Frequently asked questions

A curated marketplace and showcase for oddities and strange art: dark, curious, unsettling and quietly beautiful work, made by hand by independent artists. It's a place to discover something unexpected, find a new favorite artist, and follow where your curiosity goes.

Real people. Everything on Paranotica is original work made by the artist or their studio. We don't accept AI-generated artwork or designs, or mass-produced goods, and every artist agrees to our Human-Made Pledge.

Every artist agrees to the Human-Made Pledge, and every piece needs our approval before it's published. If something doesn't fit, we ask questions or decline it. If you see something that doesn't belong, use the small “Flag this piece” link on its page. Flags only go to us.

Not yet. Buying directly through Paranotica is coming very soon, and we're building it now. Until then you can tap “I'd buy this” on a piece, message the artist, or request a commission.

It tells the artist you'd consider buying that piece at the amount shown, and they can see how many people are interested in each piece. It isn't an order, reservation or payment, and it doesn't commit you or the artist to anything. You'll find everything you've marked under “Your interests”.

If an artist is open for commissions, their page lists what they offer with rough price ranges. Choose one and send a request describing what you'd like; you can add reference images. You and the artist then talk it through in a private conversation on Paranotica, where the artist can set a price for you to confirm and keep you updated. Payment is arranged directly with the artist for now.

Tap Favorite on any piece to save it to your Favorites list, so you can find it again later.

Archive pieces are no longer available to buy, usually because they've found a home, but they stay on the artist's page as part of their portfolio, with their photos and story. They're still worth seeing, and they show the range of what an artist makes.

Sign up on the Artist Signup page, and we'll email you a link to set up your account and artist page right away. Joining is free. We review each piece before it's published, and your page goes public once your first piece is approved.

Original physical work made by you or people in your studio: sculpture, assemblage, oddities, wearable pieces, relics, prints you made by hand, and anything else strange you've made yourself. The full rules are in our artist guidelines. 3D-printed or bought parts are fine as a small part of a larger handmade piece, but items that are entirely 3D-printed can't be sold. We're starting with original work only; collectibles will come later.

Yes. Human hair and teeth are welcome in your work when they were legally and ethically sourced, for example your own, donated, or from dental extractions. Say where they came from in the piece's description. Other human remains or body parts, like bones or skulls, aren't allowed.

Yes, that's a lot of what Paranotica is about. Dark, unsettling, provocative and anti-religious work is all welcome. What isn't allowed is work that promotes hate, like Nazi, KKK or white supremacist imagery, or anything that promotes racism or hatred of people.

Not for the work. The artwork or design behind anything you post, including designs printed onto products or used to make physical objects, can't be AI-generated. Using AI for business tasks, like writing an email or planning your marketing, is up to you.

Add a piece with photos, then submit it. Our team looks at your photos and details online and approves each piece before it goes live. There's nothing to send us. If it's approved it goes live right away, and you'll get an email. If it needs changes, we'll tell you what and why, and you can update it and submit it again. Your artist page goes public when your first piece is approved.

Yes, up to 3 per piece, each up to 90 seconds and 300 MB. MP4, MOV and WebM all work, including videos saved from Instagram, TikTok or your phone. We remove the sound and prepare them for the web automatically. Videos play quietly when visitors hover over or scroll to your piece, a nice way to show movement, light or texture.

Yes. Your work, photos and descriptions stay yours. You give Paranotica permission to show them on the site, and to use your published work to promote Paranotica and your work on the platform. As long as a piece is on Paranotica, including in your archive, we may use it to promote your work. If you make a piece private or remove it, we'll stop using it in new promotion. See the full details in our Terms of Use.

Yes. On the piece's edit page, “Make private” hides it from everyone (and from our promotion) until you make it public again, with no new review needed. “Remove piece” deletes it for good, as long as it hasn't sold and nobody has shown interest in it yet. Sold pieces stay in your archive, but you can make them private.

After an item sells, it moves into your archive and stays on your artist page, with its photos, description and your contact details. Your page becomes a growing portfolio of all the work you've done, helping new customers and fans find you and see what you've created.

Every artist gets a free QR code that opens their Paranotica page. Download it as a PNG or SVG from your artist page and put it on business cards, tags, packaging or market displays. It keeps working even if your page address changes. You also get a short link, paranotica.com/a/your-name, for your Instagram or TikTok bio.

From your artist page you can choose to open commissions for your account, and add a description, rough price range and example images. Requests arrive in Commission requests, where you can reply, confirm a price, add status updates and mark the commission complete. You can close commissions any time; existing ones aren't affected.

The Council is where Paranotica's artists help decide and shape where the platform is heading. Whenever we're considering a new feature, a change to how things work, or a question we want artists' guidance on, we bring it to the Council as a proposal for artists to vote on. It's only visible to artists.

Every artist gets one vote on each proposal. You can see how others are voting, add an optional note telling us why (only Paranotica sees it), and change your vote until the proposal closes. Each proposal is open until its closing date.

Yes. That's the point. We read every vote and every note, and they shape what we build and change. Paranotica is meant to be built with its artists, not just for them.

Badges appear under an artist's name on their page. Right now there are three:

• Founding Artist: one of the first artists to join Paranotica.
• Council Member: has voted on at least 3 Council proposals. Once you've earned it, it's yours to keep.
• Guild Member: a member of the Paranotica Guild, which we'll introduce when buying and selling opens.

We'll add more badges over time.

Not to look around. You'll need a free account (just an email and password) to save Favorites, show interest in a piece, message artists and request commissions.

Use “Forgot your password?” on the sign-in page and we'll email you a link to set a new one.

Artists can close their account from Edit profile → “Close my account”. After confirming twice, your artist page and all of your work (including sold pieces), photos, videos, commissions and messages are permanently deleted. For other accounts, email t@paranotica.com from the address on your account and we'll take care of it. Our privacy page explains what we keep and why.

Artists can use Report a problem. It goes straight to the people building the site. Anyone else can contact us. We read everything and reply by email.