Once a sale is confirmed, fulfilment rests with you. This page sets out your responsibilities for packaging and dispatch, the shipping options available to you, the role of optional insurance, and how risk of loss is handled from the moment a work leaves your hands. Understanding these points helps each piece reach its collector safely and on time.
Packaging and Courier
You are responsible for packaging each sold artwork professionally and preparing it for safe transit. Original work deserves careful handling, so use materials appropriate to the medium, scale, and fragility of the piece.
Every shipment must be sent with a signature-required courier. A signature on delivery confirms that the work has reached the buyer and provides the tracking record that underpins the rest of the transaction, including your payout.
Shipping Options
You decide how shipping costs are structured for your portfolio. Two approaches are available:
- Free shipping. You may choose to offer free shipping and absorb the cost yourself. In this case, no separate shipping charge appears for the buyer, and the expense is yours to carry.
- Flat rate. You may set a flat shipping rate instead. Flat rates can be designated separately for local and international deliveries, allowing you to reflect the differing costs of each. Any applicable flat rate is paid by the buyer at checkout and added to the artwork's final price at the time of purchase.
Whichever approach you select, apply it consistently so that collectors encounter clear, predictable terms when they purchase your work.
Optional Insurance
You may choose to insure an artwork before shipping. Insurance is optional, though it offers a sensible safeguard for higher-value pieces or works travelling over long distances.
The decision rests with you. Weighing the value of the work against the conditions of transit will help you determine whether cover is worthwhile for a given shipment.
Risk of Loss
Knowing when responsibility for a work transfers is essential to fulfilling each sale with confidence.
- Outbound shipment. You bear the risk of loss during outbound transit. Until the work is confirmed delivered to the buyer, responsibility for its safe arrival remains with you — a further reason to package carefully, select a reliable courier, and consider insurance.
- Returns. Where a buyer returns a work, the buyer bears the risk during the return journey until you confirm receipt. Responsibility passes back to you only once you have confirmed the returned work has arrived.
Related Pages
To see how shipping connects to the wider selling process, continue with these pages:
- Artist Payments and Payouts — payout timing, methods, taxes, and refunds
- Returns and Buyer Disputes — the return window, permitted grounds, and the process involved
- Certificate of Authenticity — what to include and when it is required