Abby B. Wondering how to be successful on Redbubble? Been uploading your designs but not making any sales? Here are 11 practical tips you should implement for your shop.
I made my first sale on Redbubble within a month of signing up and it was totally unexpected. It’s because I have no prior experience in designing nor print on demand so how was it even possible. The sale came up to $13! Maybe it was luck or maybe it was fate but here are some things I would do if I was new to Redbubble like you.
In this article, I’ll be sharing the best tips you can find around when it comes to how to be successful on Redbubble.
*This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link!
What Sells Best On Redbubble?
Stickers, tote bags and t-shirts sell best on Redbubble compared to other products. However, you should not limit yourself to only selling these three things as other products are getting more traction today. Increasing product choices would also improve your overall sales and profitability.
How To Get First Sale On Redbubble?
Getting your first sale on Redbubble can take days, weeks or months. Some things to implement to get first sale on Redbubble are uploading designs consistently, optimizing your listings for search engines and sharing products to social media for greater exposure. These practices keep your shop active for more traffic.
How To Be Successful On Redbubble
1. Stick to a niche you’re good at or passionate in
One of the main things I highly recommend when it comes to blogging or print on demand is to pick a niche and stick to it. Ideally, your whole shop should cover one main niche so avoid trying to sell all kinds of designs in one shop. If you chose flowers as the niche, then stick to that and don’t make any designs on monkeys. This way your targeted audience will see a more cohesive shop – if they like one design, there’s a high chance they will like others.
Sticking to one or two main niches can increase your overall basket size. Get to know some of the popular print on demand niches on Etsy (you can implement on Redbubble).
2. Create trending designs within the chosen niche
If you’re already sticking to a main niche, good job to you! It’s time to know what designs are trending in that niche of yours. Keeping up with trends can be great for your shop as an up to date customer may be searching for more than one trending design. They should totally buy from your shop if you have everything trendy!
Some ways to know what’s trending is to do an easy search on Etsy, research using Google Trends or see trending designs on marketplaces like Creative Market. Social media like TikTok is also a great place to see what’s new – put in a keyword into the search bar.
The above shows some great floral designs for summer! I would totally get these three as a pack if sold together. Your designs may not work all year round and that’s totally okay.
3. Upload designs every day or every week
So this might be an overrated advice but there’s no secret that you should be uploading these trending designs almost on a daily basis. If that sounds too much to you, consider a weekly basis. Marketplaces like Redbubble run on algorithms and obviously would promote shops that are active on their site. Uploading at least three designs each day for the next 365 days will get you over a thousand designs in one year’s time.
Who would promote an inactive shop? Also, there’s higher chances of making consistent sales when you have 1000 listings!
4. Sell all types of products Redbubble offers
Stickers, tote bags and phone cases might be the in thing for the younger generation. But you’ll never know who would make a purchase from your shop, plus everyone’s getting savvier with tech. Unlike other POD sites, Redbubble makes it super easy for you to upload a design to multiple products at once – it’s just a click away. Did you know my first sale on Redbubble were three cushion covers?
So what’s stopping you from selling all types of products Redbubble offers? Only yourself!
5. Offer cross-niche designs on one product
If you’re bored and don’t want to make so many standalone designs, then consider offering cross-niche products. A cross-niche design would be a combination of two popular topics. It may take a little more time to make but you’ll attract two audiences this way with just one design. There’s also an unlimited number of designs you can make when combining two trending topics!
Here’s an example! If I like both coffee and taking naps, which will I purchase?
There’s a high chance I’ll pick the last design because I love coffee, animals and naps all together. Also, I’m not a mom yet! Regardless, the third black one does a good job too at cross-niching.
6. Optimize your listings for SEO
Maybe one of the first few things I did right was optimizing my listings for SEO. This includes the product title, description and tags. These details are taken into consideration when Redbubble categorizes your designs to match the ideal customer. It is also equally important for Google’s SEO as most Redbubble products are promoted on Google Shop.
What better way for Google to understand your design than by understanding the details you gave yourself?
Some tips to optimize your Redbubble listing for SEO:
- Use a long-tail product title that best represents your design
- Give at least two to three sentences in product description
- Include in description a story about the design, who it is for and what motivated you to make it
- Break down tags to single words and make combinations of more than two words, this way you’ll target everything
7. Maintain a lower margin in the beginning
While it may be enticing to change your profit margins on Redbubble, I would advise you to stick to the 20% standard. There’s a huge competition on Redbubble especially when almost all sellers are pricing their products at 20% profit margin. Selling anything higher on the same marketplace will make it less likely for you to make a sale as customers are quick to compare prices.
You’re free to set your own profit margins when selling with Printify or Printful as both are not a marketplace.
I know it sucks to be totally invested into something and not seeing results. Best believe that all things take some time to get traction and traffic, especially if you’re new. One of the easiest way to speed things up is by promoting the products yourself on other social media platforms.
Some social media ideas for you:
- Create a Pinterest business account just to promote your print on demand designs
- Generate interesting product mockups using Placeit
- Post mockup images or videos on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter or Facebook
- Interact on Twitter with your preferred target audience, create relevant interesting threads and include a link to your shop at the end of the thread
- Include a link to your Redbubble shop in each social media bio
Check out Redbubble’s article on self promotion with social media.
9. Add a link to your site and look professional
There’s a feature on Redbubble where you can add external links to your shop info. This is especially useful if you’re an artist looking to make a career out of designing for products. It creates opportunities for freelance work, online sales of your creative assets or simply exposure. If you’re a brand, it’s great to connect with your audience across multiple platforms and not rely on just one.
List of external links you can include on Redbubble:
- Tumblr
- Dribbble
- Behance
- Flickr
- Your own site or blog
Regardless which link you decide to include, customers will see that you’re a legit business or artist selling on Redbubble’s platform. In my experience, this creates greater trust when buying things online even on an established marketplace like Redbubble and your sales should improve with time.
10. Use paid advertisement for faster growth
Paid ads are not for everyone, I find it difficult myself in the beginning. It took time and some money to test and make my ads perfect – I hope they are. So if you’re just starting out, this is not the option for you. It also makes more sense to pay for traffic once your shop has a lot of designs to offer (at least 100 or 200).
I also recommend using Facebook ads for print on demand products instead of Google ads. There is a small fraction of search intent to make a purchase and most sales are abrupt. Google ads are only great when people actually type in the keyword in Google and search for it. I don’t believe this is the norm for a relatively cheap tote bag?
11. Realize it’s a side hustle
Not to disappoint but rarely do people make a full-time income selling on Redbubble. However, it is possible to earn a great income with print on demand and selling your designs online. To grow further, you’ll have to explore other ways of monetizing your designs. Consider selling them on multiple POD platforms like Printify, Printful, Zazzle or Society6.
If you’re selling a design on multiple platforms and on various products, it’s easier to scale and makes it faster to get your Return On Investment (ROI). Especially if it’s a design you purchased online.
I’ve listed some great ways to start making money with your digital art in another article. You definitely won’t get bored with these ideas!
How Can I Promote My Redbubble Store?
- Create a Pinterest business account and publish pins
- Share your shop URL to Facebook groups
- Interact on Twitter with your target audience
- Post videos on TikTok using the design, your creative process or mockup images
- Create an Instagram account to showcase your designs and include link in bio to your shop
- Build a digital artist resume on LinkedIn and place links to your numerous shops
- Use Facebook ads to bring traffic to your best selling design on Redbubble
- Join forums on Redbubble or print on demand
- Follow other stores on Redbubble
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question: How profitable is Redbubble?
Answer: Profitability on Redbubble depends on product margins and type of product sold. Setting a profit margin of 20% can get you anywhere from $0.43 to $54.76 per sale depending on type of product.
Question: Is it hard to make money on Redbubble?
Answer: Whether it is hard to make money on Redbubble or not depends on frequency of uploading designs, type of designs uploaded and if social media promotion is involved. Although selling on Redbubble cannot generate a full-time income, sellers are able to make sales consistently across months.
Question: How can I increase my Redbubble sales?
Answer: Sellers can increase Redbubble sales by making trendy designs, creating cross-niche products and optimizing listings for SEO. Consistently adding new designs on a daily or weekly basis brings more exposure to your shop and increases your chance of making a sale.
Bottom Line
I know you’re afraid because I was too! The only way to move forward is by taking a single step today towards your goal. Nothing comes free and without experimentation.
These are my best 11 tips on how to be successful on Redbubble:
- Stick to a niche you’re good at or passionate in
- Create trending designs within the chosen niche
- Upload designs every day or every week
- Sell all types of products Redbubble offers
- Offer cross-niche designs on one product
- Optimize your listings for SEO
- Maintain a lower margin in the beginning
- Share to social media for greater reach
- Add a link to your site and look professional
- Use paid advertisement for faster growth
- Realize it’s a side hustle
If you’re eager to start a side hustle but unsure if print on demand is for you, here are the top reasons why I believe it is the side hustle for almost anyone. Looking for something else instead? This is a great list of side hustles to explore for introverts.
Decided to pursue print on demand? Here are my best print on demand product guides for you to try!
- Tote bags for print on demand
- Tumblers for print on demand
- Phone cases for print on demand
- Posters for print on demand
- Leggings for print on demand
- Jewelry for print on demand
- Candles for print on demand
- Doormats for print on demand
- Hoodies for print on demand
- Pet products for print on demand
- Socks for print on demand
- Pajamas for print on demand
- Blankets for print on demand
- Baby clothes for print on demand
- Wrapping paper for print on demand
- Puzzles for print on demand
- Stickers for print on demand
- Athletic wear for print on demand
- Hats for print on demand
- Journals for print on demand
- Greeting cards for print on demand
- Mugs for print on demand
Photo by Mochammad Algi
