Common Lie #3

Lie #3 - You are likely to get ripped off (or scammed) if you sell paintings online.

Unfortunately there are a lot of online scammers. But most people who fall in to this prey are not taking the necessary safeguards needed to make sure the sale is legit. Some of the sings that are a red flagged with a potential online sale are bad grammar in the email or an overseas buyer who wants to “overpay you and have you send the overpayment back to them in cash or wire transfer”. 

They key is to only take payment via paypal and don’t ship the painting until you have the payment in full.  If your buyer is a repeat customer then you may ship or deliver the paintings with only a deposit collected. But I still don’t recommend it. And the reason to take paypal? If you have a problem (and file a claim right away) paypal will freeze the money in the buyers account until the situation is resolved.

Never accept checks unless you have a strong history with the buyer. And be wary of cashier's checks and money orders as they may be fake. Only accept paypal. A buyer can even use their credit card with paypal. It's really that easy.