I Uploaded 700+ Designs to Redbubble—Here’s What Happened
Last October, I set a pretty big goal for my Redbubble shop: I wanted to 10x my income by significantly boosting my product listings.
Back then, I had just 70 designs, and I ambitiously aimed for 1,000. Fast forward a year, and I’ve reached a total of 752 designs.
Read original article where I set that goal here: My Redbubble Income Report – 2019-2023
However, over the past 15 months, my income hasn’t really budged.
Out of those 682 new listings, only eight have made consistent sales, which was quite eye-opening.
It’s clear to me there are several factors at play: the current economic situation, the saturation from many designers flooding the marketplace, and the time it naturally takes for listings to gain momentum in such a crowded marketplace.
Not to mention, by setting such a big goal for myself, I ended up sacrificing some quality for quantity.
I know that the idea of uploading a design and quickly seeing sales is quite unrealistic, and this experiment proved it.
For the first few months, I saw no sales at all from the new listings. It’s only recently that they’ve started to gain any traction. It seems like it can take a considerable amount of time for listings to gain momentum.
Once a design sells once, it’s more likely to sell again, but getting that first sale is the real challenge. Patience is key, and I’m curious to see how many more of those listings will start to sell over the next year or two.
Moving forward, I plan to focus on marketing my existing designs on Pinterest.
I don’t see myself adding new designs to the platform, I have enough listings that I will have plenty of marketing materials.
While Redbubble isn’t my main platform, I’m hopeful that with some effort on Pinterest, I’ll see some bigger growth over the next 1-2 years.
I’m also hoping that by putting more effort into marketing that Redbubble will bump me out of the standard tier account so that I don’t end up paying half of my earnings to the platform anymore.
It’s about working smarter, not harder, and not overcommitting myself.
The Key Takeaways:
- Patience is Crucial: Success on platforms like Redbubble doesn’t happen overnight; it can take months or even over a year for new listings to gain traction.
- Quality Over Quantity: While it’s tempting to aim for a high number of listings, maintaining quality is key. Setting realistic goals helps avoid burnout and ensures better design output.
- Market Saturation: With more designers joining platforms like Redbubble, it’s increasingly challenging to stand out.
- Economic Impact: External factors like economic shifts and changes in consumer behavior can significantly impact sales, and it’s important to account for these fluctuations as best we can.
- The Importance of Marketing: Beyond just uploading designs, incorporating a marketing strategy, like using Pinterest, can help boost visibility and sales over time.
– My Recommended Tools –
Below are my personal favorite tools that I use regularly in my POD business.
The below links are affiliate links meaning I may receive a small commission for anything purchased through these links at no extra cost to you.
Creative Fabrica – My favorite place to get graphics with a straightforward commercial license for print on demand use.
- Get Creative Fabrica’s All Access Free Trial for one week here ($9.00 a month after that.)
- Get Creative Fabrica’s Yearly All Access Subscription for $59.88 here.
Adobe Illustrator – I use Adobe Illustrator for at least half of my design creations. It’s pricey but so worth it when you choose to take the business seriously. Get a free trial to Adobe Illustrator here.
Graphics Tablet – My partner got me this exact tablet as a Christmas gift when I was just starting out with creating my own designs. It has served me well now for several years and it was a very low cost investment that made a big impact in my POD business.
Ergonomic Mouse – If you spend long hours at the computer like me I highly recommend investing in a good ergonomic mouse. Over the years, I have caused an injury in my hand/wrist from being at the computer so much, but my pain has gotten significantly better since getting this ergonomic mouse on Amazon.
Gel Memory Foam Keyboard Wrist Rest – I love this gel memory foam wrist rest. I actually have two sets, one for home and one for work, because it made such a difference in my arm pain from overuse. It’s super affordable and has helped a lot with wrist and arm pain, especially during long days at the computer. Highly recommend if you’re at a keyboard all day. Check it out here.
