Selling Art Online with Custom Matting

Utilizing matting and framing to enhance your value proposition

Almost all of your customers will add custom framing and matting after purchasing your art. By offering these options with their initial purchase, it’s an opportunity to generate more revenue for your store while providing a much needed service for your customers! There are hundreds of thousands of Etsy merchant selling their art online, does your store stand out? One of the simplest ways to add value to your product is to add matboards and/or frames. For a single customer, finding a mat that will work well with your art can be a tedious and expensive process. A single mat may cost them anywhere from $20-$100 when accounting for shipping and all other costs. For you as a merchant however, buying custom mats is only going to cost a few dollars per mat with the volume discounts. If your art comes in non-standard sizes the value is even greater. Matboard and More® offers custom mats online at a great price, but we are one of the few that do. Local framers can charge hundreds of dollars for even the simplest customizations.

Color selection

There are over a hundred colors to choose from with matboards, but about 90% of our sales are for white or black mats. The reason is that neutral colors work very well with just about any art work. They don’t distract from the art work. With that said, there is an opporunity to stand out by offering various colors that nobody else does. Etsy allows for matboards to be optional so there is little harm in offering some red, blue or even purple matting just to be different! You can also stand out by offering white and black core matting. Black core is stunning, especially for black and white mats. There are no shortage of options available. Check out our guide on selecting the right mats for art shows which has great information on color selection.

Choosing the right mat quality

When it comes to mat quality, the main consideration is acid free matting versus decorative matting. Most customers aren’t overly concerned with the mat quality unless you are selling original or fine art. If that is the case, there is no doubt conservation matting is worth it for you because you are likely selling the work at a premium and it’s also irreplaceable. Otherwise, our Decorative or Berkshire economy mats are the best choice. For more information on the differences in various picture matting grades check out our Matboard 101 guide.

How Matboard and More® can help promote you

Matboard and More® is willing to partner with great Etsy pages and help spread the word via our e-mail newsletter, social media profiles and through our web blog. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship as many of our customers are art lovers and are looking for great artists all the time! You can see one of the recent posts on artists using Matboard and More® products, where we helped get some great artists exposure via our blog.

With Matboard and More® you also have the option of buying many accessories which will further enhance your sales including, backing boards, show bags, show kits, picture frames and plexiglass.. When shipping and moving around your art, it’s best to use show bags and backing boards to keep your packages safe.

The show bags come in all standard sizes and are perfect for protecting your art. Picture frames are a great option, but be aware that they will make shipping and packaging difficult. Some customers also prefer to buy their own Picture frame. The best thing is to have custom picture frames as an option and see how much demand you have for them.