The Art Bin is an exciting new online marketplace for art-lovers and artists. Its a place where art lovers can connect with and support local artists. Its a place where local artists can sell prints of their work without the cost and time associated with maintaining a website and fulfilling orders. Artists can access to the online prints market with a low barrier to entry. There is no cost to sign up but there is juried application and art review process. If selected, you get access to sell your prints with all ordering and fulfillment handled for you. Artist obligations include providing high quality, color correct and sharp images of their artwork along with basic information about themselves and the artwork. In turn, The Art Bin charges a 25% commission on the profit of the sale (after printing, shipping, and transaction fees are excluded).
The Art Bin will begin by inviting artists from Muskingum County, Ohio and then expand to Appalachian Ohio. Once the initial pilot period has passed, additional invitations will be opened for a larger geographical area. We intend to limit our platform to artists from the Appalachian Region (423 Counties in 13 states: AL, GA, KY, MD, MS, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV). More details here: https://www.arc.gov/about-the-appalachian-region/. There is some flexibility here, especially for artists residing in neighboring counties that take inspiration from Appalachia.
There are no costs to apply and there are no membership fees. We only make money when an artist sells a print. We charge a 25% commission on the profits of that sale (after costs of printing, shipping, and transaction fees are removed).
There are arguments for and against artists making and selling prints. Below are some of the common arguments and counterarguments. Some artists are very protective of their art’s exclusivity and uniqueness, and therefore avoid prints altogether. Other artists see reproduction prints as an important component in their business model. Some offer prints extensively while others only offer prints for certain pieces, thereby preserving the allure stand-alone originals. Ultimately, each artist must evaluate their own goals, philosophy, and audience in order to determine whether selling prints makes sense for them or not.
1. Devaluation of Original Art, Impact on Exclusivity
Argument: Making reproductions widely available may reduce the perceived uniqueness and value of original artworks, particularly for collectors who value exclusivity. Dilution of exclusivity can make originals more common and less prestigious. Selling prints in close proximity geographically and/or digitally may increase these concerns.
Counter-Argument: Selling only original works limits the artist to physical stores or if sold online, requires extensive costs related to marketing, shipping, insurance, etc. Reproductions can increase an artist’s visibility and recognition, potentially enhancing interest in the originals and catering to a wider audience without directly competing with the originals. Limited editions and/or limiting prints to certain works can limit dilution concerns as can separating marketing efforts and sales locations for originals versus prints. Prints can increase income diversification, allowing artists to continue to sell art after the original has been sold.
2. Potential Brand Misalignment
Argument: Selling prints may appear inconsistent with a fine art piece, potentially affecting the perception of the artist as a creator of high-end, unique works.
Counter-Argument: Reproductions can be positioned as a complementary offering, making the art accessible to a broader audience and lower price point while maintaining the originals as premium items.
3. Compromise in Artistic Control
Argument: Reproductions may not fully capture the nuances of the original work, such as texture, depth, and subtle details, which might lead to a misrepresentation of the artist’s vision. Low quality digital captures, lack of color calibration, and improper image processing can result in prints that don’t adequately reflect the original.
Counter-Argument: Modern digital capture and printing technology, especially in giclée printing, allows for high-quality reproductions, and artists can oversee the process to ensure the final product closely reflects the original. Use of professional photography or scanning, monitor calibration, color-correction, proper image scaling, sharpening techniques, and test prints/artist proofs can preserve the art’s original look and feel.
4. Ethical or Philosophical Beliefs
Argument: Some artists feel that creating reproductions goes against their belief in producing unique, one-of-a-kind works.
Counter-Argument: Others see reproductions as an extension of their creative output, enabling their work to reach a wider audience while preserving the distinct value of original pieces.
We respect both sides of this argument and while we clearly cater to those that see value in selling prints, we also agree that prints are not for all artists. We strive to address the above concerns that we have control over. We require high quality digital captures of artwork and offer extensive guidance to artists on how to make sure they are getting imagery that represents their original work. We include links on artist pages to locations where customers can purchase originals and pledge to encourage them to do so. We encourage artists to promote their prints and The Art Bin only if it aligns with their business model. Artists that have a strong local following can opt to refrain from advertising print offerings on their own platforms and let The Art Bin’s broader marketing brush bring in customers. All that being said, artists must evaluate their own brand, philosophy, market, and business model to determine whether selling reproduction prints online is a good fit.
There are plenty of online resources for you to read/watch and consider as you make your decision regarding whether or not to sell reproduction prints. You can find more by searching online for “Should I sell reproduction prints of my artwork or just originals?” or something similar. You’ll find opinions on both sides and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
We currently sell unlimited (open) edition reproduction prints. We are open to selling limited edition prints that are digitally signed and numbered on a case-by-case basis and are exploring logistics for this option. Because we work with professional print labs for order fulfillment, hand-signing prints for online sales is not possible due to added costs and logistics. We currently only accept imagery of mediums that are generally described as 2-Dimensional (e.g., acrylic paint, oil paint, watercolors, charcoal, pastels, chalk, graphite, colored pencils, pen and ink, certain mixed media, photography, etc.). Prints are offered in three unframed options and two framed options: unframed giclée prints, framed and matted giclée, canvas, float-framed canvas, and unframed metal prints.
As outlined in our Artist Terms of Use, contributing artists must warrant that they own or have the rights to the work that is offered for sale on The Art Bin. In other words, the image is of their original work and that work does not infringe upon copyright or any other rights of any third party. Copyright law is complicated and different court districts use different tests to determine what is copyright infringement. You can read about the Substantial Similarity Test, Extrinsic/Intrinsic Test, Ordinary Observer Test, but these are admittedly subjective and often require expert testimony to apply. For artists looking for guidance in this area, here are some suggestions on how to have influence without infringement:
1. Distinguish Ideas from Expression
Copyright does not protect general concepts, facts, or basic anatomy.
Safe to use: The concept of “a woman standing in a garden,” the way light hits a sphere, or a standard human pose.
Risky to use: Specific artistic choices made by the original creator, such as their unique lighting setup, particular background details, or a highly stylized interpretation of a subject.
2. Use Multiple References (The “Frankenstein” Method)
A key strategy to avoid substantial similarity is to “steal” from many sources rather than just one.
Combine sources: Take the pose from one photo, the color palette from another, and the background texture from a third.
Add personal “filters”: Once you have gathered your elements, change them enough so the original source is no longer easily identifiable. This shifts your work toward being transformative, which is a core defense against infringement.
3. Practice Active Observation, Not Direct Replication
To gain knowledge through observation without infringing, focus on solving specific artistic problems.
Define your purpose: Instead of copying a whole image, state clearly what you are looking for (e.g., “how a tear duct is shaped” or “how evening shadows fall on a building”).
Work from memory: Study a reference intensely to understand the form, then put it away and draw from what you have learned. This ensures you are internalizing the knowledge rather than relying on the specific expression of the reference.
4. Source Your References Wisely
Where you get your reference matters for legal safety.
Safe sources: Public domain works (e.g., art by creators who died over 70 years ago), your own photography, or royalty-free sites like Unsplash
Risky sources: Social media posts, professional photography in magazines, or other contemporary artists’ work found online.
Practice-only: It is generally acceptable to copy work verbatim for private study or practice, but these pieces should not be sold, exhibited, or posted online without permission from the original creator.
5. Be Mindful of “Striking Similarity”
If your final piece is so similar to a reference that it could not have been created independently—even if you claim you didn’t see it—courts may still find infringement. To avoid this, always aim to stylize and exaggerate. Change the composition, alter the perspective, or add unique elements like different clothing or backgrounds to ensure your work is clearly its own original piece.
If you have permission from the instructor to reproduce and sell the work, yes. We embrace the idea that art is a learning process and an evolution. If you have permission from the instructor to reproduce and sell your work from their instruction, we will allow it. Please make sure you have adequate written permission on-hand in case of a dispute. If we receive a valid request for take-down, we have no choice but to remove the work.
Please refrain from submitting works that include trademarks such as logos or brand names. While the use of such things is generally acceptable in original artworks, the reproduction of trademarks for prints or other merchandise can be construed as merchandising rather than pure art and makes it easier for brands to argue trademark infringement. So while you may be within your rights to create art that includes trademarks, we ask that you don’t submit it to The Art Bin for print sales.
We accept and sell artwork in a wide variety of sizes and aspect ratios. Generally speaking, we aim for 3 print sizes per art piece (small, medium, large) but can offer up to 5 sizes per piece. Below are the aspect ratios we sell along with dimensions of our standard product offerings. .
4:5: 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 24×30
1:1: 8×8, 12×12, 20×20, 30×30, 40×40
2:3: 8×12, 16×24, 24×36, 32×48
3:4: 12×16, 18×24, 30×40, 36×48
1:3: 10×30, 15×45, 20×60
1:2: 12×24, 18×36, 24×48
1:2.5: 12×30, 18×45
Note that artwork does not need to exactly match any of the actual dimensions. As long as it matches one of the aspect ratios or can tolerate some minor cropping or warping then it can still be accepted.
Artists must be a resident of the stated application region which we confirm prior to on-boarding. We review all submissions and compare them to pre-determined selection factors (and our Artist Terms of Use). These factors are designed to ensure alignment with customer demand, consistency with our overall brand, and diversity of offerings without too much overlap on existing work. We welcome artists of all experience levels to apply.
The Appalachian Region is unique for a variety of reasons. Our mountains contain beautiful backcountry, countless vistas, quaint towns, urban centers, Native American tribes, and the nation’s most visited national park among many other treasures. The Appalachians are one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth. We have one of the world’s most well known hiking trails (The Appalachian Trail), the nation’s most visited national park (Great Smokey Mountains National Park), the nation’s most visited national parkway (Blue Ridge Parkway), are recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, and so much more. Our region is loved by many and that makes our marketplace especially attractive to our art-loving customers.
The Appalachian Region falls substantially behind the country average on per capita income, higher education, poverty, and many other key economic factors. As a well-documented case of under-service and under-privilege, we feel that by limiting our artist membership to these states we can make a difference for artists that face a unique set of challenges.
It’s home. We love it and while we may be better off trying to make and sell our art elsewhere, our creative process relies on this place. We’re not just another online art marketplace. We aim to be a community, joined together, bringing high quality art from our region to the online world.
Artists of all experience levels are welcome to submit; however, our marketplace aims to serve artists that have not established a successful online print sales income. If you have already done that we commend you and politely ask that you refrain from submitting so we can better serve those artists that haven’t yet established their online customer base. If you have prints for sale one a website but sales are minimal and not a significant portion of your income we welcome you.
Selected artists are responsible for providing high quality (sharp), high resolution, color-corrected images of the work they intend to sell on The Art Bin. High quality digital capture is critical for us to be able to provide high quality, large prints to our customers that represent the original piece. Imagery must be acceptably sharpened for the range of print sizes the artist aims to sell. This may require 3 or more images per piece. Digital artwork capture services are provided by some professional photographers, framing shops, and print shops. Pricing varies but generally ranges from $25 to $100 per piece. Artists will also be required to provide information for an artist page including a photo and bio. Artists will also be required to provide some basic information about their pieces for tagging and social media. By submitting work for sale on The Art Bin artists are also agreeing to our General Terms of Use and Artist Terms of Use.
Maybe. We highly recommend using a professional photographer, scanner, or digital capture technologist to ensure you get high resolution, sharp, color-accurate photos of your work. If used properly in an appropriately lit space, smart phones can yield usable images. There are multiple factors involved that will determine whether the image is usable, how many print sizes can be offered with the image, and how accurately it portrays the original artwork. Smart phones automatically apply editing to imagery, often including the addition of saturation, contrast, white balance adjustments, and sharpening. This is done automatically behind the scenes and will affect the color accuracy of the prints compared to your work. Color accuracy is something we feel is important to get right for our customers. Many phone cameras have pro-level controls and can capture RAW image files that can be better controlled with manual adjustments to match your work. This approach will help yield usable results but obviously also comes with a learning curve if you don’t already have knowledge of manual camera controls, etc.. Low lighting that requires high ISO settings, not having your phone on plane with your work, mixed light colors, motion blur, and other factors can result in images that won’t work well for prints. For member artists, we can evaluate your smart phone image and determine whether it is usable and for what print sizes it can be used. We obviously cannot determine whether it is color accurate; this is a determination you’ll have to make. If the image will only work for one small print size due to quality issues, we’re likely to opt not to include it due to the work necessary to set up the products.
Artists will be required to submit a W9 tax form and payment preferences during onboarding. We currently offer payment in the forms of PayPal, mailed paper check, or ACH (requires bank account and routing number). Payments will be made monthly in the month following the sale.
Sales tax is added to listed prices during checkout. The Art Bin will collect and pay sales tax. We cannot advise members on if or when they must report income to the various jurisdictions but if you are required to report, you can mark your Art Bin income as exempt since the sales taxes have already been collected and paid by us.
We ask for 5-10 pieces during the initial application process. We strongly encourage you to carefully and critically select which pieces to submit for review. If approved we’ll use these initial pieces (or a subset of them) to launch your work on the site. Once your launch is complete you may submit additional work for listing. All additional work will go through a soft jury process to ensure it aligns with the same requirements considered during application. We are currently asking artists to submit no more than 5 pieces per month. As we get through initial onboardings, website launch, and automate processes we’ll re-evaluate artwork submission rates and requirements. This is something we’ll monitor and adjust as we go so please be patient with us.
Our terms for use are non-exclusive and listing your work on The Art Bin does not in any way prevent you from selling it elsewhere including on your own website.
Any time you post your work online or on social media you are opening yourself up to the potential for theft. We only post low resolution versions of your files. While these could be used to reproduce small versions of your work, they wouldn’t work for large reproductions. We don’t currently employ theft prevention such as right-click prevention or water-marking. Technology today is perfectly capable of removing watermarks or even generating from scratch a new but very similar version of your work. Our opinion is that someone who is determined to pirate your work or ideas will find a way to do so and never intended to purchase your work in the first place. The Art Bin markets to genuine art consumers who want to support artists and will purchase your work for that reason. If you have reason to believe someone is stealing and benefitting from your work, there are tools and services that can be used to find stolen work and seek damages. Important note: while you have automatic copyrights to your original artwork, you cannot sue for copyright infringement unless it is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Profits are shared by The Art Bin and the artist and are calculated after printing, shipping, and transaction fees are removed. The Art Bin charges a 25% commission and artists receive the remaining 75% of sales profits. We’ve created minimum pricing that we feel competes well in our market but artists are welcome to opt for prices that are higher. Detailed cost and pricing breakdowns are provided to all accepted artists.
The Art Bin is committed to marketing our platform, our member artists, and your art. Marketing initially will focus on digital channels including social media and paid advertisements on social platforms. As the platform grows and income generation allows for additional marketing investments we will explore and test other digital marketing channels. We will also explore and test physical (printed) advertisements to supplement digital marketing efforts. Our marketing plan will be diverse, informed by data, and adaptable. We will also encourage member artists to advertise their work and The Art Bin on social media and other applicable platforms if it makes sense for them. If we take advantage of our combined following and capitalize on collective outreach we can have an impact that extends far beyond what any of us can do alone. There is strength in numbers!
We’ll post status updates about the marketplace, website developments, and details on applying to become a member artist here.
We will respond via email to all selected artists but unfortunately we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to respond to all submittals. We aim to inform selected artists within 30 days of submission. If you haven’t received a response within that timeframe it will likely indicate that you weren’t selected.
Initial rounds will be more selective. As we grow and streamline our processes we will explore broader calls for artists. If you are not selected initially it does not necessarily mean that you are not a good fit for the marketplace. We encourage re-application as we grow and make broader openings for application.
Have a question that isn’t listed here? Contact Us.