5 Creative Ways to Sell Your Arts and Crafts This Holiday Season

An Artist’s Guide to “Gift Selling”

‘Tis the holiday season of giving, so why not make it a profitable one, too? If you are planning to sell your handmade arts and crafts during the holidays, then this post is for you! To make sure you, your patrons and your wallets are filled with festivity and goodwill, we’ve put together a list of quick and easy ways to give your artistic offerings a bit of holiday cheer. Here’s to a profitable season for you, artists! Enjoy!

Custom Bundles

Gift baskets filled with goodies are always a hit, so why not create one with your art? If your specialty is acrylic paintings of landscapes, for instance, try scaling them down, way down. Create an assortment of mini landscape paintings, perhaps with a winter theme, tied with a pretty bow. An art bundle of small paintings could equate to the size of one, large canvas when you put them all together. Keeping in mind your material and labor expenses, you could price these tiny but mighty bundles similarly to your full-size paintings, but market them as holiday specials perfect for art-lovers.

Another art gift set idea is to make inexpensive prints of your most popular artworks in a variety of sizes and correlating prices. What’s more, consider offering to frame the print(s) at an additional cost. That way customers not only can purchase their favorite art pieces at a fraction of the price, but they also don’t have to worry about taking the extra step to get them framed. Do these as limited editions that you sell to your email clients exclusively, and you just might put the Black Friday lines to shame.

Coupons and Incentives During the Holiday Season

Bundles not an option, or you want to find more ways to boost sales this holiday season? Consider offering special pricing, coupons and incentives. For example, take part in Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) or Small Business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) by offering a flash sale on your artwork. Don’t have time to prepare for Cyber Monday or Small Business Saturday this year? Create your own one-day-only event! Offer a percentage off your art selection, free shipping and/or an array of BOGO (buy one painting, get one drawing or study) deals. And, you could even try mixing all three of those options together for one, mega holiday sale! If a customer spends X amount of money, for instance, he or she can get free shipping; or if a client buys one painting, he or she could get another one for 50% off — plus free shipping if they spend over $100. The best part is: What you offer your customers during your holiday sale is entirely up to you.

Card Gift Sets and Holiday-Specific Art Pieces

Another great way to make more money this holiday season is to climb on board the festive frenzy train by offering holiday-centric goodies to your customers from custom cards to seasonal-inspired artworks. And, if you really are feeling the holiday spirit, take a few notes from the money-making tips above by throwing a few sales, bundles and BOGOs into the mix. Pro tip: It’s important to note not every customer celebrates the same holidays or in the same way, so make sure to include a variety of offerings, whether it is holiday-specific — such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas or New Years — or more general seasonal tidings for all to enjoy.

Community and Online Events

Whether you have your own website, finding alternative ways to spread the word about your art is always a good practice. And, around the holiday season is no different. Check to see if there are any local fairs and events taking place in your community, and ask libraries and park(s) if any holiday festivities are being offered. If so, find out if they will allow you to promote and/or sell your art. Even if they say you can only pass out flyers, you are still garnering more exposure which can lead to more sales down the line. Add fliers and a bit of hot apple cider, and you’ll have people clamoring to talk to you. And with Small Business Saturday right around the corner, there may be opportunities aplenty around town for you to check out and take part in! If community events and gatherings won’t work, or if this just isn’t your speed, try setting up shop digitally. You don’t have to have your own website to sell your art to customers online. There are tons of arts and crafts sites that will let you sell your work and set your own price, such as Etsy. Even if you do have your own website, or decide to take part in local functions around town, utilizing online websites geared toward selling arts and crafts can be a great additional way to make profits during this peak buying time of the year.

Being Savvy…Social Savvy

Social media can be so much more than a way to stay connected with your family and friends. It can be used as a key tool to promote your art. Keep your friends, family and customers updated on your latest projects, sales and available artworks. Share pictures of your work via your social platforms. And, if you have one, provide a link to your online shop page, whether your personal website or a third-party arts and crafts site. If you are a little more familiar with the ins and outs of social media, you could take your marketing up a notch by using hashtags on platforms like Instagram and Twitter as a way to market your art. For example, if you are trying to sell your new watercolor painting of a cityscape, make sure to tag it on Instagram with hashtags such as #artsales, #watercolorpaintings, #cityscapepaintings, #artforsale, etc., and include a link in your bio to where people can find more information. Likewise, if you are on Pinterest, try creating boards for specific art media, subjects or even sales and promotions you are offering.

Taking advantage of the holiday season is a great way to not only add a little more cushion to your wallet but also to help others provide the perfect gift for the special art lovers in their lives. Happy holidays, artists! We hope it is a joyous, and profitable, season.