Hi am new here

Shop Talk
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Am new here and would love some feed back on how my shop is looking thanks.

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Hi, welcome to Folksy. I think you need to flesh out your descriptions a bit, they look quite sparse at the moment. The Hawk for instance, doesnā€™t say what medium itā€™s done in, and the photo isnā€™t in focus.

I am an art collector and have bought hundreds of artworks from Folksy, mostly small ones though, and I canā€™t stretch to your prices Iā€™m afraid! We have a monthly art chat thread for artists in the Craft Talk forum, you might like to join our community and find out how other artists fare here. Good luck!

2 Likes
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Hi Shane, welcome to Folksy. It looks like youā€™ve made a good start on your shop. I love your wren and goldfinch paintings - very life-like.

Your photos are very important for getting people to click on your listings. The first picture (the photo that will appear in the showcases) ideally needs to be square or it will be ā€œcroppedā€ by the website to fit. This means your poor wren has lost his head in the shop view. One of your photos for each item needs to show the whole item (so your customer can see the size of the picture on the piece of paper, for example). As Margaret said, not all your photos are in focus and the light shining on the pheasant picture makes the colours look quite washed out.

And remember to fill in your makerā€™s profile too - people like to read about the person behind the artwork.

Good luck with your shop!

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Presentation is everything ! I endorse what has already been stated, crop your images so they end up in square format, ensure the focus is perfect, use a tripod if necessary or a higher ISO speed but not too high - 400 to 500 ISO should be OK, the lower value will always give you better image quality. Also, adjust your contrast maybe, so that images are not over-contrasty but have a bit of ā€˜punchā€™, unless you are going for a very subtle look. Note that you cannot get an image in focus by just sharpening it in software. Better retake those pictures. I like to use natural daylight, but it needs to be balanced. Lighting is always tricky. Bounce- flash is useful too.

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Thanks everyone for your advice.

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Hi there! Iā€™m new too and am in your shoes. I have no idea where to start or whether my shop is any good. Have you tried setting up your own Facebook page? :slight_smile:

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I agree that your photos need to be in focus, and also your postage seems way too high - Ā£8 for a small flat painting that can go as a large letter???

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I hadnā€™t noticed the high postage! No way would I pay Ā£8 postage on a fairly small unmounted and unframed painting. Is there any reason why itā€™s so high?

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hi thanks for your comment I got the price of postage wrong .But I can not just stick the painting in a envelope after spending hours painting it ,it needs quite a bit of protecting so it does not get bent ETC.

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I post paintings too - I use cellophane wrappers to protect against it getting wet, and a board backed envelope or piece of extra stiff card for a larger painting - cost 93 pence - Ā£1.24 1st class depending on the weight.

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thanks I will look into it.

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Hi Shane, just to say i think your paintings are gorgeous. Highly detailed too. I love the rude awakening! What a great idea for a painting. Well done!

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Hi Shane, Iā€™m a fellow artist here. I agree with the comments about photos, descriptions and your profile.

Love the tiger.

I have every sympathy for the postage, my larger paintings go very well packaged between several layers of corrugated card, and I always use recorded delivery, so postage costs are high. Iā€™m not prepared to take the risk to send them in a board backed envelope, even though I know many other artists do and have had no issues.

Anything postcard sized and under go in a normal first class envelope with one layer of thick card and Iā€™ve never had any problems with them.

Do join us on the monthly art chat thread, youā€™ll be very welcome.

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Thank you for your kind comments hopefully I sell my first one soon . I will take all your advise on-board ,by the way your shops are looking nice, I hope to get mine like yours full of stock.

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I agree that for larger paintings the cost will be higher for postage (although Ā£5.50 is still an odd amount - perhaps you could package some paintings and take them to the Post Office to get a quote for how much they would actually cost?) I was looking at this one, which is a small painting, so Ā£5.50 even for recorded delivery seem very steep:

I also notice that you class these as custom orders. Either they are original paintings that are in stock and ready to post, or you should state clearly that the item delivered wonā€™t be exactly the same as the item pictured, as none of us can exactly reproduce an original painting. Might be worth taking a fresh look at your listings so that you make things absolutely clear to potential customers.

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Thanks for the advice , I will look into it.

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thanks for your kind words glad you like them ,I have had a look at your shop and think it as a very nice selection , looking good all the best .

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sorry but it does say what medium it is done in but thanks for showing interest all the best with your shop its looking good.

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sorry I didnā€™t mean a shop that was meant for some one else ,I got distracted but thanks for your advice.