Many artists sell prints of their artwork as an additional source of income. Since the art market has been shifting more and more towards the internet in recent years, offering prints online is a great way to reach a large target audience. But what demographic buys art prints exactly? This post reveals who the buyers of art are, what demographic buys the most art, and what art collectors are nowadays looking for!
Selling art prints can be a profitable side-hustle for many artists. Both traditional and digital artists sell prints of their work as an effective way to generate passive income.
However, to find a market for your art prints, you first of all need to understand who is actually interested in buying the prints you offer.
In order to target the audience who likes your work, you need to know what demographic buys art prints.
That’s what I wanna talk about in this blog post. I dug into the data to give you an idea of who is buying art and what motivates them to buy it.
But first off, let me tell you: it’s a good time to sell art prints online! Why? Because during the past years (not only the pandemic), online art sales have been increasing a lot and the art market only continues to grow. Many art lovers and collectors use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to discover new artists on their own.
So if you haven’t yet, I definitely recommend creating an account on those platforms! Here are some tips to help you along the way:
- Stay in touch!
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In fact, many art experts predict that art will be traded fully online in the near future. But you can also make it as an artist without social media. Actually, it’s always a good idea to not solely rely on social platforms. They are good secondary promotional channels, but your central hub should be your own artist website.
Why? Because only your website belongs fully to you. When using social media, you’ll always be at the odds of the platform—with ever-changing algorithms, paid ads restricting the reach of your organic posts, and so on.
So if you haven’t made a website for your art yet, it’s about time to do so! I share a lot of tutorials and tips in the Build Your Artist Website section.
I myself created this website using WordPress, which requires a few techy skills (that everyone can learn). If you have no time for learning and want to create a website fast, you can check out the best website builders for artists.
Coming back to the topic: why is buying art prints online becoming so popular?
Simply because it has so many advantages over going to a physical art gallery and picking the pieces there. It is less time-consuming and less expensive. Plus, everybody has the same opportunity to visit an online gallery or reach out to an artist directly, regardless of where they are in the world!
Who are the buyers of art by country?
Who actually buys art? Before we get into the details, let’s take a look at the art buyers by country.
Not surprisingly, the United States have the biggest share of the global art market and most art collectors are located in the US.
This is closely followed by the United Kingdom and China. Besides, the number of art collectors in developing countries is steadily growing as well.
What demographic buys art prints in detail?
Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what demographic buys art prints. According to a study from May 2019, an approximately equal percentage of the art buyers identify as men and woman.
The most active buyers are aged between 25 and 44 years. The second largest age group interested in buying art is between 45 and 64. People in their early twenties tend to buy the least art.
Another study from 2019 found that almost 30% of the collectors who are younger than 35 clearly prefer to buy online. In contrast, only 10% of the older collectors aged 60+ purchase art on the internet.
This doesn’t come as a surprise because the younger generations are generally more driven towards the virtual world and are more confident purchasing online than the older generations.
However, the younger online buyers tend to buy art at lower price levels, while older collectors are willing to spend larger amounts of money for art they find in the ‘real world’.
What demographic buys the most art?
There’s lots of talk about ‘millennials and art‘ going on, and in fact, millennials are the demographic that buys the most art!
Millennials are the people born between the 1980s and the late 1990s. They are generally the largest consumer group today, and this is also true as much as art sales are concerned!
A survey conducted across the US, UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan found that millennials bought the most art.
On average, the millennial generation spends around 40 hours per month on social media, and Instagram is definitely their favorite platform. 80% of art buyers use Instagram to discover new artists and buy from them.
Instagram is ideal for them to follow the artists they love, look at their portfolios, watch their creative process, and reach out to the artists directly to learn more or purchase a piece.
As opposed to older collectors who wouldn’t even consider buying a piece of art online, millennials buy art mostly online—but also some of it offline.
What do art collectors look for?
Let’s stick to the millennial art collectors, because they are the demographic that buys art prints the most.
Millennials have changed the art world a lot. Instead of looking for the Old Masters or classical works of famous artists, this generation of art collectors focuses on different values.
A direct and personal connection with the artist and the artwork is more important than fame. Millennials buy art that speaks to them. If the artwork conveys some sort of story that resonates with them, then millennials are more inclined to buy the work.
Tastes, emotions, and values play a huger role in their buying decision than simply the fact that the work was created by a famous artist.
→ How Storytelling Can Improve Art: 12 Hands-On Tips From An Artist
Generally speaking, millennial collectors tend to have less money to spend on art pieces than older collectors. They are more likely to purchase lower-priced art prints from emerging artists, rather than expensive original works.
However, that doesn't mean that modern art buyers are willing to sacrifice quality for the sake of affordability.
So, if you want to successfully sell your art prints and retain your customers, make sure to focus on delivering the best quality.
The highest-quality prints available in the market are Giclee prints. Those prints are made on archival-quality paper or canvas with pigment-based inks, ensuring durability and capturing fine details and rich colors.
The second-best option includes photographic prints. Photographic prints are available in a range of different finishes, such as matte, glossy, and luster—depending on whether you want them for framing or hang them without glass.
Here’s some more information on the different types of Giclee and photographic prints:
Giclee and archival photographic prints belong to the highest-quality prints in the market. Make sure to offer your art on a variety of printing sizes and media that your target demographic is interested in buying. The above is an example of an art print of ‘Keyla‘ available in my web store.
Now, where can you get high-quality, yet affordable, art prints that your target demographic actually wants to buy?
Well, selling prints is one of the easiest ways for artists to monetize their work. You can even conveniently sell art prints from home—without stepping outside your house and doing more than a few simple clicks of your mouse! How?
There are online printing services where you only need to upload a file of your artwork, and then they will take care of everything: from manufacturing the print, to packaging it, to shipping it to the customer.
Some of the best printing companies for Giclee and photographic prints, which also offer international drop-shipping, are FinerWorks, Pictorem, and CanvasChamp.
If you are running your own art store on Etsy, Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress, or a similar site, you might be interesting in linking a printing provider that will automatically fulfill all incoming orders. Printful and Printify are two the top print-on-demand services that you can integrate with your online shop.
Check out the post below for more information and a greater selection of fine art printing providers:
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I hope that this posts helped you understand who the buyers of art are and encouraged you to sell your own art prints. Even if you are ‘just’ an up-and-coming artist who isn’t widely known yet, you have a good chance to find buyers for your art.
I have a number of other posts on this site to help you start selling art prints:
If you want to learn more, feel free to check out the Showcase & Sell your Art section with a lot more helpful posts and tips for artists wanting to get their artwork seen and generate an income!
Please leave questions and comments below. I’d love to hear from you! Make sure to sign up for my email list so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
