An odd thing happened a month ago when I received an email saying one of my paintings had sold. It was odd because I had pulled all of my paintings from that particular art site. One of that site's affiliates had a cached listing for my painting, which a buyer had found and I needed to make a decision to sell the painting or not.
The decision wasn't too difficult. A sale is a sale. However, it did remind me of the financial compromises of selling on that platform: 45% to the gallery site, 10% to the affiliate, $400 for shipping. Regardless, until the smt art store receives equivalent traffic, it's likely one of the best showcases for my work.
Given the exposure I get through that platform and the recent sale, I had to rethink my decision to sell independently. I love that I can sell not only my originals, but prints directly, but the added visibility of an established platform makes sense too.
The compromise has always been cost. The large platform can take as much as 70%, which prompted an increase in my selling price. Even with that increase there are still buyers for my work, so it's somewhat of a litmus test for my work's value. I decided that to really market effectively, I need to sell on both sites.
To remain in compliance with the rules of the other site, my prices must remain the same on all platforms. You might have noticed an increase in prices for originals on the smt art store - something I don't like doing, but a necessary evil.
One of the reasons for launching this site was to offer my originals at lower pricing, so to counter the pricing adjustments, all original paintings now have a "Make Offer" button. This pops up a small dialog box where you'll enter basic contact information and your offer. Once I approve, you can continue with the purchase and I'll start packing the painting to head your way.