Having a thriving print on demand Etsy business is super rewarding. It gives you the flexibility and money you want in order to live life on your terms and not have a fixed schedule.
A print on demand business has personally allowed me to become financially free, spend my free time how I’d like to, not be stuck at a 9-5 job I don’t like, and gives me the freedom to work from anywhere.
This guide includes all of the things I wish I knew before starting my print on demand Etsy business. I was able to scale one of my print on demand Etsy businesses to nearly $1 million in sales in just one year after applying some of these tips.
I hope you are able to apply some of these tips to your print on demand Etsy business for success.
This post is the ultimate guide for success with print on demand on Etsy.
How To Start A Print on Demand Business On Etsy
The first step is to open an Etsy shop.
You should also come up with a shop name that is unique and memorable for your customers.
I recommend also securing the domain name and social media accounts of your shop name in case you want to utilize social media and sell on your own website later in the future.
This is not required, but recommended.
Websites to Help You Come up With a Business Name
Shopify Business Name Generator
Best Print Providers for Etsy
Having the right print provider for your Etsy shop will either make or break your business. A good print provider will be a solid foundation of your business.
These print providers are my favorite ones if you’re just getting started. They all have an Etsy integration that is easy to set up.
Once you have picked your print provider, you can connect your Etsy store to their platform so your orders can be automatically fulfilled when you get an order!
Printify – They offer the best prices that I’ve come across. If you sign up for their premium plan, you can get up to a 20% discount on your orders. Their customer service is really quick too!
Printful – They are a good option if you do a lot of customized orders and want to have branding options for your store.
Teelaunch – They are a good option to use if you offer a lot of customization for your store. They are also a good backup option to have.
Gooten – Has a more complicated process to sign up initially, but good as a backup option since they have a good range of products. They also offer products other print providers don’t offer.
Finding the Best Niches for Print On Demand
Niche research is one of the most important factors in your print on demand business. In order to make this easier, I recommend using a research tool to speed up the process.
Best Research Tools for Print on Demand
These are my favorite research tools I’ve used in my business.
Erank – Starts at $4.99 per month.
Marmalead – Starts at $19 per month or $15.83 / month paid annually.
Sale Samurai – Starts at $9.99 per month or $99 paid annually. If you’d like to save on your subscription, use code REN for 20% off on the monthly or annual cost.
You don’t need to use all of these. Just pick one and get good at using it.
You can also take a look at this guide I put together of some of the best-selling niches you can sell with in print on demand. Each of these niches has personally made me thousands of dollars.
Want to skip the guesswork and avoid having to do the research work yourself? I can definitely understand this, which is why I put this resource together to help save you time.
Best Products to Sell with Print on Demand
If you take a look at the print provider’s catalog, they will actually show you what products are the bestsellers for them, which means that other sellers are having success with selling these products.
If you want to make sales fast, you need to sell what’s already selling.
Take a look at some of the bestsellers on Printful at the time of writing this.
There are literally hundreds or even thousands of other products to choose from that you can sell. If you are just starting though, I recommend selling no more than 5 different types of products.
I recommend getting good at selling a few different types of products and then expanding your product line. This is because you end up getting overwhelmed with all of the different options.
Best Design Software for Designing Your Print On Demand Designs
Once you’ve gotten to this step, it’s time to create or buy your first designs to get listed!
In order to create your designs for your print on demand store, you need a good design software that will help you do that effectively. If you prefer to make your own designs, you can use these design softwares.
Canva – Free plan available, but I recommend upgrading to the pro plan for access to all of the fonts and graphics available.
Photoshop – Paid subscription
Illustrator – Paid subscription
Photopea – Free
Affinity Designer – One-time fee
Affinity Photo – One-time fee
Best Places for Print on Demand Graphics
In order to make your designs stand out, you need to make sure you’re not just throwing ugly clipart together.
These are the best places for design resources for your designs.
Creative Fabrica – Super affordable subscription plan for access to thousands of graphics
Best Places to Outsource Your Designs
If you prefer to outsource your designs, these are the sites I’d recommend that I’ve used in the past.
Upwork – For hire freelancing website
Fiverr – You can get a design done for you for as low as $5 on Fiverr!
Onlinejobs.ph – Requires a paid subscription, but the workers have all been really good in my experience!
Etsy – You can purchase SVG/PNGs/artwork from other sellers. Just make sure to ask or read their license before reselling any graphics you incorporate with designs!
Best Design Tips for the Non-Designers
A lot of successful people who do print on demand on Etsy are not designers. The good news is that you don’t have to be!
These are some of my best tips for designing things yourself with no knowledge of designing.
Keep things simple
You don’t need to be an illustrator or sell complex artwork to be successful. Most of my designs are simple text or incorporate one graphic element.
Don’t copy others!
Seriously. You won’t get ahead by copying others who are already ahead of you. You need to have your own unique designs that stand out from what already exists.
Best Places for Print on Demand Mockups
Once your designs are finished, you need to put them on mockup images or take photos of them yourself.
If you aren’t buying or making the products beforehand, you need to put them on a mockup photo.
Related: 7 Proven Print on Demand Mockup Sites
These are the best places I have found and have used personally for mockups. These websites offer such a large variety and will most likely have mockups for the products you are selling.
Optimizing Your Listings for Sales
What makes the research tools I recommended above so great is that they also have features you can use for optimizing your titles and tags.
I would recommend using any of these tools to make sure your listings are well optimized so they are ranking on search results well.
Sale Samurai – Starts at $9.99 per month or $99 paid annually. If you’d like to save on your subscription, use code REN for 20% off on the monthly or annual cost.
Erank – Starts at $4.99 per month.
Marmalead – Starts at $19 per month or $15.83 / month paid annually.
Once you get an order on Etsy, your production partner automatically prints, ships and uploads the tracking information to your store for you!
Once you’ve set up all of the steps above, most of the hard work has already been done and you can start to enjoy the rewards of setting up a passive income business!
I hope you are able to apply some of these tips to your business for more results.
This post was about the ultimate guide to success with print on demand Etsy.
