THE WORLD NEEDS YOU & (A PLACE TO BUY) YOUR ART

There are so many unique, interesting, and creative people posting their work on Instagram. I’ll sometimes see patrons in an artist’s comments asking how they can buy the work featured in their post. There’s a quick back-and-forth, a reference to a direct message, or maybe a PayPal link, because they haven’t yet landed on a place to set up shop. While that can work for some at the start, there is added complexity and friction that could be avoided if there was a shopfront supporting both the artist and the patron.

That lack of clarity and ease when buying something handmade from an artist is one of the reasons I built Artistry Fair.

Hi, I’m Alex, Artistry Fair’s founder and builder and here’s why you should set up shop:

Where-oh-where do I sell my art?

There are several platforms where you can showcase and sell your work, but I’ve identified a flaw in the never-ending sea of handmade shops that may appear in a Google search (whether it’s an Etsy shop or a custom website): most search engines do not work in favor of the artists.

Not just another platform, but a more just platform.

At Artistry Fair, we're currently welcoming founding artists while we grow this new community. This means that if someone comes to Artistry Fair searching for “cat mugs,” “cute dangly earrings,” or “Halloween themed art,” your work will stand out from day one. Right now, we’re a smaller, more curated platform, which means less noise, less competition, and more opportunities for your work to be found. And as we grow over time, your audience and your success will grow alongside ours, because we’ve built search capabilities to be more functional and fair. And because we mean it when we say the world needs you and your art.

The quick pitch:

The steps you need to take are simple: create your shopfront and post your detailed product listings. Your shop will feature your personal story and creative process (as much as you’re wanting to publicize), which influences how your art is found. For example, someone shopping for earrings might search, “cute dangly earrings,” or “cute dangly earrings from recycled materials,” or even “cute dangly earrings local to my area.” 

Search results will appear the way you would expect: with less competition and clutter, because your work and the description are unique to you, and because we’ve built a better functioning search tool.

You won’t tag your products with the same tags that everyone else uses, which makes it harder to fight for the top spots. You’ll think like yourself, like your patrons, and write about your creative process and goods. You and your work will stand out for being uniquely you. 

I know where, but at what cost?

How does Artistry Fair compare to other options?

• Squarespace ranges from $16 to $23 per month without a built-in marketplace, no discovery and you have to build it yourself
• Shopify is $39 per month for the minimum and you have the same problem as Squarespace
• Custom domain and website is $15 to $20 per year on top of hosting fees that could range from $30 to $300 per month
• Etsy has fees on every sale and you are part of a marketplace with mass-produced, potentially AI-generated products: a shop amongst millions. (See next section for further breakdown.)
• Artistry Fair has one $30 monthly subscription, giving you a customizable shop to showcase you and your story as an artist, with built-in search, and access to a community of patrons and creatives who don’t want to support mass-produced goods or AI-generated work

(Note: figures above based on research done and costs posted as of September 24, 2026)

Here’s the math as a flat-fee, commission-free platform:

I want to breakdown how Artistry Fair stacks up as a commission-free platform compared to Etsy. If you were to sell $500 worth of work in a month on Etsy, after their listing fee, transaction fee, payment processing fee, and a potential offsite ads fee (if your item was found through Google or social), you walk away with roughly $400 to $425. On Artistry Fair, after Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee, you keep roughly $485. Considering our $30 monthly subscription you receive $455. But do another $500 in sales again in the same month and Artistry Fair costs you nothing extra while Etsy takes the same cut every single time.

But is Artistry Fair worth trying?

We offer a free trial without a credit card so you don’t have to worry about being locked in and not liking the platform. You can cancel before the trial ends, pay nothing, and come back if you’d like later. There aren’t any surprise charges and there is no pressure to sign up before the trial ends. 

The fear you might be experiencing of “what if no one buys anything?” is real. The Artistry Fair free trial is set up so that you can see how easy it is to launch and operate an online shop. Because we’re a new platform, growing your audience through Artistry Fair might take some time, but you’ll be giving your audience on Instagram a seamless experience to purchase without a direct message or PayPal link, or any other workaround you might be utilizing. 

We want you to see the value in the platform, to feel understood, and to know exactly what you’d be getting as well as what your patrons would be getting too.

If I try Artistry Fair, what can I expect?

Your story is worth sharing.

Patrons on a handmade marketplace aren’t solely buying a product, they are investing in the person behind it. Artistry Fair was built so your shop can tell your story: to quite literally allow people to learn about the hands that made the art. You can share your bio, creative process, photos, and optional answers to our get-to-know-me questions. Every unique detail helps you stand out for the unique artist that you are. 

If someone reads about how you quit your corporate job (or got laid off), which got you into linocut because you were angry at first and wanting to take it out on an eraser like you did in high school, but then that destruction turned it into a delightful stamp that helped you make linocut prints, they are likely to come back and buy more. Because maybe they resonate with that story, with those feelings, with you and your journey. Maybe they themselves are getting into linocut, and you’re their inspiration. The details shared in your shop and through your art are opportunities for patrons to feel connected to more than the art, but to you, the artist, as well. 

Build a custom website in days or customize an Artistry Fair shop in an afternoon.

Setting up your shop at Artistry Fair begins with a short application (the verification step to ensure adherence to the shop guidelines), which takes about 15 minutes. Applicable application responses carry over into your shop setup (though you can always make edits), where you’ll also get to choose your layout and colors, answer some get-to-know-me questions, and post your first products, all of which can be accomplished in about an hour or two (depending on your own personal pace). 

The writing part takes up most of your time but that’s also a main feature of what makes your shop uniquely yours. Don’t let perfectionism stop you either; you can adjust your design and shop details as often as you’d like. 

Additionally, there are some boring (but important!) tax compliance details and forms to complete as part of your connection to Stripe (the way you get paid). But it’s also an exciting part of the setup because you feel like you are really establishing your business; and that’s exactly what you’re doing.

Artistry Fair: built by artists for artists. 

I personally have experienced times where I felt alone and misunderstood as a creative person. I have felt the frustration of applications and experiences that were not built with the user in mind, but rather to fill the bottomless pockets of corporate leaders. I am driven by my desire to create something with better functionality and fairness for creative people. (Something that is fun, too.) 

The goal is not to turn you away from what is working for you, but to offer you something that I believe will better support you (and others). 

I am here to personally invite you to be part of the movement towards something better for artists. Posting on Instagram (which has its own frustrations at times) is something that you and others will continue to do to keep building your audience and connecting with people; and as long as it keeps working for you in this way, I think this is great. I want you to feel like Artistry Fair is a platform and community that is inviting, welcoming, and understands you as an artist. And when someone asks you how they can buy the art you just posted, I’d love for your answer to be, “Artistry Fair.”