To Increase Art Sales, reduce friction
True story about some art I bought recently.
I went to an open studio at a big artist loft, and I found some art that I loved and wanted to buy. I was so excited! But I only had a credit card, and the artist didn’t take credit. Do you have paypal? Venmo? No. I asked him if he knew if there was a cash machine nearby and he didn’t know. While I was trying to figure out how to pay, a guy came in with some cash to buy a different piece that he had seen the day before. He had the same problem as me and managed to come back the next day with cash. It turned out my friend had cash so I venmoed her and she paid the guy, and I got my art, which I love!
But here’s my question: how many people DIDN’T figure it out?
Remove the friction that prevent sales
How many sales did that artist lose? He created SO MUCH FRICTION around closing the deal and I’m just wondering how many people gave up. If you sell art directly to a customer, it is imperative to make the purchasing process as simple, straightforward and easy for the customer. In this episode, I’m going to break down 4 methods of reducing friction that will help this purchasing process a lot.
Before I get into talk all about friction, I want to let you know that I have a super quick and handy download all about ways to manage a commission experience with your collectors! Commissions are a great way to connect with our fans and make great art, but some care and attention to detail is required to make them run smoothly. Sign up for my free pdf worksheet with all the info you'll need to make it amazing!
What is friction?
Friction is the stuff that a buyer will encounter between falling in love with your art and actually putting it on their wall. Friction is the barrier to sales and can be elements of the purchasing process that can cause confusion or aggravation to the purchaser. A wise artist will figure out all the ways to eliminate the friction, so they get the money in their pocket, and the collector gets an incredible piece of art.
So, how do we avoid friction in the art buying process?
The artist I bought art from could have done a bunch of practical things to make it easier. He could have ordered a free card reader and a free app for his phone so he could take credit card payment. He could have at least KNOWN where the cash machine or bank was in his vicinity. He could have had a cash app account like Venmo to take electronic payments.
For the seller of art, particularly online, I’ve got 4 tips to make the purchase experience as slippery as possible!
1) you have to make it very clear exactly what the customer is going to get.
This is if you have a product listing on your website or hosted elsewhere. You’ll want to have several very clear, well lit, in focus photos of the thing, showing different angles and scale. You think that sounds obvious? Well, if you spent any time on Etsy you would know that it’s NOT OBVIOUS. For paintings, I often have one “hero shot” and one shot with my hand in the frame so the scale is easy to see. You might have photos of the work at various angles, and maybe a shot of it installed. I have a full description of everything they’re going to get and try to cover questions they might have. For my paintings, I might say something like:
This 18 X 24” acrylic painting is a one of kind. The painting is made on a primed wooden support about 2 inches thick. It is unframed and ready to hang.
Each painting will be signed on the back and a certificate of authenticity will be included.
2) make an easy checkout experience
Make the customer feel secure and comfortable in the transaction. Though we are quite comfortable these days ordering things online, there might still be some uncertainty about buying something expensive from an unknown stranger. You want to present yourself and your offer as professionally as possible. Paypal, stripe, and other credit card apps offer protections for the buyer, but if you do a person-to-person transaction on some apps, no protections are offered. This is one of the reasons why I think that selling art in the DMs creates unnecessary friction. There are definitely ways to do it, namely creating a PayPal invoice and emailing it to the customer, which works fine, but I think you will sell more if you have a conventional product listing with a buy button somewhere.
Having your art on a website with a streamlined checkout process and shipping, payment and store policies listed goes a long way towards establishing yourself as legit.
3) Be very clear about shipping methods, timeline, and fees.
My listings say, “Ships fast in the USA via USPS Priority. Orders over $50 ship free.” If your shipping process is slower, people will usually understand but you need to set the expectation and be explicit about your timeline. You might say something like “Shipping fees are $10. We will make your print to order so please allow 5-10 business days for delivery.”
4) think long and hard about your shipping fees
Many a sale has been lost at checkout when the shipping fee was added, and the customer got sticker shock. I have a little handmade mug addiction, and I was in the online checkout process of buying a very nice mug. When I got to the checkout process, the shipping fee was $25 for a $75 item. Exasperated, I abandoned my cart. I think that potter would have been better served to price her mug at $99 with free shipping rather than popping in that unwelcome surprise in the checkout.
These are just some of the ways to reduce friction in the buying experience. If you want to learn more about selling art online, check out this popular article:
How to Make Art that People Will Buy
or this one: