Many artists now use print on demand sites (POD) as a great
way to get their art out in front of the public. This brings many advantages to
both the artist and you the buyer of art, not lest of which is the cost and
access to people from around the world.
For the artist is the saving of not having to pay up front
to have a selection of their art printed in different sizes and on different
products so that their stall at the local craft fair will look appealing to the
public. Not to mention the cost of renting the stall at the craft fair and
cost, hassle of getting their work too and from the craft fair and setting up
the stall. For some artists the though of selling their art or worse still
being face to face with the public and having to talk about their art gives
them such anxiety that they give up before they even start.
POD sites take a lot of this away for the artist, for a
relatively small up front fee and or a percentage the artist can upload all of
their work onto a POD site and even have their art available on products the
artist had not even though of. In addition to the above the artist also has no
worries about taking payment, packing & shipping, printing or returns as
the POD site takes care of all of this and more.
So what about you the buyer, what do you get out of the POD
site? First and foremost is a huge selection of art and artists, on a range of
products, far bigger than you would get at any craft fair. You get to see and
buy the art of up and coming artists from around the world that can not be
found any where else. You also get to see styles and subjects of art that you
like and not what is dictated by some manager whose main concern is how well
the greeting card will sell!
So who are these POD sites? Well they come in all sizes and
styles but two of the biggest have to be Zazzle
and Cafepress
they both offer art on a huge range of products as well as greeting cards. Then
you get sites like Redbubble
and Fine Art America that
started off more focused on the artists needs but over time have grown to look
after the buyer as well.
If you are looking for greeting cards then one POD site
stands out from the rest, Greeting Card Universe
as they only sell greeting
cards, their motto is “Any greeting card imaginable” this is followed up
with “if you do not see what you are looking for just ask”. If you can not find
a greeting card for the occasion or with the subject or in the style you want,
then you can leave a message on the site telling them what you want, this is
then passed on to all the artists on the site, you will then be sent a link to
where the new cards that the artists have produced. Secondly, if you find a
greeting card that is almost perfect but just needs a few changes then you can
contact the artist directly and ask them to make the changes, all this at no
extra cost to you.
