Have you ever considered selling your art internationally? It exposes you and your business up to new cultures and millions of potential customers, and you never know if you have a group of dedicated and interested customers in another country. Selling art overseas could be tricky, though; fortunately, the Internet has made offering art abroad significantly easier than it used to be. Through the Internet, almost everything is easily accessible, and while that's typically good news for customers, it also means that art dealers must stay attuned with the times.
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The best way to start a formidable relationship with international art buyers is by building a mobile- and user-friendly website that showcases your art and makes it easy to purchase the art directly from the site. You can do this by setting up a credit card and PayPal option on the site. There are scores of helpful and insightful articles on how to properly setup an e-commerce function on your website, so make sure to do some thorough research on the subject before the site goes live.
Organize your site as simply and cleanly as possible, making sure the artwork you are offering has proper thumbnails and images. If starting an e-commerce site seems overwhelming, you can open a mini e-retail shop on sites like Etsy.com, join online art communities like Deviant Art or Art Brokerage. Once your site is active, advertise it as much as possible, especially through social networking sites like, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
Before you begin to sell to a customer in a foreign country, double check the country's costume regulations to make sure you have the proper forms and documentation. Properly detail each piece of artwork's size and dimensions so the accurate shipping price can be determined. And also definitely outline your basic shipping and refund policy, and allow an area for former costumers to comment on their previous transactions with you so they know you are transparent.
You may decide to use a professional art shipping service, rather than do it yourself, but either way you'll want to be 100% sure your international shipments arrive in perfect condition, or you could lose a whole market. Of course, Navis Pack and Ship provides a wide range of art and international shipping services to choose from, and we also completely take care of all customs forms for you.
By Steve Goble, VP of Marketing Communications for Navis Pack & Ship. When he's not spilling packing and shipping secrets, he's spending time with his family at a San Diego Padres or Chargers game. Connect with Steve on Google+ and LinkedIn.
