POD For You!

The POD companies that we’ll review for this site allow you to open your own customizable shop or gallery showcasing all of your own designs, music, or books. You can offer a wide variety of customized merchandise to your customers and make money from every sale!

You open an online shop/gallery….. create designs and upload them….. place them on products…. write descriptive text about the design…. promote your shop. That’s the basic process.

POD companies do a lot of the dirty work so that you can spend your time creating and promoting! POD companies will:

-host all of your stores or galleries on their secure company servers

-display your designs/products in their company marketplace so that shoppers can browse and purchase items

-handle all of the customer orders from beginning to end

-produce all products with print-on-demand technology when a customer places an order

-ship the finished product worldwide to your customers*

-provide 100% satisfaction guarantees on every product ordered

-handle secure payment transactions…. most accept major credit cards and PayPal

-manage all product returns and exchanges

-offer customer service via toll free telephone numbers and email

I’m just going to hit the highlights here. (ABC order)

CafePress- t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tank tops, intimate apparel, hats & caps, kid’s t-shirts, onesies, bibs, maternity tees, banners, keepsake boxes, calendars, coffee mugs, steins, mousepads, totes, tile coasters, aprons, clocks, posters & prints, postcards, journals, ornaments, buttons, pillows, magnets, stickers, greeting cards, notecards, postcards, yard signs, doggie tees

ImageKind- fine art prints, greeting cards

Loxly Gallery- fine art prints

Printfection- t-shirts, glass cutting boards, aprons, totes, cork coasters, kid’s tees, women’s tees

Spreadshirt- t-shirts, toddler tees, sleepers, onesies, bibs, baby blankets, hoodies, maternity tees, underwear, women’s plus size tees, sweatshirts, jackets, caps, totes, bags, sneakers, doggie tees, aprons, mousepads, buttons

Zazzle- t-shirts, ties, tote bags, stamps, profile cards, business cards, prints and posters, greeting cards, notecards, postcards, calendars, mousepads, coffee mugs, travel mugs, steins, photo sculptures, magnets, keychains, bumper stickers, round stickers, buttons, aprons, hats

Yes! The prices are not comparable with the national discount chains. But your customer base won’t be the same. People who shop with us are looking for unique designs- things that they won’t see 5,000 other people wearing on the street. Uniqueness is a big selling point.

You also have to remember that most companies that sell t-shirts (or whatever) produce hundreds or thousands of the same design. POD companies are different. They only print what a customer orders….. and a lot of the time we’re talking an order that consists of one item per design. This type of printing is much more expensive because it takes more time to set the presses up every time the design is switched.

This is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme! If you think that you are going to slap a handful of designs up and make $1,000 your first month, turn around and walk…. no…. run as fast as you can away from this site!

Yes, it’s possible that you could open a shop and make hundreds of dollars within the first week. I could also wake up in the morning next to Antonio Banderas…. it’s possible…. but I ain’t gonna hold my breath. I’m being just as completely honest as I can here: opening your own shop or gallery and turning a profit takes a LOT of hard work and dedication! There are no short cuts in this business.

At the same time, it’s extremely fun and addictive! Many shopkeepers find themselves devoting as much time as possible to their sites.

The beginning supplies are very basic. You’ll need a computer with internet access and a graphics program. You’ll need to set up an account with the POD company that you’re interested in doing business with. That’s about it. Just follow all of the instructions for that company.

Wellllll….. yes and no. In order to start a shop or gallery, the instructions are pretty straight forward. To make serious money though, you’ll have to do a lot of homework and find out how to optimize your site for the search engines and learn about marketing techniques. But don’t worry, there is a lot of help available in this industry.

So what are you waiting for? Join us in our home-based business classroom where we will be posting lessons on a wide range of topics, including blogging, webhosting, etc. We’ll also post the latest contests and breaking news about the movers and shakers in the industry. Still have questions? Join our home-based business forum and ask away!

NOTE: If you are a veteran to the POD industry, we will have a vast amount of resources available to take your shop to the next level.