is an attractive option for selling art online.

Not every artist has physical products to sell. If your focus is on designs or doodles instead of sculptures or framed oil paintings, you might find the sales home you’re looking for on a site like Printful.

Printful allows users to sell their designs, printed on 342 products like T-shirts, patches, mugs, hats, posters, and phone cases. Printful’s unique business model allows you to focus on your art — or perhaps on your day job if art is a side hustle — while they take care of the printing and shipping for you.

Printful Features

Printful lets artists create an online store on the eCommerce platform of their choice (check out our picks for the best free online store options available). You sell Printful products through your store, and orders are fulfilled automatically as soon as they are received. Your customers can choose and pay for the products to which they’d like to add your designs.

Printful offers premade templates and plugins, or you can connect with a marketplace like Amazon or Etsy. You can also reach out to your target audience on social media and monetize your presence on sites like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram.

Printful Pricing & Fees

You can use Printful with absolutely no costs for the basic plan that allows you to create an account, and connect it to unlimited stores and product designs. Premium features are available on Printful’s Plus and Pro plans, at $9/month and $49/month, respectively.

When customers place an order, they’ll pay for the product’s price, shipping costs, and taxes plus a profit margin that you determine for your products.

Printful Payment Processing

Customers will pay for their order through your online store, covering the set retail cost of the items they want (including the item’s cost, your markup, and additional costs like shipping and taxes). You pay Printful for their share of the costs, including the item itself and shipping.

Where Printful Really Shines

Like any legitimate dropshipping option, Printful is a low-risk business model. This one is aimed squarely at artists, with a low financial investment required to join. You can even pick which products to make available in your Printful store.

It’s free to join Printful and set up a shop, and you will set the price for your work. When you make a sale, your profit is the difference between what you charge customers and what Printful charges you for printing and fulfilling the order. You pay nothing until a customer places an order with you.

If your goal is selling high-quality prints online, it’s worth taking a closer look at FineArtAmerica for your online art store. In addition to high-quality wall art, FineArtAmerica also lets your customers purchase your designs printed on items like greeting cards, tshirts, phone cases, mugs, and more.

FineArtAmerica Features

Artists can use FineArtAmerica to sell the same kinds of digital downloads, clothing, phone cases, greeting cards, and more. It has a special focus, though, on prints. Artists can upload high-resolution images and offer them for sale as different types of prints, including canvas, framed, metal, acrylic, wood, posters, and more. You set the sizes you want to make available for each piece. Then, when a customer orders, FineArtAmerica takes care of the printing, matting, packaging, shipping, payment processing, customer service, and everything else that’s involved in delivering the customer’s order.

You can also sell originals on FineArtAmerica — commission-free. Any site visitor interested in purchasing one of your originals can contact you directly through your profile page. You’ll have to handle that kind of transaction on your own, but you’ll get to keep all the money. Each account includes a customizable artist profile page and individual pages for showcasing your art. There’s also a mobile app; you can connect to your Shopify store and auto-promote on social media.

FineArtAmerica Pricing & Fees

You can choose a free plan or sign up for a $30/year plan that includes selling from your own website. Shopify integrations are included on both the free and the paid plans. Free accounts are limited to 25 images, while the paid plans allow unlimited.

FineArtAmerica sets the base price for each product it makes available. You set a markup to cover your own fees.

Payment Processing

Sales are processed through FineArtAmerica. Artists are paid for their sales on the 15th of each month for sales made prior to the 15th of the previous month.

Where FineArtAmerica Really Shines

Like numerous other art dropshipping platforms, FineArtAmerica lets artists share their creations with a wide audience. FineArtAmerica stands out with its focus on high-quality wall prints. And it allows artists to set their own profit margins, with the company’s profit coming from your customers, rather than off the top of your sales. With no paid subscription required and no commissions charged, FineArtAmerica can allow artists to make money off their craft.