How to actually make money on Redbubble
I’ve been seriously using Redbubble since September 2019 and have since managed to earn myself a nice amount of spending money each month.
I always see people asking how they can increase their sales on there so here’s some tips i found useful.
Easily, the most important rule to follow is that you need to think like a customer trying to buy a design.
1)Take advantage of the search function
Always Always ALWAYS check the search results for designs similar to yours.
Not only will they give you insight on what is popular right now, it will also tell you whether or not it’s worth it to design something that might’ve been done before.
Ask yourself these questions: Can I design something better? Can i compete with these prices? Is anyone interested in this specific niche?
You can also use other people’s designs as references for tags you can use.
If you’ve ever searched for anything on Redbubble you’d know that often you’ll find unrelated designs in your search results. That’s because many people use unrelated search terms in their tags to reach a wider audience. ( Please don’t be this person, use tags that are atleast somewhat related to your design..)
2) Quality + Quantity
Quality is good but Quantity is equally important.
You don’t wanna ulpload tons of uninspired low quality designs but you won’t find alot of succes with 3 good designs either. I’ve earned my first 100 bucks after 15 or so designs
3) Enable as many products for your designs as possible
You might think nobody would want your sticker design on a phone case but out of experience i’d say enable as many products as possible! Stickers and T-shirts might be the top selling products but people like to buy all kinds of stuff. Take advantage of the fact that many people DON’T have most products enables.
“But my design doesn’t fit on x product!”
Redbubble lets you customize your designs for specific products which means you can upload a bunch of different pictures for one single design.
For example: if your design doesn’t fit on a phone case you could flip the image and only upload it for phone cases. Or maybe your t-shirt design is too intricate for a simple sticker. You could remove design elements and use that image for stickers only.
Redbubble will still list them as the same design! Many people don’t actually realize this is an option so do try it out.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your design should be as high quality as possible so you actually have the option to print it on big surfaces like posters or Extra Large stickers.
4) Think about the longevity of your designs
Some topics and trends will only stay relevant for a very short time. Things such as Memes will most likely not stay relevant for long so you should consider whether it’s worth it for a quick buck or if you’d rather put your time into creating designs that will actually generate passive income preferably for years to come.
5) Artists vs Copyright
If you make many pop culture designs, eventually you will most likely be faced with the removal of one of your designs. Some Companies such as Cartoon Network are partnered with Redbubble and will allow designs of their shows to be made (you’ll ever get a “fan artist” badge on your profile)
These designs have to be preapproved by the respective partner which means that, while it does take longer for your designs to appear in searches, the market isn’t as saturated since people can’t just upload whatever junk they want. You’re also more likely to be featured by Redbubble.
There’s a list of partnerns on the redbubble website which you absolutely should check out, maybe something will spark your interest.
Some extra tips i have: Your main goal should be to appear high up in the search results. This is where the vast majority of sales will come from. Alternatively you can also try promoting yourself by linking your designs on websites such as Pinterest.
Bear in mind you’re not gonna be earning hundreds of bucks in your first month. It might take multiple weeks for you to get your first sale but that shouldn’t discourage you. It takes time to appear far up in the search results but once that happens you’re set.