RedBubble Review

RedBubble is somewhere between the Cafepress/printfection/Zazzle and Imagekind in quality and products.

Products

RedBubble offers paper-based print products including cards, and posters. They also offer T-shirts.  They offer a few options for framed prints at a very good, but not great quality.

It is hard to say who RedBubble is competing against.

Social art

Their website includes a blogging feature for each user. I don't think I'd want to rely on that. What if my account gets canceled? My site traffic would be zero. No thank you. my blog should be my own!  I signed up with it today, so I'm still learning how it works.

Payment options

They offer payment by check and PayPal (like Imagekind and Zazzle)

Adding products

I have only tried adding image products. It was easy to do so. I selected an image, gave it a name, description, tags, and which products to use it for and it was done. I don't see a way to make galleries. I didn't see any options for adding captions like at Zazzle.

See an example RedBubble profile and products here.

Conclusion

Redbubble seems good for those who want to quickly add image products into a free POD, but I don't see it finding its niche. Perhaps they will start to do everything like Zazzle or Specialize in print art like Imagekind.  I've decided to use a combination of Imagekind and Zazzle for my photograph based products.

Zazzle Print-on-Demand Review

Zazzle is very deceptive for a Print-on-demand service.  It had been mentioned to me as an alternative for CafePress however when I looked at the website it didn't look like it was very good.  First the website kept mentioning to earn up to 17% if you sell products and refer your own products (7% affiliate commission) which means only a 10% markup. I think that 10% is low considering the time it takes to get, prepare, and upload images and then make the products and descriptions. Yes, it is passive income, but that doesn't mean it doesn't take an effort to get the ball rolling.

I had already at this point tried using Cafe Press and Printfection and found them to not meet my needs, so I registered for an account and found my self pleasantly surprised.

Payment options: Check or PayPal

First of all I discovered that I CAN be paid via PayPal so no more 2+ months to get paid.

Customizable site via templates and color options

Secondly it is free to sign up and use. You can't edit the CSS files, but you can choose from several themes and select your colors via an options menu.  I already had my color scheme and header logo ready so I added the information and selected full width for my logo.

My site was customized in only a couple of minutes instead of the 10-20 minutes it took me to make changes to a CSS file with Printfection.

Adding products is easy but slow

I then went to adding products to my shop.  I was able to divide my images into groups (like folders) and I had no problem uploading them. Adding products however is a really slow process. It wasn't difficult in the least, but I think I had to click through more options than I can count to add one product.

There was a benefit to the slowness of this. I was able to give custom descriptions, names, and tags to each product. I was also able to add text to an image in different colors which made great headings.  I hadn't seen that option for either CafePress or Printfection.  It made my products more unique and more valuable in my opinion.

Products

They offer plenty of products. I'm not sure who has more Zazzle or CafePress, but they even offer ties, key chains, stamps. I was impressed. From their website information it looked like they had fewer products, but that isn't the case.  They had all the products I was looking to add and more.

Marketing tools

Unlike CafePress and Printfection I can easily add a flash or Javascript widget to add products from my store to a blog or other website. They also have some special product linking code available to go directly to a product page using text.  When you make a new product, you're also given code to add it to a website apart from your store.  I was quickly able to add that widget code to my travel photo and art blogs.

Commissions/Royalties

Well, it starts at 10% for your own products and 7% for affiliates. You can set your own markup.

SEO

Today, yes one day after setting up my store, I did a search for my store name in Google and I found over 10 results were found at Zazzle. That was very impressive because obviously Google considers it a good site to be checking it so fast and because the site's SEO was excellent.  If you have good Google results for your site, you'll make more sales because more people will see it when they search for things using words in your product tags or description.

Conclusion

If it weren't for the lack of a way to add products more quickly (in fewer clicks) I'd say that it was perfect.  If you want a wide variety of products, with better options than CafePress then signup with Zazzle and you won't be disappointed.

To see my Zazzle store go here.

Printfection Print-on-Demand Review

Printfection is another print-on-demand service similar to CafePress. Printfection is different because they specialize in shirts. They don't have mugs or calendars though, so that is a disadvantage. I read in several forums that their shirt print quality is better than that of Cafe Press and somone actualy posted online images of the same shirt design from both companies and yes the Printfection shirt was much better if not perfect.

Customizable shop layout via CSS

Their system for adding products was super fast. You can select a design and then use select all for different main categories of products to batch include them. Add a description, title and markup and they're in. That was very nice. The account is free and you can edit the CSS of a store template or choose one of several predesigned (although not very attractive) store templates. You can create categories and subcategories very easily too. Although you can customize the shop you can't have a logo greater than 760px wide, so no full with header logo. My shop didn't look good since I couldn't get the header to look right.

Lack of payment options

There were however some problems. First like CafePress, you can't get paid by PayPal which I find unacceptable since I have to wait at least 45 days to get paid. I don't want to get paid two or three months after the fact because of the time it takes to get a check from the United States.

Lack of image organization

The other glaring problem was the inability to organize images into separate groups or directories. All of the photos I uploaded went into one big directory. It became quite a mess after a while and I can only imagine how long it would take me to select an image once I had 1000 designs aka images.

Marketing Tools

There were no marketing tools either. Their forum just said to do your marketing, but it isn't so easy without any widgets or special linking tools. (not like CafePress gave me any either)

Conclusion:

Pros

• Better quality shirts


• Free account


• customizable site (except header logo width)

cons

• logo issue


• CSS would be difficult for newbies to edit.


• limited template designs (some of which didn't display correctly in Firefox on a PC)


• No mugs, calendars. ie. fewer products than Cafe Press

The end result is that I liked it better than Cafe Press, but it didn't entirely meet my need of a photo gift POD. To see an example Printfection store click here.

Print-on-Demand or POD services can give you another income stream

Make money at home with PODs

I've mentioned different ways people make money online, but here is one that I have only mentioned in passing. Print-on-Demand services, or POD are relatively new to the internet and have been getting better and better.

Why you should use a Print-on-Demand Service

Lets say that you are creative and you write books, paint, draw, take photographs, etc. That's great. You probably have CDs full of your photos and sketch books full of drawings, right? Probably only your closest friends have seen any of your work. Why not share it with the world and make some money so you can by more paint, paper, computer memory, a better digital camera, etc.?

Perhaps the money isn't important to you, but I bet you could use the money to buy better supplies or pay your internet or web hosting bill.

With these systems you upload images or text, make your products, set markups, and then you just get the word out while the sales slowly trickle in. You don't have to worry after that.

The process

1. You should first compare the pods for the features and the type of printing that you're looking for art, text, gifts, etc.


2. Once you have selected your first POD, create an account. If your funds are limited go with a free account.


3. Create a shop or store. Typically the name of the store is the same as your user name (if your username isn't your e-mail address)


4. Configure your store's title, your photo, your profile or shop info, etc.


5. Configure your shop or store's colors and log. Not all PODs allow this, so do what you can.


6. Upload your images. Upload only images or text. Only upload what you plan to use. You can always upload more files later.


7. Create categories and subcategories for your products. No one wants to scroll through hundreds of mixed up products.


8. Create products using your images or text (depending on POD) and add titles, descriptions, and keywords.


9. Set prices and price markups for your products and shops if you haven't already in the shop preferences.


10. Check your payment preferences and address, If this information isn't correct, you might not get paid!


11. Get the word out! Promote your shop, store, or products sold on the POD via your website, blog, by word-of-mouth, etc.


12. Cash your checks, buy more supplies and then go back to step 8.

The benefits of using a Print-on-Demand Service

There are many benefits to working with a POD. Here are a few:

• You don't have to bill any customers


• You don't have to worry about shipping


• You don't have to worry about printing


• You don't have to worry about product returns


• You don't have to worry about Customer Service


• You don't have to worry about the web server or hosting for your shop

The disadvantages of using a POD

• You lack some creative control over your products since you are limited to what they offer.


• You have to play by the POD's rules


• You have to wait between 30 and 45 days to get paid


• You can't host the shop on your own website.


• If the POD shuts down, you'll have to set up everything on another.


• Your POD shop customization will not be as good as you could do on your own web server.


• You'll typically have header or footer links to the POD's home page which are potential sales leaks.

Here are some PODs that I have tested:

Fine art prints and framed art

• Imagekind - See example store/gallery


• RedBubble - See example store/gallery Note: Not as high in Quality as Imagkind.

Image gifts and collectibles

• Cafe Press - See example store - not recommended for wall art


• Printfection - See example store - ´plenty of Shirts


• Zazzle - See example store - Plenty of products to choose from
  

When selecting a POD consider the following:

• Payment options. If you don't live in the United States, it is great if they offer PayPal or you'll be waiting weeks to get your check.


• Store and Gallery design and optimization. Can you add categories, unlimited products, change site design and colors?


• Product offering. Do they offer the products that you want to sell?


• Product base prices and markup options


• Search Engine Optimization - especially if you are not planning to market your products.


• Account fees. Compare base prices to fees. Sometimes a free POD charges a higher base price to cover the costs.


• Product Quality. Check each POD's forum and see what people say about product quality.


• Shipping costs

Conclusion

Above all you should be realistic. Whether you use a POD or not, it takes effort. Don't expect to get rich on a site that you only work on a few hours a week. Expect to get out of it, what you put in. Just like any business it takes time to get recognized. If you like being creative then this might not feel much like work at all. It could be a good opportunity to get a second income since you can do it on the weekend or in the evening after your normal full-time job. Do you use a POD other than one I mentioned here? Please tell me about it by e-mail or in this post's comments. Good luck!