How to Sell on Redbubble

Redbubble is a free online marketplace that is open to anyone. It helps thousands of designers or artists connect with new audiences to sell their work on different products. You may be wondering how to sell on Redbubble. It is free to sell your items on the site. This platform either pays directly into your bank account monthly or through PayPal. The payout threshold is $20.

This platform could offer many benefits for anyone looking to develop branded merchandise with little investment. The wide array of products featured on Redbubble comes from multiple independent artists and designers uploading their designs and art onto the platform. So, anytime someone purchases a design, Redbubble prints the item and ships it to the customer. Designers receive a royalty of about 10% to 30% of the artwork’s purchase price.

Ranking #944 in the country with over 24 million page views per month per SimilarWeb, Redbubble is a platform that boosts your chances of getting discovered as an artist and making sales. Therefore, if you have creative ideas and excellent artwork, you should upload your designs on this platform and let Redbubble do the magic. However, the question is, “How?” But before that, let’s check out some things you should know before starting your how to sell on Redbubble journey.

Things You Need to Know About Redbubble

Founded in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia, with a branch in San Francisco, Redbubble is a platform that welcomes every form of creative expression. It is a publicly-traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange with mobile applications available for iOS and Android. The mobile apps’ features are limited. You can access the full features on Redbubble.com. According to Similarweb and Ubersuggest, this platform has a bigger organic reach than its competitors. Since 2006, Redbubble has experienced geometric and consistent growth, and it acquired Teepublic (a competitor in the industry) in 2018.

Getting Started on Redbubble

As home to thousands of creatives, competition is a given on Redbubble. Therefore, to be head and shoulder above your competitors, you need to understand some strategies that will make you stay afloat. But before that, here is a concise insight into how Redbubble works from a designer’s or seller’s perspective:

1. You create an account and upload your designs or artwork.
2. You identify the ideal product to list the artwork, which may include selecting the colors, positions, etc.
3. Name, describe, and tag your title with relevant keywords.
4. Publish your artwork: and you are ready to make sales.

That is how Redbubble works from a seller’s perspective. Let’s see how it works from a customer’s perspective:

1. A customer searches for a particular design on Redbubble and comes across your artwork.
2. They click on it to view it and get more details.
3. They like it and decide to purchase it on a hoodie.
4. Redbubble prints your design on the hoodie and sends it to the customer.
5. Redbubble pays you a percentage of the sale price, called a royalty. And once you reach the $20 threshold, Redbubble credits you via PayPal or directly to your bank account.

To Promote Your Items or Not?

Although this action is advisable and handy, it is not needed to get sales. Redbubble already has enough traffic and daily page visits. It would help if you took note of your titles (make them effective and catchy), descriptions, and appropriate tags or keywords. Then you can make enough sales even without any promotion.

How to Sell on Redbubble

Selling on Redbubble requires steps from uploading, customizing, tracking sales, etc. This section will walk you through this process.

Setting up an Account

Visit the Redbubble signup page and follow the required procedure.

Uploading Designs or Artworks on Redbubble

Once your account is ready, navigate to the “Add new work” page and drag your artwork to the box. Suppose you have an existing design you want to copy for other products. In that case, click the “upload to all products” option. You’ll then see a product editing page where you can modify the background and product color, position your designs, and, most importantly, name, describe, and insert necessary tags into your design. Your title must include words people are most likely to search for or keyphrases describing designs. Don’t add words like a t-shirt; Redbubble automatically adds them. Furthermore, use clear descriptions to explain your designs to prospects.

Redbubble gives you freedom on your design positioning and background colors, so play around till you’re satisfied. Click the “+ disabled” option to convert the design into green and the “Enabled” option to display the product. Ideally, the artwork should be a .png format image without a background. This design will be applied to roughly sixty potential products.

Once you’ve completed this step, scroll to the bottom.

Features and Specifications on Redbubble

The Default View in Your Shop

This feature influences how your designs will appear on your e-shop and profile.

Collections

Collections are a group of related designs where you can add different artworks.

Media

Redbubble allows you to select up to two media files.

Who Can View This Work?

This feature lets you set a criterion for people who can see your designs. Select anybody if you want your products to be publicly available.

Affirm Your Right

You must confirm that you are the original content owner and have the right to sell it.

Is this mature content?

Pretty straightforward? So, tick appropriately. Redbubble allows Mature or 18+ content, but they are not publicly visible.

Yeah! That’s it. Just select “save work,” and your design is live!!!

Now That Your Design is Live, What’s Next?

Once you hit publish, your design automatically gets a product page and will show up in search results of both Redbubble or Google (via Google Shopping Ads). Redbubble search results usually rank reasonably on Google, so people can easily find your products with relevant keywords and titles. When prospects visit your page, they see your collections and more information about you.

Store Customization on Redbubble

Redbubble offers a feature that allows you to use it as your design’s storefront, where you can direct your fans who want to see your designs. And the best thing is that you have complete control over how things appear. How can you achieve this?

First, get a custom domain name then you can customize the following components:

1. Thumbnail
2. About us
3. Social media links
4. Banner

This feature makes your store appear more customized, friendly, and familiar to your fans. It may also directly influence sales generation.

Tracking Redbubble Sales 

Redbubble automatically emails you anytime you sell a design. The email usually shows the sold design, product, and royalty. Also, Redbubble features a dashboard that helps you keep track of your traffic, earnings, and products.

What Percentage Does Redbubble Charge?

By default, you only get 20% (default artist margin) of the sales, which you can change with time. Most creators, including myself, change it ASAP. You want to make more than 20%. Don’t be too greedy because you won’t get any sales if your price is too high.

Practical Tips

Now you know how to sell on Redbubble. Let’s move on to ways you can make more money.

It’s easy; list your artwork on as many products as possible. Redbubble allows up to 60 products which can be stressful if you need to adjust colors and positions for multiple products. But it is undoubtedly worth it; here are a few reasons why;

• More products equal more chance of getting indexed by search engines and, subsequently, more page traffic.
• You have a wide range of product options available for sale.

Is Redbubble worth it?

While Redbubble might not make you rich, it will surely help you make enough money from your design with sufficient time and effort. Here are a few reasons I think you should sell your designs on Redbubble.

You Get to Learn About Search Engine Optimization, SEO

If you want to make sales and rank on search engine result pages and Redbubble internal search pages, learning about the skill of SEO, how it works, and its importance becomes a given. Experimenting with Redbubble enhances your understanding of what doesn’t and does affect your rankings and sales.

Organic Traffic

If you have decent designs, you’ll get a couple of sales every few months due to the organic traffic from Redbubble. Remember, this site gets more traffic than all of its competitors. It can be to your advantage to list things here.

Exposure to New Skills

As a POD (Print On Demand) website, Redbubble allows designing for various purposes. The design for a hoodie is different from that of a mug, although with slight similarities. So, Redbubble gives you a platform to learn more as a designer.

You’ll Learn About the Marketable and Non-Marketable Designs

With a series of trials on Redbubble, you begin to get an idea of what designs sell more. This insight will surely enhance your future sales conversion. You’ll also waste less time creating designs that aren’t selling.

Final Tips

Profile Picture

Always upload a profile picture and a banner. This allows people to connect and see you. It gives them a sense of security since they can see whom they are dealing with.

Bio

Add a bio to your page with social media and portfolio links.

Social Media

Utilize social media stories by posting your Redbubble sales on them – especially during special occasions such as Black Friday, holidays, etc. Also, ensure that your link is on your social media bio.

Upload New Designs

Always upload new designs as fast and consistently as you can. Set goals of like five a week, especially when you are just trying to grow your shop

Pinterest

Leverage Pinterest and try to pin some of your designs.

Wear Your Products

It influences sales and marketing. Sometimes people would enquire about the product you wear or use, which can be an excellent opportunity to refer them to your shop. Be proud of your designs; you’ve worked hard to create and own them.

Custom Designs

Seek to create custom designs for various people and constantly interact with your social media followers about new inspirations and ideas.

Giveaways

Lastly, sometimes remember to do giveaways; it brings in more customers. Order a couple of items and give them away on Instagram!

Like other POD websites such as Teespring and Spreadshirt, Redbubble is a platform where designers, photographers, and artists upload content to sell products such as prints, stickers, hoodies, shirts, etc. The most intriguing thing about Redbubble is that they take care of everything from production and shipping to customer service. So, all you need to do is upload and earn. Signing up is free on Redbubble, so get started today!