Your fans abroad love your prints. The shipping cost stops them.
Art Ferry is a shop, not a platform: I buy your prints, postcards and stickers, and buyers in the EU and the US pre-order them from my online pop-up store in April 2027. They get art from many artists in one parcel, with free shipping.
Hi, I’m Greg. After eight years of shipping crowdfunding rewards around the world, I built Art Ferry so artists can sell abroad without the shipping headache. I’d love to hear about your work.
Why an online pop-up, and not a normal shop?
- The store is open for only three weeks, so every buyer orders in the same window, and every order is a pre-order.
- Pre-orders mean nobody takes a gamble. You don’t send anything up front, and we never buy art that hasn’t sold. The money a normal shop would sink into stock and storage goes into advertising your art instead.
- Because all orders come in at once, we collect the art from every artist in one go and pack each buyer’s order into a single parcel, even when it holds work from several artists.
- One parcel instead of many is what makes free shipping possible.
We have an ad budget and a strategy ready to start in January, so you don’t need to bring your own audience. But if you do, the launch bonus pays you extra per item.
Who we’re looking for
Artists from anywhere (payouts go to banks in the EU and the US; if you’re elsewhere, let’s chat), if:
- you’ve sold your work before, at conventions, in a shop or online
- your prints, postcards or stickers are already printed and ready to ship
This isn’t crowdfunding, and we don’t fund new print runs.
Sell to the EU and US without becoming an importer.
Sell directly to fans abroad, and you’re the seller there, with all the taxes, registrations and paperwork. With Art Ferry, you sell to us and we sell to your fans. No tax number or company abroad, and every sale stays B2B for you.
- We fill in the import and customs forms, in both directions.
- We handle VAT and every required registration in the EU.
- We take care of US sales tax and labelling rules.
- We look after payment, delivery, returns and customer service on both continents.
You make the art.
Why so flat?
We only take flat paper art: prints, postcards and stickers, up to A3 or 11 × 17 in. Sticking to a few flat formats lets us streamline every step while making sure your prints arrive safely, and that streamlining is what makes the whole thing work.
How it works
- Let’s talk. We hop on a video call, I answer all your questions, and we talk about your items.
- You send your product data: an Excel sheet and pictures for the webshop. Send it by 1 December 2026 to grab the early bird bonus! New items will be accepted until 28 February 2027 (no bonus).
- From 7 January 2027: Art Ferry starts her marketing. The earlier you submit, the more we feature you.
- 6 to 27 April 2027: the pop-up runs. Buyers in the EU and the US pre-order.
- After the pop-up: you get two orders, one from Art Ferry EU and one from Art Ferry US, and we pay you 75% before you ship. Actually, Art Ferry is two shops, Art Ferry EU and Art Ferry US, each registered with its own tax number and warehouse. That’s how we make this work.
- By 11 May 2027: you ship to our warehouses in Vienna and St. Louis. We count and check in each parcel, then pay you the rest. Or you book Transatlantic transfer and send everything in one parcel to the warehouse on your side.
- By early June, every buyer has their parcel.
Early bird special bonus
The first artists get the best deal. Send us your product data and a complete set of pictures for the webshop by 1 December 2026, and these two services are free for you at the April 2027 pop-up:
One box, not two.Free for early birds
Without this service, you send one box to our warehouse in Vienna and one to St. Louis.
With it, you send everything to the warehouse on your side, and we take it across the Atlantic without you filling in a single customs form.
Normally 1.00 € / $1.10 per item sold on the other side.
One payment, in your currency.Free for early birds
Without this service, you get two payments: euros from Art Ferry EU and dollars from Art Ferry US.
With it, you get one payment in your own currency, straight to your bank at home, so you don’t lose money on international transfers.
Normally from 0.20 € / $0.22 per item.
No commitment, just a friendly conversation.
- Early bird ends
- 1 December 2026
- Later is fine too, until
- 28 February 2027
Two things the shop next door doesn’t do
- We pay you extra when your art sells well. From the eleventh item of a product, we pay you a little more for every item, in steps up to 20%. It’s our launch special.
- We can save you a box and a bank fee. Because Art Ferry is two shops, you’d normally send one box to Vienna and one to St. Louis, and get paid in euros and in dollars. If you’d rather send one box and get one payment in your own currency, we take care of that.
Who’s behind Art Ferry
For eight years, AlpenCrowd has delivered thousands of parcels to EU backers for crowdfunding creators.
Greg Lichtensteiner Founder
As the rules of international trade got tougher, from tariffs to product safety, AlpenCrowd could no longer take on many smaller creators. Art Ferry is our answer: a solid, well-thought-out concept built to last, so we can keep working with creators of all sizes.
Meet me in person
- 22 to 25Oct 2026SPIEL EssenEssen, Germany
- 13 to 15Nov 2026DesignerConLas Vegas, USA
- 21 to 22Nov 2026Vienna Comic ConVienna, Austria
FAQ
Does it cost anything to take part?
Nothing upfront. You set your price per item, and after the pop-up we buy what buyers ordered at that price. You pay the postage to our warehouse, and if you book an optional service, its cost comes off your payout.
What do I send you, and how?
After our call, I email you a blank Excel sheet. You fill it in and send it back with your pictures. It asks for your artist name and, per product:
- product name and type (print, postcard, sticker or set), pieces per set, variants (like matte or glossy)
- size, weight and material
- country of origin, and the EAN if it has one
- where it ships from (EU, US or both)
- your price, in two columns: one in euros, one in dollars (and your own shop price if you like)
- stock available and a short description
- whether it is AI-made
- your business name and address for the product safety label
Please send a complete set of pictures of your items for the webshop.
Who handles customs, import VAT and sales tax?
We do. We buy your prints and sell them to buyers, so we’re the seller of record. We import your prints, clear customs and charge the right VAT or sales tax. You don’t need a VAT number or a company in the other market.
Who is the buyer buying from?
From us. We’re a pre-order shop, not a platform: we buy your prints and sell them to buyers ourselves. Each buyer gets one invoice from us for their whole order, not separate invoices from every artist. You never have to invoice a buyer.
Which product sizes are allowed?
Anything flat, up to A3 (297 × 420 mm, 11.7 × 16.5 in) or US Tabloid (11 × 17 in, 279 × 432 mm): prints, postcards, stickers, and sets of them, like a pack of five postcards. We don’t take rolled posters or anything that won’t lie flat in a parcel.
Who takes care of buyers if something goes wrong?
We do. Shipping updates, wrong addresses, lost or damaged parcels and returns all go through us. Every parcel is tracked and insured. If a buyer writes to you about an order, send them our way.
Any questions?
Questions are always welcome. Details matter, and there are a lot of them. A short video call is the easiest way to tackle them.
Are you a fan?