People Like Art That’s On Things
Creating a Redbubble shop to sell my art
Although I’ve been making art for some time, it’s always been a side hustle. I’ve tried, and been fairly successful in the past, at selling products on Etsy, selling products in boutiques, and selling products in small, pop-up galleries. All of those marketplaces and avenues, however, take a lot of time to manage: packing, shipping, delivering, hanging, accounting, and keeping track of inventory are just some of the tasks required in such endeavors. Because I also work full-time as an English professor, which requires that the vast majority of my time be spent in service to the college and its various committees as well as to research in my field, many of my artistic side hustles have petered out over time. The amount of work was simply unsustainable.
But I still have ALL THIS ART, and I KEEP MAKING MORE ART! I can’t help myself.
Most recently I’ve been making one-of-a-kind watercolor postcards and sending them, one at a time, to friends and family. As time has gone on, I’ve gotten much more proficient in the medium, and when I post images on social media, a lot of folks want particular postcards. Making one-of-a-kind work, however, means that only one person can receive it, and sending them out as gifts has been financially stressful. The costs of supplies and postage were coming out of pocket without a way for me to replenish, so I started a Redbubble shop.
With a Redbubble shop, I just upload my properly sized artwork, make some smart decisions about describing my work and choosing products, and they do the printing and shipping for me. If multiple people want a particular product, they can order as many as they want.
Hints from a Redbubble Newbie
There was a bit of a learning curve for me when uploading my images and starting my shop, as there is with anything new. I’m honestly still quite a newbie, and there’s much more to learn, but I’m happy to share a few tips to help you get started (if you want to do so).
- Use the guides Redbubble has posted for sizes and dimensions. I’ve found the ratios for various products particularly helpful, especially since properly sizing my work prevents my signatures from being cut off.
- Order a few products for yourself to see how they look and feel. Ordering products helped me realize my ratios were a bit off for my postcards. Oops! On the other hand, I was pleased with the print quality, was thrilled my name and shop name were on each postcard, and I felt a bit more secure about my new shop.
- Don’t be afraid to disable products if you aren’t completely happy with the way your artwork looks on the product. You can always design work specifically for a particular product type when you feel ready for it.
- When you upload new work, share it on social media to let people know something that might tickle their fancy has been added. Redbubble does have several sharing tools.
- Use the tags to help shoppers find what they’re looking for, and use collections to help group like items.
- Redbubble doesn’t own your work after you upload, and they have tools for watermarking your designs to help prevent theft. You are free to use other sites to sell products, as well, like CafePress, Society6, Spoonflower, Zazzle, or Printful. (For now, I’m sticking to Redbubble, but I’d love to hear your experiences with other shops and POD sites).
Art makes people happy, and sharing it makes artists happy, but getting a return on our investments is necessary. Whether or not you do or do not decide to open a Redbubble shop right now, you can file this information away for when you might feel ready.
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The BEST job I ever had was as a bookkeeper and merchandiser in an independently owned art supply store in Athens, Georgia. My favorite task was to put together supply kits for new artists and art classes. That said, I’ve made a list! Interested in seeing my grown-up watercolor shopping list? The underlined text is an affiliate link to my Amazon Idea list for watercolor supplies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
