How to Make Passive Income with Print on Demand

Many people from around the globe search for the optimal sources of passive income regardless of their age, gender, social status, and other factors. Having confidence in your present and future is always a soothing feeling which greatly depends on your abilities to gain profit. Nowadays, you can choose from a variety of ways to make a passive income, and running a print on demand business can emerge as a true revenue gainer that doesn’t require lots of investing and risks taking. From literally any kind of apparel and tote bags to smartphone covers and stickers you can reap profit with the help of print-on-demand services.

Table of Contents

Is the Print on Demand Good for Passive Income?

Which Platform Should You Choose: eCommerce Marketplace or POD Platform?

What to Do to Keep Costs Down

Conclusion

Is the Print on Demand Good for Passive Income?

In the popular mind, passive income presupposes almost zero investments and efforts to be involved in order to start getting profit. If you’re an artist in search of an effective way of making passive income online with low risks it is truly reasonable to consider modern online trends like print-on-demand services. Print on demand - POD in short- means that the designs you have created are printed only when you receive an order. Therefore, you don’t need to invest in having any products on-hand, renting a warehouse, troubling with the logistics, and others. 

All you need to start receiving your print-on-demand income is to find the POD agency that fits your requirements and business goals and let the experts help you earn passive income solving all those troubles for you. Still, have doubts about the POD as a splendid passive income source? Let’s take a look at its pros:

• You don’t need to be a savvy designer to start. Utilizing the abundance of free apps and tools, create your own designs without having expertise in the sphere.
• No need for bulk productions as your design gets printed only when a client places an order.
• Variety of POD partners that will take care of the technical side of your business.
• Test your designs and products launched without any risks of funds loss.
• Some print-on-demand platforms do not demand any prepayments from entrepreneurs to get started, so you literally have no economical risks launching your business.

Those look quite promising, don’t they? However, if you’re already eager to try to make some good print on demand passive income, you should also be aware of the challenges you may face on your path. So, the cons of POD are:

• Be ready for your design stolen by copycats. 
• Your fulfilment partner will take care of the materials of the products, printing technology, and shipping, so it is better to test the services and goods of several POD agencies to pick the most reliable one.
• You need to be aware of the production, shipping and return terms your POD partner offers. And surely you need to learn more about modern trends in marketing and popular trending niches before you start. 

Creating a Return Policy for Your Print on Demand E-Store: The Practice of Fostering Trust

Which Platform Should You Choose: eCommerce Marketplace or POD Platform?

Once your custom designs are ready, it is time to choose the platform for your print on demand business start. If you are absolutely new to this industry and don’t know yet how to make income from print on demand sites with your own designs, you need to make decent research of the available platforms and marketplaces to start your business with. You can launch your POD business on eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon. 

Another option is to consider specialized POD platforms like worldwide famous Redbubble. With the eCommerce marketplaces, you’re going to have access to a huge number of customers, however, they may limit you to a certain list of products you can print your designs on, and you will certainly need to comply with their policies getting smaller revenue. 

While POD platforms enable entrepreneurs to print their designs on variable products and make some really great profit, as a freelance POD designer, the competition will be tough for you, and the marketing of your products will be a hard-hitting task you’ll have to take care of. Here’s what each of the most popular print on demand marketplaces can offer to you:

• Amazon created the Merch service specifically for designers to draw revenue by selling their designs printed on different products. You will need to apply for an account to get registered as a print-on-demand products seller. 
• Redbubble is all about print-on-demand and the sign up is free and easy, which makes this platform the best for beginners.
• Teepublic is an online POD platform for selling only variable apparel with printed designs. So if your designs fit clothing the most and you don’t consider any other kind of products, this platform is your end game. 
• Teespring dropped the “Tee” and became Spring recently. This innovative eCommerce platform offers designers to work with clothing and accessories, helping entrepreneurs build strong relationships with consumers.
• Society6 is a marketplace where artists and designers create their online stores for selling their custom designs printed on posters, wallpapers, and postcards as well as on a huge number of variable accessories. 

What to Do to Keep Costs Down

Even the most talented and unrivalled artists need to strategize their businesses and it works for POD entrepreneurs as well. If you want to make sure your designs will gain ground on the marketplaces, you have to work not only on their uniqueness and niche trends but also grind the market set the pricing attractive for customers. Start with calculating what is the average income from selling print on demand clothing online as well as other goods with your design printed on them to determine your margins.

If you are unsure about the success of your designs among consumers, which is absolutely normal, begin with pricing your goods at competitive prices and try to keep them below an average level. Find a POD partner that won’t charge you a lot while supplying you with quality products. Remember that in the beginning, you can cut some costs by forgoing branded packaging in favour of utility packaging. And don’t forget that customers adore discounts on bulk orders, special offers, etc. Going the extra mile with market analysis, design tests, and sometimes bold experiments may not only result in keeping the production costs down but also making some great income.

Sales KPIs and Performance Metrics for Your POD Business

Conclusion

Withstanding the imposter complex and fears of failure is always difficult for beginners in any sphere. You may be an extremely gifted designer with a permanent job, which doesn’t let you unlock your creative potential and earn some profit. Not only your talent will suffer from it but it’s also your budget that stops you from realizing your ideas. Print on demand business can be not only your best way to make passive income but also a testing area of your design creativity.