Selling unique designs online for artists
Platforms for independent artists
Redbubble and Teespring are pretty cool platforms designed for independent artists to sell their own unique designs and works of art online.
I actually stumbled across these names quite accidentally whilst searching Youtube videos. I thought the concept was great, so simple and easy to follow.
How it works
Redbubble provides a range of products that you can select to add your own creative designs to and sell online. The products you can choose vary from clothing, phone cases, ipad cases, accessories, stickers, wall art, home and living, masks, and the list goes on!
Teespring adopts a similar approach whereby you create and use your own unique designs on various physical and digital products like bags, pillows, t-shirts, hoodies, drinkware, digital calendars, loungewear, and much, much more!
It’s a great way for creators to sell their designs online and not have to worry about purchasing the product, printing the designs onto their products, handling the transactions, shipping and providing customer support.
There are amazing graphic design tools out there like Vistacreate (previously called Crello) that you can subscribe to and use to help you quickly create professional graphic designs.
As a creator you create your own unique designs, select the products you want to use them on, create your own shop or store and go live. You receive a certain percentage of the total sale as the creator of the design, which can be quite generous. It’s a great way to make extra money on the side and start developing your own brand.
Redbubble allows you to adjust the markup percentage (the percentage you make off of a sale) and the retail price is automatically adjusted. The default is set at 20%, however you can change this percentage if you wish. As an example, if the base price of a t-shirt is $50, you will make $10. The retail price will therefore be $50 + $10 = $60.
Teespring allows you to set the selling price and keep 100% of the profit. For instance, if the base price of a t-shirt is $20 and you set the selling price at $50, you keep $30 in profit.
Promoting
Self-promotion via marketing is necessary to promote your own designs. You can create blogs, posts on your website and use social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest to create ads to reach a wider targeted audience.
Redbubble and Teespring do offer promotions like bundle discounts, special discounts on some products based on monthly sales and vouchers to attract customers.
Restrictions
Be mindful that your designs must be original. If you are using designs that have already been created on other websites, you need to have permission to use them on products to sell online. Do your research and make sure you’re comfortable that you won’t encounter any copyright issues.
Also, be aware of sensitive issues like race, sex, religion, gender, violence and discrimination when you are creating your designs. Avoid creating designs that may offend people or that are destructive in nature. This may result in your work being suspended temporarily or permanently from public view or may even result in the closure of your account.
Conclusion
I’ve really enjoyed creating my own designs and selling them online. If you enjoy designing and creating and want to make some extra money, why not try it today?!
Also, check out our own unique designs on awesome quality products, available for sale now at:
