For some folks, with limited resources and/or technical knowledge, their best solution may be to have an online store. The cost of the store is based on the number of items for sale, as well as the number of images and other features utilized. Others may want to auction off items as their method of sales.
Pros of using an online store: Established web traffic. Ease of finding products. Relative ease in publishing information for web access. Shopping cart and checkout system may be integrated (with PayPal).
Cons of using an online store: Breaking terms of service may/will result in being banned from site. Limitations of how items are displayed and other features. Loosing traffic if online site angers customers (i.e., backlash against eBay.com for raising listing fees; or slowness of refreshing pages). Customer search results find competitors’ products (in addition to your products or theirs if their store is higher ranked). PayPal defaults may need to be changed to process information properly. Cost may be higher than hosting it yourself which directly affects profit from sales.
An online store can also be an extension of a vanity/hosted domain. For instance, an artist can have their gallery on a vanity domain, but do the actual sales by pointing to their online store.
Fees vary from site to site, type of selling method. The sites listed below are by no means a complete list of online selling services available. Most equine art creations are one of a kind, so perhaps not suited to some sales sites.
Amazon: WebStore information and fees (monthly basic store fee plus per item selling %); this is essentially Amazon hosting your store. This is not setting up a store under the Amazon.com umbrella; selling as a Pro Merchant on Amazon is limited to specific categories, some which require pre-approval to sell in.
Auction Barn: listing/selling fees (free to flat annual fee based on number of items for sale). Set up by model horse enthusiasts just for model horse related items; there is a “giftware” category that may be used for non-sculptures.
ClassAds Equine: free generic horse/equine sales site with subcategories for art.
CraftMall: generic handcrafted sales site. Flat monthly fee.
eBay: store fees (includes monthly basic store fee plus per item monthly listing fee); auction fees (include listing fees, plus final value fee; also extra fees for special listing features). eBay is an established leader in online sales; lots of traffic. But selection of category is not consistent; one can either choose Art->channel->Sculpture & Carvings or Collectibles->Animals->Horse->various subcategories.
ecrater.com: free generic webstore site.
etsy: A relative newcomer online. Specializes in one-of-a-kind, hand made items. (No mass produced sales; no reselling.) Store fees (flat rate to list; plus selling %). Categories and tags help “sort” items, including jewelry, art->sculptures, art->painting, ceramics and pottery.
Fine Art America: free art sales site (unless selling prints printed on demand). Site emphasizes flat work, but sculptures are represented too.
Model Horse Sales Pages: free to flat annual rate fees. Model horse hobby created, maintained sales site, for model horse related items (no flatwork); giftware category for pins, medallions.
Online Auction: Flat monthly/annual fee. Generic auction site.
UGallery: free to list; commission on sale. Online fine art gallery. The gallery will set the price (based on their expert’s opinion and artist’s requested sales price). Artists must be approved before allowed to list items. Items are exclusively listed on site (i.e., cannot be listed at multiple sales sites). Sales include shipping via UPS. Lots of promotion.
Webidz: free auction site (there is a flat fee to register to sell). Generic auction site.
Yahoo!Auctions: information. As an alternative to eBay, Yahoo changed its auction policies to include no fees. Generic auction site.
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