I often come across people who want to know which POD service to use. It is a difficult question because there are many options. Unfortunately there is no right answer to this question. You could choose one of the big dogs namely Cafepress, Zazzle and Spreadshirt or you could chooose from one of the many smaller or newer POD sites that are available. In part it depends on your aims and what you hope to do.
While I have looked at many PODs, apart from Cafepress and Zazzle, I haven’t really invested time in them. I can recommend these two sites because it is relatively easy to set up shop and get the hang of things. I can’t say that it is easy to make money but money can be made if you make an effort.
I think that the important thing to look at when choosing a POD is how these PODs are going to help you make money. What do they put on the table? One of the most important things is traffic. How many people will actually get to see you products? Of course the more people that see you products the better. From the following graph you can clearly see that Cafepress is by far the most popular site and that Zazzle leads in terms of growth.
Unfortunately we can’t really judge from these statistics which on will drive most traffic to your store. Cafepress has far more stores and far more products than Zazzle so it is only natural that they get more traffic. Your share of the that might be very small though. An equal share of traffic from Zazzle may actually bring you more visitors. Spreadshirt too. Who knows? What we do know though is that growth is good. Cafepress has to grow in size but only slightly in unique visitors whereas Zazzle has seen phenomenal growth in visitors along with its physical growth. Looking at these stats alone, I would bet on Zazzle but there is a lot more to consider when choosing a POD. Hopefully I will be able to help you make your decision in the future.
Many people who set up shop in a POD want to remove that PODs branding and make the stores look like their own and that is cool and I totally understand the feeling. It’s much cooler to send someone to a site that looks like you run it rather than being just a tiny fraction of a bigger company. Unless you already have some name recognition I’ d forget about that at this point. There is no shame in having a store at a POD. If you make money you make money. I know for a fact that some POD shopkeepers make more money than people who set up their own shops and they certainly have less headaches.
I say embrace the branding. Zazzle, Spreadhirt and Cafepress are known and trusted brands. In many cases people would feel more comfortable buying from them than from a smaller store that they have never seen before. Those logos on the top of your store might just sell your shirts for you.
Zazzle made an announcement earlier today that they were laying off 15% of their staff. To be honest it is a confusing post. They start off by telling us that they are doing really well, the company is growing and they are making more money than ever before. You’d think that if all that were true that they would be hiring more staff instead of letting them go. It describes themselves as a family yet I would have thought that in hard times families stick together and help each other out. I hope they can all find work. Below is their post.
We are pleased to announce that 2008 was another fantastic year of growth and revenues continue to climb rapidly. Our marketplace is thriving. Our customers are enthusiastically endorsing our many new products and features, putting more money in the pockets of our many sellers and partners.
That said, nobody is immune to the stark realities of the economic climate, and it is with heavy hearts that we are announcing a 15% reduction in force today. This difficult decision was essential to ensure our profitable status and protect our solid balance sheet, no matter how long the global markets are economically-challenged.
Ever since we took outside funding in 2005, we’ve invested aggressively in the company’s future, primarily by seeking the absolute best and brightest employees. We are very picky. It took us more than three months of sorting through hundreds of resumes and interviewing literally dozens of candidates, before we hired our first engineer.
Not compromising on people was the best thing we ever did. We’ve always prided ourselves on having the most passionate, intelligent and creative people in the Valley. We’ve grown from just a few people in a portrait studio side office to hundreds of employees (here & here), and in the process we’ve become a family, respectful and appreciative of all who have contributed so much.
It is extremely difficult for us to say goodbye to some of these extraordinary people today. We truly wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
Moving forward at Zazzle, our team is fully committed to continuously improving our platform for our millions of customers, sellers and partners. We will proceed with a relentless passion for innovation and continue to grow in these challenging times.
Robert, Bobby & Jeff
I came across the news today that Cafepress have formed a new partnership with Sellit to make widgets called ShopBots which can be used to help market your Cafepress stores across platforms such as blogs, and MySpace. I don’t use MySpace myself but I do use a blog obviously so I signed up. Unfortunately it is still a closed beta at the moment so I can’t really give you much information about it.
They do have some information on their web page and FAQ and of course the first question I had was: what does it cost me? Well, it seems to be free. I think that that company will make money as an affiliate and recent changes to the Cafepress Affiliate Program may mean that it doesn’t even affect your volume bonus as the links go to your store and I believe all items sold from your store front contribute to your volume bonus.
As you can see the widget is squarish and less than 400px wide. It should easily fit in most blogs if that is where you want to use them. I am not big on widgets myself as they can be slow loading and can be frustrating for people with slow internet connections.
Zazzle has a similar widget which you can access from your control panel but it is not as cool as this one in my opinion. On the other hand you can use the Zazzle widget to earn affiliate dollars and you can include other people’s stores and items if you choose. That may be more important.
Camisole at Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt have some new tops especially for Valentine’s Day – a camisole and a nighty. The photos they use to show you what you are getting are quite sexy. If you are designing for Valentine’s Day I suggest that you include these items in your store as more than likely Spreadshirt will promote them for Valentine’s Day. I don’t always jump on every new product that a POD offers and I recommend you consider your market before you do do.
Nightie at Spreadshirt
Being part of the the CafePressVoice team is probably a good thing if you have some free time. You will get some, probably very limited, information before the other shopkeepers but more than that I think that you will feel more appreciated as you will have a direct line to Cafepress. Your voice will be heard. I have not been a member and I don’t have time at the moment so I won’t be applying this time round either.
If you are new to Cafepress I wouldn’t bother applying yet. Unless you have something amazing to offer that will be beneficial to the Cafepress community I doubt that you would be considered. On the other hand, if you are serious about Cafepress and think you would like to join the CafePressVoice team in the future you should probably start your campaign now. First, you should build up your store(s) and increase your sales to to show what you what you can do. Also you will need to be involved in the community so head over to the CafePress forums and be helpful. If you want to learn about Cafepress the forum is a great place to start anyway. They a great bunch of helpful people.
Anyway, below is the information from their blog saying that they are looking for some volunteers.
It’s time to bid “fare-well” to our first-ever CafePressVoice representatives (as they’re now finishing up their 18 month term). We want to thank them for all their contributions. It’s bittersweet as we’re bummed to see them move on, but we’re excited at the prospect of working with a new group with new thoughts.
CafePressVoice is a team of Shopkeepers selected to help us evaluate new features, services, merchandise and programs – similar to a focus group. They help represent the viewpoints, interests, and concerns from a Shopkeeper’s perspective. The role of a CafePressVoice Representative is:
* Represent CafePress and the Community
* Evaluate new services, features, and programs and offer suggestions and voice concerns, if any
* Attend monthly meetings and weekly participation in forum discussions to learn about current and upcoming initiatives
* Be up-to-date on respective category issues and programs presented by CafePressVoice team leaders and be involved in offering feedback and suggestions
* Be an active member of the Community to better understand different Community viewpoints
* Provide responsive and constructive feedback and suggestionsCould that be you or someone you know? Great because we’re shouting-out to all Shopkeepers in the Community who are interested in being a part of the CafePressVoice team.
For those interested, send us an email at CommunityTeam@cafepress.com with the subject “CafePressVoice 3rd term” and we’ll send you an application to fill out. If you’re suggesting another Shopkeeper, be sure to include his/her Shop ID (or Forum Screen Name). Hurry – the deadline is January 15, 2008!
As I mentioned in a previous post, coupon codes are not just a way for you to get discounts on products from POD vendors. They should be used as a promotional tool in your marketing efforts. In most cases you will be able to include the coupon code in your POD store but even if you can’t, you can use them in your off-site advertising. Below is a perfect example of marketing with coupon codes. Spreadshirt has already promoted this coupon code as being for the new year but in their new email campaign but now that the Obama inauguration is coming they have recycled the code and well, you can see below what they are doing.
Purchase a piece of history, with Obama related designs and products and save 20.09% off until January 16th!
On January 20th history will be made! Take part in this historic event and purchase a piece of history with our large selection of Obama products and designs. From Obama Mama tees to Obama for Change sweatshirts we’ve got you covered on Inauguration Day 2009! As an added bonus we are offering 20.09% off all orders over $20.00 now through January 16th, so stock up on your Obama gear today!
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Cafepress are holding a design contest for Valentine’s Day. Should I have said that they are holding it against Valentine’s Day? If you consider that it is called the Anti-Valentine’s Day Design Contest. Anyway, this is one of Cafepress’ ways to encourage people to create you designs. If your designs win the contest you will get rewarded not only from the sales commission but also the juicy little prizes they are offering. These contests are just for US residents unless something changes in the future.
Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years or older at time of entry.
Whether you are living in the US or not I recommend taking part in these contests as Cafepress will promote them a lot giving your designs a better chance of selling.
Below is the information from their email, but check out the terms and conditions on their website for more details.
Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is a chance to let people know how much you care. Flowers and hearts are abloom, and gifts celebrating love fill the CafePress Marketplace. But let’s face it, some people have a bone to pick with Cupid. And what better way to do so than on a T-Shirt. So embrace your inner wit, sarcasm, and cynical side by being a part of our Anti-Valentine’s Day design contest (and win some great prizes too). This year we have three ways to be a big Valentine’s Day winner.1. Create an Anti-Valentine’s Day design in one of 3 categories:
Single Life: Dating, the flirt, bad break-ups …
Anti-Love: Scorned by love, lonely hearts, obsessive love
Boycott It: Commercialism, apathy, “who needs it”2. Submit your design between January 8 and January 22 by tagging it:
Single Life: AVCsingle
Anti-Love: AVClove
Boycott It: AVCboycott3. Win one of three Grand Prizes – $250 in American Express gift card. Or win one of three second prizes – $100 CafePress gift certificate) or one of three third prizes – $50 CafePress gift certificates.
We’ll be judging on creativity, uniqueness, and how well your design expresses the category. So get wild and show us how you would stick it to V-Day!
Please see our official Anti-Valentine’s Day design contest rules and guidelines
before entering.
One of the first posts from POD Helper is not only a way for you to get a discount but also a great tool for marketing your POD store: coupons. The POD companies frequently issue coupons for their customers. Some are provided to large affiliate marketers while others are provided to everyone. These were provided by Printfection, one of the smaller PODs. You can use them in your stores and in other promotions as they come up.
They will be available from January 10 through to January 31.
$5 Off $25 Order Use Promo Code: 5OFF25
$10 Off $50 Order Use Promo Code: 10OFF50
$15 Off $100 Order Use Promo Code: 15OFF100
I will talk more about coupon codes and how to use them effectively in a later post.
In the first post of POD Helper I thought it best to tell you who I am and what this site is all about.
I am a Top Shopkeeper at Cafepress and a ProSeller at Zazzle. While there are people who make much more money than me on both platforms I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge that will be helpful to other people who want to make money from PODs.
For the people who don’t know what a POD is here is a quote from my t-shirt blog, The T-Shirt Review:
POD stands for Print on Demand. Without going into too much detail it is a system whereby you can get your t-shirt (or other items) printed by another company. Recently some of those companies will also sell your design on tee shirts and deal with all the logistics including packaging, shipping, payments and even customer complaints.
Most people don’t have the finances to set up their own t-shirt printing company or deal with the logistics so these PODs have created a way for people to do so with little or no start-up costs. Cafepress, Zazzle and Spreadshirt are probably the most famous and most successful PODs at the moment.
The object of this blog is to gather as many resources as possible to help you succeed in the POD business. This will include tutorials, advice and much more. Some of the information will come from my much neglected Cafe Templates site which I will soon take down. You can also expect a few contributions by POD professionals. Take heed, they know what they are talking about.