What are ACEOs? Art Cards Editions and Originals. These little trading cards are 2.5″ x 3.5″ artist cards, often one of a kind and hand created. They can be drawn, painted, watercolored, or really created with any type of medium. Artists around the world are painting these little miniature pictures and landscapes and cartoons and clip arts, and buyers are buying. They are collected. Delve into a special niche such as cats or crosses or art deco, and you have yourself an audience. I love painting these little creations. My ebay niche is mainly clothing with a bit of sprinkled in vintage deco here and there. Working as a one-gal operation, from home, can become a monotonous field of study. I love to keep busy by planning my week with sourcing trips, pickleball games, and dedicated times for shipping and listing. But, all of these repeated blocks can sometimes blend the days together.

Enter, ACEOs. This is the creative part of me. I love to take a lazy afternoon and cozy up with a blanket at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee and some music playing and crank out 5-10 of these little artist cards. I can create them fast. I can list them fast. I can pack them fast. And, they take up literally zero space in my inventory system. They do not sell for much. I can fetch roughly $3-$5 per card. They are not huge money makers. They are just fun. They are snow day projects. They are stuck in the house feeling like painting fun. And, there is really nothing better than a complete stranger five states away loving and paying me for one of my little baby paintings.

And this is how I do it:

Artist paper and tape are super important. I chose a paper that was thick stock, but that also accepted all kinds of media. My preference is acrylic paint, but if I wanted to try a little water coloring or penciling, this paper would also work. I can get a good number of cards out of just one sheet.

Best Beginner Friendly Artist Tape https://amzn.to/4t8Uflj

My Favorite Paper https://amzn.to/46fDAmi

The artist tape is perfect for taping your cards down (I paint four at a time). This tape gives crisp borders. (Hint: After peeling of a section of tape, I pat it against my shirt or pants a few times just to “dampen” down the stickiness just a tad before applying to the cards. This will help prevent your tape from tearing your artist paper when removing.) Ask me how I know this

You will also need a paper cutter to cut your paper absolutely straight and with the perfect measurements. This is the best one I have found. https://amzn.to/3ZakSsx

Next, I choose my theme and I get to painting. I lightly sketch out my designs and I just run with it. That is the beauty of these artist cards. They are ONE OF A KIND! They do not have to be perfect. People love them all abstract and messy. Research and discover what cards are selling the best. Look on Pinterest for some inspiration. Research cards that have sold and recreate those. Relate your cards to the time of year. Be colorful. Figure out what people are collecting and give them that. Paint what you love. I think that is really my secret. I paint what I love and, somehow, people are attracted to that. When you begin, you may not love your first few paintings. List them anyway! You will just get better and better and even the ones you are not happy with USUALLY SELL!

These are my favorite brushes: https://amzn.to/45MFuL7

I have purchased this paint set three times already: https://amzn.to/4tkfmS2

After you have a stack to list, head on over to ebay and put them up for sale. You will quickly get an idea of what is popular after you spend time gathering information about which of your subjects are getting eyes and which are not getting any traffic. Notice the popular cards you have created, and create them again. I sell crosses and cats constantly. When one sells, I get to painting a few more. People love them. They do not sit for long. I notice a trend and I rinse and repeat it. I have had many buyers come back and purchase again.

So, now how do I ship them? THIS is where I was lost for a LONG TIME. There was simply no answer anywhere. I sell on ebay and ebay does offer an envelope shipping option for .74 cents. As I was researching, I was noticing that all of the ACEOs listed were in the “other-paintings” category. So, I did the same. However, that category does not offer the envelope option. My very first ACEO sold and it cost me $4.74 to ship simply because ebay requires a tracking number so my only option was to ship Ground Advantage. The card sold for $4.99 and I was out of pocket almost that for shipping. So, I delisted all of my cards until I could figure it out. No answers anywhere. I scoured Pinterest pins, Reddit threads, ebay Facebook groups. Nobody knew. And, then I found it.

These cards MUST be listed under the ‘trading cards’ ebay category. Trading Cards is the only ebay category that offers the envelope option (that I know of). The envelope shipping charge is .74 cents, which I pay since I offer my buyers free shipping. Much better. I simply created a separate business shipping policy and titled it “ACEO Shipping Envelope” and relisted all of my ACEOs under the trading cards category. With this, I can now print the standard envelope label straight from ebay, which offers tracking.

Perfect for storing and shipping your cards: https://amzn.to/4qh7IFg

I purchased these little jewelry bags to store and ship in. I sign the back of each card and number it (as if I were a famous professional artist – wink). I then stamp the date on the back. This is the date stamp that I use: https://amzn.to/4rx0NJ2

When a card sells, I place the bag in between an ebay thank you card and an ebay sticker and it works perfectly. Doing this helps to keep the card from being bent during shipping. Simply place these in an envelope and print your label. Toss it in the mailbox and send it off!

Painting little artist trading cards is such a fun way to create and sell your sweet little creations to buyers all over the world. Who knows? Your little perfectly created painting could be sitting in a little frame in someone’s kitchen.

*This blog post contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. #ad #amazonaffiliate