I have made a conscious decision in recent years to avoid the headlines. I don’t watch the nightly news, and I try to insulate myself from the constant drumbeat of negativity that seems to define the modern media cycle. I prefer to focus on what I can control: my business, my efforts to build better relationships with artists, and with our collectors.
But even with my head in the sand regarding the news, there was no denying the “vibe” of the art market in 2025.
If I had to summarize the year in one phrase, it would be: We had to work harder.
Conversations with artists and fellow business owners confirmed a shared sentiment—sales felt rockier, traffic felt lighter, and the general economic uncertainty created a headwind that we all had to lean into. Now that the year is closed and the numbers are crunched, the data confirms what we felt. It was a year of contraction and volatility, but also a year where strategic pivots began to pay off in a big way.
Here is a look at the hard numbers from Xanadu Gallery in 2025 and what they mean for the future of the art business.
The Big Picture: A Year of Contraction
There is no sugarcoating it: 2025 was a down year. Following a challenging spring season, our overall sales finished approximately 13% lower than in 2024.
While the long-term trend of the business remains positive (up and to the right over the last decade), this year required significantly more effort to generate those results. We were negotiating more, following up more relentlessly, and pushing every opportunity to its limit just to keep the momentum going.
The Volatility Factor
Perhaps the most telling statistic of the year was our “break-even” metric. In a typical year, there are always quiet days. But in 2024, we had 62 days where sales did not cover our daily operating expenses.
In 2025, that number spiked to 178 days.
That means for nearly half the year, the daily sales volume wasn’t hitting the necessary threshold. We survived—and thrived—by balancing those quiet days with significant, high-dollar sales days, but the day-to-day consistency was far more chaotic than usual. It serves as a stark reminder that in this business, you must build a war chest to weather the dry spells.
The Bright Spot: The Online Pivot
If there is a silver lining to 2025, it is the undeniable success of our digital strategy. For years, our online sales hovered steadily around 10% of our total revenue. Since 2020, we have been aggressively pushing to change that.
In 2025, online sales grew to 37% of our total revenue.
This wasn’t an accident. It was the result of increased investment in social media advertising and the launch of our Art Boost program, which allows us to feature and sell work from a broader roster of artists online. The Art Boost platform has become a critical engine for growth, allowing us to reach collectors who may never set foot in Scottsdale but are comfortable purchasing significant works—some upwards of $7,500—sight unseen.
Price Points: The Volume Game
The data also highlighted the critical importance of having a diverse range of price points. While we all love selling the major masterpieces, the reality of our cash flow relied heavily on accessible items.
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$0 – $250 Range: This category accounted for a massive 36% of our total sales revenue.
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$2,500 – $5,000 Range: This mid-tier range remained strong, generating 20% of our revenue.
This mix is vital. The smaller items keep the lights on and the shipping department busy, while the larger pieces provide the profit margins.
The “Gateway Effect” and Repeat Buyers
Finally, 2025 reinforced the golden rule of the art business: Retain your collectors.
While our customer base was split evenly between new and returning buyers, the financial weight was heavily tilted. Repeat buyers generated 72% of our total revenue.
Furthermore, we saw the “Gateway Effect” in action. When we analyzed our top-tier collectors (those who spent over $5,000 this year), we found that 21% of them started their journey with us by purchasing an item under $500. Those small “spirit tile” sales aren’t just filler; they are the seeds of future major relationships.
Looking Ahead
As we head into 2026, I am not waiting for the economy to magically fix itself. Instead, I am doubling down on what the data tells us is working. We will continue to nurture our local collectors, but we are also going to lean heavily into the online growth driven by tools like Art Boost.
The market may be challenging, but the opportunities—especially digital ones—are larger than ever for those willing to do the work.
How was your 2025?
How did your 2025 stack up? Did you also feel the need to work harder to generate sales this year, or did you find the market steady? Share your experience in the comments.
My year started very strong and ended “sort of” strong (with commissions to close things out). In between the end of January and end of November it was completely dry. Not a single sale. Lost one gallery, picked up a couple of restaurants/galleries which did result in some card sales in December. Normally I turn down commissions at the end of the year because the end of the year is just normally just too busy to do them. But lacking sales through what has normally been a productive summer; I could not turn down any of the commissions, so it was a little crazy at my house. I did have a long-term regular student who, bless her, kept showing up for her private lessons. I also taught a couple of small classes at a fairly nearby gallery which also helped. But I over-invested in frames early in the year and took a couple of expensive workshops myself this year (continuing education, so to speak), so I ended up in the red at the end of the year; but hope to make it up in the coming year. We will see.
My sales were dismissal. I spent far more on materials, entry fees, and shipping than what I brought in. At juried shows, I was used to selling more than half of my pieces. In 2025, only 3 small painting sold out of 15 entered works. The only positive, besides the 3 sales, was a “People’s Choice” award and very positive feedback. People were sitting on their wallets, so it would seem.
All my collectors have passed on to a Greater Gallery in the Sky. While they were here I loved them and gave them all the time that they desired. (which can be tiring) I learned long ago NOT to talk about my art in such company – What a collector see’s in the artist and his or her artworks is not what the artist imagines. But they like the works enough to continue to purchase. I developed a system and pricing table that rewards the collector for repeat buying. The suggestion to retain ones collectors is very good information. My work reflects our times, the ins & outs, the ups and downs — so it has become an even greater challenge to synthesize current and human events but still create something aesthetically beautiful. I truly appreciate the pie charts, graphs and bar charts — So open and genuine. Sharing to help each artist to plan this years strategies. Thank you for this
Thank you for this proprietary information, Jason! You’re always so generous in your communication. Know that it is much appreciated!
This report was so educational, thank you, Jason!
It’s been a tough year that made me re-consider my tools and approaches. Although sales were good for me for the entire year and I finished in good surplus, it was much harder to make a sale, I did a lot of stuff I would not bother doing earlier. Like reaching out to collector personally, posting on different social media instead of one outlet, going to in real life events. I also realized it’s a lot about building strong relationships with people, not really thinking “sale” every time.
Great article Jason. Love seeing the numbers and charts to emphasis your points. Crazy, but I had my best year ever, sales up 40%, it has been an amazing year. I left teaching after 27 years in May,
and now I am doing art & shows full time so that had a hand in the growth. I do mostly all of the high end festival shows in Arizona, but will start branching out to different states now that I don’t teach. But in the fall shows, people were buying, high end and low end. I try to have price points for everybody. Not everyone can afford original art. Love meeting my customers and building relationships directly through my shows. Looking forward to 2026, I think things may be ready to really take off. We will see, but I will be ready to meet my customers where they are regardless. Cheers!
Sales wise I am kind of on the outside looking in. But my 2025 was spent in production that felt like it was settling out in even clearer consistency. I also made moves in the business side spending capital on programs that basically eliminated me trying to invent wheels to manage various aspects when there were tools already in place.
The outlay of capital bought time, efficency, and a coach.
There was another plus- At long last- some confidence.
Because my sales record is rather dismal, anything in 2026 will be an uptick.
More opportunities feel within reach like never before.
All if this started with 2 books “Art and Fear” and “Starving to Successful”. The rest as they say- is history.
I had an incredible year for sales having started a new gallery as part of a group of artists. We opened in April with a slow trickle of sales. Then it boomed in June, July, August and Sept because of tourism increases. Slow October and then a boom for me in Nov. We closed at the end of Dec till April again so I have no idea what the new year will bring yet but am painting up a storm to replace what sold. Note, our Gallery is in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and yes, we had a lot of new tourists this year from everywhere. I find my social media and website marketing drives buyers to me personally and for gallery sales so have focused more on it.
Thanks for presenting this update Jason.
Here in Ontario, Canada, my gallery sales were down 80% from 2024, but my direct sales (from my monthly newsletter/blog posts and Facebook posts) were up 50% from 2024. This means I actually ended up with a bit more money in my pocket than in 2024, and agrees with your comment about having to work harder last year.
I’m feeling positive about the coming year for two reasons:
1. Most of my sales of paintings were brand new work, suggesting my current thematic direction is resonating with collectors.
2. I am working with a new art sales outlet, preparing a specific body of work for them, ready for a spring 2026 startup. While my existing 3 galleries are in traditional commercial downtown spaces, this new one is a very busy seasonal gift shop in one of Ontario’s top provincial parks. They see about 200,000 park visitors each year. I am excited to see where this collaboration goes.
All the best to you Jason for a successful 2026. Your excellent ABA course lead to a remarkable trajectory in my art career and I continue to follow your advice. Cheers!
Reading with interest your response here. As a fellow Canadian, I am always interested to see how fellow artists are navigating the storms these days. Happy that you have adapted successfully. Congratulations on your success. Unfortunately, I will not be taking any trips to the US, which was a twice yearly event, and will miss visiting the Xanadu Gallery.
Jason, I really appreciate the thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and frankness of this post. Sharing real numbers and lived experience like this is rare—and incredibly helpful. Your observations are clear-eyed and instructive for all of us involved in marketing fine art, whether as artists, gallery owners, or art-marketing advisers. Thank you for taking the time to lay it out so openly.
I’m excited that I was invited to join a new gallery in November of 2024. My sales have been steady for the entire year! I live in St Augustine, FL a huge tourist area and I paint realistic scenes of our beautiful marshes and seascapes which people love. I paint a variety of sizes for travelers and locals and I have even received several commissions. I really appreciate this post because I was considering not doing as many large pieces as before, but your statistics tell me to keep going! Thanks so much!
Thank you Jason for the detailed analysis. Most of my sales come from on line outlets these days
This year started off great I was selling large pieces in art exhibitions in Phoenix. Then it all “flatlined.” I remember reading an article in college about Frank L. Wright. During the depression he kept on creating designs even though he did not have high end clients. As the economy picked up, he had a treasure full of work he used as groundwork for his mid-century resurgence. With this said. My large sales have stop but my work has not.