Redbubble vs Printful: key differences explained for beginners

By FastBuySale Newsroom · 9 Nov 2026 · 24m ago

Two different models of print on demand

Print on demand lets you sell products with your designs, such as T-shirts, stickers, mugs and posters, without holding stock. Products are printed only after a customer orders. Redbubble and Printful are both popular, but they work in very different ways. Redbubble is a marketplace that sells your designs to its own customers. Printful is a production and fulfilment partner for a store you run. Understanding this difference is the key to choosing between them. This guide compares them side by side; details change, so check each official help centre.

Side-by-side overview

| Feature | Redbubble | Printful |

|---|---|---|

| Model | Marketplace | Fulfilment for your store |

| Who finds customers | Marketplace search plus your promotion | You |

| Pricing | Base price plus your margin | You set retail; pay product and shipping |

| Account fees | Fees for some account levels | No basic monthly fee |

| Branding | Redbubble branding | Your brand, custom labels and packaging options |

| Customer service | Redbubble | You, with Printful handling production issues |

| Payouts | Earnings paid on a schedule | You keep revenue from your store |

How Redbubble works

You create an account, upload artwork and choose which products it appears on. Redbubble sets a base price for each product and you add a margin, usually as a percentage. When a customer buys, Redbubble takes payment, prints the product through its network of printers, ships it and handles returns and customer queries. You receive your margin as earnings, paid out once you meet the payment threshold on the schedule set by the platform.

How Printful works

Printful connects to e-commerce platforms such as store builders and marketplaces. You create product mockups with your designs, publish them to your store and set retail prices. When a customer orders from your store, the order passes to Printful, which charges you the product cost and shipping, prints the item and ships it to the customer. Your profit is the retail price minus Printful's charges, your store fees and payment processing fees.

Worked example: a T-shirt on each

On Redbubble, suppose a T-shirt's base price is 20 dollars and you set a 20 percent margin. The customer pays 24 dollars and you earn 4 dollars, before any account fee. On Printful, suppose the shirt costs you 13 dollars to produce and 4.50 dollars to ship, and you sell it for 28 dollars with free shipping. Your store payment fees are about 1.20 dollars, leaving 9.30 dollars profit before store subscription fees and marketing costs. Printful offers more margin per sale, but you must find the customer. The percentage calculator on this site helps with margin calculations.

Traffic and competition

Redbubble has its own audience, so a well-tagged design can be found through marketplace search. However, there are millions of designs, and many uploads never sell. Printful brings no traffic. You need to drive visitors through social media, search, ads, email or an existing marketplace shop. This is more work but builds a brand you control.

Branding and customer relationship

On Redbubble, customers buy from Redbubble, and the products carry its packaging. You have limited contact with buyers. With Printful, you can use your own brand, add custom labels or packaging inserts on some products and build a customer list. This matters if you want a long-term business.

Product range and quality

Both offer clothing, stickers, wall art, home goods and accessories. Printful lets you choose specific blank brands and print methods, such as embroidery, and order samples at a discount. Redbubble chooses the printers and products for you. Order samples on either before promoting a product heavily.

Account fees and costs

Redbubble has introduced account fees for some standard accounts, deducted from earnings, while higher account levels may avoid them. Printful has no basic monthly fee, but you will usually pay for a store platform, domain, apps and marketing. Compare total costs, not just per-item prices.

Customer service and returns

Redbubble handles customer service. With Printful, customers contact you, and Printful handles reprints for production faults under its policies. Set clear return and refund policies on your store.

Copyright and trademarks

Both platforms prohibit designs that infringe copyright or trademarks, including unlicensed characters, logos, celebrities and song lyrics. Rights holders can file takedowns, and repeated infringement leads to account closure. Upload only original work or designs you have licensed.

Taxes and sales tax

Redbubble generally collects sales tax and VAT from customers where required. With your own store, you may be responsible for collecting and reporting sales taxes depending on your location and customers. Earnings on both are usually taxable income.

Scams to avoid

Avoid courses or services promising guaranteed passive income from print on demand, design packs that are actually copied artwork, and offers to buy established accounts. Buying accounts breaks the terms.

Which suits which goals

Choose Redbubble if you are an artist who wants a simple way to test designs with minimal setup and no customer service. Choose Printful if you want to build a brand, already have an audience, or want control over pricing, products and customer relationships. Some creators use both: Redbubble to test ideas and Printful for their main store.

Getting started on Redbubble

Sign up with an email address, choose a shop name and add a short bio. Prepare high-resolution artwork, ideally with a transparent background for products like stickers and shirts. Upload a design, write a clear title, description and relevant tags, then review how it looks on each product and switch off products where it looks poor. Set your margin and publish. Uploading designs regularly and promoting your shop link on social media helps more people see your work, because new designs without any views rarely rise in marketplace search on their own.

Getting started with Printful

Choose a store platform, such as a store builder or a marketplace shop, and connect it to Printful through the integration. Pick a product, upload your design with the mockup generator and check the print area and placement. Order a sample to check quality and fit. Set retail prices that cover production, shipping, payment fees and your time, then publish to your store. Set up shipping rates, a returns policy and a contact page so customers know what to expect.

Design tips that apply to both

Simple, bold designs often read better on small products such as stickers and phone cases. Check colours on different product backgrounds and avoid tiny details that will not print clearly. Design for a specific audience, such as hobbies, professions or local places, rather than trying to appeal to everyone. Keep editable source files so you can adapt designs for different products.

Tracking results

On Redbubble, the dashboard shows views, favourites and sales for each design. Remove products that never sell and focus on themes that do. With Printful, track store visits, conversion rates, average order value and advertising costs, so you know whether each sale is profitable once marketing is included.

Shipping times

Products are printed after each order, so delivery takes longer than standard retail. Production times vary by product and location, and shipping times depend on the destination. Show realistic delivery estimates on your store, especially before holidays, and order your seasonal samples early.

Common beginner mistakes

New sellers often upload designs that copy popular brands, ignore tags and descriptions, price Printful products too low to cover fees, skip sample orders or expect sales without any promotion. Others spend heavily on ads before testing whether a design sells organically. Start small, test, and grow what works.

Protecting your own designs

Other people sometimes copy successful designs. Keep dated source files, watermark preview images on social media if needed, and use each platform's reporting process if you find a copy. Both platforms have procedures for rights holders to report infringing listings.

Reader questions

Questions about print on demand? Send them through the Ask page on this site.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only. Prices, fees and policies change; check the official help centres. No income is guaranteed.

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