Redbubble Vs Society6

One thing I could possibly benefit from is using print-on-demand websites to sell my art prints - such as Society6, Redbubble, CafePress and Zazzle. There are others like BigCartel and Etsy that allow you to sell things, but they often ask for a subscription fee or you have to make/ship the items yourself. Though most people can't make a living off of them. they would be good for earning some money on the side and even a little bit of exposure (although there are much better ways out there to achieve that.

Using these sites means that if I want to sell prints, I don't have to go through the whole printing/shipping process which would consume a lot of time, energy and money; I could spend more time actually making things. There is then of course the drawback of commission, and those websites making more money off of your designs than you, but I don't mind that too much if it means that all I have to do is draw things, and people could buy my things.

So what site do I choose? Out of those four - arguably the most popular sites for selling your art - some work much better than others depending on the product. I have found a lot more people gunning for CafePress and Zazzle when it comes to selling T-Shirts, as opposed to RedBubble and Society6 for prints. I never really thought about trying to sell T-shirts, and though that could be a good product, my first concern is prints. That is my ideal way to show of my work, and is probably the most common art product bought with the sort of art I like/like to make, especially on tumblr which is where I expect to get most of my traffic from. Though RedBubble and Society6 both have search functions, I'm not expecting to be found or bought as much that way - people don't spend as much time on there as Tumblr, and I know how to utilise Tumblr tags to get more notice.

I have found a fair few contrasting arguments on which provides better quality, and since I have not yet bought something from either place, I don't know which is better on that front.

It was easier to find RedBubble's explanation on pricing, which was extremely helpful. I feel like I would probably leave the default settings on if I sold products here; I don't want to raise the margin and overprice my art, especially while there's still a lot of competition with artists with more experience and fame.

Print-wise, Society 6 was a bit more confusing in terms of profit;

It's easier to tell exactly how much you get for other products, but it is a little more vague; does it go off of percentages or amounts of money that you decide, and it doesn't really mention the other costs that aren't related to profit.

Both sites sell a lot of art like what I would sell, although according to some articles I found comparing them, Society6 is more likely to sell original art whereas RedBubble has a bigger audience in fanart and pop culture kind of things. I feel like, especially with the sort of art I post and the kind of followers I have on Tumblr, RedBubble may be a more popular place to buy prints from.

Both of these websites take time to pay you though; Society6 takes at least a month to pay you, whereas RedBubble doesn't pay you t all until you reach a certain threshold (although from what I have found on the Help page of the website, this only seems to be £13).  Both of these sites then will need constant sales to be profitable, although with the amount of money the sites take it, even then it won't be too profitable.

I still think that this is a very good way to get used to selling art, and making completely print-worthy art. I think that opening up a RedBubble would be a good idea, and if that gets a decent amount of sales, opening up a Society6 on top of that would be a good idea.