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Selling your art: gallery, online, or both?

Every artist eventually faces the same question: where do I actually sell? Galleries, online marketplaces and self-production each have real trade-offs in reach, effort and margin. Here is an honest comparison to help you choose — and why the answer is increasingly "both".

The gallery: credibility and access to buyers

A gallery brings validation, foot traffic, and collectors you could never reach alone — in exchange for a commission. The credibility of being represented often raises what your work can command, which offsets part of the fee.

Online and self-production: reach and margin

Selling online or self-producing keeps 80–90% of the sale price and gives you total control — but you carry all the marketing, logistics and trust-building yourself. Reach is huge in theory and hard to convert in practice without an audience.

Why "both" usually wins

The strongest model combines a gallery's credibility and physical presence with online reach. A gallery that also sells your work online gives you the validation and the audience at once — which is the model L'Original is built on.

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Sell your art
Dorian Verdier — Founder of L'Original · HEC academic author on the democratization of art

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Dorian Verdier

Founder of L'Original · HEC academic author on the democratization of art

Dorian Verdier founded the first gallery of its kind in North America and has spent ten years making original art accessible. His academic work at HEC focuses on the democratization of art — the same conviction that guides every collection on L'Original.

Discover the story of L'Original

Frequently asked questions

Is online enough on its own?

Rarely at first. Without an existing audience, online sales are slow; the credibility and collectors a gallery provides accelerate everything.

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