Redbubble vs Etsy (How do they compare in 2024?)

So, you’re an artist with a burning desire to share your creativity with the world and make some money from your talent. Fantastic! The world of print-on-demand (POD) marketplaces offers a fantastic opportunity to do just that, with Redbubble and Etsy being two of the most popular platforms vying for your attention. But which one is right for you?

Both sites can help you turn your art into t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and a whole lot more. However, they offer very different approaches to selling, with their own sets of advantages, disadvantages, and even some potential pitfalls to watch out for.

This guide will delve into a comprehensive comparison of Redbubble vs Etsy, providing you with the knowledge you need to make an informed decision. We’ll explore the pros and cons of each platform, examine user experiences and concerns, and equip you with a clear framework to determine which marketplace aligns best with your goals and creative vision.

Understanding Redbubble

What is Redbubble?

Redbubble is an online marketplace that empowers independent artists to sell their work on a vast range of print-on-demand products. The beauty of this model lies in its simplicity: you, the artist, upload your designs, and Redbubble takes care of the rest—production, fulfillment, shipping, customer service, and even payment processing.

Redbubble boasts a global community of over 800,000 artists, connecting them with millions of customers worldwide. This offers immense potential for exposure and reaching a wide audience, but it also means that competition can be fierce.

How Does Redbubble Work?

Getting started on Redbubble is a breeze. Here’s how it works:

1. Create an Account: Sign up with your email, name, and address, and set up your payment information.
2. Upload Designs: Upload your artwork in PNG or JPG format. Ensure your designs are high-resolution and meet Redbubble’s content guidelines.
3. Choose Products: Select from Redbubble’s catalog of over 80 products, including apparel, home decor, stickers, phone cases, and more. You can easily enable or disable products for each design.
4. Set Profit Margins: Redbubble provides a base price for each product, covering production and service costs. Set your desired profit margin by adding a percentage markup on this base price.
5. Let Redbubble Handle the Rest: Once a customer purchases a product with your design, Redbubble automatically handles printing, packaging, shipping, customer service, and payment to you.

Pros of Redbubble

• Huge Organic Traffic: Redbubble has a large, built-in audience, offering significant potential for organic reach.
• Free Account: Creating an account and starting your shop on Redbubble is completely free.
• Passive Income Potential: The POD model requires minimal effort from sellers once designs are uploaded, making it a potential source of passive income.
• Prime Shipping (Amazon Merch): Amazon Merch on Demand, a specific program within Redbubble, offers the benefit of Prime shipping for your products, potentially attracting more customers.

Cons of Redbubble

• Outdated Interface: Redbubble’s interface has been criticized for being outdated and clunky, making it less user-friendly than some competitors.
• Terrible Seller Support: User reviews consistently highlight Redbubble’s poor seller support, with many experiencing difficulties getting help with issues or questions.
• Strict Policies: Redbubble has strict content guidelines and policies that can result in design rejections.
• Tier System: Redbubble’s tier system limits design uploads for new sellers, making it harder to gain traction and achieve significant sales early on. This system favors established sellers with larger portfolios.
• Rampant Design Copying: A major concern for many Redbubble sellers is the prevalence of design copying and intellectual property theft, often with little recourse from the platform.

Concerns and User Opinions (Redbubble)

A common sentiment among Redbubble users is that the platform’s profitability has declined in recent years, with market saturation and increased competition being contributing factors. Many artists report significantly lower earnings compared to past years.

Additionally, there are concerns about the difficulty in building a long-lasting brand on Redbubble due to limited customization and branding options. Sellers are essentially relying on their designs alone to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Another issue is the lack of quality control, with reports of low-quality printing and products leading to customer returns and refunds. This erodes profit margins and can harm a seller’s reputation on the platform.

Understanding Etsy

What is Etsy?

Etsy stands apart from Redbubble with its focus on handmade, vintage, and custom-made items. Instead of being a print-on-demand platform, Etsy acts as a marketplace where independent creators and artisans can set up their own virtual storefronts. Think of it as a bustling online craft fair with a global reach.

Etsy connects millions of buyers with over 7 million sellers, making it a powerhouse in the e-commerce world. This massive scale translates to a vast potential customer base, but also brings with it a high level of competition.

How Does Etsy Work?

Setting up shop on Etsy is a more involved process than on Redbubble, but offers a greater degree of control and personalization:

1. Create a Seller Account: Sign up for a free Etsy account and choose a unique shop name.
2. Set up Your Storefront: Create a visually appealing and informative storefront, showcasing your brand and products. Add shop policies, payment information, and shipping details.
3. Create Product Listings: For each product, you’ll need to provide a detailed description, high-quality photos, pricing, shipping costs, and options for variations (sizes, colors, etc.).
4. Manage Production & Fulfillment: Etsy sellers are responsible for creating or sourcing their products, managing inventory, and handling order fulfillment.
5. Handle Customer Service: You’ll be directly interacting with customers, answering questions, resolving issues, and managing returns and refunds.
6. Process Payments: Etsy Payments provides a secure platform for payment processing, offering various options to buyers. You can choose your payout frequency.

Pros of Etsy

• Higher Profit Potential: Etsy’s flexible pricing structure and control over fulfillment allow for potentially higher profit margins compared to Redbubble.
• Branding Opportunities: Etsy provides more freedom for sellers to brand their shops and products, creating a unique and recognizable identity.
• Personalized Shop Experience: You can personalize your Etsy storefront to reflect your brand’s aesthetic and values, building a stronger connection with customers.
• Strong Sense of Community: Etsy fosters a vibrant community of artists and makers, providing opportunities for collaboration, support, and networking.

Cons of Etsy

• Fees & Pricing Structure: Etsy charges listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees, impacting your overall profitability.
• Higher Competition: Etsy’s immense popularity means you’ll be competing with millions of other sellers. Effective marketing and SEO are crucial to stand out.
• Greater Workload for Sellers: Unlike Redbubble’s hands-off approach, Etsy sellers are responsible for managing all aspects of their business, including production, shipping, and customer service.
• Account Bans: Etsy has been known to suspend or ban accounts, sometimes without clear explanations. This can be a concern, especially for new sellers.

Concerns and User Opinions (Etsy)

While many Etsy sellers find the platform rewarding, it’s essential to be aware of the challenges. The more demanding nature of Etsy requires dedication and a willingness to invest time and effort in building a successful shop.

Effective SEO and marketing are crucial to compete on Etsy, and many sellers struggle with these aspects. Learning how to optimize product listings, use relevant keywords, and promote your shop on social media is essential.

Additionally, meeting customer expectations on Etsy can be demanding. Buyers often seek unique, handcrafted items and expect personalized service. Handling complex customization requests and maintaining high quality standards can be a challenge.

Redbubble vs Etsy: A Detailed Side-by-Side Comparison

Let’s delve into a granular comparison of Redbubble vs. Etsy, examining the key differences that will influence your choice of platform:

1. Ease of Setup & Getting Started

• Redbubble: Redbubble boasts a remarkably simple and streamlined setup process. All you need is your basic information (name, email, address) and payment details. No need to create a product listing during signup—you can start uploading designs and setting up your shop at your own pace. This makes Redbubble particularly appealing to artists new to online selling or those seeking a quick and effortless way to get started.
• Etsy: Opening a shop on Etsy is slightly more involved. While the initial account creation is simple, you’ll be required to create your first product listing during the signup process. This requires navigating Etsy’s interface, understanding product listing details, and setting up shipping information. For first-time sellers, this can seem a bit daunting and might require referring to Etsy’s help resources or tutorials.

2. Audience & Reach

• Redbubble: While Redbubble boasts a global reach, its audience is significantly smaller than Etsy’s. Data from the past three months reveals around 23.7 million monthly visits to Redbubble, compared to Etsy’s staggering 503.3 million. This means that relying solely on organic traffic from Redbubble might not be enough to achieve significant sales. Artists on Redbubble will need to actively promote their work on social media and other channels to attract customers.
• Etsy: Etsy’s massive user base makes it a prime destination for artists seeking a larger potential customer pool. With over 95 million active buyers, the platform offers greater opportunities for organic reach and discoverability. However, this larger scale also translates to more intense competition.

3. Products & Selling Options

• Redbubble: Redbubble operates strictly on a print-on-demand model, meaning you’re limited to their pre-selected catalog of products. The upside is that adding new products to your Redbubble store is quick and easy—simply choose from the available options and adjust the design placement if needed. However, this convenience comes at the cost of flexibility. You can’t offer unique, handmade products or source items from other suppliers. Additionally, Redbubble’s branding and customization options are limited, making it harder to differentiate your shop and build a unique brand identity.
• Etsy: Etsy’s product range is far more extensive and versatile. The platform allows for handmade, vintage, and custom-made items, giving you the freedom to curate a truly unique shop that reflects your creative vision. You have full control over product creation, sourcing, and fulfillment, which can lead to higher profit margins but also requires more effort and responsibility on your part. Etsy empowers you to manage product visuals, pricing, shipping options, branding, and overall shop appearance, enabling a more personalized and distinctive customer experience.

4. Profit Margins & Fees

• Redbubble: Redbubble’s pricing model is simple: they set a base price for each product, covering production and fulfillment costs, and you add a markup percentage to determine your profit margin. The typical markup range is 15% to 20%, but you have the flexibility to adjust it as you see fit. However, higher markups can make your products less competitive. Redbubble doesn’t charge listing or transaction fees, making it seemingly attractive. However, the base prices are generally higher to accommodate their costs, which can lead to lower profit margins per sale compared to Etsy.
• Etsy: Etsy gives you complete control over your product pricing. However, you’ll need to factor in several fees:
  • Listing Fee: $0.20 per product listed.
  • Transaction Fee: 6.5% of the total sale amount (including shipping costs).
  • Payment Processing Fee: 3% of the sale amount plus $0.25.

On Etsy, you’re also responsible for production and shipping costs. While this initially seems more complicated, it gives you greater control over your expenses and profit margins. By carefully sourcing materials, optimizing production, and offering competitive shipping options, you can potentially achieve higher profits than on Redbubble.

5. Payment Methods & Payout

• Redbubble: Redbubble pays out earnings monthly, either through PayPal or direct deposit. However, direct deposit is limited to bank accounts in Australia, the U.S., and the U.K. There’s a minimum payout threshold of $20.
• Etsy: Etsy uses its own payment processing system, Etsy Payments, which provides a secure and streamlined experience for both buyers and sellers. Etsy Payments offers a wide range of payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, Etsy Gift Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. You can choose to receive your payouts daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly, as long as you meet the minimum payout threshold for your chosen frequency.

6. Customer Service & Returns

• Redbubble: Redbubble takes full responsibility for handling customer service inquiries and managing returns and refunds. This is a major advantage for artists who prefer to focus solely on the creative aspects of their business and avoid the potential headaches of dealing with customer issues directly. However, this hands-off approach also means you have less control over how customer interactions are handled and fewer opportunities to build personal relationships with buyers.
• Etsy: Etsy’s approach to customer service places more responsibility on the seller. You’ll be the primary point of contact for customers, answering questions, resolving complaints, and processing returns and refunds. While this can be more demanding, it allows you to provide personalized service, address issues promptly, and cultivate stronger customer relationships, which can lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.

7. Integrations & Tools

• Redbubble: Redbubble offers limited integration options with external tools and services. This means you’ll largely be working within the confines of Redbubble’s platform and may have to rely on manual processes for tasks like marketing, SEO, and inventory management.
• Etsy: Etsy boasts a comprehensive ecosystem of integrations with various third-party tools and services designed to streamline your business operations and enhance your shop’s performance. These integrations cover a wide range of functions, including:
  • Marketing & SEO: Tools to help you optimize your product listings for search engines, manage social media promotion, and run advertising campaigns.
  • Inventory Management: Software to track your inventory levels, automate order fulfillment, and manage your product variations.
  • Print-on-Demand Services: Integrations with POD services like Printful allow you to expand your product offerings beyond Etsy’s traditional handmade and vintage items, giving you more flexibility and access to a wider customer base.

This robust integration ecosystem empowers Etsy sellers to create more efficient workflows, improve their marketing effectiveness, and scale their businesses with greater ease.

Redbubble vs Etsy: Which is Right for You?

Now for the million-dollar question—which platform should you choose? The answer, as always, depends on your individual goals, priorities, and resources.

Choose Redbubble if:

• You want a low-effort, passive income stream from your art.
• You’re comfortable with lower profit margins and don’t want to manage fulfillment or customer service.
• You’re new to online selling and prefer a platform with a simple setup process.
• You primarily focus on graphic design and are happy with Redbubble’s pre-selected POD product catalog.

Red Flags (Redbubble):

• Declining profitability for many sellers.
• Rampant design copying and potential for intellectual property theft.
• Limited control over branding and shop customization.
• Poor seller support experiences.
• Tier system can stifle growth for new sellers.

Choose Etsy if:

• You’re ready to invest time and effort in building a sustainable, branded business.
• You want more control over product creation, pricing, branding, and customer relationships.
• You’re comfortable managing fulfillment and customer service.
• You have a unique product or craft and want the flexibility to offer a wider range of items.

Red Flags (Etsy):

• Fees and pricing structure can impact profit margins.
• High competition requires effective marketing and SEO to succeed.
• Account bans can be a concern, especially for new shops.
• Greater workload and responsibility for sellers.

Alternatives to Redbubble and Etsy

If you’re exploring other options, here are a few alternatives to consider:

• Print-on-Demand Marketplaces: Society6, Teepublic, Zazzle, and Teespring offer similar POD models to Redbubble, each with its own product catalog, pricing structure, and policies.
• Ecommerce Platforms: Shopify and WooCommerce allow you to build your own fully customized online store, giving you complete control over your brand and website.
• Handmade Marketplaces: Amazon Handmade is a section within Amazon dedicated to handmade goods, providing a large audience but with stricter seller requirements.

FAQs

What's the deal with Redbubble's tier system?

Redbubble implemented a tier system in 2023 to reward established sellers, encourage original designs, and combat design copying. The system categorizes sellers into different tiers based on their sales volume and performance. Lower tiers have limitations on design uploads, making it harder for new sellers to gain visibility and build a large portfolio. Higher tiers offer benefits like increased upload limits and access to promotional features. While the system aims to improve the marketplace's overall quality, it can create a barrier to entry for new artists.

Has Redbubble's profitability really declined?

Many long-time Redbubble sellers report a noticeable decline in their earnings over the past few years. This decline is often attributed to market saturation, increased competition from new sellers, and potentially changes in Redbubble's algorithms or promotion strategies. While it's still possible to make money on Redbubble, it's crucial to be aware of the competitive landscape and to actively promote your work to stand out.

Can you promote your Redbubble store on Etsy?

While Etsy does not allow direct promotion of external websites, you can mention that you sell designs on other platforms. Avoid directly linking to your Redbubble shop in your Etsy listings or shop description.

Is it true that Etsy bans accounts randomly?

Etsy has faced criticism for suspending or banning seller accounts, sometimes without clear or sufficient explanations. While not entirely random, the perception of arbitrary account closures stems from Etsy's stringent policies, complex algorithms, and sometimes opaque communication with sellers. New shops, in particular, seem more vulnerable to bans, especially if they are flagged for potential policy violations or if their sales activity triggers suspicion. It's essential to carefully review Etsy's seller policies and to be responsive to any communication from the platform.

Can I get banned on Etsy for using a POD service like Printful?

No, using a POD service like Printful to fulfill orders on Etsy is perfectly acceptable. Etsy’s policies allow for this, as long as you clearly disclose your partnership with a production partner and comply with their terms of service.

Conclusion

In the dynamic world of online art selling, both Redbubble and Etsy offer pathways to turn your creative passion into a profitable venture. The choice between these two platforms ultimately comes down to your individual goals, preferences, and the level of effort you’re willing to invest.

Redbubble presents a convenient, hands-off approach with the potential for passive income. However, it’s essential to be mindful of the lower profit margins, increased competition, and the challenges of building a distinct brand.

Etsy, on the other hand, empowers you with greater control, higher profit potential, and the opportunity to cultivate a loyal customer base. But this comes with a higher workload, the need for effective marketing, and the responsibility of managing all aspects of your business.

The key is to carefully consider your priorities, weigh the pros and cons, and even experiment with both platforms to discover the best fit for your creative journey. The most important factor, however, is you—your dedication, creativity, and willingness to learn and adapt will determine your success, regardless of the platform you choose.

Have you tried selling your art on Redbubble or Etsy? What have your experiences been? We’d love to hear your insights and any tips you have for fellow artists! Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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