As an artist, you are aware of how difficult and time-consuming it can be to get your work out into the public. You have to deal with issues like printing, framing, and shipping in addition to the actual art-making process, all of which can take up time and money.
Read More: artist print on demand
Using a print-on-demand service is one way to deal with this issue. You can sell your artwork online without worrying about the practicalities of printing, shipping, or customer support when you use print on demand (POD) services like Fine Art America. The POD service handles everything else when a consumer purchases one of your items, including printing the artwork, packing it, and sending it to the buyer.
As an artist, the following are some advantages of using a print-on-demand service:
Minimal up-front expenses: Using a POD service eliminates the need to purchase printing supplies or have a physical inventory of your artwork. This implies that you may begin without making a big initial investment.
No need to bother about fulfillment: As previously stated, fulfillment is handled by the POD provider. This implies that you may concentrate on making art and let the experts handle the rest.
Easy to set up: Uploading and selling your artwork is made simple by the majority of POD providers’ straightforward, user-friendly websites.
Broad reach: You may sell your artwork to clients worldwide using a POD solution. You may be able to expand your audience and boost revenue by doing this. To guarantee that you can fulfill orders worldwide, Fine Art America has 16 factories worldwide.
Flexibility: In addition to wall art, a POD service allows you to sell a range of goods that include your artwork, including t-shirts, mugs, and phone covers. By doing this, you may expand your audience and diversify your sources of money.
All things considered, artists may sell their work online using a print-on-demand service without having to worry about the practicalities of shipping and printing. Additionally, it may help you diversify your revenue sources and reach a larger audience—two things that might be very helpful in the current digital era. Therefore, if you are an artist hoping to sell your work online, it is definitely something to think about.
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Print-on-Demand
First, artists collaborate with print-on-demand businesses to create goods that showcase their artwork. This might be anything from little patterns and scarves to shower curtains and cushions! Along with printing orders as they are received and promoting their own e-commerce website, they frequently also manage sales transactions, packing, shipping, and customer care.
Profit margins might be modest and fluctuate.
PODs are companies as well, so they won’t only give artists free assistance.
Unfortunately, the artists may suffer as a result of these large print businesses’ sole focus on profit. Naturally, these websites will keep a bigger portion of your earnings as they are doing a lot of the work.
Artists can be compensated via royalties, which are a proportion of each sale, however the PODs usually specify the conditions. Alternatively, a markup from the product’s bottom line, with the artist having the option to choose the final retail price.
Additionally, the profit margin may be rather low, depending on the product. For items that would only provide a few dollars in returns on each purchase, you might even need to pay cash up front.
Your client list might not be accessible to you.
Once more, print-on-demand businesses are attempting to profit from this. This indicates that they are adhering to the best business practices of gathering customer information in order to remarket to them and, ideally, increase sales.
What else does that signify, do you?
Typically, a list of these buyers is not provided to you. You will never find out who appreciated and purchased your work since you are selling on their website. Unless they amazingly get in touch with you, you won’t gain their information to increase your sales.
Additionally, you don’t always have authority over your brand. It’s likely that large PODs will promote, package, and ship goods bearing their logo rather than yours. You lose out on the opportunity to emotionally connect with potential customers by sharing the backstory of your business. People are frequently drawn to your brand and your narrative while making purchases!
Therefore, even if they are making it easier for you to sell and transport the goods, be aware that you will still need to deal with additional issues.
Quality can be a major issue.
Unfortunately, print quality may suffer if a print-on-demand business prioritizes profits over all else.
And even if you have faith in them and believe they will only sell high-quality items, if the quality is subpar, it can negatively impact your art company and your sales of these things.
But there’s a way around this!
Investigate which businesses offer the best printing quality. Don’t stop there; furthermore look at the caliber of their customer support division and website. The website should be simple to use and buy from, and the personnel should be polite enough to answer any queries you or they may have.
There are instances when it’s smart to avoid taking chances. To assess the quality for yourself, you ought to even order one of your own printed goods.
