WELCOME TO
Online Art
Done Right
We're here to NOT get in the way.. Simple as that!
- ZERO Commission on sales
- ONE low fee of $100/yr for artists
- Themed Competitions
- Artist Grants
- Feature artists every week
- VIP buyers club
(No-one else does this!)
- Incentives & giveaways for buyers
- Gallery Links & Promotions
- Partner Exhibitions
Become a founding member today & help us build something amazing
(LIMITED TO 500 ONLY)
Any Genre - Any Style
As long as YOU created it
You're welcome on Artco
ZERO COMMISSIONS
Using a membership model allows us to completely ditch the idea of taking a percentage of YOUR income. Sell as much as you like, it's all yours.
UNLIMITED UPLOADS
The more art we represent, the more likely we'll find a buyer for you. Use as many tags as you can to describe each piece and let our search engine do its thing.
COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH
Not only will we offer every style we know as a search option, there will still be an 'other' field if you need to express something only your fans would search for.
KIDS & STUDENTS-NO FEE
Let's give EVERYONE the chance to put their art in front of a truly global audience.
NO fees with a student ID
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Firstly, your membership fee will give us the revenue to run the platform, so we don't need to charge anything to facilitate sales. At the other end, we ask potential buyers to sign up to get exclusive access to your direct pricing, and they can choose from a free or paid membership. As a VIP (paid) they will get extra benefits: Awesome weekly prize draws, special treatment at events, and most importantly, access to VIP pricing that YOU set. It's your choice how you set this second tier of pricing, but the idea is the more paid VIPs we have, the more we can give back in grants, exhibition funding, prizes (which will be vouchers to buy YOUR art), and more. When buyers see there are great savings to be made by signing up, along with the other benefits they receive, our community will grow exponentially.
Remember, the VIP membership is BEFORE any sales happen, It's a pure numbers game that will have massive benefits for the arts and artists across the board as we grow.
WHY ARTCO?
After many conversations with artists and galleries, our mission became clear.
Create an online experience that not only banishes commissions,
but incentivises buyers to actively search for and purchase YOUR art.
We're proud to say we think we've achieved something pretty special, and we hope you'll consider joining our fast growing family today. Become a part of change for better.
What are we doing for artists?
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Bringing incentivised buyers to our site
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Abolishing commissions on sales
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Allowing direct access to your buyers
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Grants for education & expansion
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Curated feature promotions
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Efficient marketing to motivate buyers
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Got your own site? Use ours to link to what you've already built!
How are we finding & incentivising buyers?
There is incredible power in volume of numbers, especially now that we exist in a truly global market. By finding and nurturing VIP level members, we can fund so much more than what would be viable without them, including keeping artist memberships super low. You can play a huge part in this.
Send your followers and fans to our store and we'll do the rest.
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No Cost Entry Level
- Access to 'direct from artist' pricing
- Regular emails with artists featured
*guest access allows entry but no purchase til they register.
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Engagement
- Peoples choice awards for VIPs
- VIP access at Partner Exhibitions
- Special treatment at events
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Paid VIP Member Level
- Access to VIP pricing set by YOU
- Cash prizes to buy from our artists
- Invitations to special events
- VIP treatment & acknowledgement
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Communication
Our VIPs will know how important they are. Every free member will be very aware of the advantages in upgrading to VIP. As we grow, the benefits will grow as well.
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Global Marketing Push
We'll find more buyers around the world, incentivised to become paid up VIPs before they even purchase from you
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Basic Message
People love connection, helping others, and saving money, especially when there's something in it for them! Regular prizes, direct from artist sales, VIP pricing, who wouldn't want to sign up?
Any medium, any style, as long as it's YOURS
We have no wish to be the next Amazon or Etsy. We also want to ensure no-one creating original art is left out. There is an audience for everything, in all forms, and we want them to find it here.
PAINTINGS
PRINTS
PHOTOGRAPHY
DRAWINGS
STENCIL ART
SCULPTURES
CERAMICS
WEARABLES
JEWELLERY
CROCHET
POTTERY
GLASS
WALL HANGINGS
FURNITURE
FIGURINES
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT??
MEET THE TEAM
It started with a conversation or ten, fleshing out what doesn't work with the way things are now, and what would actually help. It's not just about facilities and features, it's how we can change mindsets, buyer behavior, what we can give back, who needs help, and what can we create to make a difference.
Tank
Surrealist - Consultant/Curator
As an artist in business across many disciplines, Tank brings a lifetime of experience to this story. As our in-house curator and program director, you can expect to have a whole lot of fun along the way as we explore new ways to incentivise potential buyers and bring your art to the world.
Sean Bowen
Dreamer - Founder
Sean solves problems. Working for over 30 years as a professional musician alongside decision makers and creators in every aspect of the creative arts has shown him what gets great results, and what still goes wrong. Technology has caught up with his dreams, so Artco can finally exist.
Vincent Scully
Tech Guru - Founder
Vinnie has been working with Sean for a number of years now, building solutions for creative and communities that solve problems and help artists thrive in a truly global market. His skills ensure our platforms perform at the highest level.
A very clever boy with a big heart!
Kids & Students - Free Forever
There is nowhere we've found where high performing students can offer their work for sale, short of school jumble sales and weekend markets. We want to offer a place they can not only put their work 'out there', but where we can encourage a global base of art fans to peruse and potentially invest in these young artists, giving them a great start, and a realisation that anything is possible.
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up to 5 uploads at any one time
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zero commissions on sales
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email contact with buyers
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Set your own prices
$0!
Let us know you're keen, we'll be in touch!
What about exhibitions?
Art is about the Experience 💜
Galleries are super important!
If you're a gallery owner or manager, please follow the link to our survey and help us get this right. We'll build excitement around exhibitions and incentivise our buyers to attend your events, with features like having artists link their page directly to you when their work is on show. Tell us what you want, what you don't, any concerns, thoughts, ideas... We want to work WITH you!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Never be afraid to ask. There are no stupid questions. We're here to help, so if you need something you can't find here, please reach out via email so we can set your mind at ease.
How much does it cost to use Artco?
As an artist, the fee is a fixed $100 per year, giving unlimited uploads and zero commissions on any sales. As a buyer, there will be a free tier and a paid tier, each giving different levels of access, pricing, experience and benefits.
Students and kids can sign up for free and have up to 5 pieces uploaded at any one time.
Do I have to pay extra to use your store?
Nope, everything in the site is fully inclusive of your yearly membership. We've minimised costs by keeping the actual transaction directly between yourself and the buyer. We simply bring you together and facilitate the commitment to purchase prior to fulfillment.
The reasoning behind this is logistics and up-sells. It's far better for you and much cheaper for us if you look after the buyer directly once they've committed through the Artco portal.
This creates transparency, and we don't have to hold your funds until all parties are satisfied.
You can also add on framing options, insurance, other pieces even!
The sale is yours, and buyers love dealing with the artist directly. A win win for everyone.
How many pieces can I upload?
Unlimited. The way we see it, the more art we have to sell, the more likely it is we'll be able to find a buyer for everything. The more artists we have onboard, the more potential buyers we can bring into our community. Simply the power of numbers at work.
The only caveat is if you're signed up as a student on a limited plan. In this case you can have up to 5 pieces loaded at any one time.
Who organises delivery to buyers?
You will enter a freight allowance when uploading each piece, and all actual fulfillment will be directly between the buyer and you. Use this to add on framing, customisations, etc. We don't harness you in any way, they're your customer! Our platform is there to help you find more buyers, and facilitate easy payments so every artist doesn't have to build and maintain their own web store, though you're welcome to use your own if preferred.
How do you rate art for appropriate viewing
There is no black and white solution for rating anything, let alone art with subjectivity built into the very core of its existence!
We have initiated a simple self-rating policy based on a piece being family friendly, or not. Buyers can choose a filtered or not view of everything in the store, and if they see something they feel is not appropriate, they can report it directly to us. That piece will immediately be placed under review, but all details except the image will still be visible. The buyer must give us their contact details (makes them think about it before reporting), and you are notified immediately to either update your rating or initiate the review. We don't believe in censorship of art, but we do have a responsibility to ensure buyers feel comfortable whilst viewing our site. By offering very simple filters and reporting, the choice is very much still yours to make, and the buyers to agree with or not.
Can I talk with potential buyers directly?
Absolutely! We won't be monitoring any communications you have. Once again, we're here simply to put potential buyers in front of your art. What happens once they purchase is up to you. Build your own email list, promote further sales back through us, keep the loop working for everyone!
What if my art is on exhibition at a gallery?
We want to work WITH galleries, so you'll have an option in your upload of pieces to tick a box saying 'on exhibition'. This will temporarily block direct sales at your standard & VIP prices in our store, and you can add a link to the gallery's on-line store or website so potential buyers can still purchase, but direct at the gallery's rate. This feature is optional and up to you, but we suggest doing the right thing and supporting galleries who are supporting you. They're biggest competitor is YOU if your standard price is lower than what they have your pieces on display for.
What is VIP pricing and why should I set it up?
Potential buyers have two options when they sign up to Artco. 1. Free membership, which gives them access to our store to buy your art directly with no commissions. 2. Paid monthly VIP membership giving access to any artist with lower VIP pricing, plus other benefits. If they're looking through the store and see one piece with no discount, and another similar piece with say 20% off, which one do you think they'll go for most of the time? It's totally up to you, but this could be a great opportunity to sell through if you need to raise capital or want to move certain pieces. Value is subjective, so what's to stop you pricing your art at gallery level, then offering a large VIP discount? This actually helps everybody. You still get what you want, buyers are incentivised to sign up to our paid membership to get access to the savings (the more members the more we can achieve), and any buyer feels like they had a big win as well!
You set your standard and VIP pricing for each piece when you upload, and this can be edited at any time through your account.
You can set both prices to be the same, but we give you the option to stand out in buyers' eyes. It's totally up to you how you set your pricing.
Do you have any other plans for Artco?
There is sooooo much we want to do:
- Partner with galleries/councils/organisations for pop up Artco exhibitions
- Educate artists on marketing & PR strategies
- Grants
- School programs
- Work directly with support organisations creating a difference
- Open our own galleries so more artists get to exhibit
- Create multipurpose facilities providing spaces for nurturing talent where current and future artists can come together
- Become a household name and be seen as the leader of the new age in bringing affordable art to more people around the globe
So how does this site work exactly?
Artco is a dual membership model.
- Artists join up to use our platform and get their art in front of a huge audience of incentivised buyers. They also gain access to grants, prizes, and opportunities to exhibit in partner galleries.
- Buyers join up knowing they're getting access to zero commission pricing, a direct connection with every artist they purchase from, and the chance to win prizes from weekly draws.
When a buyer decides they want to purchase, they go through a check-out process that allocates the artwork to their account and notifies the artist that a sale has been initiated.
Artco then sends a Purchase Order with the relevant agreed price ('direct' or 'VIP), and an email to the buyer with details of the following steps.
The artist contacts the buyer and negotiates freight, insurance, framing, up-sells etc. The buyer pays the artist directly in whatever manner they normally use (we can help get anyone set up with a payment gateway if they need it). The artist then updates the site and the piece can remain on display with a 'sold' tag, or be removed at the artists' discretion.
Artco acts as a storefront, but by keeping the transactions direct between you and the buyer, everything is far simpler. You most likely have a way to receive payments, and a preferred method for framing and freighting, so why would we get in the way?
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