# New to selling my craft



## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2018)

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I started selling my art and taking requests about 2 months ago. Mostly doing pet portraits. I've always drawn or painted since I was a teenager. I work in acrylic at the moment. Going to do my first craft show in a week! I want to sell on Etsy but I'm not sure if there's a minimum amount of paintings I have to be able to sell to open a store.


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## yarnart (Jul 5, 2018)

Etsy opening do not cost at all, and the listings also few cents... Only 10 minutes administrations time what you have to take in. But nobody can guarantee any sellings.


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## HorseRtist (Oct 31, 2013)

I'd love to give you some advice. Take it or leave it. I have painted for 77 years (since I was 4). I also do pet portraits and there IS money in it! My first suggestion is to target your customers. In other words paint whatever their priorities are! 
Hint #1: Dog lovers, cat lovers, parrot lovers and horse lovers want paintings of what they love most, their animals! I paint mostly horses and I have over 2000 horse-lover customers who have stayed with me for over 45 years. 
Hint #2: Paint lots of dogs, all breeds, especially the breeds that are rare (those people can't find anything with THEIR dog on it). Paint on EVERYTHING, not just canvas! Set up your work at dog shows. If you are good at what you do, they will buy it all! (I did that at horse shows for years and took in $3,000 to $4,000 on two night (Friday and Saturday night) sales. Do the same at horse shows or cat shows.
Hint #3. This one sounds harsh but you will save yourself a lot of misery! Paint what you WANT to paint and sell it INSTEAD of taking commissions. I took commissions for years and things happen at times that make you want to quit. Quitting is difficult once you start it! I wished for years that I could just paint what I wanted to instead of what someone wanted me to. NOW that's what I do and at 81 years old, I am happy to paint what I want to, when I want to and still sell it. I wish you well!!!


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