Hello everybody,, I have a couple of questions about selling through your own personal website. I am about to launch mine (we-my husband and I- just have to finish a couple of silly details and figure out the logistics of the store).
The cart is finished, we will use paypal for payments (probably, or something very similar). However, there are some uestions: shipping costs, taxes and that sort of thing: Do I need to calculate them in my cart or will paypal do it for me? what about sales from other states? what happens with the sales tax then? (I suppose I ned to send the corresponding amount of money to the state where the buyer resides?). I really have no idea how to deal with this and its not like I'm expecting to sell a dozen pieces the first day the page is up, but I would like to be prepared when I put it up, so I wil probably wait until I figure this out. Any help, anecdotes, advise, opinnions are welcome.
It seems to me that sales tax is charged only to customers who live in your own state, if your state has sales tax for that item. (States don't all charge sales tax on all the same items - for instance, if you were visiting in New Jersey, and bought clothes there, NJ would not charge sales tax on clothing - at least, last time I went clothes-shopping there.) When I have bought things over the internet, it seemed to me that I was charged sales tax based on whether the company I bought from was based in my state. Some companies with multiple state bases charge sales tax in multiple states, but it seems to me that few, if any, charge sales tax in all. Maybe someone else has more accurate or current information, and I'd be glad of any corrections, but that's my understanding. I have had a California seller's permit for many years now, and have collected, filed and paid sales taxes here. I think it's complicated enough keeping track of the changes, and filing, in one state, never mind 50.
I too sell from my web site and use PayPal. Figuring out shipping was the hardest part. What I ended up doing is just coming up with a fair flat rate for like items and including that in the PayPal button code. So loose prints get one flat shipping rate, framed prints get another and so on. Anyone from overseas has to contact me for shipping charges. You win a few and loose a few dollars but it's worth it to me not to have to deal with 50 different rates.
That's the big question. You don't know until you try.
Do people really like to buy a piece of artwork that they can't see in person? Should you have a return policy? Or do people ever return art when bought through the net?
For those of you who do sell through a personal website - how did you market it? Did you find that you had to spend more than you expected to get it noticed, or did you just go slowly and wait for people to find you? It seems to me that it would be quite hard to drum up customers in the beginning.
The flat rate for shipping is the best and yes people do buy art they have not seen in person. The photographs that you take of your work are very importrant. The lighting must reflect the colors in the painting, look at the photograph honestly, and print it if you have to to compare it to the actual painting. Some of my work photographs in the bright sun light extremely well and others need the cover of the indoors, the indirect sunlight in a well lit room. I have had no luck using a flash on my camera it either blues or greens the digital image amd completley distorts the red. Offer a satisfaction guarantee on your paintings it will put you customers at ease on purchasing them. But never remburse for shipping charges. That is like Wal-Mart paying for your gas when returning the blouse that did not fit properly. GIVE OUT BUSINESS CARDS TO EVERYONE. The clerk at the convenience store, the UPS counter person, your mail carrier, just absolutly everyone. Give them to friends and relatives about 5 to 10 at a time and ask them to hand them out to everyone they come into contact with. When you hand them to complete strangers just say "Hi, I would appreciate it if you would look at my art", in evey instance my card has been readily accepted, infact people feel complimented that you would consider them an art buff. Most people feel left out of the loop and now with your card they feel included. Offer prints of your work, this taps into the market that really and truly can not afford $1200 for a painting, but, they like what they see and when someone sees it in their home or office, there you go another lead.
