Questions and Answers about starting up a print-on-demand print business
A friend reached out about starting up a print business that would use digital printing to create work. Here are some of my thoughts tailored for the Cincinnati market:
Digital Printing
First, I think pursuing open-edition, digital printing is a great strategy. My biggest issue right now is having so much inventory.
Moo – I have not used them before, I have used Vistaprint but only for business cards
Seamless or Corporate Printing in Cincinnati: getting to know the printer and I feel you can spec some paper stock. They use higher-end Xeroxs.
Robin Imaging in OTR: Higher-end giclée prints
Jakprints: Cleveland based, great for prints and stickers
StickerMule: Great for stickers
Contrado: I've used them for print-on-demand garments and they have other housewares
Zazzle: I've used them for print-on-demand
Other strategies:
- Etsy: post images that are print-at-home
- Drop shipping:
- Printful: I have used them, they integrate into my Squarespace, but I am not blown away by their quality
- Gelato, Finerworks, ThePrintSpace, Giclee Today, and Prodigi are some I found via Google. Research and have a sample of your work shipped to you to see if you like the quality.
Print-on-demand and dropshipping will give you less share/royalties of the price BUT you get to do a lot less and have a lot less inventory on hand.
Idea:
With Claire coming from a background in the arts and printmaking, this product model might be interesting:
Original artwork $$$$
Limited-edtion, hand-printed $$$
Open edition, digital: $
This could be the same image. Ink & Craft did this. This way you could have the fulfillment of making art and producing work, having originals might allow you into more premiere events like but offering a product
Sales:
- Roughly 55% of my sale came from in-person events in my heyday
- 22.5% were from online sales
- 22.5% were from wholesale/consignment
Accounting/Business:
- I would recommend if you plan to scale up a business to start working with an accountant to track expenses
- I set up a business checking account so the sales and expenses were separate and easily trackable
- Consult with them about State Vendors license, or when the right time to have an LLC or acquire general liability insurance
- Inventory: work with them around any inventory or depreciated assets you may need to get started
Price:
- I started out matching market-rate for gig posters nationwide, you could do a comparative audit of other creatives/artists/makers you admire
- As I got into wholesale I would make sure my labor (time creating artwork), cost to print, cost of packaging would be covered in the first 50% of the price.
This also helped when working events, my labor and booth fees could be covered by the second 50%, or online where the website fee and potentially postage would be covered by that second 50%
Online Selling
What is the most successful selling avenue for you? Insta, Facebook or online? Or is it more local shows or retail? We are so curious about that, and are not sure if we should dive into one vs. another, or do a little of both to start.
- Squarespace: I've had my main online shop with them. I can create an Instagram/Facebook business page and integrate my shop into their developer/business portal
- Square: I used Square as my point-of-sale for a long time. I also really love them for inventory tracking. They also offer the ability to build a website that is an online shop.
Local Markets:
What are the ‘best’ local market/seller or events to be in, if that’s something you recommend?
- Crafty Supermarket: my best indoor show. It happens twice a year, May and Nov/Dec
- CityFlea: My best outdoor market
- OFFmarket: Has grown to be about as good as CityFlea.
- Art on Vine: Indoor in winter, outdoor in summer. A good place to gain experience; very opening and they help people get their start
Others: Westside Market, Westwood Art Show, The Market at Medpace,
Packaging:
- I use ClearBags for sleeves and backing to sell prints
- I use Uline for durable shipping materials like mailers and tubes
- Shippers: EcoEnclose, StickerMule, Packola, CustomPolyMailers look cool, I haven't used them yet
Consignment/Wholesale:
Have you gone the route of commission-based sales, like at coffee houses and other retail? Is that even a good way to go, in your opinion?
- I started with some consignment, I typically got a 60/40 split. When I got busy it was hard to track inventory and sales. I really liked working with Handzy, they were organized.
- I prefer wholesale, where I get 50/50 and sell the inventory for the store. This advantage is that it's on the store to move products and to buy work that will resonate with their customer base.
Subject Matter:
Do you have an option on themes/subject matter that really has pull? Do you think more artistic or unique/personal styles work as well? We love your Cincinnati prints, and were wondering how that’s worked for you and/or evolved over time.
- A long time ago I did my first show and I experimented with 4 different types of subject matter. The Cincinnati work came from some work I had done and from an authentic love for the city and its history. I gravitated to that because I was rewarded more by the customers.
- I would recommend having a personal ethos you develop over time, and using trends and the marketplace to stay relevant