How to Make Money With Print on Demand in 2024

If you're wondering whether print on demand (POD) is still a lucrative business opportunity in 2024, yes, it is. 

In 2022, the POD market was valued at a staggering $5.4 billion, and from 2023 to 2031, it's forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 24.6%. 

The moral of the story? POD isn't going anywhere. 

So, if you want a slice of that pie, you're in the right place. In this guide, I'm exploring how to make money with print on demand.

That's a lot to cover, so let's dive straight in! 

1. Understanding Print on Demand (POD)

First things first, let's clarify what print on demand (POD) actually is:

In a nutshell, print on demand is an ecommerce fulfillment model where you (the seller) partner with a POD supplier.

Typically, this involves the following:

1. Picking a product from their catalog (e.g., apparel, accessories, home decor, etc.). 
2. Uploading your own design onto it
3. Selling your custom product via your eCommerce store or online marketplace shop. 
4. When you make a sale, your POD partner prints the design onto the product, packs the order, and delivers it directly to your customer. So, there's no need for you to purchase inventory upfront, store stock, or manage shipping!

With that said, here are some of POD's other advantages:

• You don’t need to print in bulk, so you can try different designs and products without risking your hard-earned cash.
• You don’t need to purchase your own printing equipment. 
• As your POD provider handles printing, packing, and shipping, you have more time to invest in creating POD designs, marketing your print on demand store, and managing customer service. 

You could start your POD business as a side hustle and then as time moves on develop it into a full-time income – thechoice is yours.

2. Choose the Right Print on Demand Platform

There are tons of popular POD platforms out there, for example:

• Printful – full review
• Printify – full review
• Gooten – full review
• Gelato
• Sellfy
• Redbubble

…to name a few!

Unfortunately, we can't compare all these print on demand services in this blog post (we would be here for hours!).

3. Pick a Profitable Niche

In addition to picking a print on demand platform, you'll need to decide on a niche before hitting the ground running with your POD venture.  

For the uninitiated, a ‘niche' is when you hone in on the needs of a smaller, more distinctive target market. 

For instance, ‘apparel' is an example of a larger market. However, ‘eco-friendly women's apparel for pet lovers' is a niche within this market.

Picking a niche for your POD business is essential. As we've already demonstrated, more and more people are jumping on the POD bandwagon, which means the web is becoming increasingly saturated with apparel and mugs plastered with custom graphics and sayings. 

This is where your niche is worth its weight in gold. 

It's key to distinguishing yourself from the hundreds of others selling POD merch. Marketing to potential customers is much easier because you can focus your attention on a specific customer avatar rather than trying to cater to the masses.

Building on that, by tailoring a brand to meet the needs/wants of a particular market subsection, you also increase the likelihood of inspiring brand loyalty, making it easier to build a following/community of people with your brand at its heart.

4. Pick the Right Print on Demand Products

With your niche in the forefront of your mind, you're now better positioned to pick POD products to customize and sell. If you're unsure which products to start with, ask yourself, what do my customers want? What do they need?

It's also worth consulting Google Trends to get insights into whether the product you're considering is seasonal or boasts consistent demand. 

For example, swimsuits might surge in popularity during the warmer months, and demand for them might fall in the winter. In contrast, t-shirts are more likely to enjoy consistent demand. 

When it comes to more unique products like homeware items, using Google Trends is especially important to see whether the item's popularity is on an upward or downward trajectory. The results of this research should provide a better indication of whether the item is worth listing on your online store. 

Lastly, some POD platforms (like Printify) have a bestsellers sub-section within their product catalog. This is another excellent starting point for getting an inkling of the kinds of products that are selling well. 

5. Create Marketable Designs

Now, it's time to focus on creating custom designs to go on your POD products. Not only does this require creativity and imagination, but you also need an understanding of what sells and what's currently trending.

The harsh reality is- you could create the most beautiful designs in the world, but if no one wants to buy them, you won't turn a profit. 

This is why conducting market research before sinking time into your designs is so imperative. 

You can start by seeing what's trending on:

• Etsy
• Amazon Handmade
• Design blogs

Be sure to note any designs/themes/color schemes/patterns that repeatedly emerge. When design motives keep cropping up, it's usually an indicator they're in demand.

Another way to get profitable design ideas is from your target audience. If you already have a social media following, ask them what they want to see. If you don't, turn to Facebook groups and forums in your niche. The feedback might be surprising!

6. Use the Right Design Tools

Now that you have a few design ideas, you need a tool to bring them to life!

You might have heard of solutions like Photoshop and InDesign; these are the creme de la creme of graphic design tools. However, they're costly and come with a steep learning curve. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of simple-to-use and affordable design tools out there, for example:

• Canva
• PicMonkey
• Stencil

Disclaimer: Canva's free program is my top pick! It's easy to use and offers a wealth of design tools, including templates for hoodies, sweatshirts, tote bags, and tees. 

Alternatively, if you don't fancy creating designs yourself, you can hire a graphic designer from freelance marketplaces like Fiverr or Upwork. Again, make sure you purchase the rights to sell the design on your POD items. 

7. Implement the Right Pricing Strategies

Let's now take a look at pricing your products. Generally speaking, there are four POD pricing strategies worth considering:

Cost-plus Pricing (AKA Markup Pricing)

This strategy requires you to:

1. Identify the unit cost for each item (all the costs associated with manufacturing, shipping, designing, and marketing the product).  
2. Then, attach a fixed percentage to the unit cost. 

One of the benefits of this pricing model is that it's easy to implement, and your rate of return is pretty predictable.

However, the tricky thing about this pricing model is getting the markup right. Charge too little, and you won't generate enough profit but charge too much, and you risk putting off price-conscious shoppers. 

Competition-oriented Pricing

As the name of this pricing strategy suggests, your competitor's prices take center stage. Typically, you'll slightly undercut your rivals to generate a decent enough profit while ensuring your goods remain competitively priced.

Bundling

Here, you’ll offer two (or more) items at a single, reduced price. This is great for providing customers with value and increasing the average total of your consumer's shopping carts. 

Price bundling is especially effective if you're selling products that go together. For example, if you're marketing sportswear, you might bundle a top and matching yoga pants.

But again, as with any pricing model, pricing your goods properly is essential. Otherwise, you could risk running at a loss! 

Dynamic Pricing

This pricing model hinges on fluctuating customer demand and is often used in the travel industry. You've likely seen how hotel and flight costs wax and wane depending on demand. 

Where POD is concerned, you could temporarily lower product prices based on seasonal demand/market trends. For example, you might set the price of flip-flops higher in the summer when there's greater demand and then reduce the price in the winter. 

Although you might generate a higher profit with dynamic pricing, some customers might find the inconsistency offputting – so ensure you know your audience before implementing this pricing method. 

8. Choose an Effective Marketing Strategy to Earn Customers

There are tons of ways to market your POD eCommerce business. However, as we're short on space, I'll only focus on SEO here. 

First, let's clarify what we mean by SEO:

SEO is short for “search engine optimization” and refers to the process of improving your website and/or marketplace listings to boost their visibility in search results. 

SEO is an excellent starting point for newbies because you don't have to spend money on paid advertising. 

But before you can jump into optimizing your own website or Etsy, Amazon, or eBay listings, you need to know what your audience is searching for. These search terms are called keywords. 

Tons of keyword research tools can provide an estimated monthly search volume for the keywords you're interested in. Some of these tools are free, and others are paid for. However, if you're looking for a budget-friendly option, I recommend using Google Keyword Planner. 

As you go about conducting keyword research, make a note of keywords relating to your products/niche that generate at least 100 searches a month. 

With your list of keywords at the ready, it's time to set about optimizing your product pages/listings. But don't stuff them with keywords – search engines don't like this and might penalize you. Instead, use your keywords naturally, for example, in the product's title, meta description, URL, product description, image alt text, etc. 

9. Bonus: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Before I wrap up this guide, below, I've listed some of the most common POD pitfalls. Hopefully, by bringing these mistakes to your attention, you won't have to learn these lessons the hard way!

Stealing Someone's Design!

Needless to say, this is a huge no-no. 

Not only is using someone else's work morally dubious, but such copyright infringement can result in legal consequences. 

So, always ensure you own the design or have the rights to use, display, and resell it before marketing it on a POD product. 

Ignoring Print File Guidelines

It's your responsibility to submit high-quality designs to your POD partner. I.e., you need to adhere to their file guidelines, which typically provide specifications on the following:

• File size
• Resolution
• Transparency requirements

With that in mind, here are a few best practices for ensuring the highest quality print:

• Use high-resolution images
• Ensure the image's background is removed properly
• Double-check that the text is large enough to read
• Avoid fade, glow effects, and neon colors

Neglecting Customer Service

Although your POD partner will manage a lot for you (printing, packing, and shipping), they won't handle your customer service. 

So, it's your responsibility to provide shoppers with the high-quality customer support they deserve. 

Failure to do so can harm your brand and decrease the likelihood of repeat purchases. 

Of course, these are just a few pointers, but hopefully, they provide a good starting point for your customer service strategy!

How to make money with print on demand: My Final Thoughts

That brings us to the end of my ‘How to make money with print on demand' guide! I hope it's provided you with enough information to get the ball rolling with your new POD venture. 

If you take anything from this blog post, remember:

• Spend time researching potential POD platforms. This is crucial for picking the right one for your startup. Most offer generous freemium versions, so take advantage of that. 
• Always pick a niche to center your product selection, design creation, and marketing on.
• Canva is my preferred design tool; it's free, easy to use, and has tons of helpful templates and design assets.
• Investigate different pricing strategies to see which would best suit your target audience, brand, and, of course, profit margin.

That's all from me, folks! 

Over to you – let me know whether you're thinking about starting a print on demand business in the comments box below, and if you are, I wish you the best of luck!