Is Art Lovers Australia Worth It for Artists? Fees, Ownership, and What You Actually Get

29 June 2026  ·  8 min read

Art Lovers Australia is one of the longer-running dedicated online art platforms in Australia. Founded in 2016 by Nancy Donaldson and Jarrod Knight - both practising artists themselves - it was built from a specific frustration: traditional galleries can only represent a limited number of artists in physical space, leaving the majority with no professional platform for their work.

A decade on it has over 1,000 artists, claims around 100,000 monthly website visits, holds a physical gallery space in Collingwood, Victoria, and has secured placements on television programs including The Block, Dream Home, House Rules, and Selling Houses Australia. For Australian artists evaluating their platform options, it is worth understanding exactly what it costs and who is really in control.

Source: Art Lovers Australia - About the platform

What are Art Lovers Australia's fees?

Art Lovers Australia has a different fee structure from Bluethumb in that it combines a commission with upfront and ongoing subscription costs:

• Commission: 30% on every artwork sold
• Setup fee: $90 + GST one-time on joining
• Monthly subscription: $10 + GST per month ongoing

The 30% commission is meaningfully lower than Bluethumb's current 44% inclusive of GST and lower than Saatchi Art's 40%. However, the subscription fee means you pay regardless of whether you sell anything. An artist who sells nothing in a year still pays $90 setup plus $132 in monthly fees - $222 out of pocket before a single sale.

On $30,000 in annual sales at 30% commission: Art Lovers Australia retains $9,000 plus approximately $231 in fees in the first year. You keep around $20,769. On the same sales through Solene Haus at zero commission, you keep the full $30,000 less only the membership fee.

Source: Art Lovers Australia - Artist FAQs

Who actually owns Art Lovers Australia?

This is where Art Lovers Australia and Bluethumb part ways significantly. Art Lovers Australia appears to remain independently owned and operated by its founders. There is no documented outside investment, no venture capital, and no institutional shareholders on the public record. Nancy Donaldson and Jarrod Knight still run the business.

That matters. A founder-operated platform has different incentives from an investor-backed one. The founders' income depends on the platform working for artists - if artists leave because the fees become unreasonable, the founders feel that directly. There is no investor calling for quarterly revenue targets, no growth mandate requiring the commission rate to climb, and no board of financial backers whose returns come at the expense of the artists the platform serves.

This does not mean 30% is a low commission. It is not. But it does mean the commission has not doubled in 13 years the way Bluethumb's has, and there is no structural pressure built into the ownership model pushing it in that direction.

What does Art Lovers Australia actually provide?

Art Lovers Australia does genuine marketing work. They run social media promotion, paid advertising, blog content, magazine placements, and radio features. They have a Feature Artists program that gives selected artists editorial coverage. The television program placements on The Block and Selling Houses Australia are real commercial value - work featured on those programs reaches buyers in an actively purchasing mindset.

The platform is founder-operated and the founders' involvement is hands-on relative to larger platforms. For emerging artists who want active mentoring alongside a listing service, that is a real difference from Bluethumb or Saatchi Art, where individual artist support is essentially non-existent.

They also manage shipping for buyers - free delivery across Australia - though the cost of that is embedded in the pricing structure that artists have to account for when setting prices.

Source: Art Lovers Australia - Artist FAQs

Who is Art Lovers Australia best suited to?

Art Lovers Australia is positioned primarily around emerging and mid-career artists selling affordable original work. The platform suits artists whose work is in the $200 to $2,000 range who want active support and mentoring alongside their listing, and who would genuinely benefit from the television program exposure the platform can deliver.

For artists working at higher price points and wanting access to serious collectors rather than home decorating buyers, the platform's positioning may not match the market being targeted. The television programs it partners with are about residential property styling - the buyers they reach are looking for wall art to suit a room, not fine art collectors building a collection.

The honest comparison

Art Lovers Australia's 30% commission is lower than Bluethumb's 44% inclusive, and the platform is run by people who actually care about artists rather than investors who care about returns. Both of those things are true and worth acknowledging.

But 30% plus monthly fees is still a significant ongoing cost, and the collector relationships built through any commission platform still belong to that platform. The audience you build on Art Lovers Australia is Art Lovers Australia's audience. When you leave - for whatever reason - it stays there.

The platform built to serve artists best in the long run is one that takes nothing from your sales, protects the images you display, and makes the relationships you build yours to keep. That is what Solene Haus was built to do - by an artist who worked through every version of the existing system and concluded the structure needed to change.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Art Lovers Australia charge artists?

30% commission on every sale, a one-time $90 + GST setup fee, and $10 + GST per month ongoing. Source: Art Lovers Australia Artist FAQs.

Is Art Lovers Australia independently owned?

Yes. Art Lovers Australia was founded in 2016 by Nancy Donaldson and Jarrod Knight and appears to remain independently operated with no documented outside investment. Source: Art Lovers Australia - About.

Is Art Lovers Australia better than Bluethumb for artists?

Art Lovers Australia's 30% commission is meaningfully lower than Bluethumb's current 44% inclusive of GST, and it is independently owned with no investor pressure pushing rates higher. Bluethumb has a larger audience. Art Lovers Australia has more active mentoring and promotional support. The better choice depends on your price point, your stage of career, and how much weight you place on platform ownership structure.

Does Art Lovers Australia have a physical gallery?

Yes. Art Lovers Australia operates a gallery in Collingwood, Victoria, open Tuesday to Saturday, hosting exhibitions and events alongside the online platform.

Solene Haus

The art world you deserved.

Zero commission. HAUS Shield image protection. Collector relationships that belong to you.