Free Websites for Listing Art

Making art a business is extremely difficult for most artists. Many people still discount online art sales because they rob the buyer of the gallery-buying experience, or because of the risk of purchasing work that has been misrepresented.

Pangaeaa: Offers visual art listing, music listing, literature listing. Art listings are any kind of art, from doodles to metallurgy. This website allows for additional information, including artist's statement, upcoming events, and links directly to your paypal. However, this site has been very quiet since 2008; no new blog entries, very little traffic, no visible promotion. Clicky ads appear on either side of content, but do not flood the page. (www.pangaeaa.com)

Zibbet: This site has a great emphasis on the crafty side of art, or the artsy side of crafts. It offers items in 4 categories: HANDMADE, FINE ART, VINTAGE, AND SUPPLIES. Offers a free account and a premium account which costs $9/month. The site has a clean, bare look and feels like a shop front. Buyers can search through thumbnails according to category. (www.zibbet.com)

Gallerish: Allows a person to search for artwork using some interesting distinctions, including the level of originality preferred by the searcher, among other things. For the artist who wishes to list, there are a lot of practical features that are considerate of what buyers may be looking for. Aside from the garish colors, this site has tons to offer, including pricing assistance, and a breakdown of which cities are checking out your artwork the most. This kind of traffic monitoring is key. Art trends vary widely from region to region; this kind of information helps an artist know where to market. If you live in Florida but all the traffic looking at your work is from New York, then you can look at ways to market directly to the folks who like it, instead of wasting your time on the local market, which may be trending another direction. (www.gallerish.com)

Worqz: This site lists art and art pieces for review and ratings, but does not list for sale. It does offer forums for questions and comments about anything related to art. Both users and visitors can rate the art piece, and currently the website is offering a contest which artists may enter for free. This is a useful website for artists interested in some social networking with other artists, and new artists who may have questions they can't ask elsewhere. (www.worqz.com)

Dagger Room: A face book style site, it is primarily a social networking site geared toward the arts. Users can upload images and music. Items can be sold through the classifieds section, and forums are open for comments. Members can post their own blogs through the website. Getting your name and style out there is important, and websites like this can be very useful for building an underground movement for yourself. (www.daggerroom.com)

Art By Locals: This website focuses on cluing buyers into locally-producing artists. In larger cities it can be difficult to connect buyers searching for specific colors or styles to the artist next door because of the huge amount of other artists and the vast array of media available. It is easy for artists to upload images, and interested parties can search in a number of ways, including by keyword. The google ads can be a tad distracting, however. (www.artbylocals.com)

Gig Right: Not just for artists, Gig Right lists talent: musicians, models, actors, etc. Employers can search talent, post jobs, and promote. Talent can post images of artwork if applicable, peruse classifieds, network with other members, and even upload a resume. The website also features how-to style articles and advice for promoting yourself and finding quality gigs. It's not artist-focused so the information can be somewhat generalized. (www.gigright.com)

Art By Us: Primarily an online auction site like eBay, Art By Us is mostly free, but does charge the artist if they wish to be featured more prominently. Artists must consider their feedback rating, and should try to think of ways to help their work stand out and be more searchable. This size of this site is good and bad for the artist: it gets lots of hits, but to take advantage of that an artist needs to find out what makes them more visible. (www.artbyus.com)