How to start your own artshop (v.2.0)
New and improved!
This thread has been improved and updated with permission from Leriah., creator of the original thread.
Words by ede, based on the original article.
New and improved!
This thread has been improved and updated with permission from Leriah., creator of the original thread.
Words by ede, based on the original article.
Intro
- Imagine you are walking along the street and you see a shop. What makes you want to go in? Is it the shop name? Or the products the shop is selling? Or is it how the shop looks?
Artshops work in the same way, they are a business. The way you present your shop and your products will determine how many customers you’ll get. Just imagine the art shop forum is the street!
Remember this is just a guide!
- One – Come up with a name for your shop. It can be something simple for example: [username]’s artshop or something clever. Something catchy that will catch user’s attention works!
- No spamming
- Be nice
- Send payment as soon as I accept your order
- No ordering when art shop is closed
- I should get your art done within 3 weeks
- Code: Select all
[code]username:
type of art you'd like to order:
payment:[/code]
The title of the shop is a good place to tell your customers if you are open or not!
- + Make sure you update your open/closed signs as it’s annoying for customers to order some art when you are closed.
Two – Show examples of your work! If you walk into a shop, the shelves aren’t empty, they will always have items on the shelves. You must include examples of your art as this will help the customer order.
I have seen many artshops with no examples in their shops and this will turn off customers as they do not know what to expect. You can never have enough examples.
Have pictures of your art all over your shop! Draw a banner up for your shop, place pictures everywhere. If the first post of your shop has art, people are going to want to scroll down. It helps if they can see what you can do and this will make them interested!
- + Have examples that show variety! For example: have examples that show humans, horses and birds. Let people know you can draw a range of things.
Three – It’s very important to include a set of rules. To prevent spam, whiney customers or arguments, a set of rules will tell your customers what you expect from them and what they should expect from you.
- + Stay brief and to the point. Customers are going to be put off by a wall of rules.
Example:
Four – Prices. This is hard, as CS pets have different values to everyone. A good thing to do would be to check out other artists who have a similar art style to you, and see what they charge. (This doesn’t mean their prices are correct, just a baseline for you!) If you are having trouble, imagine what you would pay to get your art.
- + Remember, your shop MUST have an option for CS pets or CS currency! You can have an option for DeviantArt points/FlightRising currency/other virtual currency, but there must be an option for CS pets/C$! You are not allowed to sell your artwork on Chicken Smoothie for real money (USD, CAD, JPN, AUD, EUR etc). However, you are allowed to link users to another site to arrange specific commissions there at your own risk. The art rules can be found here.
+ Still stuck? This thread here is a good place to ask about prices of your artwork. Remember ultimately you decide how much you want to charge!
Five - Have a clear ordering station Have a clear place for the customer to order. It's annoying browsing through your art, deciding to order and not being able to find the order station. Usually artists will put ordering stations straight after the examples and pricing.
- + Don't know how to create a form? Let me show you how! Decide what you are going to put in your form and then use [code*] [/code*]. (Delete the asterisks!)
It should look like this:
Six - Listing what you can and can't draw can be useful. This way people will know what to ask on an order and what not to. By having this list means you can or can't draw the following.
Example:
- What I can draw:
Wolves
Lions
Bears
What I can't draw:
Hooved animals
Seven - Slots are a good way to tell your customers how many orders you are willing to take on.
- + Remember only take on as many orders as you can! It's exciting when you open your shop with 3 slots and you have five people posting forms. Stick to your three slots.
If you’ve done all this, you should have a basic skeleton of your artshop!