My Thoughts on the New Society6 Tiered Plan Updates - October 2023
FYI: This is a follow-up update from my original post from April 2023 discussing the new payment and shipping fee changes to Redbubble and Society6.
If you’re an artist selling on Society6, chances are you’ve seen the changes they’ve made in switching to their new tiered pricing structure called Artist Plans.
I’ve been watching this play out and I know that it’s causing some unrest and confusion among the art community. As an artist who has been heavily involved with Society6 since the early days, I wanted to share my thoughts on how this will affect artists and the best way to move forward.
First of all, let’s clarify what’s happening.
Earlier this month, on October 19th, Society6 announced its new Artist Plans. All Society6 artists will be required to opt-in to the program by November 30, 2023.
These new tiered pricing plans set limits to the functionality of your shop based on what pricing tier you choose:
The free plan limits artists to 10 designs in their shop and 10% of the net sales in earnings.
The basic plan at $4.99/month limits artists to 100 designs and allows you to set your own prices.
The pro plan at $12.99/month allows artists 10,000 designs in their shop, the ability to set their own prices, and access to trend reports and analytics.
My Thoughts:
It’s completely understandable that many artists are feeling frustrated by these new plans on Society6. Implementing a “pay to play” scenario like this can make it feel like new artists are getting pushed to the bottom of the barrel if they aren’t yet earning enough to justify spending money on the paid plan.
Let’s face it– POD is a numbers game, and it could be challenging to build a successful shop with the 10 design limit offered by the free plan. I know how frustrating this must be if you’re just starting out, or haven’t gained much traction in the form of sales yet.
But from my perspective, this change is not all bad. Here’s why:
I can see the value in implementing a tiered pricing structure like this as it will significantly decrease the amount of spam and mass AI-generated art on the platform. This has been a growing problem and I’ve experienced firsthand how it’s affected my own sales as an influx of AI-generated content has exploded into print-on-demand sites like Society6, Spoonflower, Redbubble, and more.
Many artists have also been negatively affected from spam accounts stealing their artwork. These spam accounts steal other artists’ work (sometimes just by taking screenshots) and sell these lower-quality versions without artists’ permission. When this happens to me, it not only affects my sales, but it also degrades my brand’s credibility and reputation when low-quality rip-offs of my own artwork (signature and all) are widely available through the exact same POD sites that I sell through.
Many artists have expressed to me that they’re frustrated with how saturated print-on-demand platforms have become. In a way, this is Society6’s response to that saturation. The less “noise” there is on Society6 when low-quality accounts get weeded out, the more opportunity there will be for real, independent artists to get discovered and grow on the platform.
How to proceed with these changes:
Evaluate. Start by evaluating how your Society6 shop is performing and what your goals are with the platform.
If your ultimate goal is sales, you've got to weigh the subscription cost against what you're earning on the platform. If you aren't getting enough sales to justify the tiered pricing, I'd consider this carefully before you opt into one of the paid plans.
That said, artists who have more than ten designs and want to move forward with the free plan will have to remove any artwork that exceeds the 10 design limit (or Society6 will do it for you on November 30th).
This is a huge blow if you’ve spent a lot of time uploading your work and adjusting it for each product. Consider whether the cost of keeping all the artwork you worked so hard to upload is worth it for the cost of a monthly subscription. I know this a very tough call for many.
Our time is precious, and it’s important to think about how much time it would take to both remove all those designs and potentially re-upload them in the future. There is not yet any clarity from Society6 about how they will go about removing all but ten designs from artists’ accounts who choose the Free Plan. I’m hopeful we’ll get more details on this as the November 30 deadline approaches.
I’ve always said that POD is about more than just making a profit. I’ve shared my own stories of being “discovered” on Society6 by larger brands, who have then reached out for art licensing opportunities. After all, my first big break into art licensing was because a buyer representing Urban Outfitters originally found my work through Society6 and emailed me with a licensing opportunity.
Side note: This is why you should always have your contact information easily accessible anywhere you showcase your art, including your bio on Society6, Instagram, Behance, etc. At the very minimum, include your email address in your bio. (If you also have a website, social media presence, Youtube channel, or anything else, include this as well.)
If your goal is to be putting yourself out there for the opportunity to be discovered for larger art licensing collaborations, you could think of the paid plan as a monthly cost for advertising your business. Of course, there are no guarantees that just having your artwork on Society6 will lend itself to large collaborations, but $4.99 a month could be an investment for the potential of that opportunity.
Think of it from a business perspective.
As artists, it’s important to view ourselves and our artwork as a business and interact with partners like Society6 accordingly. If you have the means to invest in your business and are spending money to grow in other areas, you can think of this as a business expense.
From my perspective, the price of the paid plans are justifiable when I look at how my sales are performing on Society6. Their Pro Plan ($12.99/month) is about the same cost of a Netflix subscription ($15.49/month). For me, this is easily decision when I look at the cost against my monthly earnings.
At the end of the day, you have to evaluate if the cost of this plan is worth what you’re getting from Society6. Whether that’s sales, exposure, or the sunk cost of time spent uploading artwork, you have to make the decision that’s right for your financial situation and your business.
Research alternatives.
If you find that the cost of either of the paid plans is too much for you, I would recommend researching alternatives.
There are many other POD sites out there that don't require subscription fees, so I encourage you to always shop around and see if there are other POD sites that resonate with you and your audience. One thing to keep in mind is to make sure it's a nonexclusive agreement, meaning you are free to sell the same artwork through multiple platforms.
At the end of the day, I believe strongly that it’s important for new artists to be able to put themselves out there through accessible and low-cost channels.
Luckily, these days there are so many different avenues you can pursue on your art journey – many of which are accessible no matter what stage of business you’re at.
If Society6 isn’t going to work for you, that’s okay! If you are uncomfortable with the fees, don’t force yourself to keep investing your time into this income stream.
Society6 opened so many doors for me at the beginning of my career, but print-on-demand is not a requirement for success in art licensing. There are so many opportunities to make income as an artist. Experimenting with multiple diverse income streams and putting your time into the ones that work for you is the key to creating a successful art career.
