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Comment by egonschiele | Hacker News Reader

I recently set up a shop on Etsy to sell my art. There are two types of shops for selling prints: shops that print/ship for you (like nuvango), or shops that just provide a storefront (like etsy). Of the latter, Etsy isn't the cheapest (Square Market was). But Etsy has discoverability and ratings, and that's why I chose Etsy. I think it gives them an advantage over their competition.

On the other hand, you are not going to make a lot of money selling prints anywhere. This website tracks the top shops on Etsy: http://www.craftcount.com

The top shops sell beads, clothes, jewelry. It makes sense: even as a person who makes posters, I have bought more shirts than I have bought posters in my lifetime.

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Hey, I've been building the type that prints and ships it for you. We don't provide discoverability, but in exchange we have extremely low prices ($22 for a 12x12" stretched canvas, no commissions or monthly fees). You can see the link in my profile (amanufactory).

how much to print+ship a 11x14 watercolor piece?

~$10 to print and ~$6 to ship. Our paper print prices aren't finalized yet, but will be coming in less than Society6.

You can also list your original watercolour piece for sale alongside the fulfilled stuff. If you're interested, request an invite and let me know your username. We'll have finalized pricing soon.

is it inkjet/giclee only?

We have stretched museum quality canvas prints (all below competition's pricing), fine art prints, and will be launching other products as well like iphone cases, shower curtains, etc. You just submit artwork.

You can also list your own products alongside the printed stuff, so it's not just inkjet prints.

> stretched museum quality canvas prints

What does that mean? It seems like a contradiction in terms. Stretched-canvas prints were invented for the interior design market. While I won't go so far as to say that a museum has never hung a canvas print, I've never seen it and I'd be surprised to see it done except as a self-conscious thumbing-of-the-nose at the establishment.

It's just a ubiquitous marketing term. What I mean is it's the standard fine art quality marketed by others. Acid free, varnished, thick canvas, "archival" inks.

Thanks for pointing it out, I'll try to keep it on my radar (if you have a not-much-bother newsletter I'd be happy to give you my email so I get some remainder as you move it on). How outrageous would shipping prices go for the rest of the world?

For a gallery wrapped 12"x12":

Shipping to most countries outside of the US is about $14 for economy (ground).

Shipping to Canada is about $21.

And within the contiguous US states, $10.

This is on top of the $22 base price, which brings the total cost to $32 (a few bucks cheaper than Costco).

Feel free to email me at chris@instapainting.com, or request an invite on amanufactory.com, and I'll keep you updated!

Are those sales the number of orders per shop?

Number of orders. It looks like the bead shops have a lot of orders, but they just sell small quantities for beads as each item, so you can easily buy 30 items and spend just $60.

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