Overview

If you sell your work from your current ArtSites website, your invitation to the new ArtSites will arrive later than it does for most artists. That is on purpose, and this article explains why, what happens to your website while you wait, and how to move sooner if you would rather.

The short version: we are holding your invitation back so that we do not take your store away from you. Your current website keeps running in the meantime. If you would rather move now without a store, tell us and we will move you.

Why you are waiting

We are building the new ArtSites in stages, and the part that lets people buy your work has not been built yet.

If we invited you today, your website would move across and your store would not. You would arrive somewhere that cannot take an order, which is not an improvement on what you already have. So we are waiting until there is something for you to sell from.

This is not a queue, and it is not a limit on how many artists we can move at once. There is nothing wrong with your website or your artwork. The only reason you are waiting is the store.

When will it happen?

We do not have a date yet, and we would rather tell you that than make one up.

Here is what we will do instead:

• We will write to you when work on the store actually starts.
• We will write to you again when your invitation is ready.
• Either way, you will hear from us at least every three months, even if the only news is that nothing has changed yet.

If it goes quiet for longer than that, something has gone wrong at our end. Please chase us.

Your current website keeps working

Nothing is being switched off while you wait.

Your current ArtSites website stays online, your store keeps taking orders, and your work stays exactly where it is. We do not turn anything off until you have moved across and you are happy with what you find.

If you would rather move now

Some artists switched selling on years ago and never really used it. Others would happily do without a store for a while to get onto the new ArtSites sooner. If either of those sounds like you, you are welcome to join the current group.

One thing to know before you decide: if you move now, your website comes with you and your store does not, because there is nowhere yet for it to go. When the store is ready, we will help you set it up.

To ask, reply to the email we sent you, or use the contact form on the ArtSites website. You do not need to give a reason, and we will not try to talk you out of it.

It works the other way too. If you have already been invited and you realise you need your store, tell us and we will hold your move until the store is ready for you.

Questions

If any of this is unclear, or you are not sure whether it applies to you, please write to us. A real person will answer.