This is my comparison of Zazzle vs. Redbubble.
In this article, we’ll be comparing two popular print-on-demand websites, Zazzle and Redbubble. If you’ve ever tried selling artwork online, you probably understand how challenging it can be to set up, manage, and run an eCommerce store. That’s when platforms like Zazzle and Redbubble rose to popularity.
These platforms provide a space where artists and designers can sell their artwork while also providing clients with a range of custom designs that can be printed on various mediums such as clothes, coffee mugs, table cloths and more.
As someone who spent a lot of time researching and learning how to use eCommerce platforms, I’m intrigued whenever I see an online site that allows users to sell their items without worrying too much about all the technical details of managing an online store.
If you’re interested in looking at Zazzle, click here. If you want to see what Redbubble is all about, click here.
At a Glance
If you’re trying to decide which is better between Zazzle or Redbubble, there are a few things you need to take into account. The biggest consideration will be your design style and what you expect from a print-on-demand service.
Redbubble is very simple to use, and you can quickly get your store set up and get ready to start selling. Zazzle offers a larger variety of products, but there’s more of a learning curve to using the platform.
Redbubble is ideal for graphic art and animation designs printed on t-shirts, stickers, phone cases, tablecloths and face masks. Zazzle is more suited to artists that create wedding, girly, monogram, holiday or customizable designs that can be printed on a wide range of products ranging from stationery to coffee mugs.
It would seem that Redbubble has the edge over Zazzle because it’s so easy to use. To see exactly why I think so, make sure you continue reading.
Comparison: Redbubble Vs. Zazzle
To determine which is better between Zazzle vs. Redbubble, I looked at a few of the features of each platform. Each section that follows will compare the features and show who comes out on top.
Ease of Use
Upon entering Zazzle’s website for the first time, it does appear a bit cluttered and busy. There are many different buttons to click on, which can be overwhelming. Once you’ve spent some time on the site, though, it becomes easier to use.
The back-end for artists and designers who are uploading products to sell through Zazzle also needs some patience to figure out. Also, when you upload your designs, you can only upload to a single item at a time, which means you’ll spend a lot of time uploading your designs to the various products available.
Redbubble has been around for a long time, during which they were able to streamline and simplify the processes. As such, the site is straightforward to navigate and use. It is also easy to upload designs and set them for sale. With Redbubble, you can also upload your design to many different products at once, which is a great time-saver.
Winner for ease of use: Redbubble
Variety of Products
Zazzle started as a small company and initially only printed t-shirts. However, since then, their variety of products has grown exponentially, and now they offer a base of more than 300 million unique products. These products range from apparel to home decor and even edible chocolate brownies.
Redbubble still has a decent variety of products, though it’s not as large as Zazzle’s. You’re still able to choose from apparel to wall art to stickers and phone cases. In this regard, Redbubble seems to value quality over quantity.
Winner of variety of products: Zazzle
Quality
When it comes to the quality of print work, I was a little concerned that Zazzle didn’t have print quality warnings. This means that when artists upload their designs, they don’t know the right sizes and dimensions before printing. Zazzle also outsources its print jobs. This means that the printing quality can vary greatly depending on the printing company used for each project.
Redbubble has become well-known for its top-notch printing quality. Since they supply designers with print quality warnings for the different products, it means that the artworks have been optimized for printing on that product. This also means the dimensions and resolution will suit whichever product you choose to print the designs on.
Winner for quality: Redbubble
Customer Support
Zazzle offers users three different ways to reach customer support. You can call the support team, email them, and use the handy chat function on the website. There’s also an extensive FAQ section on the website for any other questions you may have.
Redbubble also offers customer support via phone calls, chat or the contact page on their website. They have also built a reputation for responding quickly, and you can expect a reply within four hours.
Winner of customer support: Redbubble
Pricing
Zazzle is a free platform to use. When it comes to pricing, the artist and designer are responsible for paying the product’s base cost, which will be deducted from the item’s final price. You can add a commission rate to the base product price between 4% – 14%. Anything above 15% will be liable for a transaction fee.
Redbubble gives you a lot of control when it comes to pricing. Each product has a base price, and you add your commission to that. Redbubble allows you to set your commission rate, although they recommend adding a 20% commission. With Redbubble, you can easily adjust your prices according to the category, items, or price-based markups.
Winner of pricing: Redbubble
Redbubble Vs. Zazzle: the Winner
As you can see from our comparison, Redbubble edges out the competition. When choosing a winner between Redbubble or Zazzle, it is quite close. Both of these POD companies are highly popular for a good reason. They both offer great service with a variety of products and great customer service. When choosing between the two, it really depends on your needs as an artist.
If you want to create many different designs on a wide range of products and you don’t mind the steeper learning curve of the platform, then Zazzle will work for you. If you’re looking for something simpler that will leave you free to continue creating artworks that can then be sold, Redbubble is for you.
I liked red bubble I try few years ago, I think might try again.. Thanks.
Redbubble also outsources their production to 35 partners so you there’s no difference between them and Zazzle – AFAIK only Printful directly controls most of their output at their locations in the USA and Europe although they do print some popular products locally in Australia.
Also the designer on Zazzle is like a cut down version of Canva making it easy to create designs from multiple elements and get them properly aligned. It also allows you to upload SVG (Vector) files and allow customers to customise designs by changing the colours of design elements.
Finally, Zazzle allows you to have themed Stores within your shop so you can create subgroups of different products with a similar design for example.
Zazzle is a nightmare to use. It is incredibly confusing and terribly designed. Nothing is easy to do. Just look at all the self-help tutorials there are on-line for Zazzle users. And most tutorials are very amateur and uninformative. I would love to meet the web-designers who created Zazzle and ask them WHAT were they thinking when they slapped this website together. I have been using Zazzle for years and I still curse every time I use it. It’s like it tries to sabotage everything you try to do. Stay away form this insane website and run to Redbubble, where everything is a breeze and a pleasure to use.