I am a very frugal person. (Ok. To be perfectly honest, most of the time I am a frugal person. Not like every second.) But I am especially cheap when it comes to buying art supplies. This year I am trying to get more organized with my art supply purchases. (You may have figured that out if you read my two previous blog posts titled Attention All Canvas Hoarders and Paint Probation.) When I buy art supplies I buy them very cheaply. And I thought I would share how you can save money too! Here are some of my tips on how to save when buying art supplies.1. Don't ever pay for shipping. Thank to Amazon, free shipping is becoming the norm and not the exception. So don't pay for shipping. Ever.
2. Only buy your art supplies on sale. Which means you will have better luck buying them online. I just checked online at Jerry's, Michael's and Dick Blick and they are all having big sales. This happens usually every week. 3. Beware of discounts only offered on "regular priced items". It's easy to get lured in when you see "40% off your entire purchase". But read the fine print because that often applies only to non-sale items. 4. Always look for a coupon code before you "check out" when purchasing online. Just google "Dick Blick" coupon codes and you just might find another coupon that works. I would say this works about 50% of the time so it's worth it! 5. Shop the sales at Michael's AND use their coupons. Michael's is one of the stores that usually have coupons good on sale items. And they usually always have a 40% off regular price coupon which is good on expensive oil paint. 6. Keep an inventory of your supplies (especially paint) so you don't have to waste money by ordering last minute. This needs no further explanation. 7. Stay out of the art store. Buy online. For most of us going to the art store is like being a kid in a candy store. It's too tempting and very easy to impulse buy. So stay out of the art store to save money. 8. Don't rush to buy items. Often you can wait for a big sale and save even more. 9. Add the apps to your phone from your favorite art stores. Every week I check my app from Michaels stores. I check the ads on canvas and paint. I often find their best quality canvas 50% off with an additional 20% off sale price coupon. That's a good deal.
10 Comments
Leslie, Almost all of your ideas here make sense, but one statement troubles me, "Don't ever pay for shipping." You ALWAYS pay for shipping - lately it's more popular to hide it in the total price. I just checked, and figure $2.25 - 2.50 PER MILE to run a van style freight truck down the highway. While it's a happy thought to think that Dick Blick, or Jerry's, or even Amazon loves us so much that they'll cover the cost of that - nope, not happening. I suppose the great challenge then is to make sure we don't pay for shipping on top of the price that already has it added in :) I wonder if it also impacts advantage/disadvantage of shopping local?
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Leslie Saeta
2/11/2016 08:34:40 am
I was referring to the extra cost of shipping. The art stores have already published prices and we don't want to pay anymore than those prices. So wait for free shipping offers. That's all.
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Jackie Davis
2/10/2016 07:31:26 am
Good advice. Another comment I would make about Amazon - I know a lot of people who pay for Amazon Prime because they like the convenience of fast, free shipping. However, Amazon Prime is not cheap at $99 per year. I have never paid for Amazon Prime and I still get free shipping - it just takes a bit longer. It just requires a bit more organisation - don't wait until you have run out of paint. Also, you can add things in your cart and they will still be there when you go back another time. You can add things as and when you are ready to qualify for free shipping - you usually only need to spend $35 to qualify for free shipping so it doesn't take a lot.
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Jackie Davis
2/10/2016 07:47:49 am
Another comment I have to make about 'sales'. I have always been very wary of sales. It is very easy to get drawn in to buying things you don't need because they seem like a bargain at the time. This is no good if it's going to sit there on a shelf for the next 5 years - you might just as well have saved your money. So I tend to buy only the things I need at the time, and avoid looking at sales to avoid temptation. If you are lucky, it might be on sale anyway. :-)
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Leslie Saeta
2/11/2016 08:35:29 am
That's why I mentioned to stay away from art stores! I agree!
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2/10/2016 02:05:06 pm
Hi. While you may not join Amazon Prime, some things are good to join. I often shop online at misterart.com. They have a VIP club or similar name for $25. And often, not always, many of their prices are much much cheaper. Another way tho to save money which when I am good I do, is to list everything I own in Excel. I print it out and put the list in the two places I paint. And I cross things out when they are dead. Then I look online. I don't however have every company send me their sales. I find this is how I end up with things I just want but don't need.
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2/10/2016 03:45:00 pm
Thanks for all the tips, Leslie! As I was painting today, it occurred to me that I try to save on paint by mixing with a palette knife. When I mix my acrylic paints with a brush, so much of the mix seems to end up unusable inside the brush (maybe it's just me, or maybe it doesn't work the same with oils). Anyhow, I know when I mix with the knife, I actually get to USE most of what I mixed!
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Leslie Saeta
2/11/2016 08:36:09 am
Yay! I agree.
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Isabel Oliver
2/11/2016 08:33:10 am
Retailmenot.com is a great source for coupons. I've gotten free shipping, percentage off entire purchase, etc. I just type in the store I'm buying from and it displays all available coupons.
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Leslie
Mom. Wife. Artist. Marketer. Teacher. Radio Show Host. Archives
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