I built a free art platform many artists told me was a great idea, but then never joined.
TL;DR: I'm venting, reflecting, and planning how to move forward with growing my art marketplace.
Hey! I'm a visual artist, web and graphic designer, and a newbie marketer, and I built an art platform for visual artists to join, network, and sell their art with low or no commissions while owning their client list.
A few months ago, I decided I wanted the option to work full-time as an independent artist. So, I redesigned my website to not just showcase my work, but to allow visitors to buy it directly. As I was doing this, other artists started asking if I could create similar sites for them.
I realized that instead of building separate websites, I could open my platform for others to join and sell their art. This concept already exists in various forms, but most platforms have some major issues:
- They gatekeep client lists to prevent direct relationships between artists and buyers.
- They take 40% to 60% commissions.
- They expect artists to promote the platform but give no benefits when sales are made elsewhere.
That's why I built saidplusart.com. Here's how it works:
- Artists keep 70% to 80% of their sales.
- If you bring traffic that results in a sale, you get 10% of that sale.
- If a collector contacts you directly and you work out a commission, you keep 100% of it.
Artists loved the idea—they didn’t want to invest money upfront or handle marketing—so my dumbass went ahead and built it. Now, it’s live, but most of them have ghosted me when I asked for feedback or help testing.
To be fair, I do have one artist who subscribed to the paid tier, but he’s getting frustrated with onboarding and the site’s slow load times. The platform works, but it's not stable yet, and my hosting can't handle traffic spikes. I’ve exhausted my funds to get the site up and running, and now I’m stuck.
If you're still with me and curious about the platform, check out my Kickstarter, where I’m raising funds for the necessary hosting upgrade. If you know any art collectors who want to support emerging artists, please share: https://kickstarter.com/projects/said/said-art.
