🧠 Sharing thoughts and asking questions / how do you ship/sell your art?
Dear friends and fellow artist, for some time I would like to share with you experience I am facing in my country as an artist.
Reason for writing this post is my interest in finding out what are the regulations, are there any, in your country when selling your art abroad @donnadavisart, @twirble, @reinhard-schmid, @mayasky, @marty-arts, @thermoplastic... or anyone else finding yourself in this topic..
You see, if I would like to sell my art out of my country (directly to customer )here are the things I am facing with-
- issuing confirmation of Ministry of culture that i am not selling item that is considered as item of cultural importance
( for getting that paper I need two or three working days to go to Ministry with painting I am selling, in personal, and pay 10 e for that confirmation, and they only work during my working hours ) - than when confirmation is issued I go to customs to get more papers and confirmations, read- two or three more days
So if you are selling something bigger, ok, you will put yourself to this torture, but what if you are selling something smaller size..
And than I can post it.
So, if I want to sell some painting I am facing bureaucracy labyrinth, small one but still as a working person not so small.
This is what keeps me from offering my art to more public, and by now I was selling it to persons in my country or someone who is visiting here and than taking art in suitcase, unofficial way..
With printed material you have another moment, you never know how they will see it in customs, will they send it back or it will pass..And by some regulations, printed material should be easily send because it's not under regulations mentioned in upper part. But...
So, here is my question, and I really like to hear from you what are your experiences and are there any regulations you have to obey before you ship your art?
Waiting to hear from you :)))
One word: Digital. When art is digital and sold digitally it seems to stand above certain regulations. Failing that maybe using a service that prints your work as poster/giclee, you won't earn as much straight away for original but you can sell as many copies as you like.
International sales and work is very tricky especially for Americans when I am in the UK I am often really restricted. I'll be curious to hear the other answers.
As far as shipping original things, when I sell international, I box it up, claim it as art, value it higher than it is worth in the insurance shipping. I use a local place that packages for me and they just fill out the paperwork for me.
Yes that sounds interesting, but mostly I get questions about original art/watercolors and it would be great if things were more simple here.
Agree with digital, it's smaller money but also good one :)
Here in Italy it's not so simple to send artworks out of our country, but just because we have a nonsense law about it. For the law we can send it, but we have to write that it's not something with cultural importance. We have to write a simple paper but we need to have a stamp of Ministry of culture. So we have to declare that the artwork we're sending out (not just because we sold it, but also to send out for an exhibition) is younger than 70 years and it's made by ourselves. The problems is that the office where we have to do this is open just 3 hours at week and you have to give it your declaration and you can have an ok after 1-2 week. Sure, the offices are not in every city, so artists have to spend time and money to have just a stamp on their own declaration. For example, we're doing this procedure for a large artwork of my hubby and we're waiting since 2 weeks to have that stamp! Fortunately, when the artwork is small, we can send it like a piece of home decor and so we don't have problems. Just to know, if I want to send a simple drawing of a baby in other countries, I had to do the same things (wait 2 weeks for the confermations from the cultural office and about 20 € to go 2 times in Florence, crazy). Sure, here we have the habit to write it's an home decor more than it's an artwork.
So it looks like you have same, maybe harder path to cross in your country than I do. Lucky for you for those smaller pieces that you can report them like home decor. Here that is something it won't pass, we have to go over same procedure for smaller art if it's original one.
Thank you for your replay @silviabeneforti, I am not happy to hear you have same problems with stupid regulations but it makes me now more calm regarding my problems. Knowing I am not alone :))
We must be very lucky in my country (Kenya) we don't have such bureaucracy.
But the relevant Government Ministry in my country is not very active with artists so perhaps this explains why artists are relatively free to do their work and ship out or courier their art to clients with less red tape.
Yes, maybe it's reason why you don't have such problems. As I am informed this law here was made because we were in war during 90' and many real old artworks were sold and smuggled during that period and sold who knows where. But that finished 18 years ago but still no one is giving and interest in resolving those issues @kayken.
I was told by a customs officer that I could take my paintings with me as baggage anywhere I want. I cannot take other people's paintings, but I can take my own. So when I sell a painting I hand deliver it. Otherwise it is complicated. I have sent paintings using UPS and Fedex, but they don't insure them for much.
Well at least you have that possibility, here even when I carry my own work I need same papers as the others, confirmation that is not natural heritage and paper for customs. Just few days ago i was talking with one customer living now in Germany. She told me that last time she visited here witnessed that person was arrested at airport for not having those papers ! Madness @kathleenscarboro.
It really strangles commerce, doesn't it.
Oh I didn't realize that you guys have to go through this inconvenience just to sell your art! How much I have taken this process for granted. We have no such requirements for selling unless the item is bulky and heavy. But even then the requirement is not as strict.
Yes @coloringiship, it's obstacle that makes selling art not so easy.
Lucky you for having normal and free surrounding for it.
And also thank you for comment, I was so interested in hearing others experiences.
Another reason why the rules are lacking is art is not really valued here, unlike in Europe or other developed countries.
Well. I am not sure is it mater of values or just stupid regulations where everyone want's their piece of cake :(
Looks like we in Germany are in the lucky situation, that there is no cultural heritage, anyone is worried about. At least I have not heard about any papers I'd need to show or sell my work abroad.. as long as I pay my taxes and customs fees ;-)
Yes you are lucky, I dream of moment when we will have laws that will be more reasonable but if I obey them I will know I am protected..Until than that German Jung coming from fathers side is crying in me for living in country where there laws are mad @reinhard-schmid :(