Do you want to start a Print On Demand business?
The e-commerce market has boosted during the last year due to restrictions and social distances. New Millenials every day are attempting to launch their new stores and maybe you have already had the same idea.
To start properly a Print On Demand business, these are the main steps to follow:
- Select the product variants
- Review your printer choices before ordering
- Make sure to have enough credit on your card
- Check out any copyrights infringements
- Create mockups and lifestyle photos
- Wider the catalog
- Use scarcity
- Get truthful reviews sooner as possible
Why Print On Demand became so popular? Because it doesn’t require an inventory and neither a large amount of money in the pocket. However, it’s still a business and it’s important to make the right decisions before approaching it.
Following these steps will make you prevent the typical mistakes that beginners make in the initial stage of their activity.
Select The Product Variants
Providing different variants of your themes, in colors or sizes, will give the customers the opportunity to choose among many items, which is always great if you want to raise your sales.
But there should be a limit to this process, you can’t just provide dozen of variations of the same item. The reason is the so-called “paralysis analysis”: when you have so many options to choose from you just can’t decide which to pick and you will come up with no choice at all.
This can be applied in every field: how much time do you spend in front of a restaurant menù before ordering? The more options you will see the longer the process it will take.
So, too many variants will only create confusion among the customers and most likely will reduce your potential sales.
So the basic recommendation is to choose only 5 color variants per single item.
Review Your Printer Choices Before Ordering
Generally, Print On Demand services use third-party suppliers for delivery. And these can be located in different countries and have completely different production times and costs.
Providers like Printify offer you the opportunity to choose the right supplier for your needs, according to your geographical location and your preferences.
For example, you won’t select a supplier from the United States if you’re living in Italy, and vice versa. Similarly, you are going to choose only those who deliver as fast as possible.
Keep in mind these aspects for more efficent fulfillment times.
Make Sure To Have Enough Credit On Your Card
Launching a Print On Demand store could be difficult if you don’t understand how the flux of money works since your customers make a purchase.
A typical Print On Demand service works in this way.
When a customer buys an item, you will receive money from Shopify through PayPal or Stripe.
Order processing happens generally once a day for your store. Therefore, your provider might process all the orders received only once and in bulk.
However, the platform will immediately charge you the cost of custom materials to the credit or debit card associated with your account.
This is the basic process that happens in your store.
The main problem is that you won’t receive the money right after the order. PayPal will take up to 21 days for this to happen, day in day out.
So it’s important to make sure you have a credit card or enough liquidity on your own to be able to process orders regularly.
Check Out Any Copyrights Infringements
By law, every artwork is subject to copyright in every moment of its creation. It means that you can’t copy the same design and sell it to your shop.
However, nobody forbids you to use it as inspiration for your own.
You could keep, for instance, the same word order and change the image shape without breaking the rules.
But how can I know if my artworks have broken any trademark infringement?
You can easily find out online, each country has its own sources. Just type in your quote and see the results.
The same goes for the brand. You should check if it’s registered in your residence country before processing it and create your own version.
Furthermore, make sure that what you’re selling is acceptable according to the advertising policies provided by Facebook.
Don’t run any of your stores if you’re not sure of that. Your products have to meet the criteria provided by standard requirements.
You don’t want to get in trouble with your activity.
Create Mockups & Lifestyle Photos
Using mockups photo is certainly the most effective way to grab your customers’ attention instead of posting generic photos on a white background.
However, it’s not necessary to use a camera and involve models.
Several platforms do this for you. One of them is Placeit. This platform lets you upload designs on real models and span a wide variety of products such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, bags, mugs, and even pillows!
Its interface is user-friendly so it’s not required any specific skill.
In this way, you will get fantastic lifestyle images that will attract your customers at first glance!
Wider The Catalog
Although t-shirts are the most used apparel in the world it’s advisable not to focus excessively on them.
There are unexpected products that are sold at a much higher price than their intrinsic value, like the ones in our “Perfect Gift Ideas” section.
This is possible when you make them appear as unique and precious of their kind.
It’s up to you and your promotion skills to make this happen even to your products. In this way, you could sell them at higher prices than prevented.
Furthermore, another way to maximize your chances is to use the same design for many products.
For example, you could use the same quote as a t-shirt for a cup or a pillow.
Certainly, it won’t be always possible to replicate it for all your listing but try to do it as much as you can.
As a general rule, we recommend using simple designs for home decors and accessories, while uploading bigger and creative designs for daily apparel and sportswear.
Use Scarcity
Scarcity is perhaps the most powerful weapon in convincing people to buy your product.
However, don’t overdo it otherwise it won’t be so reliable.
As with other strategies, it’s in the equilibrium that its effectiveness derives.
All in all, we recommend limiting your discounts to only 4 items, in order to maximize the perception of scarcity on your products.
Get Truthful Reviews Sooner As Possible
We know it can be difficult to be objective with your products. We tend to overestimate our skills and achievements.
But you can’t rely only on your perceptions but also on others’ judgment.
In this regard, you should ask a friend or a family member if they would be willing to buy your item.
If they aren’t convinced either, how could you convince a stranger?
Your goal is to make your shop as attractive as possible so take notes of third-party judgments and improve your products on their indications.
Is Really Worth It?
As we already explained in this article, t-shirt trends have increased recently, due to social restrictions and the versatility of usage. Due to its low start-up costs, a business model centered on print on demand could be profitable in a short time, if you follow the right steps, as explained before.
You won’t ever have problems with space and inventory. You just need to collect the orders from the customers and manage to ship them correctly in the shortest time. Shopify, with its great integrations for dropshipping stores, will do the rest.
Be aware that customer experience it’s important, such as a correct remarketing and retargeting process. By the time you will reach a more passionate audience, that will be loyal to you.
No matter which niche you will choose, it’s going to be challenging and you need to fight to get your spot before others.
To emerge in this online business ocean, courage and creativity are crucial! It’s important not to be discouraged by the first results and just keep working and working, adding value and unique style to your Shopify store.
