Would my drawing do well on ebay ?

Question

I can do really good sketchings of celebrities e.g beyonce 50 cent and was wondering whether to start selling on ebay ?

Answer 1

Try one or two and see what you get for them. If it is successful, make more. I doubt that you'll get too much for them though on Ebay.

Answer 2

There are other sellers doing this on Ebay.
You might want to look at their artwork, consider how it compares to yours, and then look at those sellers Completed Listings to see what their artwork actually sold for, and was it the originals or was it prints?

Ebay is a great way to build a clientele if you need to do that....BUT...
I have had better luck selling household goods on Ebay than my art (my art does well on its own outside Ebay though).
People on Ebay want art for a steal. I generally use it as a clearance of artworks I've had for awhile, and I announce the ebay sale to my mailing list subscribers - so the ebay sale works as advertising.

When selling artwork of celebrities, you do also have to concern yourself with the copyright aspect. Not only are you drawing a celebrity, but you would also be drawing from a photograph that is copyrighted by the photographer. It is dangerous territory.

If you decide you will use celebrity portraits to sell, it would probably be good to incorporate yourself, so if you did get sued and lost, you would only lose the assets of your art business, and you wouldn't risk the loss of your house, your car, etc.

That just seems like too much investment for little gain to me, so
you might consider using the celebrity portraits you've already done as examples of your work, but display them in your listing as 'fan art' - then what you would sell is custom artwork based on your customer's photos of their children, pets, etc.

I hope this helps, or maybe will give you some ideas.

Answer 3

Maybe you should start by setting up a website and trying to promote it via your friends and people you know online. See if people who know your art think it would sell well. Or, you could try an auction or two and see if they sell. I would not expect to make a lot of money at first because the ebay community is so large. Try to promote your art online with forums and livejournal communities. People who like it may ask you to draw pictures of other people for money!

Also, I would make sure you are using quality materials. People will not buy a doodle of a celebrity on printer paper with smeary pen, they could do that themselves. Buy some acid-free paper and some nice drawing materials, they might cost a bit but they will be worth it in the end. Also if you're selling the drawings you might want to invest in some cheap frames from a craft store or flea market. They'll make you drawings look nicer and raise their selling worth. If you're willing to work at your art, you can probably make some money. You might not end up rolling in money, but it is a nice feeling knowing that your art is good enough that people want to pay you for it!

Whatever you try, good luck with your art and your auctions!

Answer 4

I'd have to see an example of your work to give a really solid answer, but generally there's a market for pretty much anything. If you drawings are good then they should sell. Just make sure to use celebraties who are fasionible.

Answer 5

The photos you use to draw them are probably copyrighted.If you can draw these people from you own you'll probably do better.Look up copyright protection on the internet.

Answer 6

Yeah why not? But first you should try out just a couple and see how they do. Good luck!

Answer 7

well if u do a good job take a shot!!
(good luck)