Are you a design geek planning to make money from your skills online?
Do you want to put your awesome illustrations to good use?
The best way to do this is to sell t-shirts online, or better known today as a print on demand.
The good news is there are a number of print-on-demand websites where you can publish your designs online, wait for buyers to send orders, process the shipment, and make money at the comfort of your own home!
How Do Print-On-Demand Websites Work?
Print-on-demand (POD) websites have made it easy for sellers nowadays to create their own e-commerce stores.
Whether you have design skills for your t-shirt business or not, POD websites allow you to easily drag-and-drop design elements to customize your own t-shirt design.
There are many plug-ins for designs although you can also upload your own t-shirt designs or illustrations as well.
Once your t-shirt mockups are ready, you can now upload them to your online store on these POD platforms.
Aside from shirts, you can also upload phone cases, mugs, bags, etc that you can add to your merch store.
These POD sites are also dropshipping platforms. This means that once you are done uploading your designs and adding your listings, they are ready to sell t-shirts online or any other product you can print on.
You don’t need to invest in setting up your inventories.
Once you receive orders from people, that’s when you can order these POD sites to print for you.
Most of these platforms will also process the shipping themselves.
This means that you can have your own merch store from the comfort of your own place without keeping an inventory!
These sites also have their own system to help you track your orders and sales better.
You get notified each time you generate a sale.
The platform gets a percentage from your gross sales.
That’s basically how you pay for your “rent.”
Nonetheless, registering on these platforms is totally free!
Where to sell t-shirts online
That being said, you need to look for print-on-demand websites that will maximize your profits.
Here are some of the best websites where you can upload your t-shirt designs online:
Printshop
Printshop is a place run by Designhill, which is a highly-esteemed graphic design marketplace in the industry.
The site is known for its unique designs for all audiences. There are also accessories, posters, and other products that are made for homes.
The prowess of this website is the high-quality printing that it provides for its users.
It takes responsibility for the good quality print of your products so that you can make your store trustworthy for sellers.
Aside from printing, it also delivers your products and guarantees a smooth transaction.
The website is often praised for the ease of transaction that it gives to customers.
No matter how beautiful your designs are, ease of transaction is still a very important factor that you need to consider if you are looking at the long-term success of your business.
Merch by Amazon
Amazon is the biggest running e-commerce store in the market; it’s also the most common and highly trafficked website where you can sell t-shirts online.
This means that by publishing your listings on Merch by Amazon, you will have access to a massive audience.
The distinctive feature of Merch by Amazon is its invite-only registration system.
Unlike other POD websites, not everyone can sign up and put up a store. You need to submit an application and be accepted by their team before you can put up your own store.
This way, they maintain the quality of artists that sell on their platform.
Moreover, you will be limited to 25 designs upon signing up.
After selling 25 items, your capacity will upgrade to 100.
Despite its strenuous process, Merch by Amazon guarantees a smooth system for sellers.
Its Best Seller’s Rank Feature allows you to see styles and designs that are making numbers.
Merch by Amazon also fulfills the shipment option for their sellers.
There are also numerous plugins that can help you with your t-shirt design.
Teespring
If you’re not very familiar with design tools such as Adobe or Photoshop, then Teespring may be a good option for you.
For beginners, the platform is very simple to use.
Designs are easy to put together so you can put up the T-shirt mockups that you want.
The base cost for design tools is also fairly affordable.
The platform focuses on clothing, although there are also other merch items in the platform such as mugs, cases, home items, etc.
It also has a vast audience reach.
The platform has a feature called Teespring Boosted Network.
What it does is that it extends your network to marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay so you can sell more.
The challenge of the platform is that you will have to sell your designs within a limited time frame. You can say, set your time frame to 21 days.
If you will not be able to sell anything during that time, it will be taken down.
Zazzle
For big players who have a huge following, the number one concern for websites is the traffic.
If you’re a bit concerned about website traffic, Zazzle is a good place for you.
The platform is used by big brands such as Disney and DC Comics for selling their merchandise.
The platform can handle a massive amount of data for big players.
Moreover, the platform is also very user-friendly.
The platform easily adapts to the size and format of your design.
Customers can also experiment with the design by customizing texts, colors, and graphics.
They can easily mix and match design templates so they can suit their shirt to a specific occasion.
For instance, they can make a shirt for father’s day, for a birthday, for a wedding anniversary, etc. This platform is a good option for those who want flexibility in their stores.
Let’s Wrap it Up
Selling your merch online is definitely a very lucrative business.
It is however important that you choose the right platform to sell your designs.
This can determine the type of audience you have, the usability, and the convenience of your platform.
Thank you for reading, and we hope you found this useful. If you have any questions or you want to engage in a real-time discussion with us on this matter, follow us on Twitter.
