Monday, August 17, 2009

Red Bubble - deep inside art



RedBubble isn't a simple microstock photos agency instead it is an open and inclusive website where you can share your art, photography and design with the world.
Anybody can join RedBubble, you don't need to be a referenced artist, and you're completely free to express; sharing your art in RedBubble will bring you encouragement and positive feedback on your work: RedBubble is a vibrant global community of people with creative interests and carefull to any new entry!
Over the last 2 years RedBubble has shipped 232,800 items of art! They take care of all the hassle. You only have to provide your digital file and they'll turn it into the finished product, deliver it to your customer and take care of any customer service problems.
You control the pricing of your work and decide how much you’d like to be paid (RedBubble doesn’t charge a commission but charges a simple base price).


Buy my art Buy my art Buy my art

How does it work?


For artists, it works like this:
  • you sign up to RedBubble (it’s free)
  • you upload your work
  • people view your work and comment on your writing/images/photographs
  • you can sell your work online (RedBubble handles manufacturing, shipping and payment for you)
  • you gain inspiration and motivation from the artists you meet as you get to know RedBubble

For everyone else, it works like this:
  • Browsing one of the largest art galleries on the web, you can find unique work that suits your interest.
  • When you find something you like, you can communicate directly with the artist.
  • Sign up for free to participate in groups and forums, and introduce yourself to people with similar interests.
  • Shop for wall prints, posters, designer t-shirts and greeting cards.
  • Encourage aspiring artists, and maybe even start creating work of your own


Buy my art Buy my art Buy my art


Selling & Pricing

RedBubble is an online art gallery that makes it easy to sell your art, photos, designs and illustrations as high-quality framed prints, mounted prints, greeting cards, posters, designer T-Shirts and more. Your information is secure and you can cancel any time.

RedBubble will…

  • manage credit card payments for you
  • provide high-quality manufacturing
  • take care of packaging and worldwide shipping
  • send you your earnings!

While you get to…

  • retain the copyright over your art work
  • set your own prices
  • decide which products to sell

RedBubble takes the risk and cost out of selling art. We collect the orders, deduct a base price for making products, and send your earnings to you.

You're totally in control: see when you make a sale, keep track of your earnings.

Start selling your art – sign up now. Buy my art

The growing range of products you can sell includes…

  • Framed Prints
  • Mounted & Laminated Prints
  • Greeting Cards & Post Cards
  • Posters
  • Designer T-Shirts

Unlike your typical art gallery, RedBubble does not charge their artists any fee to sell, or any commission on any of their sales. Instead, they simply set the base price of the product and let the artist set the retail value by adding their 'mark up'.

Approximate base prices are listed below (note that these base prices include VAT* when products are shipped to Europe and GST when products shipped to Australia):

Picture_4.png

*The VAT rate we use for the UK is 15% and for all shipments to continental Europe we use the relevant country VAT rate, but for simplicity we have used a VAT rate of 20% to display the Euro prices above.


As told before RedBubble lets you set the markup amount for your sales and assuming it's 50% Remember: you can also set it higher!) here you can find a resuming prices table:

Greeting Card

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
N/A €2.27 €1.14 €0.68 €4.09

Matted Print

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
N/A €16.25 €8.12 €4.88 €29.25

Laminated Print

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
Small €9.75 €4.88 €2.93 €17.55
Medium €16.25 €8.12 €4.88 €29.25
Large €31.20 €15.60 €9.36 €56.16

Mounted Print

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
Small €26.00 €13.00 €7.80 €46.80
Medium €35.75 €17.88 €10.72 €64.35
Large €48.75 €24.38 €14.62 €87.75

Canvas Print

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
Small €39.00 €19.50 €11.70 €70.20
Medium €52.00 €26.00 €15.60 €93.60
Large €71.50 €35.75 €21.45 €128.70
Xlarge €87.75 €43.88 €26.32 €157.95

Framed Print

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
Small €52.00 €26.00 €15.60 €93.60
Medium €65.00 €32.50 €19.50 €117.00
Large €87.75 €43.88 €26.32 €157.95

Poster

Size Base Price (ex VAT) Your Markup (50.0%) VAT (Approx.) Retail Price
Small €13.00 €6.50 €3.90 €23.40
Medium €22.75 €11.38 €6.83 €40.95
Large €32.50 €16.25 €9.75 €58.50


Get creative on redbubble.com


My personal impressions

Since I joined RedBubble I had the impression that this community has a great sense of the relevance of art. Basically everybody is free to join and to post their art work, but browsing groups and keyword related searches I can only find quality images, symptom of the presence of a strict self-regulation with the purpose to keep the level elevate.
Another importan issue is the presence of theme related groups, the same day I add my photos I also receive invitations to join related groups; I accepted of course and, once submitted my photos, I received comments and constructive criticism. This way it's easier to find people with your same subject passion and get/give advices on how to improve approach and method.
The focus is oriented on art and not on selling art, although rewards are considerable you feel like an artist trying to look for inspiration than a merchant trying to sell at best price.

Long life to RedBubble!!! Buy my art