Selling Your Art – Part VIII (Imagekind and Redbubble)
Recently were Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII in this art marketing series – this is all in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?” I have been getting some good feedback from various people that this is being helpful to them.
What a great question, Sue!! I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all! I am really looking forward to hearing from others too! We have already done an overview of offline selling (much more to be said about that!), online selling from a shop where you the seller ship directly to your customer, online selling from a shop where the site produces the merchandise and ships directly to the customer and an overviews of Etsy, 1000 Markets, CafePress and Zazzle.
Today we will focus on two online shops (Redbubble and Imagekind) where you the artist upload your images onto the shop site and then you choose which of their prints you want to offer. Then the shop itself (not you the artist) is the one who makes the print and ships it directly to the customer. Check back in Part III to refresh your memory of some of the pluses and minuses of this method of online selling if you like. I have 4 online shops currently where I put my paintings online and then sell it right there from that site. I will give you details about these two shops today - Redbubble and Imagekind. These are links directly to my shops – it is easy to go to the main pages from there. Some artists have other opinions and I hope you (they) will post about them in the comments!
This laminated print from my Redbubble Shop showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Ocean Dreams.  You can see that they also have room for the description to capture interest and details of what one is selling. (Refer to earlier posts if you want more on this.)
Ocean Dreams – Redbubble Print © Diane Clancy
This framed print from my Imagekind Shop showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Reflections in Blue I.  Again they have room for the description to capture interest and details of what one is selling. This is just one example.
Reflections in Blue I Imagekind – Framed Print © Diane Clancy
Imagekind and Redbubble are very different in one way from CafePress and Zazzle. With CafePress and Zazzle one can put one’s paintings on a large variety of merchandise. With Redbubble and Imagekind one can sell a variety of prints (both also offer cards and Redbubble offers t-shirts).
With both Imagekind and Redbubble, the size file that you upload of your painting, determines what you can sell to your customers. This is very different from the other 2 shops. Each shop gives the specifications for each of the sizes of their prints. If one uploads the largest size. then all the variations are automatically available – IF you choose to let them be available. This is a great ease compared to CafePress and Zazzle – it is lovely to load ONE variation for each painting, and then the sizes are automatically adjusted by the shop. Also it makes the naming easy – all one needs to do is name each image one has uploaded. So there is some real simplicity in these shops.
It is simpler in many ways – but also the choices are limited as to the type of item that is offered. Imagekind has loads and loads of types of frames, mats and papers to customize your prints. Redbubble gives choices of sizes from a greeting card up to a poster – with various finishings. Upload the image you want and then you can write a description (as in Etsy, 1000 Markets, CafePress and Zazzle) and also put in tags. Tags are important – tags are what allow someone to find your work out of all the 100,000’s of pieces that are there.
Then you can set your price. These kinds of PRINT ON DEMAND shops generally have a base price that you would pay if you bought your own work. Then you set a price increase to add to the price so that you make something when someone buys your work.  This is where you make your money from this type of online selling. Of course, you will want to strike a balance … more profit per item vs more affordable so PERHAPS more people will buy it.
You have a shop and you can customize your shop – at least to some degree. If you have a paid membership at Imagekind (I don’t), then you can have multiple galleries. At Imagekind one can have fans and be a fan to other galleries.  At Redbubble you can have a watchlist and be on other people’s watchlists.
There is are communities where you can interact with other people – I have not explored this at all. I am sure (as everywhere else) that the more you connect with others, the more sales you make.
Sales – this brings us to a part some people don’t like. When you sell your work at Etsy or 1000 Markets, you get paid directly, right away (usually), by the buyer. Besides developing a relationship, you also get the money. When selling from Imagekind and Redbubble (or other on demand shops) you get paid either once a year or when a certain amount of money accumulates. So you don’t see the money quickly unless you are a very high volume seller. This doesn’t bother me because I feel like it is money in the bank – but some people do not like this. It is part of the package though. So far I have sold one print at Imagekind and nothing at Redbubble … but I have not marketed them as well as I could.
As with ALL these different types of shops … one needs to market your own shop – and I need to do a lot more of that!
I have a shop at CafePress where I sell tiles, mugs, journals, bags and more. I also have a shop at Zazzle where I sell postage, mugs, cards, postcards and more. Many people love both of there shops. Imagekind is wonderful for creating prints on a great variety of papers and Redbubble has a great variety prints and t-shirts.
I am hoping Christopher will share about templates at Zazzle – I don’t know about them and he thinks they are great. I would LOVE to know more about them!
I recommend both CafePress and Zazzle as the best for me so far. I welcome hearing from others what your experiences and thoughts are!! We may differ for sure! I hope that we can help each other know the strengths of each shop. Please feel free to ask questions to get more information – I am glad to share what I can and so are others! … thanks for coming by!!
Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, Â Reflections in Blue I, Ocean Dreams, Etsy, 1000 Markets, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe, marketing, CafePress, Zazzle, Redbubble, Imagekind, merchandise, prints, print on demand
There were comments at Facebook:
Zan Barrage wrote: Intersting thread you have going here. I wonder if merchandising your art this way adds or detracts from it.
Anne Pomeroy Dixon wrote: I think that any time and any way you can spread beauty and the joy and creativity that emanates from same it is a good thing.
Zan Barrage wrote: I hear you Anne. I think your opinion is valid, but I question the means of spreading the beauty and joy. Ultimately these sites are selling cheap mugs and mouse pads (their inventory). They couldn’t care less about your art as long as you buy a few mugs, or sell a couple if you manage to swing a few people to their site.
Well… at least that is what I think 😉
Diane Clancy wrote: Zan, I sure understand what you are saying .. but also my goal is to spread beauty, joy and love – and I sure hope I am doing it this way!
Sue O’Kieffe wrote: i think its about striking a balance, getting your work available to the people, hopefully having multiple streams of income and maybe a little fun. this has been a great series, diane, and certainly exceeded my original vague expectation of how you might respond. thanks again for the time you invested in this series for all of us who are just tryin’ to figger it out.
Diane Clancy wrote: Sue – that is so true!! Balance – I am NOT into just giving my art away – as some people are – I need an income for sure! Multiple streams of income is something I do and am working to refine.
Thanks for asking about marketing … there will be a couple of more topics.
Zan Barrage wrote: I am sure you are Diane, and Sue I think you are right as well. It is also a matter of preference and one does have to keep in mind the marketing image one is sharing. All come in to play I think.
Diane Clancy wrote: I agree, Zan. If I were marketing myself as a super high end, originals only, painter – then I would be foolish perhaps to allow my work on mugs. But given all the digital work I do … given that some of my originals take 100 plus hours (so unlikely to get paid for the time) … then I like the idea of extra income from each image (hopefully).
Also, my work seems to be pretty accessible to many people – so many people seem to want to have it – that is different from some paintings whose work is more esoteric and not as readily appreciated. Also, my purpose is different from many painters … it is not just self-expression – I feel I have a mission to inspire others.
Thank you for all your comments!! ~ Diane
Zan Barrage wrote: Got you! And yes that makes a big difference. You have thought it through and made a balanced decision. I am not sure if everyone who is selling on these sites does the same. May I suggest a post on the thought process and purpose? I think that would be lovely.
Zan Barrage wrote: Got you! And yes that makes a big difference. You have thought it through and made a balanced decision. I am not sure if everyone who is selling on these sites does the same. May I suggest a post on the thought process and purpose? I think that would be lovely.
Diane Clancy wrote: Oh I like that idea about the post – I will make it part of this series … it is clear that I am thinking out loud to pull all the info together as I am writing these posts. Perhaps I can make a book out it at some point (be nice to get a stream of income there too) … smile.
Thank you!! ~ Diane
RedBubble recently changed the way they print their cards, laminated and mounted prints. The artwork now has a large white border around it, and, in my opinion, it looks very unprofessional. So, I’m considering leaving RedBubble.
I’m considering Zazzle, but have read some bad reviews about their print quality. The reviews I read were about t-shirts though, so I’m not sure if this applies to prints, cards, etc. too.
I’m also looking at (and you may want to too) LuLu.com. They allow you to publish books, photo books, and calendars. Your work would make an awesome coffee table book!!! I’m interested in the calendars and photo books, as I sell photography.
I also have a Zenfolio account (www.mistydawns.zenfolio.com). Have you researched Zenfolio or SmugMug? I realize that you have to pay for these sites, but I believe you pay for a few of your other sites too. Zenfolio offers countless products for my artwork to be put on for sale.
I realize our art is different, since I am a photographer, but I really like your site, so I’m bookmarking it. Thanks for taking the time to create such a great series of posts! (I apologize for the long comment)
I think you’ve been misinformed, Misty Dawn. Only RedBubble’s greeting cards have been changed. The border is only present on images that are out-of-ratio. It’s an attractive way to display the entire image, without losing any of it to cropping. (The ‘artist/title’ borders available on laminated and mounted prints is a different topic.)
As for Zazzle, it’s true their print quality can be inconsistent on non-paper items — though most non-artists I’ve spoken to are satisfied with their products.
But, when it comes to paper prioducts (posters, prints, cards, stamps, etc.) I believe Zazzle is the best of the best, and have used them for most of my printing needs since 2005. They offer a variety of fine-poster or archival-quality papers and canvas, and produce routinely vivid and gorgeous colors.
I’m always proud to exhibit or sell a Zazzle paper product and have exhibited them in venues from galleries to coffeeshops, sending them on to buyers, worldwide.
This is a great blog Diane – thank you for sharing all of the information. I wonder what your thoughts are (and those who have replied) on marketing, not the artwork itself but the artists’ website. I am considering some merchandise (hats, T-shirts, totes etc.) with my website logo – not images of my actual work to try to promote my website and bring people to it. Is that unprofessional for a serious artist – I recently saw an article which gave the impression that it is very unprofessional and would not attract those who want to purchase art from a professional artist. Curious what you all think on this topic?
By the way Diane – your work is beautiful, love the subject matter and color composition.