Redbubble vs Teespring: Which is the Best POD Service?

This is my comparison of Redbubble vs Teespring.

I’ve seen so many creators and artists rise in the last two to three years. There seems to be more freedom in expressing creativity in various forms and on several platforms. Even the blockchain space has seen new development in this arena, such as NFTs and the Metaverse.

Two giants that have excelled in providing creators space to sell products are Redbubble and Teespring. While the latter has been rebranded as Spring, it still delivers the same exceptional performance.

However, there are some slight differences between them, and the one you’ll choose will depend on what you need. My Redbubble vs Teespring comparison will help you make that decision.

At a Glance

Spring, as Teespring is now known, has gone a long way into ensuring that artists and buyers have an enjoyable experience on the platform. With plenty more product ranges and categories, creators have more flexibility in how they want to showcase their merch. 

Couple this with the integrations with several platforms, and you have a clear winner.

However, Redbubble isn’t without its charm. It has better shipping options, and you can download mobile apps to manage your accounts. You’ll also receive fantastic customer support.

So which one is the best solution in this Redbubble vs Teespring debate? Read more to find out!

Comparison: Redbubble vs Teespring

Welcome to the heart of my Redbubble vs Teespring comparison. In this section, I evaluate several areas that I feel are vital for artists and creators. After that, you’ll need to make up your own mind.

Product Catalog

When you want to place your designs on products, you may want a large selection from which to choose. Of course, it depends on your target audience, as placing images on flags may not be necessary. However, it does help to have as many options available as possible for more flexibility, so let’s see if Teespring or Redbubble comes out on top. 

Redbubble isn’t shy when it comes to the product range. No matter which one you choose, you can rely on quality printing standards. Among the selection, you’ll find clothing for men, women, babies, and children. You can also print on stickers, home décor, gifts, bags, and more.

While Teespring has a similar range of products, you’ll find a few more categories in the mix. Besides the mentioned flags, you can choose between various clothing types, totes, canvases, beach towels, and more. 

As you order a larger volume, you pay less for the base price. Finally, it lets you sell digital products, which Redbubble doesn’t.

Winner for catalog: Teespring

Pricing and Earnings

There are two factors that play essential roles for artists when using sales platforms like Teespring or Redbubble. The first is the base cost, which is subtracted from the actual sales to pay for printing and overhead. Secondly, the profit margin determines how much you’ll make from the sale.

You won’t need to make an upfront payment or subscribe to a service with Redbubble. The base cost is set for all item, and you can manually adjust profit margin percentages for each item type or category, or set it across the board. It all depends on your revenue plan and target audience.

Teespring has a similar structure. You can also set profit margins over the base cost, which seem to be slightly lower than Redbubble’s catalog in many instances. The most significant difference is that Teespring gives you a discount on the base cost if you sell over a certain volume.

Winner for pricing and earnings: Teespring

Customer Support

As a newbie to a product platform, you’ll want as much assistance as possible to establish your creator platform. That means you expect support to be available as much as possible, especially when you feel you’ve messed something up. They also provide help in how to customize items.

Redbubble has a detailed knowledge base you can search to find the relevant answers. Failing that, you can use the chatbot to assist you or wait for an agent to chat with you. The support team monitors emails and contact forms with a 24-hour response time, but I’ve discovered they usually reply within four hours on average.

If you’re using Teespring’s platform, you’ll find different support teams depending on what you need. For instance, they assist buyers, sellers, or designers with various agents. While they also have a 24-hour response time, they’re only available during business hours, which means you may have to wait for longer than Redbubble. 

Winner of customer support: Redbubble

Integration

Integrations with your products are essential if you want to make payments and sales easier for your customers. Many people love platforms that connect with Shopify and WooCommerce, as it makes it simpler to link to your own site. Let’s see who wins this portion of our Redbubble vs Teespring faceoff.

While Redbubble provides HTML markup to load your products on your site, that’s about as far as the integration goes. Since the site is a fully-functional store in its own right, it doesn’t see the need to use systems like WooCommerce that it probably sees as competition. You can share your items on social media, though.

On the other hand, Teespring has gone all-out with integrations. You can easily place product plug-ins on YouTube and Twitch as merchandise. The other platform options include Discord, Instagram, and Linktree. 

Teespring is the ideal platform if you’re a creator with any channels on those platforms, helping you gain a wider audience.

Winner of integration: Teespring

Shipping and Fulfillment

If you want your customers to trust you, you’ll want to depend on good shipping services. It’s mostly out of your hands how this works, but selecting the right platform makes all the difference. I’m not only talking about costs, but also quality shipping on time.

Redbubble usually manufactures orders within three days before shipping them. Locally, your customers will receive their orders within a few days, while they may have to wait a bit longer for international ones. Prices differ depending on what’s orders and the distance to ship, but it uses reliable services like FedEx, DHL, and UPS.

For local orders, Teespring uses the United States Postal Service, which may take up to two weeks. When it comes to international orders, it also uses DHL. Its prices also depend on several factors, but at least Redbubble lets you choose which shipping method you’d prefer.

Winner of shipping and fulfillment: Redbubble

Redbubble vs Teespring: The Winner

As you can see, Teespring has several features that take the win over Redbubble. They’re both free, but there’s slightly more freedom in the former than the latter.

Despite Teespring coming out on top, I still prefer Redbubble for how easy it is to set up the account and display the merchandise. However, it doesn’t work well with eCommerce plug-ins on my websites, which is another aspect you’ll need to consider. 

At the end of the day, you’ll need to decide which one will suit you more, or opt to try them both out to maximize your sales and audience.

Here are the links to check out the platforms: