Can you exhibit artwork which is also available for sale elsewhere?

Can you exhibit artwork which is also available for sale elsewhere?

This article is for users on the Free and Exhibitor Pro Plans.

Yes, you can definitely include artworks in your exhibition which are also currently available for sale elsewhere, for example in other galleries or online stores. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to do this.

When artworks are ‘For Sale’ in two or more locations

If you have artworks in your exhibition which are available for sale both on The Exhibit and elsewhere, ideally all ‘For Sale’ artworks in your exhibition on The Exhibit should be transacted through The Exhibit. But, it isn’t mandatory to do so.

If artworks are transacted elsewhere during your ‘open exhibition dates’ on The Exhibit, for example via a gallery’s point of sale system or elsewhere online, you will need to edit the sales status of those artworks in your exhibition on The Exhibit from ‘For Sale’ to ‘Sold’ so you don’t accidentally sell the same work twice or mislead your online visitors that those artworks are still available.

If you do happen to sell the same artwork twice, elsewhere and then again on The Exhibit, please bear in mind there is a fee charged to refund your customer on The Exhibit. Please read more about our Double-sale Refund fees here.

To avoid any double-sale refund fees, we recommend processing your artwork sales transactions on The Exhibit instead of processing them elsewhere during your ‘open exhibition dates’.

How to avoid selling the same artwork twice

If you have artworks exhibited elsewhere during your online exhibition’s ‘open dates’, and you want to avoid disappointing your customers and accidentally selling the same work twice, there are some alternatives.

Firstly, if you sell an artwork elsewhere which is also for sale in your exhibition on The Exhibit, remember to always promptly log in to your account on The Exhibit and edit the sales status of the sold artwork to ‘Sold’. This way you will be reducing the chances of accidentally selling it again.

Secondly, you can have some artworks in your online exhibition ‘For Sale’ and some ‘Not For Sale’. This way you can display any artworks which are also featured elsewhere as ‘Not For Sale’, or ‘On Enquiry’ if using the Exhibitor Pro Plan on The Exhibit, thereby allowing you to still include them in your online exhibition but also avoiding any duplicate sales scenarios. You would then complement these ‘Not For Sale’ artworks with additional ‘For Sale’ artworks which would be exclusive to your online exhibition.

In this instance, you would simply need to make sure that, if you are using our Free Plan, at least 50% of your artworks are available For Sale. This is a requirement of the Free plan as it allows us to provide The Exhibit service to you at no cost. If you are using our Exhibitor Pro Plan then there is no requirement as to how many ‘For Sale’ artworks you need to have in your exhibition.

Find out more about ‘For Sale’, ‘Not for sale’ and ‘On Enquiry’ artworks here.

Alternatively, you could simply put on an online show of totally new artworks which differ from those that you currently have available elsewhere, and keep everything separate. It’s totally up to you!  :-)

Holding a duplicate exhibition online and offline

Another way you can include artworks in your exhibition, which you have available for sale elsewhere, is to create an identical exhibition on The Exhibit which mirrors your offline exhibition. This allows you to use your ‘online exhibition’ to promote your ‘offline exhibition’ and also means you can use The Exhibit as the point of sale system in the bricks and mortar exhibition space without needing expensive Eftpos terminals or tools.

You can read more about how to set up corresponding offline and online exhibitions here.

With a corresponding online and offline exhibition, the gallery or venue can take the role of Curator and creating the exhibition on The Exhibit. In this scenario, The Exhibit has a revenue sharing facility in place which allows the gallery or venue to receive their commission automatically into their bank account when an artwork sells, while also ensuring all artists are paid their share automatically as well.

We have written more about how revenue sharing works on The Exhibit here.

Weighing up the benefits

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that the benefits of exhibiting on The Exhibit also far outweigh other standard e-commerce or online solutions which aren’t so suitable for putting on an exhibition and selling artwork.

Some of these benefits include gaining greater recognition through our network, increasing foot traffic to your offline exhibition venue if you have a corresponding offline exhibition, leveraging the audiences of all other artists and galleries on The Exhibit, being able to showcase your artwork in an exhibition format online and making it super easy for your audience to buy your artwork directly from your exhibition no matter where they are located in the world.

The Exhibit also allows you to publish your exhibition in advance of your opening dates, allowing your audience to get a sneak peak of your artworks, bookmark their favourites and when your exhibition does open, visitors can buy your artworks on a first-in basis. This feature alone allows all artists, curators, and galleries to build up more anticipation for their exhibition “opening night” and create higher demand (we would even go as far to say a “frenzy”!) for the artworks in their exhibition before they become available for purchase.

The Exhibit truly is purpose build for artists, curators, and galleries. It is also highly cost-effective (free to exhibit on the Free Plan) and should be utilised as much as possible to reach wider audiences online and sell your art. The benefits we believe far outweigh our low subscription and sales success fees.

Please contact us should you have any other questions about exhibiting artworks elsewhere during your online exhibition on The Exhibit. We will get right back to you!

Ready to exhibit? 

Start creating your first online exhibition today, for free!

Have more questions?

View our Exhibitor Handbook for more helpful guides, or please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@theexhibit.io and we’ll get right back to you!