Print-On-Demand Product Sites: Zazzle, Cafepress, Etc.

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Permalink Reply by Rose Gauss on March 27, 2009 at 4:17pm

Hi, Melissa,

I use CafePress.com. Go to my site: http://www.RoseGauss.com and click on my shop page to be directed to my CafePress page. I do sell, but I'm sure that I make a lot more money for them than for me.

They are fairly easy to use, as long as you have a program like PHOTOSHOP to size everything. I have a free page so, there are certain restrictions...but its fun.

I have never used Zazzle...but, I know people who use it and it's similar to CafePress. I have looked into a lot of the POD places like BLURB.com...they're still more expensive than traditional printing....but, who knows?

We should brainstorm more on this maybe we can find a way to make a little money using these sites.
Rose

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Permalink Reply by Melissa on March 27, 2009 at 4:24pm

I've recently discovered, much to my personal chagrin, that I have a particular talent for drawing cute animals. Zazzle seems like a good starting point, at least, for designing and marketing children's clothing and the like.

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Permalink Reply by Rose Gauss on March 27, 2009 at 5:18pm

If it doesn't cost anything to set up a page there, why not try? The experience alone will be worth the time spent.

I like Zazzle's coffee mugs. If you do start up a Zazzle account let me know how you like it. I might consider one also.

all the best, Rose

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Permalink Reply by Sutton Parks on April 15, 2009 at 10:31am

I have ordered some shirt designs from vistaprint.com. They were only about $5 a piece, and it gave me something to look at and show others to get their opinions. I don't think they have an actual store like cafepress, but I have found it useful to order a couple starter shirts on the cheap to test my designs, and actually have one. You can submit your own design or use some of theirs. Just an option.

Sutton

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Permalink Reply by Jared Matthew Kessler on April 16, 2009 at 12:14pm

Hey Melissa,

I have experience with Spreadshirt.com and... I'm REALLY happy with their site/business model. It is mostly clothing/accessories BUT if you are a designer you can earn money from people who use your designs.

Here is my spreadshirt site using other people's designs that are in line with me and my company at: http://jaredkessler.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/

It is TRULY a blast creating them and I'm not sure how much money a designer would make, but I would DEFINITELY check it out. Furthermore, if you are REALLY good designer, have you ever thought of "web design?" If you have a Mac, it isn't as hard as you think AND there is NEVER a shortage of good designers (anywhere).

Hope it helps.

Jared Matthew Kessler
(Author of "The Poet and the Billionaire")
www.jaredmatthewkessler.com

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Permalink Reply by Melissa on May 21, 2009 at 2:56pm

Thanks for the input, all.

And Jared, I have considered web design, but I'm not sure it's really a fit for me. Then again, I may just still have a bad taste in my mouth for when I tried it on a volunteer basis once. There was another girl involved, the guy who owned the thing was never clear about which of us was in charge, and it got . . . messy. I got my feelings hurt and felt disrespected by someone I had previously respected . . . yeah, messy. Thanks for the Spreadshirt link. I'll poke around.

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Permalink Reply by Damion Cronin on May 21, 2009 at 11:02pm

Melissa, I have used Zazzle and have researched Cafepress' business model pretty closely. Recently though I discovered shirtcity.com which I think has a better profit margin and very similar item selections. As an apparel designer I think it is definitely a viable option. Especially with setup fees and investment costs involved with traditional screen printing. You can try aproduct deign out with the POD and then if it's a popular design then go with traditional production methods which have lower costs. The downfall is the quality is lower than traditional screen printing.

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Permalink Reply by Colin Campbell on June 15, 2009 at 7:38pm

I have used Cafepress and Spreadshirt before and they're good, also Blurb and Lulu are good for coffee table style photobooks. Blurb are good because they provide very easy to use program to create very plush looking photo books and I've been using them very happily recently. I do think that none of these services alone will guarantee you any decent sales without taking some regular steps to market your products and connect with other people in those marketplaces.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa on July 1, 2009 at 4:20pm

Hey all. Been looking into these sites and developing my images, but there's one question that's bothering me. My artwork is targeted at the baby-child age range. It's cute stuff. Going through any of these sites, though, do you think anyone would be willing to pay $12-$15 plus shipping for a baby-size T-shirt or onesie? I can't find a lower price, and that seems steep for something that's going to get spit up on and grown out of in a month...

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Permalink Reply by Wendy on October 29, 2009 at 3:51pm

I am looking to set up a quote site and would like people to be able to click on a link from the quote and have it go to a t-shirt site so they can put it on a t-shirt. I ahve tried contacting cafepress but cannot reach anyone except for people in Manilla who cannot understand what I am asking. Does anyone have a siggestion?
Thanks!
Wendy

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Permalink Reply by Deby Dearman on October 29, 2009 at 10:16pm

Yes, Melissa, folks are willing to pay $12 -$15 for baby t-shirt and such. Actually they will pay much more for items they like! I encourage you to go for it. Many of the sites don't cost you anything but time. Give it a try and let me know how you do.

Melissa said:

Hey all. Been looking into these sites and developing my images, but there's one question that's bothering me. My artwork is targeted at the baby-child age range. It's cute stuff. Going through any of these sites, though, do you think anyone would be willing to pay $12-$15 plus shipping for a baby-size T-shirt or onesie? I can't find a lower price, and that seems steep for something that's going to get spit up on and grown out of in a month...

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Permalink Reply by Roberta D'Achille on October 30, 2009 at 4:15am

I've had two cafe press shops in the past. It used to be if you wanted a free shop you could not have more than one design on any give product. If you wanted, for example, to offer up T shirts with five different designs, you had to have a premium shop which was no longer free. Have not tried the others.

I have recently used www.ArtsCow.com for some unique products that I have not seen elsewhere. However, they are not set up as a shop. Therefore, you would have to show your products at some other website and then create them at ArtsCow and have then shipped to your buyer. Therefore, it's not as "smooth" of a process as the sites that were created for this purpose. In addition, the other "con" is that you have to download a software program called "Microsoft Silverlight" in order to create many of the products there. The pros, however, are that Silverlight is even Mac compatible and that there are products here you don't see elsewhere.

Here's an umbrella that I just finished. I got them back the other day and was quite happy with the quality. I've actually been looking forward to rain - ROFL.

Good Luck,

Roberta

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