SoaringWebsIndependent Artist · Original Art & Prints
A 30-second forecast for independent artists
Will Facebook & Instagram ads actually pay off for your art?
If you sell original paintings and fine-art prints online, this calculator shows what's likely to happen if you spend a little on ads each day. Move the slider — the numbers update straight away. Built on real art-buyer research; sources at the bottom.
TRY ITMove the slider below. Everything on this page updates as you go. (If you got this as a PDF, the slider won't move — open the link / file in a phone or computer browser instead.)
1 How much do you want to spend on ads each day?
A daily budget — Facebook & Instagram will spend up to this much every day to show your paintings to the right people. Most artists start small.
A$10A$200
A$30per day
2 What does a typical sale look like?
When someone buys from your shop, what does the average order cost? Most independent artists span A$60 prints up to A$1,000+ originals — pick a number that fits the mix you actually sell.
AUD per sale (a typical print + occasional original mix lands around A$180).
3 Here's what's likely to happen
Below: what to expect in a typical month, then a 12-month view of how the money adds up.
In a typical month with these numbers
Your ads should bring in around — sales, worth roughly —. For every A$1 you spend on ads, you'd likely get back —.
Three ways it could play out:
😬If it goes badly
—
sales / month
Each sale costs—
You'd make—
Every A$1 returns—
🙂If it goes OK (most likely)
—
sales / month
Each sale costs—
You'd make—
Every A$1 returns—
🎉If it goes great
—
sales / month
Each sale costs—
You'd make—
Every A$1 returns—
What "OK" really means: the middle number is what the art world's biggest ad-tracking study says is normal for artists & galleries selling online. Your first 2–3 weeks will probably feel like "if it goes badly" while Facebook learns who likes your paintings. After that, "OK" is realistic. "Great" needs good emails & returning customers — see below.
4 The secret — customers who come back
The numbers above only count the first sale. But people who love your art often buy again, or tell a friend. Tick the boxes below to see what happens over a year.
Switch these on to see the full picture
Each one is based on real research about how art buyers behave (full sources at the bottom).
How the money adds up over 12 months
The grey line is what you'd earn from ads alone. The blue line adds repeat customers + emails. The green line (if you turned it on) adds the Print Club on top.
Ads only + Returning customers + Emails + Print Club
Year total — ads only
—
Year total — with engines on
—
Extra from engines
—
5 Why we believe these numbers
Four real facts from research about art buyers — all referenced in the sources box at the bottom.
1 in 4
Art buyers come back within a year. Print-buying is described as "a repeat-buy category" — collectors return for the next piece.
Source: Opensend & GemPages
3× more
A returning customer brings in about three times more revenue than a first-time buyer over their lifetime.
Source: Opensend (general ecom benchmark)
A$42 back
For every A$1 spent on email marketing, the average return is A$42. Artists report 25–40% of all sales come from email.
Source: MoMAA & theprintspace
4× better
An email click is about four times more likely to end in a sale than an Instagram click. The email list is the long-term asset.
Source: theprintspace
For the curious — the math, assumptions & what we ruled out
How we work out a typical month. Monthly ad spend × industry ROAS ÷ AOV × Australian factor (0.82). The "OK" line is anchored to Triple Whale's 2025 benchmark for Toys, Art & Collectibles (ROAS 1.93×, CTR 2.19%, CR 1.52%, CPA US$34.87)[1]. This reflects mature Meta accounts with proper tracking — the first 2–3 weeks always sit below it while the system learns. "Bad" is 55% of "OK"; "great" is 180%.
Country factor. AU = 0.82 because Australian Meta ads cost more per click (US$2.10) than US ones (US$1.72)[6] — fewer clicks for the same spend.
12-month chart math. Ads only = same monthly sales × AOV every month. + Repeat = 28.2% of past buyers return over 11 months at 70% AOV[2]. + Email = 15% of non-buying ad clicks join the list; 3% buy over 90 days at 90% AOV[4][5]. + Print Club = 10% of buyers join at A$22/mo with 10% monthly churn[7].
What we left out. A widely-quoted "Art & Home Decor 2.92% CTR" attributed to WebFX — we read the source directly, the figure isn't there. So we don't cite it. If a number isn't on one of the 12 sources below, it isn't in this calculator.
This is planning, not promising. Real numbers depend on the actual paintings shown, the website, the season, and luck. Treat the ranges as "what to plan for", calibrate after 2–3 weeks of real data.
Indicative independent-artist price ladders. A$60 prints → A$1,000+ originals based on AU online artist catalogues. Defaults are editable via the AOV input above.