If you’re stuck on WHERE to buy art and WHAT to buy? Read on to find out the best places to buy art online and in person AND my tips for what to look for!
ALL ROOMS NEED ART. Did I get your attention with those caps? I hope so! Beyond enriching your life art provides personality AND a jumping off point to every room. Art and textiles (which can often be described as art on fabric) are the #1 thing that can help you choose the perfect paint color, take the guess work out of your color scheme and gets you out of the ‘neutral of the year’ decorating cycle.
If you are new to buying art you’re big question is probably, “what makes good art?”. In art school we were taught that art is successful if it evokes an emotion. So ‘good art’ is whatever makes you feel something. ‘Good art’ is subjective and 100% up to the viewer. You decide what is good. There is no pressure, art is feeling. Art is personal, buy what you love!
I personally love original paintings but also own several prints. Most of my prints are vintage or original. These are my preferences, you will need to decide for yourself what you want, there is no wrong answer.
So…WHERE to buy original art? This is my favorite part!!! The majority of us are not going to be living with paintings by the masters, but that doesn’t mean we can’t own original, beautiful, quality art. Purchasing original artwork is more accessible now than ever before thanks to the internet.
The best places to buy art online & in person:
- Thrift & antique stores
- Did you think I’d leave this one off?! Some of my favorite pieces have been ones discovered on trips or when I was least expecting to find them. We even bought a painting in Ireland and carried it back home! This one requires good old fashioned foot work and is more of a hunt. In my experiences tho the finds and prices make it worth it!
- Craigslist
- YEP! People STILL post on there and you can still find good stuff on there! (Especially because less people are shopping from the site you can often find deals!)
- Etsy
- Great for supporting today’s working artists. If you are shopping direct from the artist don’t ask for a discount or haggle. Many artists are making their wages on Etsy so be prepared to pay market rate. It’s also a GREAT PLACE for downloadable art!
- Instagram
- Many artists sell direct to customers through their Instagram accounts. I’ve purchased through the platform several times and it’s always great because then you get to chat back and forth with the artist too! Here are two of my favorite Instagram artists:
- ShopGoodwill.com
- My absolute FAVORITE place to buy art online! Settle in with a cup of coffee and scroll through the listings. You can sort by type of art you want to buy and there is always a huge variety. We bought a painting for my son’s room that is roughly 24×30 in a custom frame from here. With shipping it was less than $50. They have a shipping calculator on each listing so you can figure in the cost of shipping when bidding. The site operates the same way as Ebay and has bidding and Buy It Now options on some items.
- Ebay
- The OG of online secondhand goods cannot be skipped. I haven’t done much art shopping on Ebay but it’s there! If going this route use the filters because it’s going to be a HUNT through all of the listings. Treasures can absolutely be found, but you’ll likely spend more time digging.
- Facebook Marketplace
- I prefer to buy local instead of the shippable items (and really hate seeing all of the new listings). Change your search to Local to avoid shippable items and select ‘used’ condition. Search terms to try: art, artwork, painting, oil painting, landscape painting, abstract painting, etc. Even if items are out of your price range or not exactly your style ‘save’ the listing so the algorithm begins to learn your preferences. Expect to find estate art this way.
When I am searching online, particularly on big sites like Ebay & Etsy here is how I narrow down my searches:
- ALWAYS narrow down the category and use filters as best as you can. Ebay has the best filters! I’ve linked both Ebay & Etsy to their ‘art’ category above. Use the filters to narrow it down to whichever medium/colors/size/etc you are looking for.
- Be specific. If you want a landscape painting, search as specifically as you can. ‘green landscape painting’ ‘farm landscape painting’ ‘seascape landscape painting’ ‘tropical landscape painting’
- There is a GIANT market for digital downloadable art. If you want that great, if you don’t you need to try and exclude it from your search. In general if you put a minus sign (“-“) in front of a search term it *should* exclude it from your results. It works on Google but I’ve had hit or miss results doing that on Etsy.
The idea of ‘art’ is much more daunting than it ever should be. Hopefully these tips help take some of the guesswork and pressure about where to buy art online away. Your home needs it, look for what you love and the rest will fall into place. Happy hunting friends!
Don’t forget to pin!
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