Society6's biggest move

The first business day of February brough in a massive surprise/shock for many artists in the community with Society6's biggest move to date. A move that is leaving artists very divided at that. If you have been selling on the platform, you must have received a special email on February 3rd either announcing that your account will be terminated or that you will be part of a smaller, curated number of artists that get to stay on the platform. The change is due to occur on March 18 at which point they will also introduce a vetting system for uploading new artwork (for the artists who made the cut) and the permanent suspension of all accounts that weren't selected for the big move.

Before I go on, let me announce that I made the cut and will be part of the curated selection of artists to continue selling on Society6. A move that brings a huge relief as I was facing the third round of subscription plan renewal not going through and the prospect of being demoted to the free plan for the 3rd time.

So what is going on with Society6? What is that big move all about?

Society6 made the decision to delete a great number of artists' account to move toward a more curated approach to selling art. In their announcement they explain that the move was decided in order to keep on providing their customer with the best service and on trend products. The move will come in order on March 18th, until then, all accounts meant to be deleted will continue to operate as usual, but as of February 3rd the uploading of new artwork has been frozen and all subscription plans ended. Those who had just gone for a new cycle on their plan will be refunded and no new payment will be deducted after the 3rd. By March 18th, the shipping fees will be cancelled and the royalty earnings structure will change for all the accounts that have been cleared to move forward with all markups set at 5-10% of retail price. This move is to ensure that all products regardless of the art printed on them will have the same price and be more accessible to customers.

Society6 announced that the artists who will be continuing with them will have their portfolio reviewed and some of their work might be removed from the platform to align better with their curated collection. New artwork will have to follow a curation guideline and submission process they haven't shared yet.

the reasoning behind that big move

All print on demand websites have become EXTREMELY saturated and plagued by fraud / spam accounts uploading low quality artwork, often relying on free stock photos or worse stolen art, then came AI and some people have been uploading AI images after AI images by the dozen in order to flood the platform and hope to be seen. This has sadly led to many genuine artists disappearing in the mass of low quality and low effort designs. All those PoD platforms started with the intent of giving artists a chance at getting seen, and they have all evolved to become attempt for bogus designers to get rich quick (which doesn't happen). Some blatantly steal the art of artists like myself, I had to report quite a few over the years because these bogus accounts will stop at almost nothing.

Back in 2023, Society6 first introduced shipping fees on all sales earnings, and then paid subscription plans in an effort to weed some of those fraudsters of the platform. They weren't the only ones coming up with measures to deter bogus "artists" then, Redbubble introduced membership tiers and fees on entry level accounts and Teepublic came up with two different earnings structures depending on the quality level of the account.

Society6 is now taking it a step further and decided to narrow down their pool of artists and designs in order to cater exclusively to their target audience. This move will give the remaining artists a better chance at getting seen and making sales, which I think is a good idea.

What to expect moving forward?

I personally think it's going to be interesting to see how things will develop starting March 18th, especially with what kind of curated content they will be going for. I'm not too surprised by the whole move to be honest, they really hinted at a serious change of direction when they introduced the whole new look of their website in October and their marketing strategy going forward, not to mention their blog posts hinting at upcoming trends. It's clear they are moving toward catering to a clientele that is into specific trends and design aesthetics and want to do away with anything that does not resonate with said audience.

I personally think that while this move is a bold one, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Society6 is a business after all, and they are protecting their own interests. This is also allowing them to stand out in a crowd of PoD platform. With artists usually uploading the same designs on several platform, and most PoD selling the same type of products, there wasn't much that made Society6 stand out. It's not just artists facing fierce competition in this industry, PoD feel the burden too.

What to do if your account has been marked for suspension?

As I said in December in my "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket" post, if you haven't diversified yet, now is the time. New PoD shops are created all the time, and many die as quickly as they come, and you never know when something will affect your business, so the wise move is to never rely on just one platform. Too many artists make that mistake and it severely impact their chances at building their business. It's something I keep on saying on Quora as well : what sells on one platform won't sell on another and there isn't much logic to it most of the time.

When I started selling on Society6 back in 2017, the trend of the hour was boho abstract art, followed by watercolor hand lettering and watercolor patterns in bold colors. The succulent everything trend was already starting to decline. Fastforward to now, the trend on the platform seems to be retro florals, grandmillennial aesthetics, and retro seasonal trends like the après-ski trend and the vintage coastal elements like the ones in my recent collection. The Matisse inspired art is still having its moment too, but I have seen a shift away from it going on. All this to let you know that when you plan on selling your art on PoD or anywhere for that matter you essentially become a commercial artist, and paying attention to trends is something you should always keep doing. It doesn't mean you have to hop on all of them, just pick the ones that resonate with you, and in the end make peace with the fact you might not be doing well on every platforms. If you were among the artists that were marked for suspension, as much as it hurts, do not take it personally. It's not that you weren't good enough. I've seen many excellent artists not making the cut, the quality of their art isn't the problem. It's just that Society6 made an executive decision to only go with a certain style and didn't feel your work was part of their vision for their brand. This kind of things happen all the time in the art and design industry, rejection is part of the game. I'll say that though, Society6 is at least giving you over a month of warning before the big move occurs. I've been on PoD that didn't give that kind of courtesy, several I had a presence on simply shut down their operation one fine morning without as much as an email or a plan to pay artists their dues. So make the most of that month to clear everything, change all your links and let your audience know what is going on. If you haven't signed up for another PoD platform yet, go ahead and open an account on another. There are several options out there and I encourage you to try a few :

• Teepublic

• Threadless

• Redbubble

• Spoonflower

• Zazzle

• Framer Art

• Pixels

Just to name a few! Also keep an eye open for any other PoD out there, especially new platforms where you will probably have more visibility. Also look in the possibility of licensing your art directly to companies, or entertain commission work. You could also set up a shop on Etsy if that is your thing, especially since they now allow drop shipping services to be listed as your production partner. The point is when it comes to creative businesses you never know when the wind is going to start turning and it's better to try new things and say yes to opportunities coming your way whenever they come.