The real cost of an online presence for a gallery: comparing the options

01What a gallery website actually costs

A professional website for an art gallery represents an investment that varies considerably depending on the level of ambition. At the most accessible end, a showcase site built on a standard content management system costs between two thousand and five thousand euros for initial design, plus hosting and maintenance fees of around fifty to one hundred and fifty euros per month. This type of site displays your programme, your artists, your contact details and some images of works. It serves as a digital business card and reassures the collector who searches for you after seeing a work at a fair or hearing your name.

At the intermediate level, a site with advanced artwork viewing functionality, dedicated pages per artist, a press area and possibly a viewing room system costs between eight thousand and twenty thousand euros in design. Annual maintenance, including security updates, hosting and technical support, runs to around two thousand to four thousand euros per year. This is the level at which most medium-sized galleries position themselves when they want a serious online presence without turning their site into a sales platform.

At the top end, international galleries such as Gagosian, Pace or White Cube invest considerable sums in websites that are genuine digital platforms. The Gagosian site offers sophisticated viewing rooms, editorial content worthy of an art magazine, discovery features by artist or exhibition, and a system for connecting with sales advisors. These sites represent investments of several tens of thousands of euros in design and annual maintenance budgets running to five or six figures, including a dedicated team. This model is obviously not within reach of all galleries, nor is it necessary for the vast majority of them.

02The hidden costs no one mentions

Beyond the cost of creating the site, several expense items are regularly underestimated. Professional photography of works is an unavoidable investment. Presenting works online with poor quality photographs is counterproductive: it creates an image of amateurism that can harm the perception of your gallery far more than the absence of a site. A photographer specialising in art generally charges between fifty and one hundred and fifty euros per work, depending on the complexity of the shoot and the processing required. For a gallery presenting twenty to thirty works per exhibition and organising four to six exhibitions per year, the annual photography budget sits between four thousand and fifteen thousand euros.

Content writing is another frequently neglected item. Artist presentations, exhibition descriptions, digital press releases: these contents require time or a copywriting budget. If you write them yourself, that is time not spent on other activities. If you outsource, expect between three hundred and eight hundred euros for a quality text.

Search engine optimisation is a third invisible item. A site that no one finds has no use. Galleries wishing to appear in search results must invest in optimising their site, either by devoting time to it or by hiring a specialist, which represents a monthly budget of five hundred to fifteen hundred euros.

03The reality of marketplace costs

Online marketplaces specialising in art represent an alternative or complement to a gallery's own site. The business model varies from one platform to another but generally relies on a combination of monthly or annual subscription and sales commission. Subscriptions for galleries typically range from a few hundred to several thousand euros per month, depending on the level of visibility and features offered.

Sales commission varies between ten and twenty-five per cent depending on the platform. This percentage adds to the commission the gallery already shares with the artist, significantly reducing the margin on each sale. For a work sold at ten thousand euros with an artist commission of fifty per cent and a platform commission of fifteen per cent, the gallery retains three thousand five hundred euros, or thirty-five per cent of the sale price, instead of the five thousand euros it would keep in a direct sale.

This calculation leads some dealers to reject marketplaces as too expensive. But this analysis is incomplete if it does not take into account the cost of acquiring a new collector through traditional channels. Participating in an art fair costs between five thousand and fifty thousand euros depending on the fair, with no guarantee of sales. Measured against the number of new contacts generated, the cost per collector acquired at a fair is often far higher than the commission paid to an online marketplace.

04The hybrid strategy chosen by astute galleries

Galleries that succeed in their digital transition do not choose between their own site and marketplaces: they combine both in a coherent strategy. The gallery's own site serves as an institutional showcase, a reference for professionals and journalists, and a support for private viewing rooms sent to targeted collectors. Marketplaces serve as a discovery channel, reaching collectors who do not yet know the gallery.

Galerie Perrotin illustrates this approach. Its website is a sophisticated platform with rich editorial content, viewing rooms and a contact system. But the gallery is also present on the main online marketplaces, aware that some collectors discover artists through these channels before turning to the gallery for a direct purchase. David Zwirner has also adopted this hybrid strategy, with a massive investment in its own site while maintaining a presence on the platforms where collectors are found.

For a medium-sized gallery, the total budget for a reasonable hybrid online presence sits between eight thousand and twenty thousand euros per year. This amount includes site maintenance, subscription to one or two marketplaces, photography of works and a minimum of content production. Relative to the turnover of an active gallery, this budget generally represents between three and eight per cent of annual revenue, a percentage comparable to what businesses in most sectors devote to their digital presence.

05What costs nothing but is worth a great deal

Some aspects of online presence cost nothing in financial terms but require time and consistency. Social media, particularly Instagram, have become an essential communication channel for art galleries. Regularly posting quality images, exhibition views, portraits of artists at work and previews of available works costs nothing beyond the time of the person managing the account. Many galleries, including leading ones, manage their social media presence in-house without a dedicated budget.

Regularly sending newsletters to your contact base is another free or near-free lever. Email tools offer free or low-cost plans for databases of a few hundred to a few thousand contacts. A monthly newsletter presenting your programme, your artists and available works maintains the relationship with your collectors and generates sales without significant additional cost.

06Comparing options according to your gallery's size

For a young gallery with annual turnover below one hundred thousand euros, the wisest investment is generally a presence on one or two quality marketplaces, combined with a minimal showcase site and an active social media presence. The total budget sits between three thousand and six thousand euros per year, which is compatible with the financial constraints of a start-up structure.

For an established gallery with turnover between one hundred thousand and five hundred thousand euros, a professional website with viewing room functionality, a presence on the main marketplaces and a structured content strategy represent the right level of investment. The budget sits between ten thousand and twenty thousand euros per year.

For a gallery with turnover exceeding five hundred thousand euros, a more substantial digital investment is justified and expected by international collectors who represent a significant share of the clientele. The budget can reach thirty thousand to fifty thousand euros per year, including a dedicated digital team or a permanent service provider.

Whatever the size of your gallery, Artedusa supports galleries in this transition by offering a space that respects their identity and positioning, with an audience of serious collectors and full control over pricing and presentation. The model is designed so that cost remains proportional to the value generated, enabling each gallery to find its financial equilibrium in the digital sphere.