Sell Art On Society6: Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners

Most art business owners worldwide constantly look for more ways to sell their art online. Finding out how to sell art on Society6 will provide them with another brilliant option.

If you own an art business or plan to create one shortly, learning how to sell art in multiple ways is unavoidable.

While many websites will allow you to list your artwork for sale, discovering new ones will always work in your favor.

Society6 happens to be such a website. And today, you’ll learn all about it:

What is Society6, and how does it work?
Can you make money as an artist on Society6?
How to list your art for sale on Society6?
Is Society6 worth it?

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What Is Society6?

To sum up, Society6 is an online marketplace that enables art creators to earn a profit by selling their artwork.

Currently, Society6 is one of the largest print-on-demand websites, allowing independent artists to sell a wide range of products.

For instance, you can sell anything from wall digital art to home decor to prints on bed and bath items. Popular new products that sell well on the platform include tote bags, fun geometric curtains, outdoor floor cushions, floral iPhone cases, and floral decor.

It’s worth mentioning that while Society6 is a USA-based company, the site is one of the Print-On-Demand platforms that are open to talented artists worldwide.

Anyone can join Society6 without paying anything – creating a seller account is free of charge.

Alright, let’s continue to the essential part of this article, shall we?

What Products Can You Sell On Society6?

At the time of this writing, Society6 accepts various products that will suit any of the following categories:

Wall Art Prints (Canvas Prints)
Home Decor
Bed & Bath Products (feel free to create new sheets or floral curtains)
Bold Portraits (fox paintings are popular on-trend designs right now)
Apparel
Kids
Bags & Accessories
Furniture
A Throw Pillow
Tablet
Office
Tech
Outdoor & Lifestyle

The site allows users and potential customers to browse different products by metrics, such as Shop By Artist, Holiday, and Society6 Essentials.

How Does Society6 Work?

Quite frankly, the working process of Society6 is pretty straightforward.

Considering Society6 is one of the most well-known POD sites, I’m sure most can imagine its inner workings.

Assuming that some of you are complete beginners in the make-money-by-selling art world, I want to take a minute to cover the way Society6 operates:

In short, the site allows different artists (established or new artists) to showcase their artwork and benefit from a great place with an enormous art community and excellent customer support.

Once you join the website as a seller, you’ll have to create, upload, and list artwork on products of your choosing.

When a customer places an order to purchase a product with your design on it, you’ll receive a commission.

Is Society6 A Good Place To Sell Art?

Before I show you how to sell art on Society6, let’s discuss whether selling on the platform is a smart move for your business.

In my opinion, selling artwork on Society6 is worth the time and effort. Nowadays, Society6 gets around 5.5 million monthly visitors:

Say what you will, but that’s a huge pool of potential customers willing to invest in your art (to say the least).

With that said, the number of clients Society6 attracts every month is not the only reason to join the site as a seller:

By all means, selling artwork on Society6 will provide you with a great way to earn a part-time or full-time income as an artist:

All you’ll need to do is launch your online artist studio, create an original art design, and the site will take care of the rest.

Considering Society6 is one of the best POD platforms, the site will deal with work activities such as production, printing, storage, and shipping on your behalf.

Moreover, the platform will market your products to increase your artist earnings through organic sales. Of course, all sellers with artists’ accounts must offer products of the highest quality (even if they are not limited edition), create a more focused brand, and learn search engine optimization.

Also, you have full control over the type of products that will have your designs on – you can place artwork on any kind of product you like. So, yes – Society6 is a great place to sell your art!

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How Do Artists Get Paid On Society6?

First and foremost, Society6 will place a fixed retail price on all your products.

Artists earn a 10% profit margin. That might not seem like much money, but you’ll be selling among a smaller pool of artists and still earning passive income at the end of the day!

Of course, if you decide to sell a product at a discount, that will reduce your overall commission, but the profit margin will remain the same.

Now, certain categories work a bit differently where pricing structure is concerned:

Framed art, wall art category, and canvas print products will appear for sale on the platform with a base price. But you have the option to set up the profit margin you want.

Again, Society6 doesn’t come with subscriptions, monthly fees, or listing fees.

Customers pay for products via PayPal, Amazon Pay, or credit card. Creators receive their earnings via PayPal (you must create a PayPal account if you don’t have one already).

Important Updates:

Recently, Society6 joined the other print-on-demand sites that offer paid plans. You can still build an online store on the platform for free, and none of the artist plans require paying a shipping fee.

Checking those plans in the early days won’t take a long time: I suggest doing that before choosing Society6 as your official print-on-demand service.

How To Sell Art On Society6 – Step-By-Step Guide

1) Set Up Your Society6 Artist Account

how to sell art on society6 create an account

Creating an account on Society6 is as easy as it can be.

Go through the following steps to start selling art on Society6 through your own shop:

Visit the homepage of Society6 (that’s the first step to take)
Click the Create Account tab
Type in your username and some contact information (make sure it’s a good one since you can’t change it later)

Generally, your username will be the same as your display name on the platform. I suggest using your own name or the name of your brand.

Your display name will appear in your profile header and all your listings – it’s the name your customers will constantly see each time they browse through your products and new arrivals.

Once you decide on a display name, you must provide your email and pick a password.

Then you can click the Sign-Up button to visit the welcome page. The verification process (some see it as an approval process) won’t take much time.

2) Build Your Society6 Online Shop

Nowadays, Society6 provides many options to build a stunning shop: you don’t have to be a graphic designer to create a visually appealing store and product page.

For example, you should add a bio, and edit your cover image and your profile photo – you’ll be able to do that by clicking on the Appearance tab.

Also, don’t hesitate to display your contact details, social channels (social media accounts), and your own website (or YouTube channel) to allow potential customers to get familiar with you and your artwork.

3) Edit Your Shop

Editing your Society6 shop is not just a recommendation – it’s a must if you want your store to look as professional as possible.

Take your time browsing through your shop’s settings to prepare your product images (I did that before the initial upload).

Pro Tip:

Ensure you set your settings in a way that allows you to sell all products. That’s necessary if you plan to upload different product images and add a new artwork submission as often as possible.

4) Upload Your Product Images

Society6 has certain requirements for your image files:

Each raw file of product image you want to upload to the open platform must be a JPG File (without layers) or a PNG File.

Whether you choose a JPG or PNG separate file, it’s up to you, but your file images must be 300 DPI (dots per inch) to be eligible for printing.

With that said, here are the dimensions Society6 recommends for your product images:

Horizontal Images (15,000px x 9,000px)
Vertical Images (8,000px x 12,000px)
Square Images (12,000px x 12,000px)

According to Society6, you must always use the RGB Color Format for your images.

Image Uploading Process On Society6

Go to the Upload Now button (or the Sell link)
Click Add New Design
Enter Artwork Title (the title of your artwork has to be descriptive and short)
Drag and drop your art design or select the file from your computer
Select the category for your product (painting, drawing, graphic design, photography, or collage)
Place relevant tags (subject, colors, style, medium, etc.)
Write a description (use the search engine of the platform to come up with suitable keywords for your product description and subject line)
Save and click the Enable button, so your art designs will begin appearing on the site

5) Price Your Artwork

By all means, this article about how to sell art on Society6 will never be complete unless I cover the process of pricing your products.

As you already know, Society6 offers a flat 10% commission rate.

However, you can pick your own profit margin in the Wall Art category before making your first sale:

The profit margin will automatically appear as 10% but you can change it to a higher one to increase your income streams.

You’ll notice a Pricing Link on your Artist Studio Page – use that link to set up the pricing you want.

How can you make extra money on Society6 without putting a lot of work? Here is how:

You can join its affiliate program and promote the platform to others. Anyone who wants to do that will receive a unique affiliate link.

However, selling on Society6 or utilizing its affiliate program is not a get-rich-quick scheme: the excellent customer service removes spam accounts to protect legitimate sellers and buyers.

More Online Platforms For Art Sellers:

Sell Art On Society6 – Frequently Asked Questions

Which One Is Better: Society6 Or Redbubble?

Nowadays, many business owners will tell you that it’s better to sell art designs on Redbubble than on Society6.

That’s mostly because Redbubble offers higher profit margins.

Society6 will allow you to change your profit margin to a higher one, so keep that in mind before you decide to start selling art on either of these platforms.

How Much Does Society6 Pay Artists?

Right now, Society6 offers you a 10% commission on your art sales.

Of course, you can expect a higher commission if you sell art, canvas, or framed prints, considering these categories will allow you to choose the profit margin you want.

Does Society6 Own Your Art?

No, Society6 doesn’t own your art:

Each art seller on Society6 owns and retains all rights to the artwork, content, and product announcements they submit on the platform.

Final Say

How to sell art on Society6 is a topic that should be clear by now.

There isn’t much that the platform often changes about the selling process happening on it.

Still, I’ll let you know if any significant changes happen in Society6 in the future.

Until then, you can have the word on this topic:

What are your thoughts about selling art designs on Society6?

Do you love the idea, or do you prefer to list your artwork for sale elsewhere?

Let me know, and we’ll discuss the subject further!

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