Packaging for online sellers

[caterina]

Hello.
I am wondering how everybody is addressing packaging when selling artworks online. Especially in UK.

I understand that a lot of artists turn to professional packing and delivery companies in Canada (I read a blog mentioning it), but I would like to offer that only as third choice to my costumers,as I suppose it to be quite expensive here in Europe as well. They are going to pay for it separately.

I am looking into offering an option to buy my paintings unmounted, so maybe packing them in a nice eco-friendly cardboard gift box, quite flat?
My second option offered to costumers would be paintings mounted on canvas, so maybe packaging could be in a bigger cardboard box or wrapped in eco-friendly bubblewrap and then an eco-friendly tough wrapping paper? There is also eco-friendly tape to keep it all together.

I wish to protect my work, but also to keep it simple and, did I say it?, eco-friendly as much as I can. And cheap, let's not forget cheap :-D
Any suggestions, recommendations, ideas?

[Shepherdess]

I think offering either mounted or unmounted is reasonable. You need to add the packaging price to the picture price so it is covered. Don't cheap out on the packaging. Having a piece of artwork arrive in cheap packaging will make people think you don't value the artwork. That isn't to say you have to use the most expensive packaging just good packaging. After that I would offer a post office, insured( I wouldn't offer uninsured for artwork) or one of the courier services. I don't know what they are In the Uk. Those are my thoughts.

[caterina]

Feb 5, 2022 0:18:58 GMT Shepherdess said:

I think offering either mounted or unmounted is reasonable. You need to add the packaging price to the picture price so it is covered. Don't cheap out on the packaging. Having a piece of artwork arrive in cheap packaging will make people think you don't value the artwork. That isn't to say you have to use the most expensive packaging just good packaging. After that I would offer a post office, insured( I wouldn't offer uninsured for artwork) or one of the courier services. I don't know what they are In the Uk. Those are my thoughts.

Thank you for your advices, Ann. I was actually very dubious about the unmounted option, so thanks.
I am looking at some packaging, but there is a lot to choose from.

[lyn]

If you want to sell a lot of artwork and keep costs down, have you considered making all your pieces the same size?

You could then take advantage of discounts on buying multiples of mounts and packaging etc.

[caterina]

Feb 5, 2022 10:44:58 GMT lyn said:

If you want to sell a lot of artwork and keep costs down, have you considered making all your pieces the same size?

You could then take advantage of discounts on buying multiples of mounts and packaging etc.

That's a good suggestion, Lyn.
I am actually trying to plan sizes in advance now: when I was making my portraits and all the abstracts up to now I just didn't really think it out in terms of mounting them or selling, and I am regretting it now that I decided to sell them! I was just trying out different things and techniques, and having fun, so I was making them of a more or less similar size...then I found out that it was less similar rather than more! I can kind of group some of them as they are almost the same size, but I have too many outliers at the moment.

Also,I have seen that there are good offers for some sizes of canvases, 3 for 2 and so on, on different suppliers, while others are very expensive in comparison and only a few sellers have them. I guess what goes for canvases goes also for other supplies: it would be good to find the better size both for canvases and for boxes, and make mostly in that size, I suppose.

[MTRuth]

I agree with Lyn, that creating artwork in the same sizes really helps with finishing, framing and packaging. (I don't ever seem to follow this advice but I prefer to sell my work through a gallery.) Taking advantage of discounts on buying multiples is really good advice.

I also agree with Ann that you should not use packaging that looks cheap. If you offer unmounted pieces, I might write up a short "tutorial" on how to mount your pieces effectively. If you listed that as part of the package, then more customers might be willing to spend less on the shipping etc. and then mount it after they received the artwork.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[caterina]

Feb 5, 2022 18:48:02 GMT MTRuth said:

I agree with Lyn, that creating artwork in the same sizes really helps with finishing, framing and packaging. (I don't ever seem to follow this advice but I prefer to sell my work through a gallery.) Taking advantage of discounts on buying multiples is really good advice.

I also agree with Ann that you should not use packaging that looks cheap. If you offer unmounted pieces, I might write up a short "tutorial" on how to mount your pieces effectively. If you listed that as part of the package, then more customers might be willing to spend less on the shipping etc. and then mount it after they received the artwork.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thank you, Ruth, the tutorial for mounting on canvas is a great idea! I can see that it may help people go for the unmounted option.

I'd rather sell through local collective art and crafts shops, but they are either not interested or asking me for stiff renting space fees and offering not much support along with the space, so that I am not sure I want to pay for that, right at the moment. I thought that maybe setting up an online shop would have been easier, but it is actually not, as you have to provide and plan for everything. I am not sure when I will be able to open for business :-) but I will let you know how it goes! :-)

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

I'd be interested in how you get on Caterina. I was in the process of setting up a website (until the panto costumes got in the way) but I don't want an online shop. It does seem that there are too many hurdles to overcome - not least making sure that you're following the current law on cookies which seems fraught with possible pitfalls. I also am not keen on advertising to HMIT that I may be getting an income from my sales - I've had enough of filling in tax returns every year.
I thought of having a "shop" on Etsy but I've heard bad rumours about them, and again - as with most of the craft sales sites - lots of hoops to jump through. (It could be that I'm seeing pitfalls where they are only hiccups, but I used to be a lawyer so see mountains in molehills.)
I have pretty well settled with "if you're interested in purchasing this item, contact me direct" and giving an email address not connected to the website (no cookies). I will need to get a card machine, but I understand that SumUp may be the best one to go with as far as cost and admin are concerned. Once this month is over I'll have to get on with this.

[caterina]

Feb 6, 2022 9:46:21 GMT Ann @ frabjous fabrica said:

I'd be interested in how you get on Caterina. I was in the process of setting up a website (until the panto costumes got in the way) but I don't want an online shop. It does seem that there are too many hurdles to overcome - not least making sure that you're following the current law on cookies which seems fraught with possible pitfalls. I also am not keen on advertising to HMIT that I may be getting an income from my sales - I've had enough of filling in tax returns every year.
I thought of having a "shop" on Etsy but I've heard bad rumours about them, and again - as with most of the craft sales sites - lots of hoops to jump through. (It could be that I'm seeing pitfalls where they are only hiccups, but I used to be a lawyer so see mountains in molehills.)
I have pretty well settled with "if you're interested in purchasing this item, contact me direct" and giving an email address not connected to the website (no cookies). I will need to get a card machine, but I understand that SumUp may be the best one to go with as far as cost and admin are concerned. Once this month is over I'll have to get on with this.

I am really not eager to borrow more work, so I sidestepped the whole cookies issue by not putting cookies into other people's devices for profiling and to sell them to third parties. If I sold a lot and wanted to get serious on marketing, it would be interesting to analyse them, having staff that could spend time on it, but I just do not check all those boxes :-D

I just went and created (well, I am creating) the website with a program called Wix that can handle the ecommerce payments. It helps you a lot with a range of templates and design layouts, and you personalise it with your content and photos. It should keep your inventory and you can also plan a marketing campaign, events or offers. While you are building the site, it is free to use, but once you connect your bank account for payments you have to pay a subscription. It also can offer you to buy your domain and connect it to the website.

I had to write my Terms and Conditions for the website and ecommerce, so I researched online: it seems that you are not required to have that on your website, but of course it is better in case of any dispute, and to be honest it helped me focus on what needs to be provided to costumers. There are templates online that you can use and can modify to your needs. I have recently seen a very streamlined and clear version of that on a website, so now I am thinking about changing mines a bit more.

Packaging for selling is definitely another issue, if you want sturdy but classy but eco-aware but cheap but... A lot of the boxes on the market are not suitable for a single canvas, and either too deep or too shallow. I found some telescoping boxes that are sold specifically for paintings or other flattish valuable objects, I ordered some to try. The advantage with those is that you can adapt the length of the box, although not other dimensions. You need also packaging tape with telescope boxes, so I choose a more eco-friendly paper packing tape. I also bought an external wrapping paper, in case I need it as external layer over the box.
I have not looked into boxes for unmounted paintings, as I guess it is going to be easier, wrapping the felt in tissue paper and putting it in a gift box. I could fold the painting without damaging it, so I should find a fitting box, hopefully. There are companies that provide custom made boxes, but they are too expensive for me for now. Some cheap packaging companies only sell in bulk, and, apart from not having that kind of storage space, I have different sizes of paintings at the moment, and I do not want to buy, say, 50 boxes of each size.

I won't even go into delivery companies and delivery options.

I also was surprised to learn about Certificates of Authenticity, and how important they seem to be in art: I had to include this to my "to do" list.

Understanding how to sell online has been much like becoming a whole company of one person. Well, it is. Putting on several hats, learning different trades from photographer to web designer to wharehouse packer and so on. I just hope to sell at least one painting to be able to cover costs, lol!

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Thanks for all the information Caterina, but I'm afraid that's really put me off! It's all too complicated as far as I'm concerned. I think I'll carry on as before - if I ever get to the stage of getting my website up and running. It's almost there but it's a case of getting "a round tuit"!

[caterina]

Feb 7, 2022 8:34:35 GMT Ann @ frabjous fabrica said:

Thanks for all the information Caterina, but I'm afraid that's really put me off! It's all too complicated as far as I'm concerned. I think I'll carry on as before - if I ever get to the stage of getting my website up and running. It's almost there but it's a case of getting "a round tuit"!

Well, yes, I really would not have started it all if I had other viable options. I guess that you already have a reputation and ways to make yourself known, whereas I need to build it also by keeping a kind-of-nice website, professional looking packaging and deliveries, and all kind of props to my reputation that I can afford. Galleries asked me for a website to see, with professional photos, so that it takes me further to already have a good one in place than to have none. And, since I am building it, why not try to sell from it..and it all went downhill from there! :-D lol

[Shepherdess]

ON this side of the pond you can use Square for in-person and online payments and they have free e-commerce websites. not sure how the websites work but for payments they are amazing and the cheapest available in North America. I gather Canada and the USA pay some of the highest credit card and debit fees anywhere. My site has crashed and I need to see about it. If they are not helpful about it I may have to move my site.

[caterina]

Feb 8, 2022 11:32:12 GMT Shepherdess said:

ON this side of the pond you can use Square for in-person and online payments and they have free e-commerce websites. not sure how the websites work but for payments they are amazing and the cheapest available in North America. I gather Canada and the USA pay some of the highest credit card and debit fees anywhere. My site has crashed and I need to see about it. If they are not helpful about it I may have to move my site.

Thanks, Ann. I checked it out, and I wish I did earlier on, as it seems very efficient. I don't really need the part not relating to the website at the moment, but may need it in the future: I will think about switching to Square.