Buying Art for Hospitals on eBay

Poster Art is a widely used way to put up a pictures in a Hospital without breaking the budget. Posters are mass produced on on cheap paper to keep down cost. The colors may not be as vivid and it certainly won't be archival, but they are cheap. The trouble is that poster art looks cheap.

What if you want real art; original art on a tight budget?

One option is to look to China: click here and here. But that takes a long time and having to trust someone on the other side of the planet who may not be fluent in English.

Another option is to use eBay.

I just checked and there are 234,175 pieces of art on eBay right now. They are conveniently arranged into three categories

• Direct from the Artist
• Art from Dealers & Resellers
• Wholesale Lots

I’ve seen three examples of art on eBay recently. One was in an entire room in a gallery filled with paintings from eBay. Another is a distinguished painting professor who sells his watercolors on eBay rather than have them sit in storage. Lastly, I know an photographer who sells his platinum prints on eBay for as little as $25.

I'm certain you can find some real bargains for original art on eBay. A serious problems with this method is that it takes too much time. I suspect that most art buyers for hospitals won't take the time or risk involved with buying art on eBay.

The webstite for eBay is: www.eBay.com

Thanks to Kim for suggesting this topic after she came across a post on another blog: click here

Comments

[Tim Ernst]

Henry:

Forgive me for being a hillbilly without your high breeding, but I don't understand your business model - or your sanity. You recommend that people buy illegal copies of original art produced in sweat shops from China (I guess 25 cents an hour is not really all that bad when you live in a communist country where they will kill you if you don't do the work), and now you want folks to buy art off of e-bay? I know you think you are doing a great service to the art buying community with all of this, but in some ways you are doing a disservice to artists who are just trying to make an honest living. I guess if your bank account is large enough it doesn't really matter though, ey!

[hdomke]

"I don't understand your business model - or your sanity."
Hah! I've never claimed to be sane. And this blog is not about my business, it is about the use of art in healthcare. Hospitals with a tight budget might not be able to buy art like yours or mine, they need some options.

"You recommend that people buy illegal copies of original art produced in sweat shops from China..." I did not actually recommend it, I pointed it out as an interesting option.

"...in some ways you are doing a disservice to artists who are just trying to make an honest living."
I'm sorry that you feel that way. I believe that the many artists who don't have gallery representation would actually be well advised to look at selling their art on eBay as an option. Better than having it collect dust in a storage room.

[John Storjohann]

I'd have to offer the flip side of the coin as a comment...perhaps because of how I read the intent of the article. For a photographer trying to break into selling his/her work, suggestions from an established and respected artist on how to begin, or on avenues we haven't tried, can be invaluable; I don't know that I'll pursue E-Bay necessarily, but I respect business that Henry has been able to establish and I respect his insights. And without knowing their sales revenue, it seems that more than a few artistes are exploring it as a possible source of income. As far as being sane...he may have never claimed it *grin*, but I've always found him to speak eloquently and with more than a casual dose of common sense. That ranks as fairly sane in my book.