Redbubble’s fee overhaul, which took effect in September 2025, changed how much of an artist’s own set margin actually reaches their pocket, and the standard tier now keeps only half of it. This piece breaks down exactly what changed, what the new structure looks like on a real sale, and where the standard tier still makes genuine sense despite the tighter cut.
In this article:
- What Actually Changed in September 2025
- The 50 Percent Margin Split, Explained
- The Markup Penalty Above 20 Percent
- A Worked Example on a $25 Design
- The Payout Threshold Drop From $20 to $10
- Account Suspensions: A Recurring, Unexplained Complaint
- What Redbubble Still Does Well
- How Artists Are Adjusting Their Pricing Since the Overhaul
- How This Compares to Immibrand’s Printful Connection
- Best For
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Actually Changed in September 2025
Redbubble’s standard tier used to let an artist set a markup over the platform’s base production cost and keep that markup largely intact, with only a smaller processing-style cut taken off the top. The September 2025 overhaul replaced that with a flat structural rule: Redbubble now keeps 50 percent of whatever margin an artist sets on the standard tier, calculated on the artist’s own markup specifically, not on the full sale price. An artist who sets a $15 markup over base cost keeps $7.50 of it before any other deduction, not the $15 they set.
Why the Change Targets the Standard Tier Specifically
Redbubble runs multiple seller tiers, and the 50 percent split applies to the standard tier most artists sit on by default. The change did not touch base production costs directly, Redbubble still prints and ships the product the same way it always has. What changed is purely how the artist’s own added value, their markup, gets divided between the artist and the platform.
The 50 Percent Margin Split, Explained
The split is easy to state and easy to underestimate in practice, since “50 percent” sounds smaller than it feels once it is run against a real product line:
- Redbubble sets a base production cost per product type, apparel, wall art, drinkware, and so on.
- The artist sets a markup on top of that base cost, the number that becomes their gross margin before Redbubble’s own split applies.
- Redbubble keeps half of that markup on the standard tier, the artist keeps the other half.
The practical effect is that an artist has to roughly double their intended markup just to net the number they actually meant to keep, which pushes retail prices higher than a $0-commission POD connection would require for the same real take-home.
The Markup Penalty Above 20 Percent
A second mechanic compounds the margin split specifically for artists who set a markup above 20 percent over base cost:
- Markup up to 20 percent over base cost: subject only to the standard 50 percent split described above.
- Markup above 20 percent: the portion above that threshold carries an additional 50 percent fee on the excess, on top of the standard split.
This creates a real disincentive against setting a higher markup specifically on Redbubble’s standard tier, an artist trying to protect their take-home by raising their markup runs directly into a second, steeper cut on exactly the portion they raised.
A Worked Example on a $25 Design
Take a t-shirt with a $10 Redbubble base production cost, where an artist sets a $15 markup to reach a $25 retail price:
| Markup Set | Base Cost | Retail Price | Artist Keeps (Standard Tier) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 (50% over base, plus penalty tier) | $10 | $25 | ~$6.50 after the split and the penalty on the portion above 20% |
| $2 (20% over base, no penalty) | $10 | $12 | $1.00 after the standard 50% split only |
Both rows land well under the full markup an artist actually set, which is the core thing this fee structure changed from what artists on the platform were used to before September 2025.
The Payout Threshold Drop From $20 to $10
Alongside the margin split, Redbubble lowered its minimum payout threshold from $20 to $10 in mid-2026. A lower threshold means an artist selling small volumes reaches a payout sooner, a genuine improvement in cash-flow timing for low-volume sellers. It does not change the margin split itself, an artist reaching payout faster is still reaching it on the same, smaller, post-split amount.
Account Suspensions: A Recurring, Unexplained Complaint
Beyond the fee mechanics themselves, unexplained account suspensions are a recurring complaint reported by Redbubble sellers, accounts closed or restricted without a clearly communicated reason, sometimes after months or years of active selling. This is a real, documented pattern worth knowing about independent of the fee structure, since a suspended account means the margin-split math above becomes irrelevant, there is no sale left to split at all.
What Redbubble Still Does Well
To be direct: Redbubble’s actual production and fulfillment infrastructure is genuinely strong. It offers true zero-inventory fulfillment across more than 70 product types, backed by a global manufacturing network, so an artist never touches physical inventory, packing, or shipping at any point. That infrastructure is real and valuable, the fee overhaul changed how much of an artist’s own markup they keep, not the quality of what Redbubble physically produces and ships.
How Artists Are Adjusting Their Pricing Since the Overhaul
Raising the Base Markup to Compensate
Some sellers have responded to the 50 percent split by raising their set markup across the board, effectively pricing in the split from the start rather than treating it as a surprise deduction after the fact. This keeps take-home roughly where it was before the overhaul, at the cost of a higher retail price the buyer sees.
Staying Deliberately Under the 20 Percent Penalty Line
Others have kept their markup at or just under the 20 percent threshold specifically to avoid the additional penalty fee on the excess, accepting a smaller total markup in exchange for avoiding the steeper, compounded cut on anything above that line. Which approach makes more sense depends on how price-sensitive a given product category actually is, apparel buyers tend to notice a price jump more than wall-art buyers do, so the right answer varies by product type within the same shop.
How This Compares to Immibrand’s Printful Connection
An Opt-In Connection, Not a Mandatory Revenue Split
Immibrand takes a structurally different approach: artists connect their own existing Printful account directly, an opt-in, click-and-connect flow rather than a platform-wide, mandatory fulfillment relationship. Immibrand charges $0 platform commission on those print-on-demand sales, it does not take any share of the artist’s own markup the way Redbubble’s standard tier does.
What Still Applies Regardless of the Provider
This is not a claim that POD becomes free money on Immibrand. The seller is still responsible for Printful’s own production cost, sales tax, shipping, any discount they choose to offer, and payment transaction fees, the same real-world overhead that applies to any sale, POD or original. The $0 commission means Immibrand does not add its own separate cut on top of that already-thin slice, that is the specific thing that differs from Redbubble’s 50 percent margin split, not a claim that print-on-demand margins are wide open on any platform.
Best For
Redbubble’s standard tier is best for an artist who values true zero-inventory, hands-off fulfillment across a very wide product catalog and is comfortable pricing markups to account for keeping roughly half of what they set. An artist who wants to keep their own markup fully intact and is comfortable connecting their own Printful account is better served by an opt-in, $0-commission connection instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What changed in Redbubble’s September 2025 fee update?
The standard tier now keeps 50 percent of an artist’s own set margin, calculated on the markup itself, not the full sale price, replacing the platform’s previous fee structure.
Does the 50 percent split apply to the whole sale price?
No. It applies specifically to the artist’s own markup over Redbubble’s base production cost, not to the full retail price the buyer pays.
What happens if an artist sets a markup above 20 percent?
The portion of the markup above 20 percent carries an additional 50 percent fee on that excess, on top of the standard 50 percent split already applied.
Did the payout threshold change too?
Yes, it dropped from $20 to $10 in mid-2026, letting artists reach a payout sooner, though it does not change how much margin they keep per sale.
Are account suspensions common on Redbubble?
Unexplained account suspensions are a recurring, documented complaint among sellers, separate from the fee structure itself, worth knowing about before relying on the platform as a primary income source.
What does Immibrand charge on print-on-demand sales instead?
$0 platform commission through an opt-in Printful connection. The seller still covers Printful’s production cost, sales tax, shipping, any discount offered, and transaction fees, the same as on any sale, Immibrand simply doesn’t add its own cut on top.
Does Redbubble still handle fulfillment well despite the fee change?
Yes. Its zero-inventory fulfillment across 70+ product types and global manufacturing network are genuinely strong, the fee overhaul changed the margin split, not the fulfillment quality.
For the full comparison across every major commission and POD platform side by side, see the full fee comparison table. And if Printful specifically is the connection being considered, here’s how it compares directly to Redbubble and Fine Art America.
Want to see the $0-commission Printful connection for yourself? Sign up to sell on Immibrand, it’s free to start.
