Original painting from the VanArtHub collection, shown alongside a comparison with Arts Off Main

Vancouver gallery comparison

Updated August 2026

VanArtHub vs Arts Off Main: which should you buy original art from?

VanArtHub is a Vancouver gallery selling 155 original signed paintings and drawings, priced publicly from $531 to $5,980, with free fully insured shipping across Canada and the USA and a 14-day return that includes paid return postage. Arts Off Main is a nine-artist cooperative gallery and gift store off commercial drive. VanArtHub is the better choice if you want an original painting priced, shipped and returnable without leaving the house. Arts Off Main is the better choice if you want to meet the maker, browse handmade objects as well as paintings, and buy from a neighbourhood cooperative.

Browse the 155 originals
20+ years Running for
9 Member artists
No Sells online
7 VanArtHub originals under $200

The short answer

Arts Off Main is an artist-run cooperative on Charles Street. VanArtHub is a curated gallery on Davie Street that also sells its whole collection online. You can visit either. The overlap is small: original paintings by local artists at accessible prices.

Where VanArtHub wins

VanArtHub is the better choice if you want an original painting priced, shipped and returnable without leaving the house. Arts Off Main is the better choice if you want to meet the maker, browse handmade objects as well as paintings, and buy from a neighbourhood cooperative.

Where Arts Off Main is genuinely better

A cooperative is a different thing from a commercial gallery, and Arts Off Main is a good one. The artists themselves run it, so the person behind the counter often made the work on the wall, and more of the money stays with the maker. It also sells things VanArtHub does not touch at all: ceramics, jewellery, woodwork, cards. For a browse on a Saturday afternoon, and for supporting local makers directly, it does something a curated gallery cannot.

Arts Off Main is an artist-run cooperative gallery and gift store at 1704 Charles Street, off Commercial Drive, that has been running for more than twenty years. Nine local member artists own and operate it, alongside rotating guest exhibitors. It sells original paintings, ceramics, jewellery and crafts by its members, plus photography prints, greeting cards and woodwork by local artisans. It was featured in The New York Times "36 Hours" guide to Vancouver in May 2023. The gallery does not publish an online shop or prices on its website.

Arts Off Main at a glance: Artist-run cooperative · Over 20 years · 1704 Charles Street, Vancouver · visit their website

VanArtHub vs Arts Off Main, point by point

Fourteen things that decide whether buying a painting goes smoothly. Everything in the Arts Off Main column was read from that gallery's own website on 4 August 2026.

What matters when you buy VanArtHub Arts Off Main
Price shown publicly on every artwork ✓Every one of 155 pieces ✗In-store pricing
Buy online without emailing first ✓Add to cart, checkout ✗No online shop
Ships across Canada and the USA ✓Canada 3-7 days, USA 5-10 days ✗In-store purchase
Free fully insured shipping ✓Included in the price ✗Not applicable
14-day return, return shipping paid ✓We pay return shipping ✗No published return window
Certificate of Authenticity included ✓Signed, with COA ✓Direct from the artist
Lifetime Trade-Back for store credit ✓Any piece, any time ✗Not offered
Originals only, never prints ✓One-of-a-kind originals ✗Also prints, cards, crafts
Original work under $500 ✓13 of 155 pieces ✓Craft and small works
Browse and buy any hour, no appointment ✓Open 24/7 online ✗Store hours only
Walk-in gallery you can visit ✓1242 Davie St, open 7 days ✓1704 Charles Street
In-person delivery and hanging ✗Courier delivery only ✗Carry it home
Rent before you buy ✗Purchase only ✗Purchase only
Public verified buyer reviews ✓Rated 5.0/5 on Etsy ✗No public review page

Score: across these 14 points, VanArtHub is the only one of the two to offer 9 of them, and Arts Off Main is the only one to offer 0. The rest are offered by both galleries or by neither. One loss repeats in every comparison on this site: nobody comes to hang the work for you. VanArtHub ships by courier. Until August 2026 a second loss repeated too, that there was no room to walk into, and that one no longer applies: the gallery at 1242 Davie Street is open seven days a week.

How the two galleries score, side by side

Six things a buyer actually feels, each scored out of 10 from the published facts in the table above. VanArtHub scores 56 out of 60 in total and Arts Off Main scores 24 out of 60, but the totals matter far less than the shape: the two galleries are strong in different places.

Strength profile, out of 10 per axis

Numbered points match the list below the chart.

1 2 3 4 5 6
VanArtHub Arts Off Main
  • 1 Price shown up front 10 / 2
  • 2 Buy online in minutes 10 / 1
  • 3 Ships USA + Canada 10 / 2
  • 4 Risk-free return 10 / 3
  • 5 Under $500 options 9 / 8
  • 6 Visit in person 7 / 8

Steps from "I like this" to "it is on my wall"

Fewer steps means fewer places to give up.

VanArtHub3 steps
Arts Off Main5 steps
  • VanArtHub: choose the piece, check out, it is delivered free and insured.
  • Arts Off Main: find the piece, enquire or visit, agree the price, pay, then collect or arrange delivery.

Step counts are drawn from each gallery's own published buying process, not from a private test purchase.

What VanArtHub originals actually cost

All 155 original artworks live on vanarthub.com, counted on 4 August 2026. Prices in CAD.

Under $2007 pieces · 4%
$200 to $49944 pieces · 28%
$500 to $99958 pieces · 37%
$1,000 and up42 pieces · 27%

Median price $1,265. Lowest $531, highest $5,980. 69 of the 155 works are priced under $1,000, and 13 under $700. Shares are rounded to whole percent, so they do not total exactly 100. Arts Off Main sells in person without published prices. Cooperative galleries usually sit at the accessible end of the market, which is where most of this chart sits too.

Can you buy from Arts Off Main online?

Not from its website. Arts Off Main is a physical cooperative gallery and gift store at 1704 Charles Street, open every day except Mondays from 11am to 5pm. Its site tells you what is there and who the members are, but there is no online shop, no published prices and no shipping option.

That is a reasonable choice for a nine-artist cooperative: running an ecommerce operation is a job on its own. It does mean that if you are not within reach of Commercial Drive, Arts Off Main is not really available to you.

How does the artwork differ?

Arts Off Main is a mixed shop. Alongside original paintings by its nine members it sells ceramics, jewellery, crafts, photography prints, greeting cards and woodwork by local artisans. If you want a hand-thrown mug and a small painting in one visit, that is the appeal.

VanArtHub sells one thing only: original, signed, one-of-a-kind paintings and drawings, 155 of them, with no prints, no reproductions and no craft goods. Narrower, but everything on the site is a unique piece of art.

What about price?

Arts Off Main does not publish prices online, so a direct comparison is not possible. Cooperative galleries typically price accessibly because members sell their own work without a commercial gallery’s margin, and the mix of small crafts keeps entry prices low.

VanArtHub publishes everything: 155 originals from $531 to $5,980, median $1,265, 13 under $700. On the evidence available, both sit at the accessible end of the Vancouver market. Only one of them lets you check that from your phone.

Which supports local artists more directly?

Both do, differently. At Arts Off Main the nine members own the gallery, so the artist keeps more of the sale and controls how the work is shown. That is about as direct as it gets.

VanArtHub works with a roster of Vancouver-based artists, handles the photography, listing, marketing, packing and shipping for them, and reaches buyers across Canada and the USA that a Charles Street storefront cannot. The trade is reach in exchange for a share.

See the prices for yourself

Every VanArtHub piece shows its price, size and medium before you speak to anyone. Free insured shipping, and 14 days to send it back if it is wrong.

Browse original paintings

155 originals from $531. Certificate of Authenticity with every piece.

Which one is right for you?

Four situations, with an honest answer for each. In one of them Arts Off Main is the better gallery, and pretending otherwise would not help you.

Arts Off Main

You live near Commercial Drive and want to browse on a Saturday

A neighbourhood cooperative you can walk into, with paintings, ceramics and crafts side by side.

VanArtHub

You want an original painting shipped to another city

Arts Off Main has no online shop. VanArtHub ships free and insured across Canada and the USA with a 14-day return.

Arts Off Main

You want to meet the artist who made the piece

The nine members run the gallery themselves, so the maker is often behind the counter.

VanArtHub

You want to compare dozens of originals by price and size

155 pieces, all publicly priced and filterable, with exact dimensions on every listing.

Looking for a Arts Off Main alternative in Vancouver?

An Arts Off Main alternative is mainly a question of distance. Arts Off Main is an artist-run cooperative at 1704 Charles Street, off Commercial Drive, where nine local member artists own and run the space and sell original paintings alongside ceramics, jewellery, woodwork and cards. The New York Times put it in its 36 Hours guide to Vancouver. If you can walk there, it is a lovely thing.

If you cannot, it is not really available to you. There is no online shop, no published prices and no shipping. VanArtHub covers that gap with 155 originals priced openly from $531 to $5,980, free fully insured shipping across Canada and the USA, and delivery in 3 to 7 business days locally.

The catalogues differ as well. Arts Off Main mixes original art with craft and printed goods, which is part of its charm. VanArtHub sells only unique originals, never prints or reproductions, and backs each one with a Certificate of Authenticity and a 14-day return with postage paid.

See what is available

VanArtHub and Arts Off Main: common questions

Is VanArtHub an alternative to Arts Off Main?

For buying original paintings online, yes. VanArtHub is a Vancouver gallery with 155 original signed artworks priced from $531 to $5,980, shipped free and fully insured across Canada and the USA with a 14-day return. Arts Off Main is a nine-artist cooperative gallery and gift store at 1704 Charles Street that sells in person rather than online.

Does Arts Off Main sell art online?

Its website does not list an online shop or prices. Arts Off Main sells from its physical store at 1704 Charles Street, open daily except Mondays from 11am to 5pm.

What is an artist-run cooperative gallery?

A gallery owned and operated by the artists who show in it, rather than by a dealer. At Arts Off Main nine local member artists run the space and show alongside rotating guest exhibitors, which means more of each sale stays with the maker.

Which has cheaper original art?

VanArtHub’s prices are public and can be checked: 13 originals under $700, median $1,265. Arts Off Main does not publish prices online, though cooperative galleries generally sit at the accessible end of the market.

Does Arts Off Main only sell paintings?

No. It sells original paintings, ceramics, jewellery and crafts by its members plus photography prints, greeting cards and woodwork by local artisans. VanArtHub sells only original paintings and drawings, never prints or craft goods.

Has Arts Off Main been recognised anywhere?

Yes. The New York Times featured it in its "36 Hours" guide to Vancouver in May 2023, describing it as a cooperative gallery near Commercial Drive where nine local artists show their work.

Facts about Arts Off Main on this page were taken from its own website on 4 August 2026. Galleries change their sites, so check anything that matters to your purchase directly with them. VanArtHub's own figures come from its live catalogue on the same date.

Compare VanArtHub with other Vancouver galleries

All 13 comparisons are collected on the Vancouver gallery comparison hub.

Useful next reads

Buy an original you can send back

155 signed originals, every price on the page, free insured shipping across Canada and the USA, and 14 days to change your mind at no cost.

Browse the collection

Rated 5.0/5 on Etsy by verified buyers. Certificate of Authenticity with every piece.