Fine Art America is a wonderful service. But it’s easy to get lost in the millions of artists who are members. Here’s how to help make it work for you.
What is Fine Art America?
Fine Art America is a fulfillment house with centers around the globe. You supply the art and they supply the selling platform and the finished product made with your art. They produce wall art, including prints, on many different media, including canvas, fine art paper, metal, acrylic and tapestries. Framing is available as well using archival materials.
They also print home décor including pillows, throws, shower curtains, coffee mugs as well as phone covers and clothing. You post your work and they have it on the website, print, ship and guarantee the quality and satisfaction of the purchasers.
How do you make money?
When posting your art you price your work for various products and sizes. You set your own price. You set the value. I can’t stress that enough. Fine Art America then adds the cost of producing the work. This would be the same basic price which you would pay most printers and framers but at a discount. This is added to the price you set. That is the price the client pays.
Searchable artists
If you depend upon just uploading your images to Fine Art America and waiting for the orders and money to come in save your time and energy. Getting your art found and selected from among the millions of artists and over 25 million pieces of art and design is pretty slim. That is what faces you. But there is an additional way to make Fine Art America work for you.
Personal website option
For $30 each year, Fine Art America has an enhanced private website option in which only your work is searchable. You will still be out in the sea of artists on front side, but you will have a cozy little website all your own. A URL where you can drive traffic to your work.
This is an amazing deal. All the e-commerce and coding is built in. To create something similar and stand-alone would cost loads of time and money.
In addition, Fine Art America has a widget you can add to sell from your own website.
You will need to market and drive people to see your work. This is the key to selling success on Fine Art America in my opinion. Marketing your work through various channels such as Facebook, newsletters and email is a necessity. Fine Art America has tools that will help you with that as well which you can learn about on their website.
You can check out my personal Fine Art America website here where you can see how I have personalized it. When you do a search for black and white, for example, the search will only return my images.
If you have additional questions drop them in the comments below. And don’t forget to check out all that Fine Art America has to offer!
I tried to sell some of my paintings on Fine Art America. It was a positive experience. Interesting was the possibility to associate a website and manage the portfolio of the artwork.
Hi Bob,
Thank you! I am just starting out on here!
Linda
Great Linda. I wish you good sales. Remember you need to drive traffic to your work for best results!
Can you tell me how to create collections?
HI Dan, Log-in to your FAA. Go into the Settings Panel. Click on Collections. Near the top of that page is a check box that says Create New Collection. And you are on your way. FAA has lots of tutorials and instructions on how to best use the features of their site.
Is it at all possible achieve the necessary resolution with an iPhone 13 for Fine Art America? I have a unique rock/mineral/crystal collection that I would like to not only to photo document but also offer prints on Fine Art America.
You should be able to, but you might be limited in terms of size.
iPhone 13 info is above my pay-grade so I’ll defer to Bryan. You can look at the FAA site and check file sizes and printing sizes for your files. That should answer your question with no guessing.
Good info, thanks! What do you recommend as a good starting point to mark-up your photography artwork?
That’s a personal decision… I personally mark up a lot vs trying to compete with those that give their art away. Take into consideration time to shoot, process, create, upload, market etc. At a minimum, I would think 2.5 to 3 times but that doesn’t take into account the art itself…
Hi – thanks for the great advice! How did you customize your home page?
There is information provided on the FAA website… Look to the back end.
I just started my premium FAA account and have several images posted. I just have one question. That widget you mentioned that lets you sell from your own website … that’s only if our website is on WordPress or Shopify and such, right? We don’t need that widget if we’re using the Pixels website that FAA provided for us, is that correct? Everything is already set up there, I think.
HI Donna, I’m going to suggest you direct this question to FAA. I have their service but I’m not expert in all the inner workings. Best of luck!! Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Is there a way to customize the url to your FAA website? The url they assigned me is not good.
Talk to FAA. If they say that’s what it is then go to your Internet provider. I remember there are ways to have a pointer domain name open that site for you and that would be the one you promote. On another note, I don’t think folks much care what the URL is as much as when we first started out. Best of luck! Bob,
Hi Bob. I have sold a few items in FAA but find it disheartening that I don’t have a connection with the buyer. If I opt for the premium and have my own website, will I be able to communicate with buyer or get their email? I appreciate your help!
HI Brinda,
Grats on your sales… When you have your own web address with FAA people can contact you and you will have their return email addresses. You can also post a newsletter and events. Having your own space also gives you a place to drive traffic where they only are searching your work vs being in the huge FAA pool of art. As it is only $30 a year having your own space makes sense. Hope this is helpful. Yours in creative photography, Bob
Thank you!
Hello What photos appear to sell well for you? I noticed your images are above a natural level of saturation, is this generally what the audience likes? I ask as I’m a UK countryside and garden photographer and I am looking for some tips on style, content and editing styles. I’ve been on the site for a few years and sold nothing and struggle with what to post that may be more attractive to would be buyers.