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Print on Demand: Selling designs VS selling the service

thereehldeal27

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So I was recently researching print and demand types of businesses. You know, stuff like Teespring, Printify, Printful, Print Aura, and selling on Etsy, Shopify, etc... You can design mugs, shirts, leggings, etc. But I don't think this business model is highly regarded here. It violates control. Possibly scale. Though there is a shop on Etsy that IS at a Fastlane stage and has only been up since 2018 (Special gifts for any occasion! Come shop with us :) by UltimateGiftsShop). So it is possible to go Fastlane with this model, but again...you don't OWN Etsy. You don't OWN Printful. They go down (doubful) YOU go down with them. The funny part is people don't think about how much the actual services make...Etsy...print on demand stores...and this has me thinking...

Could someone compete with Print on Demand services and make their own company? I realize they'd have to market, and get customers who already trust the well known guys. And I'm sure you would need to invest in the supplies, and employees to actually get the designs made and shipped. But would this be more "Fastlane" than simply paying P.O.D. services to make and ship your designs? Afterall, you have no idea whether you'll make anything on the designs. But then again, this seems like a tough business to start. Either way seems like it would take some creativity and work.

What are your thoughts?
 
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Lex DeVille

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You've already given an example of it being possible. So what are your thoughts? Having done your homework, are you the one to step up in this industry? You know yourself better than we do.
 

thereehldeal27

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You've already given an example of it being possible. So what are your thoughts? Having done your homework, are you the one to step up in this industry? You know yourself better than we do.

I'm about to start driving for Amazon again and build up some capitol so building something like this is even plausible. I'm already working on trying to get into the self publishing space, but I am trying not to put all of my eggs in one basket. Therefore finding other streams I could dip into and grab a piece of the pie. I also have analysis paralysis pretty bad. Afraid of going into something so competitive such as shirts and merch, but my mind also says go where the money is. Still trying to figure this all out.
 

Lex DeVille

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I'm about to start driving for Amazon again and build up some capitol so building something like this is even plausible. I'm already working on trying to get into the self publishing space, but I am trying not to put all of my eggs in one basket. Therefore finding other streams I could dip into and grab a piece of the pie. I also have analysis paralysis pretty bad. Afraid of going into something so competitive such as shirts and merch, but my mind also says go where the money is. Still trying to figure this all out.

If I were starting from zero again I wouldn't put any of my eggs in any of those baskets. If I had a do-over, I would pick an unsexy business that solves a real problem for an offline market. Something that's gross, or hard, or takes a good size chunk of change to get started in. Something where you're practically guaranteed to make it if you last. Then I would put all of my eggs in that basket and do nothing else until it was a success or I went broke trying.

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thereehldeal27

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If I were starting from zero again I wouldn't put any of my eggs in any of those baskets. If I had a do-over, I would pick an unsexy business that solves a real problem for an offline market. Something that's gross, or hard, or takes a good size chunk of change to get started in. Something where you're practically guaranteed to make it if you last. Then I would put all of my eggs in that basket and do nothing else until it was a success or I went broke trying.

GOLD! - Making Money For Dummies (And In a Crowded Market)


So something unfun like pressure washing and/or power washing? I was also thinking for me, something like wedding videography since film is my forte. I suppose there is also lawn care.

Basically selling some type of service, one that isn't particularily sexy. There are many out there.
 

Lex DeVille

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So something unfun like pressure washing and/or power washing? I was also thinking for me, something like wedding videography since film is my forte. I suppose there is also lawn care.

Basically selling some type of service, one that isn't particularily sexy. There are many out there.

Any of those could be good if you went all-in with it. There's threads on most of those businesses on this forum. Not sure about videography, but I thought it seemed like a good industry at one point, especially if you set up to offer livestreaming.
 

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