Beginner’s Guide to Print on Demand (POD), the most comprehensive article is now available for you. This easy-to-read article is designed to give you all the information you need to get started with this exciting money-making option.
This Beginner’s Guide to Print on Demand (POD) will walk you through a step-by-step process so you can get started in less than 30 minutes!
What is Print on Demand (POD)?
An online self-publishing platform enables you to publish and sell your product without printing large quantities of copies. It saves you money, enabling you to concentrate on the marketing and promoting what you have already produced with only a few clicks.
You can print anything on-demand, including T-shirts, bags, mugs, etc. It’s an easy process where you work with a supplier of white-label products to customize those items for your brand under one roof without any additional costs!
Plus, once everything has been set up digitally, there are only two clicks needed before it will be ready for fulfillment–printing orders come directly from the customer who ordered them, so they’re always fresh right at their fingertips. Before going to Beginner’s Guide to Print on Demand, let’s have a look at the differences between dropshipping and POD dropshipping.
Basic differences between dropshipping and POD dropshipping?
Dropshipping business refers to an e-commerce approach whereby you can stock products without owning them. This is done by focusing on the dropship supplier, which carries out the storage and distribution of their products at your low cost; they then process customer orders that come in through your website.
“Print on demand drop shipping” means that you decide on a design for a single product (say t-shirts) and fabricate it as soon as you receive an order for it – hence making it “on demand.”
Beginner’s Guide to Print on Demand: how POD works:
- Choose a white label provider
- Create listings
- Upload design
- Make sales
- Receive payment
- Print orders
First, you have to find a supplier with white-label products or services (with no branding, so you can sell the products under your brand name). Then design what you want to sell using software such as Photoshop or Illustrator. Upload the files to the supplier’s website for printing. Done!
Your customer will receive products directly from the white label provider with your logo on them.
Where can I print on demand? It is possible to do this in two ways: through a white label provider or use your printer!
Your product will be unique in the sense that only a fixed number will be printed. However, you can adjust to your customer’s quantities or specific needs depending on your business model. This is done by printing more when the customer places an order and less when they inquire.
In this case, you need to keep the number of units as low as possible to make a sale.
The benefits of Print on Demand Business:
You only pay for the product that is ordered –
Print on demand eliminates the need to order in bulk. You simply upload your design, set your price, and wait for orders to start rolling in. After a customer orders a product with your design, the printer will print and ship the item directly to your customer.
This business model is great for both new and experienced designers because it removes the risk of investing in large inventory quantities that may or may not sell.
No need to keep any inventory –
Reduce or even eliminate your storage needs. For example, with Print on demand, products are printed only when a customer orders them. This means you don’t need to keep any inventory.
Customized products without the costs –
Customized products are in great demand. With Print-on-demand services, you can offer customized (personalized) products to your customers without any extra fees! Once you’ve created a product listing, all the customer needs is to select options for their product.
Easy to manage order fulfillment –
When a customer places an order, the printer sends an email notification letting you know that their product is ready to be shipped. You then print your shipping label and send it with the products for delivery to the customer.
Quick and simple to set up –
For Print on demand, you don’t need a warehouse or a lot of stock to get started! If you have a product idea and can use design software such as Photoshop and Illustrator, and if your product has been designed for online selling (i.e., it is digital), you can sell it via Print on demand.
Quick to market –
Setting up an online store with POD doesn’t take much time, other than designing the product and setting the right type of files for upload.
The disadvantage of Print on-demand:
Shipping cost –
Print on demand(POD) suppliers, such as printify and printful, charge a higher price for the first order and decrease it for subsequent orders. So, for beginners the shipping cost can be high.
Lower presence –
When you print small quantities of products, the good thing is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on printing. But this has its drawbacks too: unless your goods stand out from the rest, your potential customers may not see them. But, again, this is because they’re less likely to pick up a product with a low number of sales.
Delay in order fulfillment
All products are printed when an order is placed, so there might be a delay between when you place an order and receiving the product depending on the volume of orders in queue.
A guide for those interested in starting a Print on Demand business:
Choose a product to sell online –
First, you must decide on your product and how it will be ordered. If you already have something in mind, then great! If not, then I recommend taking the time to do some market research before investing in anything. In the printing on-demand market there are a lot of products available, but you need to make sure that the product is something that people will buy.
Choose a supplier –
You can choose from hundreds of print-on-demand service providers, both domestic and international. When choosing your supplier, however, you should pay attention to their customer service record and how much help they provide if you run into any problems. Also, don’t forget to find out what type of files they accept.
Design –
Before uploading your designs and products, you should double-check all the essential details, such as the printing colors and CMYK values. This is because POD printers use CMYK for printing, so you have to design in CMYK.
Set your price –
Print-on-demand products are priced low compared to manufactured products because there’s no need for production costs or royalties. And since you don’t have to store them, POD products don’t require a lot of money. You can use Shopify’s “Start > Pricing your item” tool to determine the optimal price for your product based on sales history and competition data.
Set up shop –
When you’re ready to open your store, go to Sell > Add/Manage Inventory, select the product you want to list, and select “Manage” in the publication type. Next, input all the necessary information, including your product title, description, colors, sizes/variations, price, shipping costs (if any), inventory levels, condition types (if selling used products) for each item you are selling on Shopify.
>> Free! Free! Signup for Shopify free trial here!
Upload your designs & products –
To upload your designs/products, go to File> Upload Files. Next, click “Choose files” or drag the File into the area shown. When you are done, hit Submit!
Start selling –
Make sure to describe your product well for customers to see what they’ll be getting by purchasing it. You should also include product pictures and any other information you think might be necessary for your customers.
How to optimize my Print on demand store:
Good quality photos –
A picture says more than a thousand words in most cases. If you don’t have the budget (and patience) to hire a photographer, you can always take your photos. Just making sure that they are high-quality photos.
Optimize store for SEO –
Since people search Shopify using keywords in Google, optimization of these will increase traffic significantly. This means optimizing the Shopify listing title, description, tags, etc.
Users are the lifeblood of your business. With SEO-optimized product descriptions that will get more people interested in your product, you can convert them into customers and increase sales for the long run.
Optimize for merchandising –
Merchandising is when Shopify promotes your item in specific searches. This means that people may see your items in search even if they didn’t type in the exact keywords you used to list your product! But you have to make it easy for them to find out what your product is about, or it will not be merchandised. That’s why it’s crucial to optimize your listing correctly and choose the right category for your item.
Be responsive –
This one is significant! It doesn’t matter whether you reply to customers in a day, an hour, or even an hour, but make sure you do. Responding to buyers is one of the things that helps them trust you and open up their wallets for buying your items.
Who is Print on Demand suitable for?
Print on demand is made especially for small retailers, who would like to test different products without spending big money on production. This way, when you start your business, you can offer a wide range of products and easily create new ones, where you can select the most profitable items to work with.
If your business aims primarily to sell online your designs or unique handmade products, then POD may not be for you. Some printers have an option to order one-off units if required, but the price will be something like $10-$20, and you could also check out Etsy for handmade products.
Name of some best print on demand provider
There are many different white label print-on-demand companies in the market, but there are three main ones that I would like you to check out today for your online store:
The platform: Printify
This is the best website to use when starting a print-on-demand business because it has very high-quality standards, optimal price points, and they accept any product that you’d like to sell!
Printify is essentially a marketplace for designers and creators. Designers can upload their work to the platform and then set prices, quantity, add colors if required, and they’ll even help you set up product descriptions.
Printify is compatible with Shopify, eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. It has a free trial option that is very useful if you want to test the service without spending too much money! It’s also worth noting that all of Printify’s printers accept returns. So, if any customer is not happy with their product, they can return it for a full refund.
Printful
Printful is another excellent print-on-demand option, especially if you’re starting a business. It has very competitive prices, and it’s straightforward to get started!
Printful also provides top-quality products and makes printing simple with their customer service team, who will help with the design, product descriptions, and shipping.
RedBubble
Redbubble is great for artists, designers, and creatives to make t-shirts, phone cases, mugs, posters, and other products to sell online. It has minimal setup work involved, and it has a massive community of people who want to be creative!
RedBubble offers millions of designs on over 70 high-quality products, all of which are customizable by you, the creator. RedBubble also allows retailers to design their products and upload them for sale on the website and marketplaces such as Amazon, ASOS, and Etsy.
What are the different types of POD products?
There are many types of POD custom products. You can sell anything that is not perishable or fragile.
Here are the most common Print demand product types:
Print-on-demand t-shirts
T-shirts are the most popular thing to print on demand because they are something people will always want to wear. Even if you don’t know exactly what design they want, people will still buy a plain colored shirt and add their artwork or text later. So, the Print-on-demand t-shirt business is most profitable than others.
Print on demand posters
Posters are super versatile and can be used for any occasion! They can be customized to suit whatever event they’re needed for: concerts, parties, weddings, and more! It’s the perfect way to promote your business, too.
Print on demand mugs
Mugs are great for any business! Any brand or person can be turned into a mug, and once you start selling them, they will rarely get old. Everyone needs coffee, right!? Mugs also make excellent gifts. People love receiving personalized items, especially if it’s something they’ll use.
Print-on-demand phone covers
Promoting a brand with phone covers is a great idea! Not only will you sell cases for every type of phone, but you can also include anything from artwork to designs that people can create themselves. You could even have an entire case made just for your business if you wanted to!
Print-on-demand wall art
Wall art is great for businesses of all sizes! You can customize your designs, so at least some wall art will suit everyone. Wall art also makes impressive gifts for friends and family, especially if they’re something that people may not buy themselves!
Print on demand accessories
Accessories are ideal POD products, you could also use them for fun! They can be anything from stickers or keyrings to badges and lanyards!
Print on demand bags
Bags are an excellent POD product, especially if they’re made from suitable quality materials. Bags are also something that everyone uses, so they’re rarely out of style.
How to promote your POD product?
Post your product on social media
It’s always an excellent strategy to get people excited about what you’re selling, and social media is a perfect way! You can take pictures of your product or show off designs and start building an audience right away.
Create an email list
Having a mailing list helps you keep in contact with your customers and potential customers. You can use it to send out special offers, coupons and even let people know when you’re doing giveaways or sales!
Create a blog
Blogs are another great way to stay in contact with people interested in your products or business. People expect free content on blogs, so you can use them to offer sneak peeks of new products, give tutorials on how to get the most out of your Print on demand products, or even make up little stories!
Promote your POD product with paid ads
It’s not always necessary (or affordable) to pay for advertising campaigns. For those of you with extra funds, you could try running a Facebook ad campaign. Of course, the more targeted your audience is, the better results you can expect!
The six most common POD mistakes to avoid
Poor quality products
Suppose you’re selling anything. It has to be of good quality! There are too many POD products out there that are low in quality, and people will notice. Make sure you use suitable materials when making your items, or even better, make them yourself if you can!
The best way to quality assurance of your POD products is by ordering samples. It’s also smart for you as a business owner or representative in order run tests on any raw materials that might affect their final outcome, and then make adjustments before producing large quantities with no mistakes!
Too slow at shipping
It’s essential to ship your orders out as soon as possible. People won’t want to wait too long for their products and will likely purchase something else if you’re taking too long.
Missing the Holiday season
Holiday seasons are the most lucrative time of year for POD businesses! Just think about how many Christmas ornaments you’ve seen or how many personalized Christmas ornaments you’ve seen.
Missing popular design ideas
Keep track of what’s trending online. This will help you stay one step ahead of the competition! Design trends are constantly changing, so it’s best to get in early before your customers are all taken by someone else.
Poorly designed website
It’s essential to get your website right because it’s what you’re selling! I suggest finding a web designer who can create something that not only looks good but is also clearly defined audience about your business. Also, make sure the copy of your product and website is error-free and answers all common questions to acquire customers.
No system for tracking orders
When you’re selling tons of products and shipping them out all the time, it’s easy to forget just who has purchased what. So make sure that every purchase has a unique code or something similar so that you can track everything easily.
Choosing a POD service involves two key considerations.
Make sure it’s simple.
Ensure that the POD service you choose is easy to use and doesn’t have a complicated interface. It should be straightforward enough for even a beginner to figure out because you want people to focus on purchasing your product instead of trying to figure out how to make it happen!
Make sure it’s affordable.
There are tons of Print-on-demand services out there, but they might not all be good for your online store. See if the one you’re thinking about is actually worth what it’s asking for because prices can vary greatly. There are some excellent free services out there, too, so don’t rule them out!
Print on demand products: Final thoughts
Printing on demand is a cost-effective way to get your product in the hands of customers. It’s also an excellent way for entrepreneurs and small business owners to make their products available without purchasing inventory upfront, which can put a severe dent in profits.
It is important to research and look into what you need to start a successful POD business. It’s a great way to make money from your skills or passion, so be sure to take advantage of the opportunity if it comes!
In this post of Beginner’s Guide to Print on Demand, we’ve covered some key points you should know about POD printing before jumping into it headfirst. Hopefully, that helps prevent any costly mistakes or headaches when getting started with Print-on-demand services. Any questions you might have, you are always welcome to contact us at any time!
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