FTC Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.
How to Sell Art & Photography
Imagine waking up to find this upbeat sales notification in your email inbox:
Talk about encouraging!! I love the positive messages that Redbubble sends out to artists and photographers when one of their creations has sold.
You could, in no time at all, start receiving your own Redbubble emails with good news like this. So then, how does Redbubble work?
Hobbies That Can Earn Money in Retirement
If you have now left the workplace behind, you are quite likely enjoying the additional time available to spend on your hobbies. Special interest hobbies can provide additional structure to your week. There are so many interesting things you can do when retired and thus have the time.
You might also be looking for a way to earn a side income.
Perhaps these 2 goals can be combined.
If one of your hobbies happens to be painting, drawing, photography, digital design or slogan writing, then you might be able to explore the idea of using your hobby to make some additional money in retirement.
But, when it comes to online vehicles for your art, you have probably already asked one of the following questions:
Where can I sell my art?
OR
Where can I sell my photography?
If you haven’t already started selling your artwork or photos, then a POD company could be just the vehicle you are looking for.
But I am jumping ahead of myself.
What exactly do I mean by a POD company?
Print On Demand Platforms
POD stands for Print On Demand. This simply means that when someone places an order for an item that features your design, then that item is manufactured, on a needs basis. Once there is demand, by way of a sale, your design is printed on the item which is then manufactured and shipped to the customer. Redbubble handles all of this for you.
One of the biggest advantages, with Print On Demand, is that there is no need to stockpile an inventory of items first. This fact alone makes the whole venture very cost expedient for the artist or the designer or the photographer.
Once you have joined a Print On Demand (POD) platform you can upload artwork or photography within minutes. You then get to choose which products suit your design best.
Are you creative? Check out RedBubble, where you can exhibit and sell your art to the world – for FREE! (affiliate link)
POD companies provide a creative platform for a wide range of artistic talent: illustrators, painters, designers, digital artists, slogan writers as well as photographers.
One big appeal of using a POD company is that a given design, if it proves popular, could sell time and time again.
I have found Redbubble to one of the easiest POD sites to work with.
How Does Redbubble Work for Sellers?
I originally became interested in Redbubble when a family member was looking to showcase his photography and hopefully make some sales.
He already had the creative tools he needed: a professional camera, well-honed photographic skills and Photoshop. He just needed a vehicle that would allow him to promote and hopefully sell his work. And Redbubble was that vehicle.
I was very taken by the ease with which I was able to create an account and set up a ‘shop’ for him on Redbubble. As a result, I decided to set up my own account.
And the good news is that it is free to join. There is no payment required to start selling on Redbubble. It is free for designers to set up an account and then upload artwork to preferred products.
Creating an Account on Redbubble
- Load the Redubble site: www. redbubble.com
- Click on the Sell Your Art page.
- Click Sign Up (top right corner).
- The next page will prompt for your details.
That’s it.
It’s fast and it is easy.
Now you have your very own ‘place’ on the Redbubble site. You are ready to be part of the Redbubble community of artists.
You can start to upload your creative designs or your photographs and choose which products you would like them to appear on.
From within your account, you can:
- Access Your Dashboard
- View Your Shop
- Add New Work
- Manage Your Portfolio
- View Sales History
- Enter payment details (PayPal or Bank Account)
- etc.
How Does the Redbubble Markup Work?
The artist is able to nominate a default commission or a specific commission for different products. This is referred to as the Artist’s Margin. However, the markup does add to the retail price so it pays to keep this in mind if thinking of setting higher-than-average markups.
Uploading Artwork to Redbubble
When you have created a design and it is ready to upload, you simply click on the Add New Work button and follow the prompts.
The next page allows you to resize & reposition your design as well as select your preferred colors where color choices exist.
You can decide which products are best suited to your particular design.
You might have funny designs with slogans that would look great on coffee mugs in particular, or on certain types of t-shirts. Photographers on the other hand, might choose framed prints or posters or tapestries to display their work.
But the sky is the limit, or at least it feels that way, with respect to the choices offered by Redbubble. Artists can upload their designs to backpacks, t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, greeting cards, stickers and so much more.
You will need to give your design a title, provide a description and then list some relevant tags. The tags are especially important because they represent keywords that allow your design to be found when a customer makes a search.
Once you click Publish your artwork or photography is then available on products for customers to purchase.
You are now a Redbubble artist.
Making that first sale can be one of the most exciting moments for an artist. It means that someone has been so impressed with your artwork that they have decided to take out their credit card and make a purchase.
What a stamp of approval!
Google Shopping Ads
Once your designs are live on the Redbubble site they can be found via the in-site search.
But in addition, I love the fact that well-tagged designs (searchable) can also show up in Google’s shopping list.
Tools for Artists in the Redbubble Community
From your Account Settings, you can access Artist Tools.
You can find lots of useful links here such as:
- Product Pricing – set your markup
- Sales History – This will be one of your favourite links, especially once you start to make a few sales.
- A way to share your work
- Your activity feed
- Other Links – The other links are fairly self-explanatory which you can explore at your leisure.
How Does the Redbubble Affiliate Program Work
If you have a blog or a website but are not sure how to best monetise it then you could use it to showcase your own designs. Your readers can click through to the Redbubble site and thus purchase your artwork available on a variety of gift items and apparel. This is a great way to add additional interest to a niche site.
However, you might also like to join the Redbubble Affiliate Program.
If you run out of ideas for t-shirt designs of your own, then the affiliate program allows you to make affiliate commissions from promoting the work of other designers.
Some Not So Trivial Trivia
As an artist, the background of a particular POD company might be of little interest. However, the following is worthy of note. Redbubble is a company that is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. You can search for it by entering ASX:RBL.
Needless to say, stock markets have had a rather choppy ride in 2020, especially during the 1st quarter, reflecting all that has happened throughout the world.
However, looking at the chart below, it could be said that from April to August, Redbubble has enjoyed an impressive rise in their share market price.
I would imagine that this would instill confidence in Redbubble as a Print On Demand company to join.
Revisiting the Question How Does Redbubble Work
With respect to the question ‘How does Redbubble work?’ I should point out that this site has something for everyone: buyers as well as sellers.
Redbubble is an ideal site for buyers as well as sellers. I especially like how products are showcased on the site. For example, customers can easily imagine how a throw pillow might look because it is displayed in a home setting.
If you are looking for gift ideas you can find a huge range of categories such as:
- Clothing
- Stickers
- Masks
- Phone Cases
- Wall Art
- Home & Living
- Clothing for Kids
- Accessories
- Stationery
- General Give Giving Ideas
On the other hand, you might simply be wanting to showcase your designs. But as you can see from this post, a POD company allows you to do that and so much more. You can be rewarded when someone decides to pay for one of the products featuring your design.
If one of your hobbies happens to be illustrating or painting of taking photographs etc. then I hope you try out the sellers’ option at Redbubble. I’m sure you will enjoy it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
