Am I Having a Laugh?

Someone has asked me if my recommendations for selling on eBay are tongue-in-cheek? They felt some of my recommendations for making art that sell on eBay were cynical.

I detect an element of art snobishness here.

I believe that artists can get an honest wage out of selling their art on eBay - but only if you can paint fast. You have to paint fast because art doesn't usually sell for more than £50. If you are blessed with a painting style that enables you to paint a completed work in 2 to 3 hours, you can earn £10-£15 per hour. Not a bad wage, certainly not a wage to be ashamed of...

Of course, many people don't paint fast, and therefore I can't really recommend eBay to those people. There's nothing worse than selling a painting for £50, but having taken 100 hours to paint it. For these people the options are:

1) Sell it on ebay anyway - heck, you enjoyed painting it and if you can get a few quid to pay for your next canvas, then great. This is a noble and honourable attitude, Let no-one tell you otherwise.

2) You can throw the painting in a skip - a less honourable option. I believe all paintings deserve a chance of life!

3) You can pay for framing, then hoik it round several galleries until you find a gallery willing to take it, sale or return. You can then wait for several months while the painting may or may not sell. And if it doesn't sell you've lost your original investment in time, plus your financial investment in a new frame.

4) You can look for a non-eBay online outlet. I'll talk more about this option in a later post.