Choosing a New Path: Why I am Leaving Artfinder After More Than a Decade.

After almost 13 years of being a member of Artfinder, I have decided it is time to close up my shop on that platform. By the end of this month, my Artfinder shop will be on its way to wherever all the retired webpages go. It's a change that feels both strange and right simultaneously.

When I joined the platform back in 2013, it was a new experience for me. It felt open, supportive, and as if it were built around creative independence. For several years this worked as it should, artists were connecting directly with buyers, they could share their stories, and sell with a reasonable commission to the platform. For me, it was a new step in the artistic journey of presenting my work to the world.

But as time passed, the platform began to evolve and change. Commission fees increased, and increased again. Subscription tiers were introduced to sellers alongside commissions and the emphasis of the platform seemed to shift towards corporate marketing rather than artistic connection.

Earlier this year they decided that they were introducing a minimum price policy and any artworks under this threshold would be unpublished from the site. That meant that small works which would fall below this minimum had to be raised in price or cut from the inventory, no matter what the artist believed was the correct price. Their reasoning was that they didn't want to be seen as a 'cheap' site, but I began to wonder if they felt their commissions on such small works were not enough to feed the seemingly bottomless money pit of a business model they had put in place for themselves.

Recently again, they have announced that they will be getting rid of the free subscription and raising the fees of the standard tier by 100%. I'm not sure what the highest tier fee was because I only ventured as far as the first tier subscription, so I can't comment on that, but it never seemed to me to be good value if you are paying nearly 50% in commissions and also have to pay a monthly subscription on top. Where is the incentive for the platform to actually sell when they are already making a monthly fee from the majority of the artists?

Artfinder have also announced plans for tv adverts, told to us by the CEO in a manner as if this was something we artists should be in awe of, and show our gratitude. But it made me stop and take notice of where the Artfinder captains are actually steering this ship. Since 2020, my sales on the platform have been in decline. I understand I only had subscribed to the standard level subscription, and that possibly the upper crust in premium might be getting all the algorithmic boon, but that might not be the case either. In general, if a platform's algorithm or audience no longer delivers the necessary sales, a tv ad won't improve upon this. As a matter of fact, they pitched this idea to the artists like it was an amazing new addition, but when you dissect the idea, the artists are the ones paying for this ad with their increased subscription fees, and all it will do is raise Artfinder's brand awareness, not drive the public to specific artist's pages. So basically, we are funding an ad that won't even mention us or our artwork, we are just one of thousands of artists in their funnel. This is just a glossy distraction from their declining web performance.

This new direction simply is not what I, nor my artwork, are about: honest storytelling, authenticity, and artistic connection. Rather than continue to invest in a system that no longer aligns with these values, I have decided to invest into myself and this is why I am leaving Artfinder after more than a decade. The meagre budget I paid in monthly subscription fees to the platform will be redirected into promoting my own website, www.terrismithart.com.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for everything Artfinder did for me in helping me gain confidence in my work and my worth as an artist, that people out there do appreciate some of my art is one of the most fulfilling feelings because it is so very personal to me. But now, it feels that the time has arrived to step forward independently and build a space that will grow with my artwork. So from the end of November 2025, all my original artworks will be sold exclusively on my own website. I will continue to share and engage with followers on facebook and instagram as always, but to Artfinder, I bid you farewell.