Bluethumb Claims Commission on Sales It Had Absolutely Nothing to Do With

1 July 2026  ·  7 min read

Most artists who sign up to Bluethumb read the commission rate and think: 44% inclusive of GST on sales made through the platform. That is what they agree to. What many do not realise until they read the full membership agreement is that Bluethumb's commission claim does not stop at the platform. It follows you off it.

What does Bluethumb's membership agreement actually say?

This is the clause, taken directly from Bluethumb's own membership agreement:

"By using Bluethumb, Artists are required to complete all sales on Bluethumb which come from a Bluethumb lead. This includes studio visits as organised by Bluethumb, artist to collector introductions, Bluethumb initiated exhibitions and leads to an Artist directly eg via social media where buyers are known to have discovered the artist via Bluethumb."

And this:

"In any scenario where the sale concludes off site by accident or deliberately the artist is required to pay Bluethumb the full commission component."

Source: Bluethumb Membership Agreement

What does this mean in practice?

It means this. A collector finds your work on Bluethumb while browsing. They do not buy through the platform. Instead they find you on Instagram - through a search, through a tag, through a friend's share. They send you a direct message. You have a conversation. You sell them a painting. You pack it yourself, ship it yourself, handle the entire transaction yourself. Bluethumb was not involved in any part of that sale after the initial discovery.

Under their own terms and conditions, you owe them 44%.

Not because they processed the payment. Not because they arranged the shipping. Not because they did anything after the collector clicked away from their website. But because the collector originally saw your work there. Bluethumb calls that a lead, and their terms say a lead entitles them to full commission on the resulting sale regardless of where or how it concludes.

How would Bluethumb even know?

The honest answer is that in many cases they would not. But that is not the point. The point is that you signed an agreement that says you owe them money for sales they had no part in. Whether they enforce it in every instance does not change what you agreed to. And the agreement also says this:

"All discussions between artists and buyers on Bluethumb (eg direct chat) bind artists to concluding the sale or resulting commission on Bluethumb."

So if a collector messages you through Bluethumb's internal chat - even to ask a question, even to ask for your Instagram handle - that conversation now binds you to completing any resulting transaction through the platform. The conversation itself is the trigger.

What other industry works this way?

Think about this for a moment. A real estate agent lists your property. A buyer sees it on their website. The buyer calls you directly and you sell to them privately. Does the agent get commission? In most jurisdictions, that depends on whether a formal agency agreement was signed and the specific terms of that agreement. In most cases, without a signed exclusive agency agreement, the answer is no.

A recruitment agency lists your job opening. A candidate sees it. The candidate finds you on LinkedIn and applies directly. You hire them without involving the agency. Does the agency get a placement fee? Almost never, unless you signed an exclusivity agreement.

Bluethumb does not call itself an exclusive agent. It does not charge an exclusivity fee. Yet its terms claim commission on any sale where the discovery happened on its platform, regardless of how the transaction concluded and regardless of whether it had any role in making the sale happen.

This is not standard commercial practice. It is an extraction mechanism dressed up as a listing agreement.

What should artists do?

Read the membership agreement before you upload a single artwork. Not the FAQ. Not the commission rate page. The full membership agreement. Then make an informed decision about whether the terms you are agreeing to reflect a fair commercial relationship - or whether you are signing away rights to income that is rightfully yours.

A platform that earns zero commission on your sales has no claim on anything. That is the foundation Solene Haus was built on - and the reason the membership agreement looks nothing like this one.

Frequently asked questions

Does Bluethumb claim commission on private sales?

Yes, under their membership agreement. If a collector discovered an artist through Bluethumb and the sale concludes off-platform - including via social media, direct contact, or studio visit - Bluethumb's terms state the artist is required to pay the full commission component. Source: Bluethumb Membership Agreement.

What counts as a Bluethumb lead?

According to their membership agreement, a Bluethumb lead includes any situation where a collector discovered an artist via the platform, including via social media where the buyer is known to have found the artist through Bluethumb. Direct chat messages through the platform also bind the artist to completing any resulting sale through Bluethumb.

Solene Haus

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