- Original Poster
- #1
Hi, I've recently had to leave my job and while job hunting have been exploring new ideas. I'd had business ideas in the past (insect based pet foods being one), but never had the know how, or wanted to risk leaving my job and going all in on it.
But I'd been reading about Print on Demand stores or just selling items and it seems a good way to get business experience due to the low start up costs and no physical production at my end. I've read a lot and have designed some mugs so far to sell on Etsy, but the main problem I'm finding is the profit margin. I've heard to aim for around a 30-40% margin on products, the printify mug cost is £7.19 (inc shipping), meaning I'd need to sell at £11.86 on Etsy to achieve these margins. That seems pricey for a brand new seller, especially when some popular sellers are selling designed mugs as low as £8- that's barely above my cost price! I'm not sure whether to put much time into this idea or not, if the margins are going to be so low. I also have questions I'd like to ask re mockups, but that's irrelevant if I can't get a profit margin worth persiting with. I've looked at US print providers too as believe you can sell in the US also, but those are even pricier due to high shipping costs!
I'd heard POD T-shirts were a good idea to try too but the different sizes and colour background options make it seem way more complicated, so I haven't checked how their costs and profit margin compares.
I've only sold items on Ebay before, would prefer to try there but can they not be linked to printify, who create and print the mugs? I've heard Etsy and Shopify are the places to sell POD products.
Any advice on this please?
But I'd been reading about Print on Demand stores or just selling items and it seems a good way to get business experience due to the low start up costs and no physical production at my end. I've read a lot and have designed some mugs so far to sell on Etsy, but the main problem I'm finding is the profit margin. I've heard to aim for around a 30-40% margin on products, the printify mug cost is £7.19 (inc shipping), meaning I'd need to sell at £11.86 on Etsy to achieve these margins. That seems pricey for a brand new seller, especially when some popular sellers are selling designed mugs as low as £8- that's barely above my cost price! I'm not sure whether to put much time into this idea or not, if the margins are going to be so low. I also have questions I'd like to ask re mockups, but that's irrelevant if I can't get a profit margin worth persiting with. I've looked at US print providers too as believe you can sell in the US also, but those are even pricier due to high shipping costs!
I'd heard POD T-shirts were a good idea to try too but the different sizes and colour background options make it seem way more complicated, so I haven't checked how their costs and profit margin compares.
I've only sold items on Ebay before, would prefer to try there but can they not be linked to printify, who create and print the mugs? I've heard Etsy and Shopify are the places to sell POD products.
Any advice on this please?
