Should You Sell on Saatchi Art?
Not all art marketplaces are created equal, but is Saatchi good for artists?
Last week I had a conversation with friend and artist Mark J. Rebennack, and we talked about, among other things, his experience with Saatchi Art. Mark has seen the most success on that platform of all the artists I know, and I wanted to find out his secrets.
Spoiler Alert: This is not the get-rich-with-Saatchi article you may expect.
Before we dug into our conversation about Saatchi, we talked about a recent post he’d made on Instagram, sharing the success of a new limited-edition print series and his thoughts on the collectors.
Of the few he made, all but a couple had sold, and of those that sold, most went to collectors he knew in town. Then he posed what could have been a rhetorical question by asking what it would take to broaden his reach and find more collectors outside of his immediate circle of influence.
If you’ve known me for any time, this type of question is usually one I would jump at to impart some of my thoughts on marketing and reach. Instead of replying, I invited him to coffee to chat about his experience.
There’s more on broadening our reach toward the end, but let’s talk about Saatchi.
Tarnished
Sometimes we meet people in person and follow them on social media, but we don’t dig deep enough to understand more about them. This is how it went for me with Mark. I knew his art but didn’t know his sales and marketing process. I’ve always appreciated Mark’s work, but it wasn’t until he shared that he’d been included in Saatchi Art’s coveted Fall Catalog that piqued my interest to know more about his online selling experience.
At the time, I asked him a few basic questions about Saatchi and then went on my own to dig deeper. I’ve had a Saatchi account for years but put no energy into it after my first attempt.
A conversation with a female artist friend had me thinking twice about using the platform when she told me about the founder, Charles Saatchi, and his abusive behavior*. Saatchi later sold his stake in Saatchiart.com to Demand Media (Society6) and hasn’t had any dealings with the company since (except to sue them for using his name**… which he sold to them).
With Charles Saatchi gone from the equation and Mark’s recommendations of the platform, I decided to jump back in to learn more about it. Over the last several months, I’ve uploaded a few pieces to my Saatchi Art account and even sold a couple through the platform. I plan on doing more, but not without reservation.
Showing Up the Right Way
For the past few years, Mark has been accepted into the Other Art Fair† in Los Angeles, an International art fair series hosted by Saatchi Art. I asked about his experience with the event, and he implied the show was crucial to him in getting attention from news outlets and podcasts.
Not only does he get attention from media sources he usually wouldn’t, but he also sells art to influential people, attracts gallerists and art dealers, and expands his collector base.
The show benefits him because he doesn’t participate in many other events. Mark is selective about where he displays his work. He’s not applying to every show and gallery open call. I plied him more on this, asking about his thinking about self-promotion, whether that’s by participating in events or showing up on social media. He said, for him, it’s about “consistency and honesty.”
To Mark, consistency means showing up regularly with an expected level of creativity and engagement. This translates to only applying for shows and events that make sense for where his work is headed.
I wanted to know what he thought was the opposite of honesty as an artist. He took a moment to think about the question and then shared the difference between having a point and making a point.
He’s open and honest about his art process. He’ll post videos and photos of him working but doesn’t tell viewers how to feel about the work. In contrast, making a point would be telling viewers every thought and feeling about what goes into a piece to understand better what he believes the art says.
If you let someone come to their conclusions about the work, they will attach their beliefs to it. - DC
Saatchi Works but Could Be Better
Of course, we discussed his experience with Saatchi Art, and he had some unexpected thoughts about the platform.
Posting Frequency
Between teaching, making art, establishing a nonprofit organization, and family life, Mark doesn’t have a lot of time for the online rituals of others, like posting his work on a highly regulated schedule.
If you talk to other successful artists on Saatchi Art, they will tell you that regular, weekly posting is vital because it gets the attention of the platform’s curators (real people, not algorithms). Mark says the curators have said this to him directly several times, but he doesn’t let that dictate his posting schedule.
Instead, Mark will post several pieces once every few months, and he’s been happy with the results. It’s gotten him published in the catalog and accepted into the event, and he sells several pieces yearly.
Cost of Doing Business
Saatchi Art is arguably the most expensive platform open to all artists. In February of 2023, the site raised the commission structure from 35% to 40%, which many artists on the platform didn’t appreciate, Rebennack and myself included. They also tack on a shipping and handling fee to each purchase, which the buyer pays and doesn’t come out of the artist's commission.
I recently sold a piece on the platform to someone who paid $100 for the art and $30 for s/h. After applying a 10% discount coupon, my final commission was $51. When I think about the time and energy I spent making the piece, posting it on Saatchi, promoting it, and then shipping it out myself when sold (Saatchi gives me the shipping label), I’m not sure the $51 was a valuable return.
Curating the Work
Mark sells his work on Saatchi Art and his website, but he’s particular about which pieces go on each. His smaller works and limited editions are sold through his website, while his larger originals are reserved for Saatchi.
In his opinion, it doesn’t make sense to spend time posting small works to Saatchi from a cost analysis standpoint. Most of the work he’s posted in the past few years is priced from $500 and above, with a handful of older pieces below that price point.
Can More be Done?
If he sells a half-dozen pieces a year on Saatchi Art, Rebennack is satisfied. I asked him if he wanted to become a full-time artist, and without pause, he said he did not.
Art allows him to express his creativity and make side money. His true passion is his budding nonprofit organization, Merge Art Center, a space for artists with developmental disabilities to create.
However, if someone wants to make an honest attempt at more considerable success on Saatchi Art, these are my recommendations.
Study others on the platform, like Mark. If you connect with other artists from the platform, they may share their success tips.
Use Saatchi Art’s success tips. They recommend regular posting for a reason and plenty of other ways to make the marketplace work for you.
Start a newsletter and ask people to join. People may buy your work in a marketplace like Saatchi, but they are Saatchi’s customers, not yours. The best way to maintain contact with fans and collectors on your terms is with a newsletter you send out regularly. I talk about newsletters often [here] [here] [here], but this article below may convince you.
What Most Artists Get Wrong About Email
Finally, there is no one correct answer. Success can come on almost anyone’s terms if you operate smartly within those parameters. This may take a lot of time; Rebennack’s approach to selling and sharing works for him because he’s tried many things first.
Most creatives do not want the business getting in the way of the art, but if we ignore the business, we have an art hobby. That may work for you, but if you want more from your creative output, now is the time for a better strategy, often shared on The Hungry Artist. If you haven’t subscribed yet, here’s your chance.