E-commerce · Art Supplies
The colour on screen is never the colour that dries on the canvas.
Paint is sold by colour, and the screen is the worst place to judge one. A buyer sees a swatch on a phone with the brightness turned down and wonders what arrives in the box. Painters know that a tube can look different when it dries, so they look for photographs of paint on paper, not on a white background.
A 90-minute audit call and a written, scored report. Turnaround, reporting and term are agreed in writing after the audit.
In one paragraph
Art paints online are watercolours, acrylics, oils, gouache, poster colours and fabric and glass paints, sold in tubes, pans, bottles and sets, and chosen by medium, grade and how a colour behaves once it dries. GullySales works on how your listings show true colour and drying behaviour, how a buyer picks a first palette, and how an artist is reminded to reorder the shades that run out first.
Then there is the matter of the medium. Watercolour, acrylic and oil do not mix, and a buyer who picks wrong has wasted an order.
Last updated 7 Oct 2026.
Who it is for
This is written for you if you sell paints online.
- Sellers of artist-grade watercolour, acrylic and oil paints in tubes and sets
- Brands of student and school paints, poster colours and finger paints
- Sellers of fabric, glass, ceramic and craft paints for hobbyists
- Dealers who stock single colours so artists can refill a palette
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- A seller who lists paints without naming the medium and the grade
- Anyone who cannot show a real swatch because the stock is not on hand to paint
How buyers choose
What decides the sale of paints.
Medium and its surface
Watercolour on paper, acrylic on canvas or board, oil on primed canvas, fabric paint on cloth. The buyer wants the paint to match the surface they already own.
Single tubes against sets
A beginner buys a set of twelve, a painter buys the one blue they have run out of. These are two different pages.
Colour names and pigment codes
Names differ by brand, so painters look for the pigment code and an honest swatch, and for whether a colour is transparent or opaque.
Drying time and finish
Matte, satin or gloss, quick drying or slow, waterproof once dry. The question on a fabric or glass paint is whether it survives a wash.
Where sales are lost
What usually goes wrong when you sell paints online.
In the words sellers use on the first call.
“Customers say the colour was not what they saw”
The swatch was a digital fill and not a painted stroke. Buyers who know paint distrust it, and returns of opened tubes cannot be resold.
“We sell sets and artists want single tubes”
A working painter will not buy twelve colours to get one. Without singles and a shade finder, the buyer goes to a shop that has them.
“Fabric and glass paint buyers come back with complaints”
The paint washed off, or never set. The page never said it needed heat setting or a varnish.
The scope
The work we would propose for paints.
Measured on purchases, conversion rate, cost to win a customer, average order value and repeat purchases. Anything here that needs a platform or tool we have not used with you is confirmed in the audit before it goes in the scope.
- Painted swatches on every colourA hand-painted strip of each shade on the same paper, in daylight, shown beside the name, pigment code and opacity.
- A shade finder for single coloursA store view that lists colours by family and by brand, with stock status, so a painter finds their tube. Confirmed in the audit for your platform.
- Guides by medium and surfacePages on watercolour for beginners, acrylic on fabric, oil paint drying time, written for the search and tied to products you hold.
- Teachers and hobby channelsPainters who show a finished piece start to end with your colours, so viewers see the paint doing its job.
- Reorders by colourA message to buyers of a set, offering the colours that artists run out of first, such as white and the main blues.
What we do
What you get for paints.
Each deliverable and what it is there to change.
A swatch chart for each range
Real painted strips, scanned flat, with the pigment code and a note on transparency.
A medium and surface guide
A single page that shows which paint goes on which surface, so buyers stop mixing them up.
A beginner palette by medium
A short first set for each of watercolour, acrylic and gouache, with the reason for each colour.
Setting and care notes for craft paints
How fabric, glass and ceramic paints are fixed and cleaned, placed on the page and in the box.
How the result is measured
- Purchases
- Conversion rate
- Customer acquisition cost
- Repeat purchase rate
- Return rate
- Returns for colour mismatch
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Free audit call
90 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
After the call
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come with it, in writing.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
What we need from you
What to have ready before the audit call.
None of it has to be tidy. We read what you have.
- Your paint range with the medium and grade of each
- Photographs or physical swatches of colours
- Returns citing colour mismatch
- Single colours that sell out first
- Questions about setting and washing fabric or glass paints
Selling in India and abroad
Selling paints beyond your own market.
Where you sell decides sizes, units, seasons and returns. We work from Bengaluru and have no overseas office, so for a new country we start from your own sales and the platforms you already use.
Paint as a regulated parcel
Oil paints, solvents and aerosols are limited in many shipping routes, and water-based paints are easier. Check with your courier before listing a product for export.
Colour names and units
Tube sizes and names differ by market. Listing volumes in millilitres and the pigment code helps buyers who know the product from another brand.
FAQ
Questions about selling paints online.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How do I show a paint's true colour online?
Should I sell single tubes if sets sell better?
How do I reduce returns on craft paints?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
More in Art Supplies
Sellers of paints also need
Also selling from a shop, a workshop or a warehouse? See the page for stationery and office supply dealers.
This page is part of the e-commerce section. The D2C brands page covers the arithmetic of acquisition cost and the second order for any brand.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with the free audit.
Option 1
The audit on its own
A 90-minute call and a written, scored report. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix the audit ranks first, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how your paints sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
Your next practical step
Get a free audit of how you sell, and a scored report of where the work is.
90 minutes. A written, scored report. No invoice and no obligation.