Is print on demand dead?
Actually, the opposite is true.
P.O.D is now more popular and with its ever-increasing popularity, it’s becoming more difficult to stand out in the crowd.
About 4 or 5 years ago you could set up shop and start earning sales quicker than you could today.
On the flip side even though print on demand is not dead and growing in popularity that also means that it also sees more customers than it did just five years ago.
My experience has been mixed I have created print on demand products on multiple platforms and have earned some sales here and there but it hasn’t been consistent.
I’ve followed the trends, picked low competition niches, and even done a combo of both and I’ve found it really didn’t matter too much.
What matters is that you learn how to create products that your customers want and there are many ways to go about this such as finding out the top sellers and tweaking them to become your own creation.
Also finding niches where less competition is can definitely give you an advantage.
There are many different things to consider before you start your store online.
With that being said I’ll dive deeper into what P.O.D is, the Best Niches, and the pros and cons so you can decide for yourself if you want to go further with this passive income idea or try something else.
What Is Print On Demand?
So before we go further what is print on demand anyway?
Simply a process where you create a design once and upload it to various products that can be created for your customer and shipped to them without you ever having anything to do with customer service, no expensive supplies, or storage, and you don’t even have to deal with shipping your products.
All of this is done for you behind the scenes with the platform you list on.
Here’s A Short Break Down Below:
#1. Sign Up For Print On-Demand Platform (Usually FREE)
#2. Create Designs
#3. Customer Purchases Design (You Get Percentage Of The Sale)
#4. Platform Prints and Ships The Product And Usually Handles Any Customer Service
You collect passive income on autopilot and just rinse and repeat.
Going back to my experience with print on demand you have two options.
You can create a Shopify store and pay for your own ads.
The second option is much better in my opinion and that is to sign up for a free platform that will market your products for you.
You can literally start for free or practically free.
A lot of beginners will use Canva.com which will help you create cool designs that you can upload to your store.
You’ll need to research sayings and phrases to make sure they are not copyrighted.
From there you need to decide what platforms you want to sell on.
I advise that you stick with one print-on-demand site at a time.
And create as many quality designs as you can.
The most successful people in this business have thousands of designs.
It takes a while to build up your store but over time you will have a bunch of products you can make a potential sale from.
Some of the most popular print-on-demand platforms are:
#1. Etsy
#2. Redbubble
#3. Shopify
#4. Amazon
#5. Teespring
I think there are at least a couple of dozen platforms now.
And it’s a good idea to go on as many as you can if you want to take your print-on-demand business seriously.
So you might be wondering how much you can earn and if you are coming in too late for this business side hustle.
That’s what I’ll cover next.
Is Print On Demand Dead Or Too Saturated Now?
Is print on demand dead?
No, but it’s definitely not a get-rich-quick idea and it is definitely becoming saturated.
Like all good side hustles that start off almost too good to be true eventually the word gets out and it becomes more difficult to earn money with it.
The amount of money you earn will depend on the quality of your designs, how many designs you have, and the platforms you sell on.
Some people earn thousands per month with print on demand but overall from my research it seems the majority are lucky if there earn a hundred dollars or more monthly.
It takes a lot of persistence, research, and skill as well as knowing how to promote your products.
To become successful and it also helps to set yourself a schedule of how often you will create new designs.
At a minimum, you should strive for at least 5 new designs per week.
You need to work hard to consistently search for ideas that you can turn into cool designs people would like to pay for.
It’s a good idea to brainstorm ideas on a notepad and go from there.
You will be surprised at all the things you think of that could possibly turn into profits for you later on.
My two favorite platforms for searching for niche ideas are Etsy and Pinterest.
Both sites have tons of images to scroll through and ponder if your ideas will be good to sell in your shop.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Print On Demand?
Print on demand has it’s good and bad things going for it.
Below Are The Advantages and Disadvantages:
P.O.D ADVANTAGES:
- Very Low To Zero Start-Up Cost
- Create Passive Income Stream
- Usually No Customer Service
- No Need To Ship Or Store Your Products
- Most Platforms You Can Sign Up FREE
P.O.D. DISADVANTAGES
- There Is A Lot Of Competition
- You Need To Create A Lot Of Designs
- You Need To Make Sure You Check For Copyrights
- It Can Take Time To Make Your First Sale
- You Might Not Sell Anything
Overall print on demand is a labor of love for many that partake in it because your sales fluctuate from day to day and month to month.
The best months for sales with print on demand are from September to December.
That is when people start shopping for the holidays and it can be a great time to be in this business.
What Is The Future Of Print On Demand
As Print-on-Demand (POD) technology evolves and adapts to publication, its future is uncertain.
POD technology has advanced since the early 2000s. Numerous innovations are changing POD. Printing technologies that are faster and cheaper are significant advances. Inkjet printing technology has improved, making high-quality prints cheaper.
AI and machine learning in POD technology is other advancements. These technologies have automated file preparation, proofreading, and picture correction in printing. This reduces human involvement and speeds up turnaround and accuracy.
POD is altering publishing. More writers are self-publishing as conventional publishing becomes harder to break into. Self-publishing is now cheaper and easier thanks to POD technology. This has increased specialized publications and publishing diversity.
POD technology helps publishers manage inventories and decrease waste. Publishers may cut inventory costs and environmental effects by publishing just what is required.
3D printing and AR might change POD. AR can add interactive aspects to pages, while 3D printing can make unique book copies.
Blockchain may also affect POD. Blockchain makes copyright and royalty management transparent and safe. This might prevent piracy and provide fair author recompense.
Conclusion
Is print on demand dead?
It’s not dead but it’s more competitive.
Do I recommend print on demand?
Yes, I think it’s still a fun way to earn passive income online.
All of the work such as shipping, printing the product, and customer service is usually done for you.
All you need to do is create cool designs that people want to buy.
Thanks for reading if you’d like to learn about more ways to make money online.
Be sure to read my other articles HERE.