Redbubble is one of the most popular print on demand services out there. The marketplace is gigantic, and you can find almost anything you can dream up. Redbubble supports independent artists from around the world. But, should you join them and learn how to make stickers to sell on Redbubble? Read on to find out more.
If you're willing to put in the time and effort to consistently upload, Redbubble can be a good place to build passive income. But copying designs or posting designs in highly competitive niches can spell trouble for your income.
People who love making digital art love Redbubble. Here are a few reasons that you should consider posting some art to Redbubble – even if you're interested in starting your own sticker business or Etsy shop, too.
Five Reasons To Consider Putting Sticker Designs On Redbubble
Number one reason to sell on Redbubble? It costs nothing.
When you post your art on a place like Etsy or eBay, you are charged fees for posting or listing your art piece. In Etsy's case, you will also need to produce it, or pay a Print On Demand (POD) supplier to produce your art for you. On Etsy, there is a flat listing fee. Even if you never sell a single one. If you're short on cash, this can be risky. In contrast, print on demand marketplaces like Redbubble do not charge fees for you to list your art. This means that you can upload stuff all day for no cost. For this alone, Redbubble? Worth it.
Redbubble is a great platform for beginning artists who are tight on cash. You don't need any money, and you can even use free art programs. While you don't have to market yourself, I'd recommend uploading to Pinterest and other social media. In any case – there are many programs out there where you can create art that is good enough to be produced on Redbubble.
Reason #2: Resolution does not have to be gigantic.
Redbubble will let you upload small pieces so that you can just sell stickers or other tiny items. That means that if you draw by hand, you don't need to worry about getting a high quality art scan in order to sell your art. Instead, you can rely on normal scans and photos, with touch-ups on free art programs. This makes uploading art accessible to everyone.
Not all Print on Demand suppliers are like this. Some, like TeePublic will require artwork to be at least 5,000 pixels in order to enable all art options. This means that you need to upscale your art, or draw really large, which can take resources. It can also make your software lag if you're working digitally. By hand, it means you'll need a really good scanner or camera to translate it to digital sales.
Reason #3: The platform is pretty easy to use
Redbubble is not as easy to use as TeePublic, but still, pretty much anybody can do it. When you upload to Redbubble, you're asked for things like title, tags, and description, and also to upload your art. You can position your art on each potential item, including wall art, tapestries, stickers, t-shirts, and even a shower curtain.
I also really like how the Redbubble store is somewhat customizeable. You can customize your Redbubble shop from the settings option in your Redbubble account. You even get your own shop link, and the ability to download promotions specific to your designs.
You can enable or disable stuff too, so if something doesn't work, you can prevent someone from being able to purchase it. This works great if you've got a vulgar design that you don't want on a kids shirt. Which brings us to…
Reason #4: Redbubble does allow adult themed art.
Every marketplace has their restrictions. However, Redbubble does allow you to upload adult themed products. This can be a fun way to produce products for, say, a bachelorette party. Redbubble does not allow hate or overtly hateful politics to be posted on their site. You will have to use your own site if you want to do something like that.
Like most platforms however, if you do upload adult stuff and market as 18 and over, it will be restricted on general search. So consider that as you think about what products you want to create on Redbubble. If you really want to design adult products, you'll need to be aware that your customers are going to be only the subset that have turned safe search off.
Reason #5: Redbubble designs last forever
When you post a design on Etsy, the listing only lasts for 4 months. When you post a design on Redbubble, it lasts forever. Redbubble doesn't necessarily penalize you for leaving designs up for a long time. However, if they don't sell well, they will eventually go farther and farther down in search results. So you want to make sure that the designs that you keep are selling well, and that you're uploading new art regularly.
If your designs sell well, they'll start really drawing in organic traffic from major search engines like Google. Your potential customers will see your product images right on Google, which will lead them straight to the Redbubble marketplace to purchase your large stickers, photographic prints, or t shirt designs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Selling On Redbubble
How much can I make from Redbubble?
The top earners on Redbubble make thousands of dollars per month. I personally have a couple hundred designs on Redbubble, and I probably make $20-30 a month at any given time. It's not a lot, but it's a nice little touch on my PayPal account at the end of the month.
If I spent more time regularly uploading to Redbubble, I would like to have thousands of designs by now. My passive income from Redbubble would be much larger. However I found that competition can really influence whether or not I'm getting sales. I've also found that I have more control over how my listings appear and my tags titles and descriptions on Etsy than I do on Redbubble. Also, I prefer to make my own stickers.
I do use Redbubble and also TeePublic to produce items that I can't produce in-house for my customers when they ask for them. Sometimes I will get a hoodie or t-shirt request from customers, and I can't do that very well in my home shop. So, I will upload it to Redbubble or TeePublic, and make them do the hard work. It's less profitable for me, but also less work.
Can I make sticker packs on Redbubble?
The simple answer is yes. A lot of Redbubble listings are sticker packs, not individual stickers. It's easy to upload a sticker pack to the Redbubble platform – just create a PNG with a transparent background that includes all of the stickers that you want to include. You'll want to make sure that you only enable larger stickers, so that Redbubble can successfully print them.
Given how many sticker packs there are in Redbubble stickers searches, I imagine that they're pretty successful. Just make sure to turn off small sticker sizes, so that your customers don't try to order a 2″ sticker pack that contains 4 0.5″ stickers instead. That could lead to issues.
Where can customers see my Redbubble page?
Customers will be able to see your Redbubble shop from the search after they put relevant keywords into the search bar. Your design will pop up, but you'll have an artist link on that page so that they can view your other designs. Unfortunately, because it is an online marketplace, Redbubble will also promote other artists if your design is in a highly competitive niche.
Can I do more than sticker designs?
Of course! If your sticker designs are stellar, consider putting the same design on art prints or t shirts as well. A transparent background will serve you well on Redbubble because it'll make transferring to other design types easier. Also consider using your online shop as a place to experiment: find what sells well for your ideal customer, then make more of that product type.
Redbubble offers you the chance to set your profit margins on all items, and Redbubble doesn't do a large price compare. This means that for cheap items – like Redbubble stickers – you should really increase your profit margin. Why get $0.20 per design when you can get $1? Customers won't even notice the difference on such a small charge, and it makes designing Redbubble stickers pretty rewarding for you and your online shop.
What are the best design tips you've got for increasing Redbubble earnings?
The Redbubble platform is almost too flexible for most folks. Selling on Redbubble well means making designs that fit in on a variety of products – like both dark AND light t-shirts. I find that using a transparent background and a contrasting outline really helps to draw out my design on multiple backgrounds. In other words, if your design's border is already light, use a dark secondary border, because it'll help it stand out against light backgrounds like totes or t shirts. This is also a great idea for any stickers.
Finally, use the tools given to you by Redbubble – Promote your products with their pictures. Create collections of your designs. When you start making consistent sales of your Redbubble products like stickers, celebrate! Build out that artist profile, shout it out on social media. Built a brand and your own website. Take the starting success of your products – Redbubble will love that – and build from there.
How do potential customers find my stickers?
Like on any online marketplace, you need to use relevant tags. Selling products is as much about SEO on Redbubble as it is on other platforms. Find your competitors, find out what tags they're using, and use those. Redbubble offers a lot of tools for you to increase your sales, but you'll also just need to do your research. Redbubble works with patience and dedication.
How many designs do I need for the Redbubble platform?
Just one. Start selling with just one design. Upload at whatever pace feels good to you. Alert your social media followers to your new business. Celebrate every design sold. And watch your bank account grow. Selling on Redbubble is a lesson in patience with an online marketplace. Feel free to experiment – it doesn't cost you any money!
What are your best tips for selling on Redbubble? How do you feel? Will you design stickers for your Redbubble online store?
