Websites to Sell Prints Online for Art and Photography

The main advantage of selling prints online is convenience.

Print on demand websites take care of all the time consuming work – creating the print, framing, matting, shipping, and customer support.

Artists and photographers can post their high quality images at these websites and only have to take care of the promotion aspect.

 

Here are some things to consider before joining these listed print on demand websites.

 

1. Posting your prints does not mean you will automatically sell them. The prints have to be promoted by you. Each site has various free tools for promoting art, photography and prints.
   
   
   
2. Don’t spread yourself too thin. In order to be successful at any one online printing site, there should be a lot of consistent, and focussed promotion. There is certainly not enough time to sell at every single existing print on demand website. But, if you do decide to join several, my advice would be to only choose one to promote. Login everyday, comment on other artist’s work, and use all the free tools to promote your own prints. When you are satisfied that people are beginning to know you there, then select a different print on demand service to log in often, and only interact on the first one occasionally.
   
   
   
3. Never have all your eggs in one basket. On one hand I am saying to focus on one site, but on the other I am saying to not just stick with one POD service. Why? With the changing tide of the internet, some sites may be there one day, and gone the next. This is a hard lesson to learn for those who relied on Fine Art Registry and Boundless Gallery. Because of my last point, I recommend promoting yourself on one website at a time, but not completely relying on any one POD service. As I said before, it may be best to spread your reach when you are ready.
   
   
   
4. Pricing your prints. Each website has a different pricing model. If joining several of these websites, it is a general recommended practice to maintain consistency in your pricing. But, because of different pricing models for each POD website, it may be impossible to have the exact same price for all print sizes.

Here is a listing of some of the larger print on demand services on the internet.

Websites for Selling Prints of Art and Photography on the Internet

1. Zazzle

   
   
   Zazzle has over 350 different items available for imprinting artwork and designs, with more being added all the time. Products include key-chains, post cards, greeting cards, badges, ipod cases, t-shirts, mugs, posters, wrapped canvas, and much more. Users can create their own free store with unlimited items, and also enjoy unlimited storage. Zazzle also has many promotional tools to make it easy for artists to promote their store.
   
    

2. Cafepress

   There are currently 3 million virtual shops at Cafepress. Items include such products as t-shirts, mugs, iphone cases, canvas prints, etc. Cafepress also owns Imagekind – which is a print on demand service specifically for fine artists and photographers. Free stores allow the posting of 80 items for sale, but only one from each type of product. But, a premium store, with a monthly membership fee, will get you unlimited products and highly customizable virtual shops. All products also have a base price and mark-up which can be set by the artist.
   
   

3. Fine Art America

   Fine Art America is free for posting of up to 25 images to sell as prints in their print on demand program. This may be very limited for many artists, but they do have an upgrade option, which includes unlimited uploads and more for a very affordable $30 a year. Artists can choose any mark-up and sell their art as canvas prints, poster prints, and even greeting cards. There are also various framing options for online shoppers. Fine Art America also has many promotional tools, such as a shopping cart for your Facebook page, art groups, contests, art blogs, ordering catalogs, and more.
   
   

4. Redbubble

   On the surface, Redbubble has much of the same features as Fine Art America – ability to set mark-up and sell prints directly from your Redbubble page.
   
   Redbubble does carry a wider range of products though – t-shirts, stickers, greeting cards, iPod cases, calendars, post cards, posters, and kids clothing.
   
   Redbubble is also completely free, and artists can post and sell unlimited artworks through this print on demand website.
   
   
   
   

5. Deviantart

   Deviantart is the largest of the online portfolio sites, and has been around for a long time. Deviantart currently has over 18 million artists in its membership – though the artwork on the site is not just limited to fine art. Deviantart also has manga, comic art, tattoo art, poetry, and much more. 
   
   The Deviantart Prints program includes fine art prints, canvas prints, post cards, calendars, mugs, magnets, etc. The default commission rate mark-up is 20%, and this rate can only be adjusted by premium Deviantart members.
   
   
   
   

6. Imagekind

   Imagekind is owned by Cafepress. Free members enjoy unlimited uploads and storage, and 5% from sale of frames. Imagekind offers canvas prints, framed prints and posters at their print on demand website. Imagekind also provides several marketing tools for the promotion of artwork online.

If you have another website for selling prints online, please tell us about it below in the comments.