How To Sell Paintings On Amazon: Step-By-Step Guide

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Are you wondering how to sell paintings on Amazon?

If you’re an artist exploring different platforms to sell art online, Amazon is probably looking better than good. And it should:

Nowadays, Amazon is the most visited e-commerce site in the USA – it attracts over 2.4 billion monthly visits. Think what you will, but that’s a large market of potential art buyers.

Today, I’ll cover tons of info about selling your art on Amazon:

• How to start selling art on Amazon?
• Is selling paintings on Amazon a profitable business?
• Should you sell drawings online for money?
• Can you make Amazon fine art prints work for your business?

Who Can Sell Paintings On Amazon?

You may not know it yet, but the job of curators is easier when working with Amazon:

The enormous size of that platform and the number of its visitors make finding art buyers online easy for curators.

Considering Amazon is the largest online marketplace, the site is one of the best places for independent artists and other art sellers looking to reach a target audience and increase their online presence. Its stellar customer service and protection of sensitive data will make the selling process as simple as possible.

Related Read:

• How To Sell Art Online
• The Best Websites To Sell Art Online
• Tips And Ideas To Sell More Art Online
• Marketing Your Art On Instagram

Are There Any Restrictions For Selling Art From Home On Amazon?

There are some restrictions when selling original paintings on canvas or other traditional forms of art. According to the platform, you have to comply with all federal, state, and local laws once you decide to supply products for sale on it.

Also, you must read the site’s policies for the products you’ll be offering and their listings. Long story short, not every piece of your art will find a place in the marketplace on Amazon.

With that said, what kind of artwork can you not sell in your Amazon store?

While you should check the policies yourself, I can tell you that the platform will not display any unauthorized copies or reproductions of artwork that violate copyright or trademark.  Don’t expect any republication of the information or original work of any kind!

I suggest becoming familiar with the prior written consent of Amazon, your rights of action, and best practices before selling physical or digital content on this vast marketplace.

What Artwork Can You Sell On Amazon?

First and foremost, there is a pre-approval process you’ll need to go through if you want to sell art on Amazon. Hopefully, you’ll pass it with flying colors!

To ensure you’re not breaking any rules, you should know what type of content can become an effective product listing on Amazon. Currently, this is the product range that is eligible for sale on the platform:

• Original and innovative forms of painting
• Drawings
• Watercolor paintings
• Two-dimensional mixed media art
• Limited edition photography and prints (digital artwork)

Do you want to sell your work in an online art gallery? See the top art galleries and other online platforms where you can offer original artwork for sale:

• DeviantArt
• ArtPal
• Society6
• Saatchi Art
• Shopee
• Displate
• Fine Art America

How To Sell Paintings On Amazon – Step-By-Step Guide

I bet you’re ready to start making money from your art with Amazon.

There is no point in just talking about the process of becoming an art seller on the platform. Instead, here is how to do it:

1) Provide The Necessary Documents For A Professional Selling Account On Amazon

By all means, you should register at Amazon first to start selling  – you must prepare a couple of documents before signing up for the platform. Make sure you have all of the following documents ready:

• Business Information (business name and address)
• Email Address (don’t use personal e-mail addresses)
• Credit Card: Your credit card must be internationally chargeable and have a valid billing address. In case it is not, Amazon will cancel your registration.
• Phone Number: Representatives of Amazon will reach out to you during the registration process. Subsequently, providing a working phone number is unavoidable.
• Tax ID: Write down your tax identity information, such as your Social Security number or your company’s Federal Tax ID number.
• State Tax ID: As you can guess, you’ll need to show your State tax ID information for states in which you have tax nexus.

2) Create An Amazon Seller Account

Once you provide the necessary documents, the process of becoming an Amazon seller is pretty straightforward:

• Visit Amazon Seller Central
• Create your account (pick the Professional Selling Plan and agree to pay a $39.99 monthly fee)
• Verify your mobile number through OTP.
• Choose your store name.
• Enter the remaining details on your Amazon Selling Dashboard.
• Upload your signature
• Click Launch Your Business

And you’re all set! Hold on your horses, though – there is much to learn about how to sell paintings on Amazon.

For instance, did you know that you can choose an Individual Plan instead of a professional account? That option will not work if you hope for thousands of online sales:

A professional Amazon Selling account offers many benefits for any business owner, including access to various tools. These tools will help you reach a broader audience and new potential customers.

3) Check The Amazon Selling Plans And Fees

No online business can function without paying expenses and fees.  All successful artists who are already selling their products online know that.

What are the Amazon selling fees and plans? What budget is required to reach thousands of art enthusiasts with your physical or digital products?

As mentioned, Amazon has two plans to choose from.  Shall we look at them?

• Individual Plan: Choosing the Individual Plan is a great opportunity for higher profit margins since you don’t have to pay a monthly subscription fee. Unfortunately, art sellers can’t upload more than 40 items, and they have to pay $0.99 for each product they manage to sell.
• Professional Selling Plan: A Professional Amazon Central Account is the more attractive option (this plan has no transaction fee per item sold).

Other fees to consider when selling art on Amazon are shipping, return processing, and storage fees (the last one applies if your business model requires Amazon’s fulfillment services.

4) Choose A Type Of Art To Sell

My take on how to sell paintings on Amazon already gave you a paragraph about the different formats Amazon allows you to sell on its online art market. However, a brief coverage is not enough – let me give you the available categories:

• Original Artwork: Assuming you may already be selling original work on your platforms (your own website/own online store), listing such artwork on Amazon is probably a no-brainer.  Still, you should factor in the downside of doing it, such as working hours and supply costs.
• Digital Art: Selling wall art digital products (art prints, posters) is a great way to create a passive income stream if you’re a digital content creator. The good news is that such digital formats don’t require buying physical supplies.
• Print-On-Demand Products: Using Print-On-Demand services is the first step for reaching many potential buyers and increasing your online revenue. Placing your own art on digital products or merchandise (phone cases, tote bags) allows you to find a vast customer base and a larger audience.

5) Create Your Product Listings

Generally, your marketing efforts may fail if you don’t create product listings that will convert into sales. There are numerous ways to ensure your product listings will attract the right buyers once you complete the application process.
Here are the best practices to follow when you create a product listing:

• Pick Enticing Titles: The title is the first thing potential buyers will see. Subsequently, that title must be descriptive and contain a relevant keyword.  You’re not writing a blog post, but you must apply Amazon SEO so your product appears high in the search results.
• Use High-Quality Images: How can your product images stand out on a popular platform like Amazon? These images must be of superb quality and showcase the product from different angles.
• Provide Detailed Descriptions: It’s well-known that most buyers purchase products for emotional reasons. So, use your product descriptions to connect with a global audience – include more than sizes and colors!

6) Choose The Right Categories And Prices

Don’t underestimate the importance of categorizing your artwork correctly when selling products on any e-commerce platform. That’s probably one of the most essential pointers I want you to remember from this take on selling paintings on Amazon.

Why does the product category matter that much? It does because it helps potential buyers discover your products. Besides, a product category is a great way to use your unique style to attract a large pool of customers.
Place your artwork in subcategories like Abstract, Portraits, Landscapes, etc. Home Decor is a great addition to consider, too.

What about pricing? Sellers should never undervalue their work – the best way to do so is to pursue higher price points. Things to factor in when setting your prices are material costs, time/work investment, and competitors’ product prices.

7) Decide On Shipping Options

Let me ask you – what shipping options make the most sense once your Amazon store starts receiving custom orders? Are you aware of the different ways to ship products to customers?

Assuming some of you need assistance in that department, there is no better time than now to cover your shipping options.

The first one is self-shipping. That option gives you complete control over the process and reduces your costs. However, your workload will be much more than the alternative.

As you can guess, the alternative is Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA). FBA is not a new service. On the contrary, it’s a popular option if you prefer Amazon to manage packaging and shipping on your behalf.

8) Drive Traffic To Your Amazon Art Store

By all means, what is the easiest way to attract more attention to your Amazon merch? How can you ensure thousands of people will see your Amazon print or any other product you sell?

In-depth market research is not enough to drive enough traffic to your Amazon store. I suggest considering the following ideas as well:

• Utilize Different Social Media Platforms: Spare a minute to learn how to promote and sell art on Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok.  Whether you use Amazon KDP (Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing) or Amazon Handmade (this opportunity allows you to sell handmade products in a handmade store), building a social media presence is a must in today’s digital age.
• Write Blog Posts: Your website is a great place to promote different products. You can earn extra money as a website owner by placing affiliate links to popular e-commerce platforms or relevant products like art supplies.
• Implement SEO: Always add keywords to your title and product descriptions.

How To Sell Paintings On Amazon – Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use My Amazon Customer Account For Registration On Amazon Seller Central?

Yes, you can sign in using the data from your Amazon customer account. But that’s not the best idea ever:

To avoid being on many email lists from the Amazon Selling Team, the least you can do is use a different email address.

Can You Have Two Amazon Seller Accounts?

No, you can’t have two Amazon Seller accounts. Unfortunately, the platform allows only one seller account per person’s name.

Interestingly enough, some people are cheating the system:

They try to own multiple seller accounts using different email addresses and telephone numbers.

Such activity doesn’t last for too long:

Amazon suspends the accounts as soon as they notice what is going on.

Why Does Amazon Need My Tax Information?

Amazon will ask you to complete your tax information because that’s the law.

Should you even bother to learn how to sell paintings on Amazon if you don’t plan to respect the law?

I’m sure you can come up with an answer to that question on your own.

Can I Register A New Amazon Seller Account If I Make Too Many Mistakes On The First One?

Making mistakes while registering your seller account is nothing out of the ordinary. I can tell you to be careful, but you still may write down something incorrectly.

Since you already know that Amazon allows only one seller account per person, starting a new one is not an option. Instead, you should click on Help in your dashboard and work with the support team to handle everything that needs correction on your artist profile.

What Should I Do If Amazon Puts My Account Under Review?

Sometimes, the platform places certain accounts under review.

In case that happens to you as well, don’t panic!

Keep calm and go through your information:

• Make sure you’re providing all the necessary documents and data
• See if the information in the fields matches the documents
• Check for typing errors
• Don’t upload info that the platform doesn’t require from you

Can I Trade As A Company If I’m Already Selling As A Sole Proprietor On Amazon?

Above all, you can change the legal status of your business from a sole proprietorship to a Company.

It will not affect your account or the way you approach how to sell paintings on Amazon.

Time To Wrap

As you can guess, it’s time to wrap this article up.

That doesn’t mean the topic is over, though:

I’ll keep updating it with more relevant information about how to sell paintings on Amazon in the future.

Until then, I wouldn’t mind hearing everything you have to say about selling art on the platform.

Share your opinion in the comments section, and we’ll talk about it further.

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