Frequently Asked Questions (locked)

How do I set up a RedBubble Account to sell my work?

The first step is to set up an account – which you can do via the signup link on the top right of every screen. An account will give you the ability to upload your work to RedBubble and make comments on other people’s work.

The next step is answer a few questions that enable your work to be made available for sale. These questions can be found at mybubble->account and include your payment preference, name, address and in some cases some tax information. The final step is acceptance of the RedBubble user agreement.

A short video tutorial of this process can be found here.

Create a RedBubble Account & Sell Your Art Video (AUS)

What stuff sells best and what can I do to sell more?

All sorts of work is selling well on RedBubble! There is no particular bias emerging towards any one genre or style – after all, art lovers are as diverse as the artists themselves. Sales have so far been split reasonably evenly between framed prints, mounted prints, laminated prints and designer t-shirts. Cards fly out the door.

To improve your chances of selling, we suggest you put only your best artwork on RedBubble – this makes your portfolio more eye-catching to potential buyers.

Other things that seem to help encourage sales are:

1. Be active in the RedBubble community, leaving supportive and insightful comments on other people’s artwork or journal entries or contributing to the forums
2. Promote your RedBubble page on your own website or blog. There are a range of logos you can use to do this, including redbubble logo, buy at redbubble, see my profile, and get creative. Alternatively, just use the good old fashioned text link…
3. Tell your friends or existing customers about your RedBubble profile. Use your unique URL to help them find it i.e. www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername

Also check out the Learning Center topic on “Selling on RedBubble” and the Selling Blog for more tips.

How long does it take for an order to be delivered?

From the date payment is received the expected delivery time is 10-15 business days, (2-3 weeks) or 5-10 business days with express shipping. This includes both manufacturing time and shipping time.

Can I change my username?

Sorry, we’re not supporting user name changes at the moment. Keeping the same user name helps people get to know you within the RedBubble community. It also means you have a permanent URL where people can visit you and your creative work with ease.

How do you make the wall art products?

The first step is to print the image on a Durst Theta (using Kodak Professional Photo Paper) from the original file uploaded by the artist. It’s then professionally checked, and only goes onto the next stage if it looks great. If it doesn’t, then it gets tweaked for color, density and sharpness. Only great looking prints will ever get beyond this stage. From here the print goes into one of three finishing processes.

Laminating – This is a two sided hot laminate process after which the print goes straight into packing for delivery. Here’s a couple of pictures from the buyers booth:

Mounting – The print is mounted onto a base material called ‘Gator’ board, we seriously love this stuff! It’s by the far the easiest way to put art on your walls – very light, very strong, doesn’t warp and doesn’t ding. Once the print is bonded to the gator, we gloss laminate the front surface, apply a black edging and add a hanger on the back. So you don’t forget what you’ve bought, there’s a sticker with the artists name and the title of the work also on the back. Then it’s packed in bubble wrap and into a box for delivery. Here’s a couple of pictures from the buyers booth:

Framing – These are the créme of the crop and look stunning in any environment. Each print is bonded to a foam core base, while the matte is cut on a big digital cutter and then sandwiched into the frame with super clear acrylic ‘glass’. We use conservation grade matte board which is acid free and pH buffered. The finished frame has a sticker on the back with the artists name and the title of the work. Wrapped in bubble-wrap and then packed in our custom boxes to make sure it gets there safe and sound. Here’s a couple of pictures from the buyers booth:

How do you make the cards?

All our mums asked for this product and it’s already a hot seller so get into your portfolio and tick the box to say, YEAH ! I wanna sell cards !

Printed on our Durst Theta, bonded to high quality 200 gsm card, creased and packed with an envelope ready to write on, give away or just admire. The card size is C6 folded (114mm by 162mm) or C5 when laid flat (229mm by 162mm).

User reviews of the cards are available here and here

And here’s a few photos from the buyers booth:

What Are Your Base Prices for Products?

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

Approximate base prices are listed below:

Greeting cards

Laminated Prints

Matted Prints

Posters

Mounted Prints

Canvas Prints

Framed Prints

T-Shirts

Calendars

What are RedBubble’s guidelines on content and behavior?

Content

RedBubble is a site for your best work – we’re not a photo-sharing site. A good rule of thumb is only upload the work that you’re proud of.

When it comes to the nature of the content we aim to allow the maximum possible artistic freedom on the site. But we do have boundaries. RedBubble is an open site – children can view all of the work on the site. This influences our thinking on what content is appropriate for RedBubble. The following guidelines apply:

1. No pornography or sexually explicit material is permissible. We understand that nudity is legitimate area for artistic expression but no images that could be construed as pornographic. For more detail on what we classify as pornography go here (post is NSFW).
2. We are conservative when it comes to images of children – so if you take photos of children any older than babes-in-arms then clothes on please.
3. No images depicting bestiality (human to animal sexual relations).
4. Be careful with images that have violent content. Anything that condones or promotes violence is not acceptable
5. Respect copyright. Only upload work that you own the copyright for or for which you have a license
6. We support freedom of expression but we will not allow works that promote hate or have malicious use of stereotypes intended to attack or demean a particular gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or nationality. We believe political and social commentary can be made without recourse to such material.
7. We are not Ebay, and so while you may sell original artworks this does not extend to sales of non-art related works or objects (eg software, furniture etc). High quality images of hand-crafted artistic objects (eg sculpture, original paintings) may be posted

Not Safe For Work Filter

We all want to feel safe when browsing on RedBubble. That means not stumbling across writing or images which are offensive or inappropriate for your workplace. We believe that while artists should be free to create, browsers should be free to look around without fear of their boss or nanna peering over their shoulder. The Not Safe For Work filter is for visual and written works which are within RedBubble’s content guidelines but may still unintentionally offend or cause someone trouble if viewed in their workplace. This includes works depicting nudity, horror, erotica, political statements or bad language. We have a team of staff and volunteer members who are able to apply the NSFW filter as they browse around RedBubble. But you can also report works as Not Safe For work by using the “report a concern” link found beside every image, journal and writing piece.


Behavior

1. We have a zero tolerance policy against personal attacks on people or groups. Debates and arguments are fine – but RedBubble has a policy of ‘play the ball and not the person’. Things should never get personal.
2. Stalking, harassing, baiting people for responses, intimidating behavior or character assassinations are not welcome on RedBubble. We expect members to play nice and be respectful of one another’s opinions and perspectives
3. If a situation becomes heated, try to avoid poking the fire (even with good intentions) and instead report the situation to administration.

Enforcement of these guidelines

Content that clearly breaches these guidelines will be immediately removed from RedBubble and depending on the nature of the content we may elect to warn, suspend or close the account of the person who posted the material. If there is ambiguity we generally give the artist the benefit of the doubt – and will often write to the artist to clarify any ambiguity.

Our response to behavior that is not consistent with these guidelines is generally to allow one ‘strike’. That is, a member will have their account suspended for one week and will be reminded of our guidelines on behavior and content. Any further breaches will result in the closure of their accounts. Note that because people can have multiple accounts on RedBubble we apply any decision to all accounts linked to the person in question.

For a full legal description of our Terms of Service on this matter see here.

Groups: How do I join or set up a group?

Groups are the villages within the RedBubble universe. They are organized around a subject, style or a social community on RedBubble.

To join a group you first need to become a member of RedBubble. You do this by clicking on “sign up” at the top of the page and following directions. To then join a group simply view the group you wish to join and click “join”

To form a group take some time to fill in this form. New groups can be created when 2 experienced members of RedBubble are enthusiastic about being hosts and nurturing a new group. If you are very new to RedBubble, we suggest participating in a few other groups and in the community to get a feel for things before applying to host a group.

1. make sure you have already spoken to the co-host you plan to nominate and are sure they will say yes. If they say no, or ignore the invitation, your application will fail
2. You must list a co-host who isn’t you, even if you plan to add another host later. You must have a co-host before applying.
3. If either host has been on RedBubble for under 3 months, we’ll be looking to see how involved they are in other groups and the community. Members often ask group hosts help questions so it’s good to understand the site before taking on a leadership position.
4. when filling out the form, ensure you give each host’s username which can be different from the name you see on their profile. To be sure, check in the internet address. eg. http://www.redbubble.com/people/ username

There are four rules to groups:
1) Only add work which relates to the description of the group
2) Abide by the group guidelines
3) Respect the hosts
4) Have fun!

How can I arrange my art items into categories?

Functionality to do this is coming….however, in the interim, you can do this by following the instructions in this journal entry

Have we answered your question?

If not check out the infrequently asked questions or leave your question in the Need Help – Post Questions Here forum. One way or another we’ll make sure your question is answered!

Is my art safe on the internet?

Define safe? If your artwork is visible on the internet, at any size, at any resolution, someone can take a screen shot of it and steal it. If they don’t know how to steal it, they can search for ways on the internet. If they are really keen they can just take a photo of their screen or do a screen dump. And even a low res copy of an image can be copied by a painter or illustrator. Basically, if your art can be seen, it can be stolen. I hate to burst your bubble but it’s true.

So how do I stop people from stealing my art?

If you want a 100% guarantee that your work will not be stolen, the best thing to do is never ever exhibit it anywhere. Never hang it in a gallery (people have mobile phone cameras), never give one as a gift or have one printed in a book or magazine (people have scanners), and never put it on the internet. The drawback is that nobody knows who you are, and nobody sees your work.

Ok, so that’s a bit drastic… How do I make it difficult for people to steal my artwork?

- only provide low resolution previews of your work
- watermark your work
- disable right clicking

Which of these does RedBubble do?

RedBubble only ever provides a low resolution preview of your work. It looks great on a computer screen but if you were to print one out, it would not be of a sellable quality, and enlarging it would only make the quality much worse.

Yes, someone could right click and save your artwork and pass it off as theirs on another website. Realistically, there is very very little anyone could do to stop this except deal with it on a case by case basis if and when it happens. And if it’s any consolation, they would not be able to produce quality prints from it to sell.

RedBubble also has the option for you to use a small or large watermarks on the larger preview of your work. This can be turned on in MyBubble >> Edit Your Profile >> Zoom View Watermark Preferences. There isn’t a watermark on the smaller image because we’ve found through analysis of data that it deters people from looking at and purchasing your work, because they are U.G.L.Y.

RedBubble is confident in these two measures to protect artwork online. All of the RedBubble team have work on display on redbubble.com – and we’re comfortable with these protective measures.

But… If you really really want to do something extra. You can also enable a transparent/clear “GIF” on your profile. What this means is that when someone tries to right click and save your work all they get is an empty file with no image. The downside to this is you will not be able to post your images in RedBubble forums or elsewhere around the site. If you want more exposure from your fellow artists, it’s best not to use this option.

Why won’t RedBubble disable Right Clicks?

Right clicking enables members to create image and text links on RedBubble. It is a good usability tool that allow people to link your work and give you exposure. Basically, we feel that to remove right clicking would cause more harm than good, especially since there are already other safety measures in place.
As Oscar Wilde said, ” The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”. If you were Leonardo Da Vinci and everywhere you looked, you saw the Mona Lisa, would you think, “These peasants are stealing my painting!” Or would you think, “Now the Gioconda Smile stretches over the world”?