Starting an online business can seem like an overwhelming undertaking. Where do you source your products? Do you store them? What about shipping? Oh, and the start-up costs... The fear of a risky initial investment is enough to make any budding entrepreneur cringe.
But what if we told you that you could start a business without spending a lot of money on start-up costs, while delegating your inventory storage and shipping needs to professionals?
Sounds too good to be true, right? But we're here to tell you: it's not! With print-on-demand services, you can quickly start selling the products you design. No inventory or money up front required. With just an online shop, you're good to go.
This blog post covers the basics of how to start selling print on demand shirts, jewellery, mugs, and anything else you can print on. Let's go!
What is print on demand?
Print on demand is a method of fulfilling orders where products are printed and paid for only when an order is placed.
In a nutshell, this is how it works:
You offer a design to be printed on your products. booklet printing
You set up an online shop and connect it to a print-on-demand service.
A customer places an order in your shop.
The print-on-demand service prints your design on the item the customer orders and ships it to them.
As you can see, you don't have to manage inventory or shipping - the print-on-demand service takes care of all that. However, you do have to take care of the design, your website, marketing, and customer service.
The advantage of print-on-demand is that the amount of the order does not usually matter to the POD service. If you ordered a single t-shirt today, it would be sent to your customers.
You can choose products and upload your design to a print on demand service website
Advantages and disadvantages of having a print-on-demand shop
Not sure if a print-on-demand company is right for you? Consider the following advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of having a print-on-demand shop:
Less stress: You don't need to store and manage stock, order packages, deal with suppliers or shipping companies.
Mostly hands-off: Once you've set up a shop, you don't have to invest a lot of time in running your business.
No dead stock: As orders are printed after an order is placed, you don't risk having a bunch of dead stock (that you've already paid for!) lying around.
Disadvantages of having a print-on-demand shop:
More expensive compared to buying items in bulk: Since the products are made to order, your profit margins are lower.
No control over packaging and shipping: Since you don't manage shipping, it's harder to customize your packaging and control the price of shipping, or how long it will take for your items to reach your customers.
No personal supervision/quality control: You do not see the product until it is shipped to your customers. However, you can order test batches to check the quality of items offered by a print-on-demand company before committing to their services.
Is print-on-demand right for you?
The specifics of a print-on-demand company make it an excellent option for some of the following types of online sellers:
Beginners who want to open an online shop, but you don't have the time to research products and manage inventory and shipping.
Influencers, artists, musicians, or anyone else with subscribers who want to sell their goods.
People who want to sell their own creations or whose business model is to source creations from other artists.
Businesses and non-profit organisations who want to sell branded products.
Budding entrepreneurs who cannot afford to make risky investments up front.
Companies that want to test new products within their budget.
Branded products are a popular way to let your subscribers support you (Image: Pip the beach cat)
What product you can sell in a print-on-demand shop
Print-on-demand companies offer a selection of items that you can personalise with your design or brand. Basically, any product that you can put a design or logo on can be sold with print on demand.
The most common products are:
Clothing for adults and children. For example, t-shirts, jerseys, hoodies, caps, leggings, etc.
Accessories such as tote bags, phone cases, umbrellas, jewellery, face masks, etc.
Home decoration, e.g. wall art, cushions, towels, stationery
Glasses, e.g. coffee cups and water bottles
Product catalogues to send.
There are various products that you can personalise and sell