You’ve probably heard of platforms like Spring and Spreadshirt and how you can start a print on demand business from home. But how do you actually get started? How much can you actually make? And what types of products can you sell? In today’s interview, we speak with Jessica Roop from I Love Print on Demand.
Jessica initially started her online business by purchasing inventory, storing it, packaging the products, and sending them through the post office for shipping. She then decided to try out a print-on-demand business model. This small tweak helped her take the hassle out of her business and create a steady source of income. Today, she earns income from a variety of sources, including her Etsy shop, multiple cooking blogs, and a virtual assistance business.
To find out if a print-on-demand business is right for you, keep reading.
Tell us how you got started as a print-on-demand (POD) seller.
I launched my Etsy shop with print-on-demand products in May 2022. It started out as a fun project, but also in a way it was like, “I hope this works!”
That’s because a year prior, I started working at an e-commerce gift store. At the time, e-commerce was booming due to the pandemic, so it seemed like the perfect side hustle. Long story short, I ended up with a ton of inventory crammed into my 692 square foot apartment and feeling totally anxious every time a sale came in.
Every time I made a sale, I had to pick up the items, pack them up, buy and print shipping labels, and take the boxes to the post office. It was exhausting!
One day, I suddenly remembered print-on-demand. I had dabbled with it a few years ago, but never really got serious about it. Compared to where we are today, it seemed like a dream come true: I could sell physical products by simply creating a digital design file. From there, my “production partner” would print, package, and ship the products without any effort on my part.
I set up a shop on Etsy with a few products and was lucky enough to have some bestsellers within a month or so, and was hooked. Print-on-demand gave me the best of both worlds – I could design and sell physical products, without all the inconveniences that come with selling physical products, like packaging, shipping, and maintaining inventory.
What products can I sell as a POD seller?
Almost anything! Here are some products:
- Mugs
- T-Shirts
- Sweatshirts
- blanket
- Decorations
- Tote Bags
- journal
- Rugs
- Garden Flag
Plus there are hundreds of different products, and each product has a variety of options (for example, mugs probably have 50+ different options).
Does this business require specialized background or equipment?
No expertise required. I started POD with absolutely no idea how to design a product or use any design software. I’ll be honest and say that I consider myself a POD success story, and some of my best-selling products to date are text-only designs. Simple can and does sell.
In terms of equipment, I recommend a laptop or desktop as it’s easier to design on a larger screen. You’ll also need design software to use for your designs (I use Adobe Illustrator) and a place to get some inexpensive fonts and graphics (there are several sites for that).
No extra equipment is required as our production partners print, pack and ship your products for you. Simply press a button to send your order to our production partners, who will then handle the entire production and fulfillment process.
Is POD the same as dropshipping?
It’s similar, but not exactly the same.
With POD, you create the product design yourself. Every skill comes with a learning curve, but product design is 100% doable even if you have no graphic design experience, which in my case I had none at all.
With dropshipping, you have a pre-made product that anyone can sell. This means you have competition from day one, and it also means you can’t sell on Etsy. Etsy is a great marketplace for people just starting out because there are tons of eager buyers, but it doesn’t allow dropshippers (POD sellers are welcome, though!).
How much can you earn as a POD seller?
Some people make a few hundred dollars a month, others make $10,000 a month, and some advanced POD sellers who sell on their own websites and run paid ads can make over five figures a month.
I personally run my POD business as a side hustle because it best fits my life and schedule, and my average profit per month is between $500 and $1,500.
What kind of personality is best suited for a POD business?
You need to be someone who enjoys learning new skills, but also has grit and curiosity. You need to be hard-working, persistent, and passionately curious about building new products that people want to buy.
How long does it take to launch a print on demand business?
If you sell on Etsy you can technically start your business in a day or two, which is what I did, but for the first few months I had no idea what I was doing so I was in constant learning mode.
Tell me about your print-on-demand courses.
“I Love Print on Demand: How to Start a Profitable Print-on-Demand Business” is a course I wish I had taken at the beginning of my POD journey.
As I said, I I don’t know I had no idea what I was doing the first few months, I just had to jump in and learn everything on the fly, it was really stressful.
At I Love Print on Demand, we’ll help you learn all aspects of POD while also helping you maximize the success of your POD shop on Etsy. We’ll show you how to sell your bestselling products with the best (in my opinion) production partners, so you’ll be on the path to profitability much quicker than someone who starts a shop without any knowledge.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to design, upload, and launch your first 10 products and make them a success.
What will people learn from your free e-book?
In my eBook, “17 Top Selling Print on Demand Products,” I introduce some of the most popular POD products (with examples), go into more detail on how to run a POD business, and show you why POD is one of the hottest businesses out there right now.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
If you are on the fence about starting a POD shop, I encourage you to believe in yourself and take the plunge – you have nothing to lose and the opportunity to gain the ability to make money in a super fun and completely flexible way.
I always say that one of the best things about a print-on-demand business is it’s okay to fail. Not in the sense that your shop will fail, but that you don’t have to take a huge risk to get your product out there. You don’t have to buy 1,000 mugs of a particular design, store them, and hope they sell. Instead, you can try out different designs to see what resonates with people, and it will only cost you time and a $0.20 per item Etsy listing fee.
Don’t let a lack of creativity get you down: whether you’re creative, creatively inclined, or just not creative at all, you can succeed with POD.
Ready to start your own print on demand business? Take Jessica’s POD course here.
