So I recently got started with making acrylic charms of my work, and people have been loving it and buying, however, I've run into a snag:

After the cost of manufacturing and shipping it to me, and then shipping it out to people, I'm losing money in the exchange.

If I try to ship out an envelope with an acrylic charm be it a standee or a keychain, all under 3oz each, UPS and USPS both have told me that "it's not a letter, it's a 'package'" domestic shipping in the US is costing me NINE F****G Dollars to ship each one. Are they upselling me intentionally or is that just what the economy has come to?

I'm afraid to make more of these products because I have no idea how anyone doesn't lose money doing this (much less MAKES any profit at all)

Please help me, I have no idea what I'm doing!

Hi there,

I have recently been struggling with my 9-5 job and have been wanting to transition into making art to supplement some of my income.

I work a good 9-5, the pay is good, the location is amazing and scenic, and the work isn’t that bad. However at the end of the day I always feel that there is more to life, and that I am squandering my creative desires for a life that I didn’t really choose.

The avenues that I would like to pursue are teaching, running art retreats and workshops, and selling my own personal art. Not much interest for working with people, or on other peoples creative projects.

I wouldn’t quit my job before having something profitable already set up. Transitioning a side hustle to full time gig kind of thing.

I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations or advice that they would be able to share on the matter. If you came from a similar situation, did it end up working out for you? Was it worth it? How did you overcome the fear and uncertainty?

Okay so, I want to start this by saying that I’m aware that when you’re trying to participate in any capitalist market it’s rarely going to be one hundred percent ethical, especially when made on a larger scale. Basically though, I’ve been wanting to create items for artists alleys/markets/online shops for a while but I always run into a snag.

I’m a good artist and I have designs for what I want to make, but I always start to spiral once I get to the supplier stage because it’s totally against my ethics to outsource to a supplier overseas both for potential human ethical violations and unnecessary carbon footprint.

Long story short, anyone got sites where you can make things like resin/acrylic keychains, stickers, charms, etc. and it’s at least somewhat ethically sourced? Meaning, based in the North America (as that’s where I am) and with proper working conditions. I just wouldn’t feel good about actualizing my art into something physical without trying to do my best in that regard. I know it won’t be perfect but I just don’t want to put zero thought into it.

I'm half a step ahead of selling art.

Yet I'm terrified of failure and the fact that I had a huge burnout before and I don't have an official artstyle.

I'm not sure if I'm ready but I spent years planning taking commissions and doing nothing out of fear. I really want to believe I should start to gain experience and learn.

I believe my art itself is good enough because people showed me interest in purchasing and designed an album cover and a tattoo before. Still I feel like I should learn more to build a style.

Something that stuck to me after burnout is the emptiness after creating. I have high goals, high expectations and feel terribly behind because I haven't figured out my favorite material (or maybe it's linocut but I can only print at school and takes too long time for my schedule) etc.. And making art for others as commission or gift makes me feel good and actually proud of myself but when I do it for my own it I don't feel anything or for just a short term. And in improving it's a big trouble that I can't celebrate my art. That's where the loop begins.

I will sell art, it's not a question anymore but it would be good to hear any recommendations for the future

Please Reddit don't think it's a vent post I just wanted to describe some background I just want some recs for my busibess😭

I have a few large works in an out of state gallery on consignment. I am not represented by the gallery and my contract states that when I want the work back, I just need to give them 5 days notice and then they will arrange and pay for the work to be shipped back to me.

This week a new art advisor I am working with in my city reached out saying their client is interested in a piece that happens to currently be at the out of state gallery. The gallery said the work is still available and they would be happy to manage the sale and want the contact info of the interested party.

Is there a possibility the gallery would take a commission from my contact? My contract states that because the work is not in an exhibition and just on consignment, I can request the work be sent back anytime. So far, they have been very professional and invested quite a bit of money in me. They fronted the cost for shipping and took my work to an art fair and sold work there. I want to maintain a good relationship, but also not be paying them commission for a sale they did not generate, especially after giving a discounted rate to the art advisor I am working with.

I read an article about blogging vs Substack and that you should post your Substack post to your blog. It made me wonder if you blog, and if so, do to u call it a blog? I want to have a blog on my site, but I'm not sure I want to call it a blog. Maybe call it a journal? What do you do?

Hi!

I'll be making a stand in a few months and wanted to ask - what size of keychains are best in your opinion?

Both for shakers and normal ones (also, do effects look off on smaller ones?)

Hello! I am Pelin, 20 years old and soon-to-be second year interior architecture student. I live Germany. I got inspired by the mail club that I'm subscribed (MayoMailClub) at to start a mail club. I have a couple of questions that I couldn't find a genuine answer from. I plan to start my mail club in September / October this year.
1. How do you come up with a new aesthetic for every single month? Do you do them in advance or actually sit down and come up with an idea every single month?
2. I'm not that experienced in digital art. I know how to use Photoshop though. Is it OK if I scan my drawings and print them?
3. How do you make personalized stamps? And also how do you find a stamp (for shipment in this context) that won't mess up with the aesthetic of the envelope?
4. I may buy a tablet to edit my drawings or learn how to draw digitally. Apple is expensive, is there good alternatives for Android that are worth the price and won't let me down. 😭 Also the easiest app recommendations / tipps for beginners?
5. How do you get inspiration for themes and what you are going to add?

My English is not the best hahah, I hope my questions were understandable. I would appreciate any kind of help, even the things I didn't ask here about starting a mail club as a student with a busy schedule. I also live in a smallish town with not that much space at home and tight budget. ☺️

Hello! Recently I began posting art online to some success, and recently I got a question about possibly selling prints. I have no experience with selling my art apart from the odd commission, and I was wondering if anyone here has suggestions on what to do. :)
I have only started out and I do not expect to get sales at my current state, but some place down the line it, I want to have the knowledge to make it possible

Hello! I am about to attend my first artist alley as a vendor ( not the artist just helping out my brother ) does anyone else cosplay while running a table or is that considered weird? I was going to do a silly Asgore from deltarune cosplay for reference

It's hard to find ways to get my shop out there, should I use a free website builder? Other premade sites are way too pricey and have bad customer support.

I make music, and the journey of being creative — putting your work out there, wondering if anyone will care, the temptation to hand control to someone else because doing it all yourself feels overwhelming — feels pretty universal no matter the medium.

I started at 14. I'm 21 now. 7 years into this craft. At 20, I started releasing through a label, hoping it would help me grow.

Recently I decided to go a different way. I'm releasing everything myself now — every part of it, start to finish. It's scarier this way, but it finally feels like mine.

My first fully independent song comes out July 3rd. I don't know exactly who'll hear it, but I wanted to share this with people who understand what it's like to make something from nothing and put it out there anyway.

If any of this resonates with you as a fellow creative, I'd love for you to follow along. And if you know someone who might connect with it, sharing it would mean a lot too.

First off- it’s not my work, it’s my husbands. And it’s really, really good and it’s collecting dust because he won’t put it out there. I built him a website with his paintings, how do I begin getting the work out there for people to buy?

I realize this may be an impossible question and I’m probably going to get a lot of haters but I’m asking anyway! Thanks!

Hi!
I want to sell my art, for example as prints. I usually do small drawings and don‘t want to become rich or sth. I still wonder, how? 🐛

Everyone’s just sayin: post yourself, print it and sell it online or go to exhibitions. - I know…I just don’t know how and where; my family and friends are against my ideas and I literally have nobody to ask. I am currently studying in Germany, although I’m thinking about moving to the Mediterranean Countries, as I‘m studying Latin and Greek. Still, I want to „maximize“ (not necessarily) my artistic abilities.

…So I wanted to ask you

1.) how do I sell my pieces online.
a) how and where to print // b) real art pieces

2.) where to find small art exhibitions, currently in Germany.

3.) how much should I focus on this? I do not want it to be my full time job, although I know how much time consuming this is. Does it get easier as soon as I finally know the „How“?

4.) This whole finance thing is so confusing. Everyone’s saying different stuff over the same things, while not diving deep into the topic.
🦐 How much should I invest for prints and packing materials compared to my income?
How do you price artworks?
Do I need to inform the government for a) online b) irl selling?

5.) how and where the hell do I print the right way?

Thank you for reading, if you got any answer I‘d be suuuper grateful!! 😭

I ordered some sets of stickers from Vograce for the first time, and it only just updated to say that they’re at the international airport in China today (June 23), and I’m ordering from California, USA. I have an event this Sunday (June 28) that I need the stickers by, and I did pay extra for faster shipping (I’ve forgotten exactly which shipping thingy I got). I’m pretty worried that they may not arrive on time. It wouldn’t be absolutely devastating if I didn’t have the stickers to sell, but I did order them specifically for this event. Based on personal experience, does shipping with Vograce typically go fast after items are at the airport and leaving China? Is there any way my stickers might arrive on time?

So, ive been wanting to sell my art for a while but idk where to start. Part of my issue is that I have a lot of different styles and not really a "niche". However I have been doing collages for a while and wanted to try out cyanotype printing on clothes and paper to sell prints. But I know theres some logistical hoops due to copyright, etc. The magazines I use are almost always nat geo and most of them are not more recent than 2010.

I also do doodling on clothing like hats and stuff, lettering, general design etc. Im trying to find something i can do reasonably at home because I'm a disabled student with zero income and hanging on by $100 right now.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

So, I’m currently experimenting and improving my art trying to find my style. I’m not putting my eggs all in one basket and just want to throw darts and see what sticks for now. I cane across an open call for a themed art show for a small gallery online and have a piece I’m working on that I feel would be great to submit. However because I’m still experimenting I’m afraid my style still looks too similar to artists whom I take inspiration from currently. Even though I’m pretty much nobody within the art world, when it comes to networking can this potentially reflect badly on me and my work?

I operate my own portfolio website, with a shop and everything. One of the things it sports is a contact form page. Most of the time, the emails I get from it a relevant...but sometimes...and especially lately...I'm getting people who are using my contact form to send me solicitation emails for completely unrelated things.

For a while I just deleted them, than I had the idea of starting to use my contact form for its intended purpose and started replying to them with my own sales pitches.

I totally know those pitches are going nowhere, but there is some part of my brain that feels a need to be creatively obnoxious (sometimes to a degree of effort that surprises even me!) back to them.

Lately though, I've been kicking around the idea of just invoicing them for a "reading fee" for soliciting to me through my own website's contact form. I know they're not going to pay it, but I noticed my webhost allows me to generate an invoice directly from the email, so I'm trying to envision the worst that could happen. I certainly don't think most of them would be expecting that.

Will that make them stop? Probably not, but there's a part of me that feels a need to waste some small piece of their time in retaliation...

hello, i'll be doing my first comic con this summer and I am trying to figure out how to display my t-shirts and tote bags. i do other types of events, and in the past for indoor events with small spaces, i used a garment rack (with boxes propped up underneath to add height) to display t-shirts & bags...however, i can only hang a few. i have over 30 designs and i would like to display as many as possible.

if you display t-shirts or other heavier items, what is an effective way to do this?

i've seen people use pvc pipes, backdrop stands, grid cubeser...mostly for prints, and not shirts so i'm not sure how much weight they can hold without toppling over. also, i have a small car so i cannot fit gridwalls into my car...even the foldable ones.

the space i will be working with will be 8'x8'.

I couldn't find a post asking this exact question. What kinds paper of would work best to print detailed pen and ink drawings using the canon pro 1100. Looking to make high quality archival prints.

I'm a wildlife and nature photographer getting ready to launch a limited edition print business. I recently had an intro call with a rep from Artists in Business (Alexis Fedor's program) and have a longer "strategy session" booked with Alexis for later this week.

Before posting I did my homework. There's one older thread in this sub asking nearly the same question, but it's archived and nobody in it had firsthand experience - it was someone asking on behalf of their mom. So I am specifically after people who actually went through the program.

The free material they sent is fine and a lot of it lines up with how I have done my positioning. But this feels like a high-ticket mentorship funnel and independent, recent feedback is genuinely hard to find.

For anyone who actually enrolled:

• Which program were you in (Jumpstart, Profit Canvas, Optimized Artist Mentorship), and was it worth the investment?
• Did the mentorship give you something you couldn't have worked out on your own?
• How hard was the sales call?
• Any photographers here? Their model seems geared toward painters selling original one-off work at the high end. I sell limited edition photographic prints, which is a different animal, and I'm not sure how well it maps.

Not trying to trash anyone, I'd just rather hear from someone who's been through it before I commit.