Boundless Gallery—one of the top art websites I’ve found for selling original art, and a company I’ve reviewed in the past— has recently added two new features for both artists and art buyers: custom framing and a full money back guarantee.
(Unfortunately, due to the recession, BoundlessGallery has closed down. The following article is now out of date.)
Here’s the scoop on BG’s custom framing
The feature that I’m probably most excited about is the ability to add framing for artwork. Since Boundless Gallery is made up of artists from all over, there hasn’t been (up until now) a way for art buyers to easily add a frame to their purchase.
Now, through a partnership with PictureFrames.com, Boundless Gallery has made custom framing a snap. If you’re a photographer, painter, or print maker selling art through Boundless Gallery, all you need to do is enable the “Framing” feature in your account, and then let the customer decide whether to frame or not to frame.
If they DO choose to purchase a custom frame, there’s no extra work on your end—you just ship the artwork direct to the framer and they’ll ship it the rest of the way to the customer after they’ve finished it.
Artists will also get a small kickback for every frame purchased—20% of whatever BoundlessGallery earns for each frame sale. Mind you, that’s not 20% of the frame price. . . It’s 20% of Boundless Gallery’s percentage of the frame price, whatever that percentage may be.
But, no matter how much extra you earn, at least it’ll make life easier for buyers and artists. (And buyers, you’ll see a “Frame this Piece” button appear next to artwork on Boundless once enough artists have enabled framing.)
As for the money back guarantee. . .
The second feature added by Boundless is not as interesting to artists, perhaps, but it’s good for anyone thinking about buying art. BG has implemented “truly free returns” which basically pays for shipping both ways if the customer decides they don’t like the artwork after all.
Once the customer decides they’re unsatisfied with the artwork, BG will send them a pre-paid FedEx label and a full refund for the purchase price and all shipping charges. All the buyer has to do is drop off the artwork and label at a FedEx location.
Now, there is ONE unfortunate clause in Boundless Gallery’s return policy, which I’m hoping will somehow be changed in the future—any artwork which is custom framed (as discussed above) will NOT be returnable.
A recent Boundless Gallery blog post states that this is because the artwork is “altered” during framing, but reading between the lines here, what I’m sure they really mean is that the framer (quite rightly) shouldn’t be forced to lose money on a framing job just because the artwork is returned.
It makes sense, but I’d still love to see both these new additions work together— perhaps allow returns on the artwork, but deduct the cost of the frame?
In any event, Boundless Gallery is certainly moving forward with these two new features, and as always, I’d suggest checking them out, whether you’re looking to purchase artwork or sell your own.