Acrylic pour paintings are beautiful and unique pieces of artwork that look really stunning on walls. They’re also really fun to create. If you have a pile of acrylic pour paintings that you’re not sure what to do with, maybe you’ve considered making a few extra dollars from them. Do acrylic pour paintings sell online or in person?
Acrylic pour paintings are sold on online platforms like Etsy, as well as in person in galleries and farmer’s markets. The market for acrylic pour paintings is saturated, which can make them hard to sell. But, with the right audience and marketing, they can be a source of profit.
Honestly, selling an acrylic pour painting can be a bit of a challenge. It’s a fairly new trend that’s more saturated with creators than buyers. That said, it’s completely possible to make some sales, clearing out some of your creations while also making a few extra dollars. Let’s look at some of the stats so that you can be in the best position possible to profit from your acrylic pour paintings.
The Booming Acrylic Pour Trend?
Acrylic pouring has taken the art world by storm. It’s a modern, fun, and unique way to use paint and create art. I mean, talk about different from the realistic acrylic landscapes we’re used to! Taking a look at Google trends, you’ll see that the popularity of acrylic pouring started to skyrocket in the middle of 2017. Interest started to decrease overtime, especially starting in 2022, but it seems like the interest is still there.
So, what’s a potential problem here?
Acrylic pour painting is something that people have become interested in. With that in mind, it’s hard to weed out the searches that are looking for info on how to create acrylic pour paintings versus buying them.
If you type “acrylic pour painting” into Amazon, you’ll see supplies for artists, not paintings themselves. Even when you type in “acrylic pour painting,” there isn’t a finished canvas in sight.
Perhaps demand is with artists, not buyers. That doesn’t mean that you can’t change demand or that the trend won’t swing towards buyers in the near future but, for now, acrylic pouring is something that hasn’t taken off in the art buying world.
The Sales Landscape for Acrylic Pour Paintings on Etsy
When you look at search results on Etsy, you’ll see that the competition is steep. At the time of this writing, there are about 60,000 listings.
To get a feel for searches, I took a look at eRank. This is a site that looks at stats from various selling platforms. Take this with a grain of salt, as many of these stats aren’t perfect.
The average monthly US searches and clicks for acrylic pour paintings is about 300 a month at the time of this writing. With 60,000 listings and so few clicks to go around, you need some stunning listings to stand out from the crowd.
To be clear, all art is competitive on Etsy. The platform has become saturated and, no matter what you’re selling, you’ll have competition.
Here’s what’s fascinating. Even on Etsy, a portion of the results I got for acrylic pour painting were for supplies, not paintings themselves. This surprised me on Etsy!
Yes, I saw paintings as well, but I saw a lot of supplies, again indicating the desire for people to create acrylic pour paintings as opposed to buying them.
The Sales Landscape for Acrylic Pour Paintings In Person
Understanding the sales landscape for in person acrylic pour markets, whether it be galleries, museums, or farmer’s markets is a bit more nuanced because it relies SO heavily on finding the right place that suits the needs of your art.
Online platforms like Etsy serve a very wide audience. It’s easier to get in front of a lot of customer eyeballs without a lot of research. Selling in person is a completely different game.
A gallery will not be interested in your acrylic pour painting if they only display photography. Also, selling your large canvases may not work at a farmer’s market where everyone has their hands full of produce and aren’t necessarily looking for their next show stopping piece of living room art.
It’s really important to pinpoint the audience that would most likely buy your art and to figure out where those people hang out. Is there a progressive new gallery downtown that has a lot of abstract work? Is there an art festival every year that’s automatically full of customers looking for art?
Before you pursue any in person opportunity to sell your acrylic pour paintings, ask yourself if that’s where your customer lives and will most likely find your work.
Diversifying your selling strategy can be a really good idea. You don’t want there to be an algorithm change with Etsy and suddenly find that your paintings are nowhere to be found in search. You also don’t want to max out your in person opportunities and wonder where to turn from there.
Selling BOTH online and in person is a great idea, especially for a market like acrylic pour painting that is a bit more saturated than other areas.
How Much do Acrylic Pour Paintings Sell for?
Acrylic pour paintings sell for as little as $15 or as much as a few thousand depending on the size. It’s important to judge your art against the listings around it so that you’re pricing your art in a competitive range.
The acrylic pour paintings space is one where I see a lot of artists undervaluing their work. Even if a canvas is small, selling it for $15 with free shipping will barely cover your costs, let alone honor the value of your work.
When you are just starting out and establishing your store and audience, you may need to sell your paintings for less so that you can make a few sales, get a few reviews, and find a few raving fans.
That said, your pricing always needs to make sense given your costs and efforts. If you’re going to lose money from the sale of your paintings, that’s not a good situation to be in.
Know your numbers ahead of time. It might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many of us don’t understand the bottom lines of our stores. We get so excited to sell and feel like spreadsheets and budgets are boring.
Take a boring hour to set up your financial spreadsheet for your store. Once you have it established, it will only take a little maintenance every month, yet also keep you in the loop about how money is flowing in and out of your business.
If you want some nitty gritty details about how to price your acrylic pour paintings, down to the last few cents, take a look at the video below. It will walk you through the costs of your supplies and what that means for how you need to price your work.
Selling your acrylic pour paintings might seem daunting. And, honestly, it isn’t the easiest niche to break into given how saturated it is. That said, there’s room for all artists in the selling space. Find where your audience lives, what they’re looking for, and how to price your art accordingly. Overtime, you’ll see your sales start to increase. Go forth and create great art!
Diana has been an artist for over 26 years and has training in drawing, painting, digital drawing and graphic design. Diana’s latest obsession is digitally drawing with Procreate and creating t-shirt designs with Canva. Diana has experience selling her art across a number of platforms and loves helping other artists learn how to make money from their art as well.