# Marketing my art. Do you think I have a chance?



## Sabrah (Aug 6, 2013)

Well, hi. 

I have been doing portraits for coworkers/family/friends for a long time, but I do not charge anything (nor do I care to). But recently, I have considered marketing my art into customizable products, such as key-chains and maybe tote bags. I made the daring move of ordering a set of 100 customizable keychains! 

Here is some of my artwork. 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sabrina-jenkins/ 

I was thinking of doing abstract, personalized portrait, or special request keychains. What do you guys think?

1. Do you think people would buy that kind of thing?
2. If so, how much do you think I should charge per chain depending on the item design?
3. Do you know of any good platforms? I was thinking Instagram, Etsy, and Ebay.


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## SilverFalcon (Dec 18, 2014)

That portfolio is very diverse in themes, techniques and quality.

I could imagine some of the [email protected] line art on t-shirts and other stuff you mentioned.
Portraits are not bad from amateur perspective, but not sure if marketable. Certainly not for much, there is quite a competition.
But each of those would require focus and continuous improvements.

I would forget about the rest, unless you improve several levels.

But I don't have much experience with this myself, just sold a few photos on stock (subscriptions so very little money).
If someone has more exp. here i am curious myself.


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## kiwig0ld (Nov 7, 2010)

the squid wedding looks like two dicks getting married. 

but I like some of the concepts and ideas.

and bonnies livingroom, that's cool.


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## Surreal Snake (Nov 17, 2009)

I like your Art a lot of ability there


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## Narcissus (Dec 18, 2014)

Some of the more abstract pieces, I could imagine being sold. I think Etsy is a good place for you, since it focuses on independent artists, while e-bay is basically just a huge auction portal and your offers would likely just be overlooked. Look around Etsy to see how much people charge for their stuff (some of them, I must say, are way more expensive that I think they should be. I will now sound evil but that probably means you don't have to restrict yourself much ;P )


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## Arno (Apr 2, 2012)

@Sabrah. Holy shit this looks good!


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## StranGaaa Danjjja (Jan 6, 2015)

A artists work will usually market it self.
If you are not charging start, once you start and the key chainz start selling branch off reinvest first invest of keychains to something bigger better faster stronger.


rinse repeat blah blah blah

100 x 10 equals 1k

simple


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## Lexicon Devil (Mar 14, 2014)

For the key chains, the paintings like "abstract girl", rainbow flower and the ones with a black background would work best in my opinion. For something small like a key chain, pure bright high contrasting colors work best, IMO.

BTW, Amanda is quite beautiful and sweet looking. PM me her phone number please. :wink:


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## jamaix (Sep 20, 2013)

Sabrah said:


> Well, hi.
> 
> I have been doing portraits for coworkers/family/friends for a long time, but I do not charge anything (nor do I care to). But recently, I have considered marketing my art into customizable products, such as key-chains and maybe tote bags. I made the daring move of ordering a set of 100 customizable keychains!
> 
> ...


Your artwork is beautiful, you are very smart and talented. My daughter is quite artistic as well. Most of her drawings are anime.

*1. Do you think people would buy that kind of thing?
*It is hard to say. I have only sold on Ebay and what sells one month may not sell at all the next. You can do history searches on ebay, if you have an account. This can help you determine whether there is market potential.

*2. If so, how much do you think I should charge per chain depending on the item design?
*I would do some research to see what others charge for similiar items on which ever platform you decide upon.


*3. Do you know of any good platforms? I was thinking Instagram, Etsy, and Ebay.*
I was a power seller at one time on eBay, but I became frustrated with it. Lots of work and low return. At times they let you list up to 50 items without paying a listing fee. Don't know if they still do this or not. If they don't, you would have to pay a listing fee in addition to the final value fee they charge when you sell your item. The final value fee is a percentage of what you sell the item for and a percentage of what you charge for shipping. Many just offer free shipping and add it into the item price. eBay often bumps you up in the listings if you offer free shipping. 

You will also likely have to offer people the option of using credit. (paypal usually) I had to pay a one time fee of $5 in order to offer this. Then you have to pay a percentage of all transactions to paypal in addition to what you pay eBay. I still marvel that people sell books on eBay for 4 to 5 dollars with free shipping. By the time they pay shipping and fees, they net about 50 cents minus cost of product. I have sold many items at a loss. It is a very competitive market. Eventually, I started listing most of my items "buy it now" to protect against loss. The upside to this is you protect yourself against loss. The downside is that product being bid on can sell for significantly more. All you need is two people who become obsessed with winning and they can rapidly run the price up in their quest to win.

Good luck with this!


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