RedBubble

You do what you gotta do! =)

Rather have RB strong than to lose money and fall by the wayside like some others have. The increases are fair and justified. Thanks for sharing beforehand.

No prob! =)

weather the storm brave bubble! =]]

I remember when cards were base price of $2.50..gosh that seems like ages ago..

Thank you for the notice!

sounds good to me, you still get your money’s worth!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys – we love having you work so hard for us all. Keith

ouch, really sad when the outside world has to effect our redbubble world. actually i was going to ask is there not a way we can have a printer here in usa? this alone would help with postage, it is quite high coming from land down under.

Damn the Aussie dollar. I must say it makes selling stuff in the USA good though.
Better get a few more purchases in.

Appreciate the heads up too Peter

seems reasonable to me… I bought 2 shop greeting cards yesterday (I know, I know…. should’ve bought them here) and they cost nearly 5 dollars each…. and I think ours are better quality… so do what you have to do!!

Thank you, muchly, for the information.

Thanks for the heads up team! It’s just one of those things …. bubbles are meant to float (not sink!!)

Do what must be done.

In case anyone doesn’t know, the 24th is my birthday.

thx for the heads up….
it can’t have been an easy decision to make and I fully understand ;)
and thank you to the staff of red bubble, who i think work hard and long to make this place what it is :)

We ate spaghetti for dinner at my house two times last week.

The cards should make you a profit, I bought some cards the other day, and spent $14.99, on just 3.

Sign of the times, to be expected :))

THANKS FOR KEEPING THE PRICES DOWN FOR AS LONG AS YOU WERE ABLE TO IN THE FIRST PLACE. WITH EVERYTHING ELSE GOING UP, AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER, IT WIL AFFECT EVERY BUSINESS, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. THANKS AGAIN FOR DOING SUCH A FINE JOB AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. BOB

We all have to ensure our businesses stay viable, – can understand and appreciate the T-shirt price rise, however the price rise on mounted prints is incredible – over 36% increase on a large print in Aust (from A$55 to A$75)??? I found these a great low cost alternative to framed prints… unfortunately this large step rise has changed my view point.
Is there any variation happening on “Matted Print” prices – I don’t see them mentioned here.

hey thanks so much!! maybe that is something you guys can work on, in each country (which means RB expands big time) has their own printer set up, i think would help all around, less we pay in postage means more we can buy :) thanks for the heads up on that

I’m sad, but it only makes sense. Keep makin’ great products, and you’ll keep getting buyers! : )

Mac&cheese and PB&J’s in this house! LOL

@Helen Bascom. I had a can of cold baked beans for lunch.

@Darren, at least you had some lunch.

Thanks for the info

RB has some of the highest prices of any print on demand site, so any increase is going to be a big hit - i’ve had many people inmterested in items such as calendars untuil they heard the price - even the basic owner’s price of about $20 ius already twice that of the competution and there really isnt enough unique material here to demand a premium.

it’s a great site, but unless more is provided on the m arketing sidfe, it’s never going to take off - eg, it’s near impossible to actually find anything hwere due to the feeble search engine - you have to wade thru hundreds of items with no chance to refuine your search, you can search within a seller or even within a group, making groups useless for refining searches.

if this is meant to be a community social site, fine, but if it has real goals of being any sort of commerical site what’s needed is a update of the basic search abilities

steve

aww you poor babies, and who got trigger happy?

Worth every cent, regardless.
Way to go Bubble.

I’d rather pay more and keep RedBubble around than leave the prices as are and end up loosing RedBubble altogether!

At least you took the time to let us know what was happening@!

The cards are such good value, as everyone else has pointed out – there is nothing similar in quality in the marketplace, let alone at the price. Keep up the excellent work, we love you!

Do what you gotta do!

cheers for the notice – and i completely understand

Plus … just another thought: love the gaphs, but without an x or a y axis, they’re not very illuminating – anything you can do? (A mere quibble, I know, but I’m a purist….)

Wasn’t the idea of printing in America, (rather than locally in Australia) – to keep the prices down ??

Had to happen… but ouch!

if you gotta stay afloat its sometimes worth removing some ballast.
:)

Au$3.50 for a card wholesale?? No thanks.
If they do cost that much in production that process should be revised.
I don’t sell any cards of my artwork because the mark-up results in a retail price which I can not justify.
Just my two cents. :-)

Thanks for the advanced notice.

Hmmmm. I would be making nothing for my designs then.. They are way to high now. Moving on to another site after the holiday.. I am tired of people using my designs and making all the money

Not unexpected. It would certainly help us Aussies – in terms of delivery for example – if more processes were in Australia. But no doubt this is something being considered and weighed up.

I suppose it’s a sign of the times but where I live there is 87000 people out of work right now,.figure that one!!! the people are going to buy at local supermarkets to enable them to send a card to all on their list ..I have to say I do not know of one person that would pay the amount you are asking,,maybe a year ago but now I just don’t know..good luck!! I hope it works!!

In the current world-wide economic situation, I do not believe that prices should increase.
Costs everywhere are being reduced, not increased.

A little higher price is better than lower quality.

thanks for the notice, and all that you do, our community here is the best i have been a part of, support us and keep us going in the fashion we have grown accustomed to :O))

I can’t think a “weathering the storm” or “staying afloat” analogy that hasn’t been used already. Thanks for trying to take care of us.

I am sure you are doing your best for every one. Thanks for the warning. The whole world is on its knees you have to do what you have to do. Tom

We are all having to deal with rising prices. Thanks for keeping prices low when you could, I hope it has payed off in volume and word of mouth reputatation. The way I’ve seen RedBubble grow since I’ve been here, it seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. We all have an interest in seeing RB’s continued success!

I worked as an assistant to framing buyers for a big box retail company in the U.S. Bienfng Framing Products# distributed through Elmer’s Framing Division hands down has some of the best mounting boards available as far as quality. We switched to Gillman Brother’s for the price. I know you’ve probably done your homework, but I just thought I’d mention them in case you haven’t heard of them. Both companies can be negotiated with for volume sales.

I love RedBubble and your products! I appreciate the way you work to keep that delicate balance between quality and price. Keep up the good work! ~Lisa

Pete. You forgot Walsh.

Thank you rb for the heads up. It’s much appreciated.

Red Bubble has good quality products and great greeting cards. We appreciate you trying to keep costs in line and know how expensive it is to mantain a business and yet turn a profit as well. Hopefully the upcoming year will see positive change.

...and Hop

ALL COOL. Prices still seem low to me – compared to shop prices for similar items….
:) Thanks

thank you Peter

Well do what you have too, it’s a great site. Love the interface. Love the lack of user fees (please don’t introduce them).

Are there no decent t-shirt printers in Australia?

Thank you for everything you guys are doing. This is an awesome site and even though I’ve only made three sales (to family) I remain hopeful that at least this is a way to share my artwork. First time I’ve shared it anywhere, so I’m happy for the most part. You guys rock!

25 dollars for a tshirt is still kick ass. I have not bought a tshirt in a store since I found redbubble. Seriously… when did mass produced crapola like Stussy, Quicksilver, Paul Frank and other brand name stuff jump from 30, to 40, or, worse – 50 or over, dollars a tshirt? Seriously. And they’re not always pure cotton any more either! (Which is all I can buy, being allergic to polyester and all).

Buying your tees from redbubble means three things. You get a unique design at a WAY better price than every other tshirt that every other person is wearing, and you’re cutting down on waste by buying a tshirt you want. Imagine all those crappy designs, etc that don’t sell in stores. Ones that never should have been made in the first place. Redbubble makes what YOU want.

I will continue buying tshirts as long as they stay under 30 dollars. :oD They’re all cotton, they’re unique, and I love ‘em.

I think the prices are very reasonable. I’m a student and I don’t have a problem paying these prices. They’re cheap compared to equivalent products in shops and the quality is excellent. The postage is cheap, only $ 10 to Australia and arrives quickly considering how much work goes into getting it here. I have never had problems finding anything on the website. I have told everyone I know about red bubble and when they see the website, the products sell themselves. I have bought a lot for myself and friends and have never had a problem with anything. Everybody loves it. What’s with the griping?

Thanks Peter, the prices are still very competitive, as many have pointed out. Please keep the troops happy and justly rewarded for their hard work! :-)

Thanks for the info, it had to happen, can’t stay in the dark ages….

I AGREE, THE PRICES ARE REASONABLE. WE ALL HAVE TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP THINGS GOING. SANDY

- Sad face.

:-(

Thanks for the notice though guys

Prices are still reasonable …but what about postage from the US to Australia ? (home of Redbubble) thinking especially framed prints etc..

It doesnt cost me a penny to put my art work up here, the community is always so nice, and I have only sold 2 cards in the time I have been here. A price change is inevitable with how the economy is, I understand that. I don’t have a beef with it. I haven’t bought but one item here, and I do crimp at some of the prices, but that’s only because of my income, and if I really could, then I would definitely buy from here because I have found some of the most beautiful art works ever in redbubble and I have my hopes….(my cart holds them). :) I have looked around on the web, there are quite a few competitive sites, price wise, and yes even in the art category, BUT, I like this place, I feel comfortable here and every site like this one is going to have to make changes in prices, so why jump the fence :) Thankyou redbubble for what you do, and for your goals. Keep looking forward, as we all do, to an art gallery that rocks :)

i have no problem with this. do what ya gotta do. :)

Thank you so much, and I completely understand. I appreciate the quality of the Redbubble site, thanks to all of you. I too have come across many sites, but none of them compare to Redbubble. As Nancy wrote, it isn’t costing us a penny to not only display our work/art but we do not have to absorb the mfg cost/overhead.
It has given me an opportunity to enjoy a favorite pass time; quotes/typography that I had never done b/f.
It is the only place I feel someone is listening to me as far as what I enjoy doing.
Thank you very much.

Your product is superb, no problem with the increase, do what ya got to do.

I don’t mind if you introduced a small yearly fee, I pay webshots US$50 for a year, it was refreshing to come here and pay nothing, having been with them for about 5 years I never bought anything from them, I’ve been with you 5 mins and spent over NZ$500, still wouldn’t bother me if you had a fee.

Keep up the good work, Ken

Ask for a government bail out package…

Im guessing that we can just raise our prices to maintain the same level of profit per item sold. It will be interesting to see if everyone else does the same and if the level of sales maintains its overall increase as displayed on the graph.

Thanks for the forewarning and the info, as always it’s nice to be receiving communication from redbubble about the whys and wherefores! :o)

ouch25%

Thanks for the heads up and to me the cards are still cheap compared to quality ones in the shops not the bargain shop kind , and if we buy our own cards and send them to friends and family we are sharing our work with them .. i bought the calanders for chrissy gifts and after the year is over they can be framed so i think its a good way of shopping and selling yourself….....
hugz bev

cheers guys, i think u guys have endured the storm long enough

just promise us that ull reverse the increase when thing get back on track

stay tight
JuMPy

United we Stand…
Divided we Fall….

oh no – noooo – ——- ok then – thanks

Thanks for the info. Alt least the price increases are held to a few items. My condolences to our fellow Bubbles down under on the t-shirts.

I understand. It has to be done. This is just merely a reflection of our financial times. Redbubble is a business, and the aim of all businesses is to make a profit. Fair enough.

Thanks for all you do, I’m coming up on a month here and very happy. I feel somewhat apologetic about the U.S. economy messing all the others around.

Ohh, nooo,,, has the bubble burst for us?! Oh, well you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do..

Sounds like targetting the cards and t-shirts in particular is a good strategy as they seem to be your highest volume itmes. I think the problem you are going to have is analysing the impact of the price increases – if sales go down you aren’t going to know whether that’s the impact of the snowballing recessions or a result of the price increases. Good luck with it – respect the way you only increase price as a last resort, not the first.

I’m an aussie and it sucks, my art prices have just increased 25% so the rest of the world can pay their way. lol

Actually have you guys done any sums on the way an introduction of an annual membership fee would give you more flexibility to subsidise production costsand pay your wages? It’s just from what I’ve observed the market for photographs in whatever format is incredibly price sensitive. So if there was another way of ensuring RB’s viability without increasing prices it may be worth considering.

While I totally understand your needs; wouldn’t it have been a wiser move to wait until after the holiday seasons were past, say after the first of the year? A lot of people may have been considering purchasing their Xmas Cards in bulk here, even though they may have cost a little more. As some have said, the quality is very good. But at some point one has to consider their budget, adding to that postage to and they may either shorten their card list, or go else where to buy cards this year.
An increase right now migh very well result in some lost sales.
Just a thought.

Hope that graph in the future isn’t a flat red line :-(

The cards are absolutely beautiful and a bargain. I have loved every purchase I’ve made here and enjoyed them at a more than fair price.

@Darren and Helen… I have eaten frozen burritos for lunch every day for the last year because they are 50 cents a piece. That way… I can buy RedBubble T-shirts.

Peter, just a query if I may. Will the AU$25.00 each for t-shirts be for all shirts – including the long sleeve?

I just realized this journal entry is going to now overtake the featured journals. a new topic is on the horizon and its already started lol

It’s unavoidable unfortunately. I can’t help but think you guys were losing money on the tshirts as it was. The cards I think are good value. Sure, I can buy cheap cards in the store, but good quality cards cost more than RB cards do.

you guys rock. and i hope the bubble does stay afloat. i actually work for an international print company and if you guys want to pick my brain for some info, by all means do so.

Thanks for the heads up. I hope we can all prevail and weather the economic storm. Cheers to all the great artists on this site and those not on this site!

I would just as soon drop my commission, to keep the cards/t-shirts marketable, without gouging you guys.

Considering the worldwide recession, raising prices goes against common sense economics to be honest. The latest on TV today is that economists now fear DEFLATION.
Getting shirts in USA, and shipping them to Germany doesn’t sound like a good business model either.

I don’t have a problem with the price increase but I wouldn’t go as far as justifying the price rise on the quality of the products…some of the products are good but they are not exceptionally good in my opinion and those products are not devoid of problems such as crappy printing and curling cards. All that it means for me is that I’ll just have to shop around and check out the competition more often and perhaps buy somewhere else.

I figure if someone wants my stuff, they’ll pay a few dollars more for it. If they don’t want it in the first place, price is not going to be a deciding factor. Maybe if the Aussie dollar takes a hike things may change (can always hope). In the meantime, like other RB devotees, I’m sticking around for the ride and I know the experience of being a member for the past 18 months is worth it (as opposed to knowing all about it after only 2).
:o)
And thank you too, for the heads up, Peter. Much appreciated.

Haven’t sold either one in ages, however, “50% of something is better than !00% of nothing!

Fair enough!

Thanks for letting us know.

Pam :)

Petah, thanks to all you guys who keep this site up, running and very professional.

xoxox…

Thanks RB for the info., and for running these at cost so far. But, yes you must keep financially sound, and the increases are worth it. – Ted

Graph is useless without labelled axes! ;)

Keep up the great work – this bubble is expanding very nicely.

Thanks for the heads-up.
Have you looked into using mounting board in place of Gatorboard?

I’ve been very pleased with the quality of the various products and find the cards superior to other print on demand cards. Thanks for keeping the price down for as long as you did.

Peter,
Thanks for the info, unfortunately all I see is that artists will have to drop their prices to keep selling on the bubble.
To me _ respond to the environment_ means you have to work to improve australia’s economy and make it stronger. Why printing shirts across the globe to get them back in Oz after?There’s got to be a printing company out there that can offer a decent price for tee print. Therefore you would:
-increase australia’s economy
-decrease carbon emissions on our little planet.
-decrease people’s shipping prices.
Isn’t it obvious?

By the way, I got a quote here in paris for 50 screenprinted tees on american apparel t-shirt, and guess what, the cost of one tee was only AU$12 !!! imagine making 2000? the price would decrease by half. So how come you guys can’t do it?

The cards are still cheaper than certain newsagent brands and a much better quality as well!! Plus they get our art into the world!! Thanks for all your hard work, RB Elves :D

Wow, I have to say that as a newbie on RedBubble, this is pretty discouraging. The mounted prints and cards were the two items that had the most selling potential for me. I’ve even sold a few cards, to friends, and so it looked like I was starting to get some interest.

The only way I can sell cards now is to drop my commission. And with the price increase on mounted prints, that just puts them out of MY reach, even buying at the base price, and I know they’re way out reach for most of the folks I know.

Redbubble has fast sevice , brilliant quality product ,awsome staff and very competative prices.
What more could you want
I guess for those not happy with the price rise they will go to another company and do bussiness. ( Then they will see how good RB’s produce quality realy is).
I’m happy to go with the flow and support a GREAT AUSSIE bussines..

do whatever it takes! Long Live The Bubble!

no worries – thanks for the information

No probz we must stay afloat ;} hugglez

No drama….....everything goes up…..... We all understand that.

no worries but it may be an idea if you could find a way for bulk buying to make it more feasable, dawnx

Thanks for the info.
I just received my 2 calendars that I bought to myself and I am very satisfied with quality. Have to make some more :)

I had milk on my credit crunch this morning

*You must be all nuts, to agree with the price increases. *
We are pricing ourselves out of the market, or rather diminishing our tiny profits. Outrageous, in this current economic climate, when all retailers currently are reducing prices to encourage people to buy.

RB is doing exactly the opposite to generate any interest to the consumer

Understandable- and RB needs to be strong and viable- its such a great service.
Prices are still very reasonable in terms of retail. Glad you are looking into other options RE printing as I would definately buy my own designs in bulk to resell if costs were lower, cant afford to do that at present. xxxx

I agree with CJ…some people, like me are on a fixed income!!! And most people on here are to sell and not buy!!! With prices going up, not many people will be selling anything!!! RB should make cards available in packs of 10 cards at a reduced rate…make it easier on people in a time like this.

P.S. When you drop prices that brings people in…raise prices, people stay away!!! Only the well off would agree to this stupidity… In the UK and the US, major stores are having blow out sales to bring people in…why would RB increase??? That is economic suicide to increase prices!!!

It is rather a “Catch 22” situation, balanced between prices and sales.
Increased prices might bring in more revenue, but only if sales don’t suffer by a larger amount as a result.
I agree with much C J Hummel has to say – I don’t see many other retailers increasing their prices as a way to survive the credit crunch – perhaps other sales incentives e.g. offering discounts for bulk/multiple buying or “one day sales” might be better alternatives to simply increasing prices.

Sorry dmarie and CJ – but I disagree – If you look at whats happening they are only putting up the cost of cards and tees – and the cards they have been making loss since production started. Id say we have been very fortunate to have them priced so low for so long.
Ive sold some great framed prints and artwork on here and I put an appropriate percentage on top of my artwork.
CJ – if you have a tiny profit why dont you increase your percentage – I have found it comes down to if you have a good work of art, clients will pay well for it.
This is an art selling website (and a very professional and well organised one) Not a mass produce Walmart.

Well this is going to suck, hit #2 for me… because I am in the US and the drop in $AU I am already losing almost 1/2 of my mark-up for the past few months when converting $AU profit to $US, but at least the sales are consistent… now I either have to lower mark-up or my sales will drop…so either way it’s going to be another cut.
I want RB to do well, but I don’t see the logic in this, it will disappoint both the sellers and the buyers. I hope this increase in prices works out for RB.

I am NOT happy about this, i sell LOTS of cards, in my restaurant and 3.50 is very expensive , i order lots all the time and there’s no discount except the freight , so personally i’m not happy and it will be harder to sell online now i guess..the quality is really nice, but for artists here on RB there’s no profit really i think…..
it’s a pitty and i really agree with Duane hart he’s right..!

Duane Hart how dare you insult my artwork, curb your ego, your art work is not that above average.

I agree with Colin – a great incentive would be drastically reduce the price with bulk orders. I can understand prices going up for a single card but we all know it is much cheaper for printers to run off 100 200 cards than a single one.
I know my clients would be more likely to buy a set of 10 or 20 or 50 cards for a reduced price. I think the single card on redbubble is expensive however the calendars represent excellent value as the quality is the best I’ve seen for the price.
Paul
Paul

Duane…I do not agree with you and RB is also going to be raising mounted prints! I have sold work on here and so has CJ…our work is of good quality and it all depends on a person’s taste and not what your photo quality may be. What looks good to one may not look good to another! What makes you think your work is so hot?

I have no problem with that whatsoever. Go the local stationery or magazine shop and you’ll find that the prices are about the same or more expensive. As for the calendar, I’m happy about the quality. And to think that it is our work that is put up in every item. Thanks for informing us fair and square, RedBubble…

Hi Sorry I wasnt trying to say my work is any better than anyones else – Yes I agree it is on individual taste and I was only trying to point out that increasing your pecentage of sales doesn’t necessarily effect clients buying artwork.

RB is a great place and you need to make money too to stay in business, so you have to do what you have to do. Thanks for the heads up. :)

Amazing timimg, this wouldn’t have to do with it being the most popular time of the year to purchase cards, would it? /rolleyes

For gods sake …...... don’t put RB as a listing on the stock exchange.

For gods sake …...... don’t put RB as a listing on the stock exchange.

Echo echo …........ double posting , once again.

Thanks for the info and your great work. Connie

I can tolerate a price increase as it is a quality product and AUD has turned to dust.

Off topic but while I’m here and since Cascoly brought it up. Why is the market place search so weak? When you can’t find your own designs when they have been correctly tagged and have even sold. It’s a problem.

So sorry to see this happen, but it is the way of the world right now. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I want to see RB stay in business and not fall by the wayside, like some of the other sights have done.
I would like to see a couple of other color mattes available such as grey, and sage, and maybe a forest green frame. Just to keep up with the popular colors in home decor! Good luck and take care! And remember rb for your holiday purchases! Linda

People that come to a web site like this are already looking for something above mediocre, and willing to spend a bit more to get. This applies to any photographic services. If your looking cheap you can always find it at places like Walmart. I say if market is willing to more than go for it. If they don’t it be seen soon enough.

I think that every business has had to raise the prices of all items they stock or make it is just one of those things we all wii have to face from time to time. RB still has my support Cheers
Mick

You gotta go what you gotta do to survive these days. And if raising the prices a tad will keep this site going then do it! You give us fantastic quality so I’m sure not going to complain! :)

Thanks for running the ship on an even keel….
Chuck.

Localized production surely is a good idea, should unable RB to get better deals and have efficient quality checks in place.

Prices going up ….... will just reduced the sales.

RB needs to focus on getting better deals, (which I’m sure on the list after the US move). RB not making a profit on cards which are rather expensive (base price) considering the amount that RB print and sell, never made any sense.

Well done to the team though for what you’ve created so far, still the best site overall on the net in my opinion.

thank you for the heads up, appreciate it

I agree that discounts for bulk buying of cards would be a good place to start, it might encourage people to buy more. Even in shops, people tend to buy more than just one card. Also, an increase in the t-shirts mightn’t be as big a hit to purchasers as there are greater margins and they are still great value, but the margins are so small for cards…..
Several people have mentioned the postage from Oz to US, but what about the EU? It would be great if there was a printer in Europe, save on costs and delivery time (it took 2 weeks for my order to arrive from Oz).

The cards are still made by hand!? well, that explains the quality! :)

Thanks so Much for the Heads Up ..
ANNA

more than fair! i’d much rather a price increase than to lose my new found love for this little bubble.
the t-shirts are the best i’ve ever found and i completely understand the need to increase the price… and thankyou for taking the time to put all that information in there… and i must say, living in Australia has left me ignorant to the postage cost and shipping time and think it would be excellent if everyone could enjoy the cheap shipping and fast delivery time that i do… but instead of putting printers all over the world i think it best that everyone just more here!
:-D
Love you RedBubble
-Simon Peter

I have to confess im disapponted to hear about the increase:0(

With the current resession looming to raise prices here in the uk will effect sales. This will not only effect the artist but redbubble will feel the effects more than we will.
Im no expert but if you are selling the cards at cost price to us you must be getting wripped off somewhere, there must be a cheeper production company willing to provide the same quality for a lower price?? Has this been researched thoroughly???
In my humble opinion they are quite expensively priced as they are, the quality is good though.

I also agree with many others bulk buying at a reduced cost is very appealing. If this was introduced it would increase sales.

Thanks for keeping us informed
BUYERS R US FORUM reagards redbubble price increase

everyone just move* here

If Redbubble goes under we are all in trouble so I’m happy to hear about these changes. I’m glad the market is being carefully watched and someone with their head screwed on as we all need to think about our finances these days.

Cheers for the update and thanks for being so financially open!

We always find the money to “buy” the things we WANT….somewhere!
And as far as food goes, we all ALL blessed beyond what we deserve in this country…..compared to some others!! I would LOVE to be able to EAT spaghetti!
If the quality were not as good as it is… then the price change would not be welcomed.. But with the quality that RB gives, it is well worth it..

No problems…people with money are quite prepared to pay top dollars for something they really want…and the quality of RB products far outshines the products of other similar companies I have dealt with…so thanks for all your hard work…you’re all worth more :)

No question RB makes the finest cards I’ve ever seen. I was a bit dissapointed that they are smaller. It’s just a tad smaller but I noticed. I’ll still keep buying though because I love them.

As I have to sell anything who gives a sh….....................

Thanks for the update. Redbubble is a fantastic place and the people who shop here are looking for something that’s not “run-of-the-mill” or the best bargain they can find. It is a free site for all of us to show our art. What about a small annual fee? You could take a poll of what members feel is a reasonable amount . Redbubble has to be kept afloat for all of us.

Thanks for keeping us all informed.
Dc

Understandable.

Hi – whilst I think you guts on RB are doing a great job, the increase in prices for cards etc could not have come at a worse time unfortunately – here in the UK we are having a bit of a financial nightmare to say the least – I did have a number of people interested in a few cards, but what with Aussie Postage and now the increase, I think the interest will wain – especially with the ‘festive’ season upon us.
Incidentally – if anyone not in Aussie want to order anything, the last postage dates are looming fast to guarantee a Christmas delivery.
The quality of the items at RB are certainly good, however, this may be the downfall, albeit on a temporary basis, for many orders

OK thankyou for explaining.
Now all I have to do is sell some more to go with that lonely one.

you guys are the bestest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for always being there for us , and letting us display our work !!! I only wish sometimes I could buy one of my own cards:)

would you consider selling post cards! I would so buyt them if they were priced right !!!! oh please please please!!

Still good value. However, the cards are on super duper heavy weight paper. while nice it makes the sending of them costly as they weigh more than ‘normal’ cards. You could use a good quality but lesser weight card, still maintaining the good product but saving money and the planet. Just a thought…...

Sad news. But you gotta survive the storm. Wish the economy get well soon. And you get your better card printing technologies and gatorboard replacement.

All your products are amazing quality. These small increases still give an incredible value for the money!!

Thanks for keeping us informed, and for all the hard work that the RB team puts in.

Each product is worth every penny – just wish sales would pick up quicker. The site is an amazing community, so the price increase is justified in the current climate in my opinion, though rises may impact on sales in the longer term

Sorry I forgot amidst my grumble earlier on to thank everyone who plays a vital role here. I do apprechiate all the hard work you do and the quality of the cards and calenders is fab.

What can one say..you do what you have to do…and just to let you know that all that staff needs an applause…superb work they do…and you have one of the highest quality product in the world…believe me ,i have tried many companies..so have a nice day and thanks for the update

thanks for the heads up

Thanks for letting us know! You gotta do what you gotta do!

SOME HERE WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOUR JUSTIFICATION FOR TAKING ACTION IN YOUR BUSINESS, BUT AS I OWN MY SIGN BUSINESS AND HAVE SAT HERE AS THE FLOW OF JOBS HAVE COME TO A NEAR HALT, I TOO AM HAVING TO CONSIDER SOME MOVES TO HELP MY BUSINESS TREAD THROUGH KING GEORGE’S STORM. AT LEAST I HAVE MORE TIME TO BUBBLE…

SAM DANTONE

Thanks for the info, I suppose its inevitable. You have to do what you gotta do!!

some people sound amazed that RB is increasing prices… EVERYONE is increasing prices, i work in import, wholesale and retail, our suppliers around the world are increasing prices, local Australian wholesalers are increasing prices (eg Pioneer), and its hard to put prices on products in retail at the moment with all this movement.. this is just a part of life!!

We just hope RB is smart enough to overcome this problem… imo i think they could use the community’s help a little more

RB should work on the current supply chain, i know of good Print on Demand t-shirts from Asia and UK, that might help

RB should be doing more marketing to potential customers.. id still love to see the marketing plan/ list guys???

Everything goes up and nothing comes down and they say what goes up must come down I guess that only apply’s to gravity.

^^ not true, a GOOD company will raise and lower prices according to the situation and market factors… to make GREAT VALUE products.

the company i work with put prices up or down all the time… i made there catalogue a year ago, and the prices came down so we had to do new pricelists… now we have to put them back up, in some cases prices are higher than before. Large brands might be greedy and just rase the price by X% over the range BUT thats lazy… every product is usually different.

I think most people seem happy with the price increase because most of the sales on RB are probably generated by people buying their own stuff. ( RB should show us a graph of that ) Of course if you buy your own artworks a few dollars here and there are not going to make a big difference but if your aim was to sell to outsiders then I’m not sure it’s going to be very competitive and of course remember that once the prices go up, they’ll most likely never come down better economy or not.
As for the quality of the cards, I wish that RB gave us a choice. They are many people who do not appreciate the fact that a card was printed on heavy stock paper, in fact on a number of occasion when giving cards away the first reaction I’ve got was ” did you print this on your computer ? ”....which goes to show that the cards do not look as professionally made as those you’ll find in shops.

Glad you’ve kept the calendar price stable.

Thanks RedBubble community for your support to date and to RedBubble – our sponsor.

You gotta do what you gotta do, nothing ever stays the same forever.

Alex, Competitive against who??

There are plenty of print on demand sites, some cheaper, some better prints, some worse, some that dont give you mark up options AND some that dont get you sales… ive sold over 130 t-shirts on RB and im not worried about the increase, because with out RB id have sold NONE

& ” did you print this on your computer ? ” most home printers can do a pretty good print, so maybe thats a complimenrt, maybe they are surprised to see ur work in such high quality

RB dont just sell prints, they bring a community together and customers in…

@ sasufi’s comment
if you want to screen print 50 of one t-shirt design and start an online business, then yes youll pay $15 each tee BUT youll need to make a site, promote it, hold stock and HOPE to sell them over time. (same for cards/prints).... RB does alot of it for you.

Jumpy,

You’ll have a hard time making a living from profit generated by sales on the bubble, I think the bubble is a great place for artists to showcase their stuff but it’s definitively not something commercially viable unless you sell millions of items and if you do well kudos to you !

Yes its just a platform to showcase art, if i want to make a living off tees then i will have to put more time in, with rb i just upload… promote a little and im seeing my art get sold and making me pocket money… i dont think this price change will effect that…. its not how i make my living

If it was & i had to make my own tees in qty, then yes my price will go down, does not mean my profits on items sold will go up … ill have to invest much more time, money, marketing to do it AND ill just need to sell more to make a living

Thanks for the info. Do what you must.

RebBubble, thanks for replying to my comment. I know the quality of your cards is superior, but I’ve had people tell they won’t spend $4 on a card – and that was before the worldwide economic crisis became so far-reaching. People are worried about paying the rent and buying food; a $4 card a luxury now.

I already have dropped my commission to 20% across the board. I’m looking at this site now a build-a portfolio-get-my-wet sort of thing, and will not be promoting it as actively as I had previously.

Thanks for the info , I think I might start lowering my commission a bit , say about below 250% no less than 25% hey I know my art is worth more , but I will try and do what I can to help out in this crunch , if it helps at least… thanks again!

Unless you try your own business you have no idea of the costs of keeping one going. I agree with Caanan, if you want to buy a designer shirt like addidas, or A_DI_DAS depends what country you live in on the pronunciation then you pay twice the price I would rather have rb”s and a one off design and of course i hear the quality if great> something happened to my key strokes here so i will close>

THERE IS SO MUCH TALENT HERE THAT I AM AMAZED BUT AS AN INFERIOR ARTIST WHO HASN’T SOLD ANYTHING I SAY…...GO AHEAD, RAISE THE PRICES. THANK GOD I HAVE A JOB.
ARTISTS, YOU’RE ALL SO GOOD

OH YEA, I FORGOT. I’M HAVING FUN

GET A JOB GET A JOB

Hi guys with respect are you saying you have made NO profit on the sale of cards or mounted prints…that $3 is the cost price for you to make a card??

Ok. Hope you remember to put the price down again when the Aussie dollar get’s back to where it was with the US dollar. I’d really like to buy bulk t-shirts from redbubble to retail here one day.

Thanks for that. Sounds fair to me.

Melinda
Yes in relation to cards you are completely correct. The cards cost us $2.92 to make (exactly) and then there is some inevitable customer service component which needs to be added on. So no we make no money on the cards as currently produced. Clearly we need a cheaper card option (to complement the current ‘art’ cards) which we will introduce as soon as possible.

thanks for the update

Sometimes, its not all about the price. I say what I mean, with no frills. I like RB,s attidude towards Art. On our site, we make lovely friends and can see at a glance other people,s work, which inspires the Art within us. RB always keep us up to date with whats going on, no need to really, there,s no law that says they have to. We know from day one that none of us are gonna sell our Art for million,s unless we,re very lucky. A lot of these ” arty farty ” type sites, would,nt dane to show our Art . We know excatly where we stand with RB. Yes prices are on the up but thats in all walks of life with this global slump thing going on. ( personaly I think its a conspirisy, but thats another story ) I like the way RB is, no elitism, we all have our gifts and in my view, no one is better than the other. Its what people percieve, it counts on that as to wether we sell our Art, what someone likes , the other may not but thats freedom of choice. Anyway, thats my 10 cents in lol Carry on the good work RB and members and Good luck to us all for the future x

Dear Pilgrim, a cheaper card option would be very much appreciated! Thank you.

Postcards would be a cheaper option too. And they’d be great for decorating cubicle walls.

I have personally been involved in making the RB cards. These cards are made by hand and a lot of effort goes into making them right. I would rather pay $3.50 for these beautiful hand made photographic cards than go down to the shop and pay anywhere from $1-$10 (and more) for a mass produced one! Anyone who doesn’t appreciate this quality shouldn’t be on RB. Good on you guys – keep ‘em coming!

i believe the prices here are very reasonable, even with the increase!

off topic a bit…I think it would be great to have a book with all the best RB artworks inside…maybe a theme based one…such as illustration or photography. yes.

The average price for cards in newsagents is around $4.95 AUD for anything half decent. You can get them cheaper but you can just about see through them and they’re hard to stand up.

Bummer. I assumed this stuff was sold at a huge markup already, as I can get my stuff done locally for peanuts compared to RB, and that’s without buying in bulk.

Maybe I’m missing something but most of the prices for t-shirts on Redbubble are around $25(AUD) now (or even more) so how can they go UP to this price???

Most people on here seem to think…oh no big deal of prices going up because of the economy!!! Well, when prices go up, less things sell. People can’t afford it, unless you’re rich and well off and don’t care what the price is at. I know the crime rate has increased also by a big margin!!! The main concern for people now, is having enough money for food and heat…that’s why a lot of people are now looking for hand outs. And also the food pantries are out of food…That should be the main focus in this economic hardship.

Dooooo eeeeeeeeeeeeeet!....i think a lot of people use RB to gain exposure and creative critism as oppose to using it to purely sell and market their products. The Community rocks, providing a hotbed of creativity in such dark times!.....Keep up the good work; no-one wants the ship to go down!

dmarie
I assure you we would not be raising prices unless we absolutely had to. The fall in the Australian $ has been just astounding and unless we make money on a product line we just cannot afford to supply it. This is the horrible reality for Australian retailers and like them we have had a lot of anxiety about raising prices but the alternative is even worse.

Hey, I do understand what you have to do in order to stay in business. I wish you the best with your business!

I think the increases are very reasonable. What I wonder though is this: I noticed a huge percentage of the buyers are from Australia, and that’s fine too. But it does make me think that what I observed a long time ago is that there’s not nearly enough advertising for RedBubble here in the states, meaning a huge & relatively untapped market. A huge # of contributors are here, and lots of work that relates to the US or US markets. But most people have never heard of RedBubble…. I only found out about it through a random remark on a photo forum. A bit more online advertising could go a long way to boosting sales over here—I believe prices are competitive w/ FineArtAmerica & other similar sites, and RedBubble has a much more huge body of work. Go for it!!

oops, screwed up that third sentence rather royally… but you get the idea… was trying to say I now think my old observation is true about lack of ads in U.S.

Pilgrim…here in the US…retailers are dropping their prices to bring people back to buy. You raise prices, people walk away! Same in the UK…they are dropping prices so the customers stay and continue to buy. Have you thought of selling cards in packages of 10 or 20 and giving a discount?

Thank you for the information.

All the best,

Cheerful Madness!!

THank you for the “heads up.” Some of the reasons I like this site are because there are hardly any “sponsor ads,” no membership fees, and so far no maximum of MB space. I have been very mpressed with the artist/photographer community atmosphere and the very high quality of art and printing. This high quality is, is my opinion, the main thing keeping RB above other photography sites.
Several people here have suggested bulk quantity pricing. I too think this is something that would be worthwhile to investigate. For example, when I buy Christmas cards, I usually buy in boxes of 12 to 25 with envelopes. When a retail shop buys, they may buy 100 or more boxes at a wholesale price and then resell. I do think printing and selling in bulk plus wholesale to retailers is something to seriously consider.

dmarie
Yes cards in bigger packages are on the way (it will be a different sort of card though). I still think our cards at $3.32 (US) are pretty reasonable though. With a decent artist markup you are probably looking at $4 or so. Which given the quality of the card and its rarity is not bad (I see much lower quality cards than RB cards being sold for much more than this).

As a seller, my hopes of ever selling anything are dashed. As a buyer (who wasn’t too crazy about the prices in the first place, but was very happy with products) I won’t be shopping at RB anymore.

I agree – some kind of qauntity discount for single images (cards, prints or whatever) seems reasonable. So???

Thank you for the information

I don’t see any problem with the increase in prices in order for Redbubble to stay profitable.

When you say shirt prices have increased “in Australia only”, is that for Australian sellers or Australian buyers or buyers whose currency is AUD?

Surely you ‘gang’ print the cards. If not, look into it…saves a ton of money.

I worked at a printer for a few years.

Thanks; good work.

I just think it sucks that they are “made in the USA and printed in Germany” i was proud that its an Aussie site, and i was more proud to buy Aussie stuff :o(

Pricing is very difficult to judge – Recession is a killer. If people here in Scotland go to the local supermarket they can purchase a box of Christmas Cards for around 99p. They have stopped buying mine at the moment at around £3.00 each they have become very expensive. The only way I can reduce the cost is to reduce what I can earn per sale and does not gell well with the sales that I have had over the last 18 months or so of being on Red Bubble. Do not get me wrong – I love Red Bubble and the community it is a fantastic showcase for my photography but down to the cost not a great place for me to sell from.

I will not be leaving RB but I feel that something has to give regards pricing of goods or none of us are going to sell lots.

Summary of your sales
Work Quantity Earnings
Edinburgh Castle 2 £11.69
Dugald Stewart Monument & Edinburgh City 1 £8.91
The Bridges 1 £6.75
Winter Castle II 1 £6.31
Edinburgh City 1 £5.13
Edinburgh Castle Collection
1 £4.05
Arthur Seat and Salisbury Crags
1 £2.10
The Vennel – Edinburgh
1 £1.89
Christmas Card 12
1 £0.85
Edinburgh to the Bridges
1 £0.66
I Dare you! 1 £0.63
HEY! WHERE IS THE FIRE
1 £0.61
The Long Walk 1 £0.50
Morning Glory 1 £0.45
Winter Water I 1 £0.22
Gateway to the Highlands
1 £0.21
17 £50.96

Average Earnings per Sale £3.00

my average hours, photoshoot, travel, editing, uploading ect
10 hours per image

average income per hour £0.30

The quality is absolutely brilliant.

Based on the above I should only be charging around £9.00 to do a whole wedding.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased from my collection it is very much appreciated and always will be.

Thank you to RB for such a brilliant site, community and products.

Regards and all the best for the coming season

Chris Clark

OK , But Im sure we are all going to feel the “pinch” OUch! I hope this situation improves later on down the line… it may , it may.. keep your fingers crossed and your head in the clouds, we shall OVERCOME!!