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Bear Grips Pro Shops vs Redbubble in 2026: Side-by-Side Comparison

April 29, 2026 7 min read By Cameron Wells
Quick Answer
Table of Contents
  1. Storefront model: marketplace listing versus your own shop
  2. Is Redbubble good for a gym or small business selling team apparel?
  3. Pricing structure: what each seller actually sets
  4. Who wins on catalog breadth versus catalog focus
  5. Frequently Asked Questions

Bear Grips Pro Shops and Redbubble solve different problems even though both are print-on-demand platforms. Redbubble is a marketplace built for independent artists to reach shoppers browsing redbubble.com. Bear Grips Pro Shops is a hosted storefront built for a gym, studio, coach, or small business that already has an audience and wants a shop under its own name. Here is the honest side-by-side, expanded from the full alternative overview.

Storefront model: marketplace listing versus your own shop

CategoryRedbubbleBear Grips Pro Shops
StorefrontProfile page inside the Redbubble marketplaceHosted, branded shop under your own name
DiscoveryRedbubble search and browseA direct link you share with your own audience
Customer relationshipOwned by Redbubble (checkout, account, repeat purchase)Owned by the vendor's storefront
Branding on the product pageRedbubble branding surrounds every listingVendor logo and name front and center

A business with an existing audience (gym members, team parents, followers) generally wants the second column: a link that looks like the business, not a listing competing with unrelated designs on the same page.

Is Redbubble good for a gym or small business selling team or fan apparel?

It can technically work since anyone can open a free Redbubble account, but it was not built with a gym's member shop or a small business's team store in mind. Redbubble is optimized for independent artists selling directly to strangers who search the marketplace, not for a business that wants to drive its own list of customers to a shop reflecting its own brand. A gym that wants members buying from "our shop" rather than from a listing inside a much larger public marketplace is generally better served by a hosted platform built for that job.

Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.

Pricing structure: what each seller actually sets

Redbubble runs on a base-price-plus-margin model: Redbubble sets the base production cost per product, and the artist adds a margin, which becomes their earning per sale. That margin sits on top of a price Redbubble has already partly set, and shipping is typically calculated separately at checkout. Bear Grips Pro Shops runs one flat plan (Free at $0/mo, Self-Service VIP at $59/mo, or Done-For-You VIP at $105/mo) with all-inclusive per-piece base pricing that vendors mark up to their own full retail price, keeping the entire margin. Free US shipping is built into the base price rather than calculated at checkout. See the full Redbubble pricing breakdown for the detail.

Who wins on catalog breadth versus catalog focus

Redbubble wins on catalog breadth: apparel plus stickers, phone cases, wall art, pillows, and home goods, all in one artist account. Bear Grips Pro Shops wins on catalog depth for apparel specifically: 63 products spanning tees, hoodies, joggers, leggings, polos, and embroidered hats from recognized blank brands (Bella+Canvas, Next Level, Champion, Gildan, Sport-Tek). A business focused purely on branded team and fan apparel generally gets more relevant depth from an apparel-only catalog. Sign up free at shops.beargrips.com to see the full 63-product lineup.

Give Your Audience a Shop With Your Name On It

Free to start. Set your own retail price and keep the margin. 63 products from $19.88, free US shipping.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which platform is cheaper to run?

It depends on volume and margin choices. Redbubble has no monthly fee to join, but the seller only controls the margin added on top of Redbubble's base price. Bear Grips Pro Shops charges a flat monthly plan (or is free to start) and lets the vendor set the full retail price.

Can I run a Redbubble account and a Bear Grips Pro Shop at the same time?

Yes. Nothing prevents testing both, since they serve different audiences: marketplace shoppers versus a business's own audience.

Who owns the customer data on each platform?

On Redbubble, the marketplace owns the checkout and buyer account. On Bear Grips Pro Shops, the vendor's storefront owns the checkout and customer relationship directly.

Does Bear Grips Pro Shops offer non-apparel products like Redbubble?

No. The catalog is 63 apparel products. Redbubble carries a much broader range including stickers, phone cases, and home decor.

Cameron Wells
Cameron WellsCustom Apparel and POD Industry Writer

Cameron has been writing about the custom apparel and print on demand industry for seven years, with a background in e-commerce operations. He covers platform comparisons, no-minimum vendors, and what is changing for small custom merch businesses.

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