Buying and selling art made eazy - Meet UoB student John Sewell

John Sewell is currently studying for an MA in Art History at the University of Birmingham and has recently launched Eazyl, an online market place for buying and selling art. We caught up with John during Global Entrepreneurship Week to capture his journey  and find out what inspired him to create
a company dedicated to artists and art lovers.

Unlike traditional sites and bricks-and-mortar galleries, who charge an extortionate commission on each sale, we instead charge artists a small monthly membership fee. Rather than acting as a middle-man taking a cut off the top, we allow our customers to pay directly to the artist.

Our aim is to develop a community for emerging artists and new art consumers built on trust and openness, which often appears to be lacking in the current art market.

My own desire to start the website came as a result of several experiences. I worked for a short while as a salesperson in a traditional gallery and saw the impact commission had on people’s ability to buy art. While I also realised, when looking to purchase some art myself, I didn’t really know where to start or where to buy from. Many of the more established sites didn’t seem to be approachable for first-time buyers. The fact that I’m saying that as someone with a degree in Art History and who has experience working in the arts doesn’t bode well for people who may have a more casual interest in the arts!

Eazyl is therefore set up to be easily navigable for new consumers. Furthermore, our focus on supporting young artists will hopefully also align artists and buyers in the early

stages of their careers. Making it easy to buy affordable but high-quality and emerging art from artists who need support from these sorts of people to begin to be able to establish a foothold in the often busy and noisy art-market.

I applied for funding from the B-Enterprising Ideas Fund to help in paying for a bespoke set of terms and conditions, along with cookie and privacy policies. Thankfully, I was successful, and these were realised by the team at Thursfield Solicitors. This has ended up being a hugely important step in setting up the business and I am incredibly glad to have had the opportunity to apply. Had I not received the funding I may have had to settle for a more permeable set of terms and conditions or
even tried to write them myself. Which, looking at the legal cover I now have, would have been disastrous!

I’m happy to report that the website is ahead of where I expected it to be at this stage, having more members signed up and generating more sales than I had predicted. This is in part thanks to the B-Enterprising Ideas Fund which freed up more money for internet marketing, which has proved pivotal in the early stages.

Is my tiger blueish? - by UoB artist Jono Stapleton

That said, it hasn’t all been plain sailing and (as is to be expected) setting up and launching a business has been a massive learning curve.

My advice to students looking to set up online businesses would be to make sure you have a thorough set of terms and conditions. This will give you a really strong platform on which to build the rest of the business, with the safety of mind that you are legally covered.

Furthermore, if you can apply for funding then certainly go for it. The ability to pitch my idea to a panel, regardless of receiving the grant, helped me in many ways. It forced me to be able to efficiently articulate what the business was and what it was aiming to achieve. This in turn grew my confidence in talking about the website, which is increasingly important as the business starts to grow and you have to get out there and spread the word!

The Future?

UoB artist Jono Stapleton art work

My biggest hope for Eazyl is that it opens up the art world and engages new audiences with artists and their work. There are a huge number of incredibly talented artists, especially those in the early years of their career, who really need support during that stage. If we are able to help even a few of them to make it through those years, by connecting them with a new, young and enthusiastic clientele, then we will have done what we set out to do. Furthermore, I believe there are a lot of young people out there who would like to support artists and buy original work but don't think that they are able to do so. Therefore, it is Eazyl's job to encourage them to get involved.

In the long term, I want Eazyl to be the go-to marketplace for young artists and buyers. We want to not only support both parties by providing a platform through which to make sales but also to create a broader community. Using our brand and platform as a means to interest, educate and welcome people who may otherwise feel excluded from the art world is central to what we want to achieve."

Are you an artist or interested in buying art? Find out more about Eazyl.com here 

Be creative and turn your own ideas into a reality - B-Enterprising (University of Birmingham)

Blog written by John Sewell, posted by Bob Lee (B-Enterprising Team)
Featured artwork by University of Birmingham student Jono Stapleton