Great choice—POD is booming, and there’s still plenty of money to be made when you build a shop on Etsy, Amazon, and/or Shopify.

When I first started, I definitely made a few whopper mistakes.

Lucky for you, I’m here to share what I’ve learned so you can skip the beginner headaches and jump straight to making sales. Let’s talk Printify and break down everything you should know before you start selling—including how much it really costs, the best print providers, the most profitable products, and a few insider tips to maximize your earnings.

Ready? Let’s dive in!

What is exactly is Printify and how does it work?

Printify is a print-on-demand (POD) platform that lets you create and sell custom products without handling inventory, production, or shipping. Here’s how it works:

1. Choose a Product – Printify offers 1,000+ customizable products like t-shirts, mugs, and hoodies.
2. Add Your Design – Use Printify’s Mockup Generator to upload and preview your design.
3. Connect Printify to Your Online Store – Printify easily syncs up with Etsy, Shopify or other marketplaces to list your products.
4. Sell & Printify Handles the Rest – When a customer places an order on Etsy, for example, it goes directly to Printify. One of Printify’s partner printers make and ship the product directly to your customer.

With no upfront costs and no inventory needed, Printify makes it easy to start and scale a print-on-demand business.

Your Designs + Printify + Etsy = Print on Demand Business

Printify vs. Printful: What’s the Story?

If you’ve done any research on print on demand, you’ve probably seen the Printify vs. Printful debate. There are two of the biggest product suppliers in the POD industry. Here’s what you need to know for 2026:

Big News: Printify and Printful have merged! They are still going to remain two separate websites, but we are hoping that POD sellers will soon get the best of both platforms—Printify’s affordable pricing and massive catalog combined with Printful’s premium-quality printing and fulfillment (and awesome custom embroidery options).

Right now, Printify is still the better option for Etsy sellers because of:

• Lower base costs (higher profit margins)
• More print providers = More options
• Faster shipping choices

If you’re new to POD, Printify mostly likely is the smarter pick for your business —but keep an eye out for updates as these two giants join forces.

How Much Does It Really Cost to Start Selling on Printify and Etsy?

Printify is free to use (unless you upgrade to premium), but there are some expenses you need to be be aware of…

Paying for Orders Upfront

Every time you make a sale on Etsy, Printify needs to charge you for the base cost of the item and shipping. Because Etsy doesn’t pay you right away for your sale, you need some cash on hand – or a credit card – to cover those print orders before your profits hit.

Pro Tip: Have at least $200-$500 set aside for those first few sales to avoid the dreaded “Oops, I can’t afford to fulfill my own orders” moment.

Etsy Fees

In addition to the cost of printing and shipping, Etsy has a few fees as well. Here’s what to expect:

• $0.20 per product listing
• 6.5% transaction fee
• 3-5% payment processing fee

Marketing, Research and Mockup Tools

There are some other optional expenses involved that you should highly consider:

• Design Tools – You need at least one tool to create your art design for your products. There are several free options out there, but if you want to scale your business, you’ll probably need to invest in a tool like Kittl, CanvaPro, Ideogram, Mystic, etc.

• Etsy Keyword Research Tools (SEO) – Like Sale Samurai, eRank or Everbee

• Running ads on Facebook or Pinterest to drive people to your Etsy store

• Mockup tools for your products so they really stand out on Etsy. (We’ll talk a bit more about this below.)

BOTTOM LINE: You don’t need thousands to start, but having a few hundred dollars on hand keeps things smooth and stress-free.

How to Price Your Products (So You Actually Make Money)

Printify has a nice profit calculator you can use to help you decide how to price each product you’re selling. Please remember that this profit calculator only inlucludes Printify costs and not any fees you’ll pay to your marketplace, like Etsy.

Quick Example:

• A sweatshirt costs $21 to print and $4 to ship (total $25). You sell it for $55 on Etsy.

• The Printify calculator will tell you that your profit is $30, but you need to do a bit more number crunching to add in the Etsy (or other marketplace) fees.

• After Etsy fees, you are usually going to keep about 50% to 65% of the profit listed on the Printify calculator. So in this example, you would keep about $15 to $20 for the sweatshirt sale.

The Best Manufacturers on Printify

Printify works with hundreds of product manufacturers, so newbies may find it a bit overwhelming when trying to choose the best one for their product. Here are a few that I really like for apparel:

• SwiftPod – Fast, reliable, solid print quality
• Monster Digital – Great for t-shirts and sweatshirts
• Awkward Styles – Good pricing and customer satisfaction reviews

In 2025, Printify introduced the “Printify Choice” feature. It picks the best provider for you based on price, quality, and speed – at the time someone places an order.

Personally, If you’re a newbie and don’t want to overthink it, use Printify Choice and move on with your life. If you are selling t-shirts and sweatshirts and really love the service you receive (including fast shipping) from Swiftpod or Monster, then skip Printify Choice and just select your preferred vendor when you are creating your new product listing.

What Are the Best-Selling Printify Products?

If you’re overwhelmed by Printify’s massive catalog, here’s a cheat sheet of what I’ve found sells well on Etsy and gets good feedback from the customers:

• Best T-Shirt: It’s a coin toss, but the top two choices are:
  • Bella + Canvas 3001 – Super soft and reasonable pricing
  • Comfort Colors 1717 – A thicker, eco-friendly tee
• Best (more affordable t-shirt): Gildan 64000 – 100% ring-spun cotton fabric. It’s super soft and breathable.
• Best Sweatshirt: Gildan 18000 – Cozy, affordable, and a customer favorite
• Best Mug: Generic 11oz or 15oz white ceramic mug – Simple and profitable
• Candles – Basic Scented Soy Candle is great

Check Printify’s Bestseller List to see what’s trending and see what people are already buying.

The Colors That Sell the Best

Offering too many color choices can really impact your sales. I’m not sure if you’ve ever done this, but if you have too many choices available, you get overwhelmed and decide wait before buying something. We want to make things as easy as possible for the buyers, so only offering 1 to 4 colors for each sweatshirt, for example, is usually best.

Now your next questions probraby is which colors should I pick? The best-selling colors typically are:

1. Black
2. White
3. Sand
4. Navy
5. Sport Gray

Depending on your designs, the red and pink may not look great, but blue and green are perfect. No matter what, limiting options to 1 to 4 colors for each of your listings will help your customers avoid decision fatigue and just order one (or two!).

INTERESTING NUGGET: Printify recently shared a surprise top trend for 2026:

“Single-color option reigns supreme among print-on-demand products. Items with just one color choice are the stars of the show in both apparel and non-apparel categories.”

Definitely a surprise to me, but I’m going to be putting this to the test this year.

Printify’s Default Mockups Are a Wee Bit Boring. Fix That.

Your first thumbnail image makes or breaks your sales on Etsy. While Printify offers some nice simple mockups of your product, you also need to create a few more.

If you have Everbee, you’ll be able to see what the top selling products are in your niche – and what mockups they are using! You’ll quickly start noticing which mockups are performing the best and usually they are sold as digital downloads on Etsy. A few popular Etsy brands include:

• Goldimocks Studio
• Mocks by Little Feather
• Fleurdusoleil Mockups
• Watermelon Mocks

There are also subscriptions you can use that offer a library of mockups:

• Placeit – Huge library of professional mockups
• MyDesigns.io – Really nice mockups and offers the ability to bulk upload dozens of Etsy listings at once. It also connects directly to your Printify account.
• ReWarx Studio

Your first thumbnail is your ad. Make it stand out. Here’s an example:

Printify will give you a basic t-shirt mockup like the pink ones on the bottom. I still use these pictures in my Etsy store, but the main Esty picture for your listing needs to be one that’s going to “pop” a bit more when people are scrolling through hundreds of images.

Final Thoughts: Is Print on Demand Worth It?

Absolutely! But you do need to keep a few important things in mind…

• Have at least $200-$500 ready for upfront costs (i.e. Etsy shop set up, mockups, upfront printer fees, etc)
• Price your products high enough to actually make money
• Pick reliable print providers (we love Monster Digital and SwiftPOD for t-shirt and sweatshirt printing on Printify)
• Offer a limited number of color options to avoid buyer decision fatigue (4 to 6 colors)
• Invest in or create better mockups to increase clicks and sales

Printify is one of the best ways to start a profitable online business without dealing with inventory, shipping, or upfront costs. But the right strategy makes all the difference.

Other Articles You Might Like:

Print on Demand 101: How to Start Your Own POD Empire From Your Laptop

12 Passive Income Ideas to Earn at Least $1,000 Each Month

The 50 Best Digital Products to Sell Online – No Inventory, No Shipping

People think about YouTube. They think about TikTok. Maybe blogging.

Pinterest? That’s where people save cookie recipes, dream about kitchen remodels, and plan vacations they may never actually take. At least that’s what I thought.

Then I discovered that some people were quietly using Pinterest to drive thousands of visitors to their websites every month. Not followers. Not likes. Actual website traffic.

And that traffic was turning into affiliate commissions, ad revenue, email subscribers, digital product sales, and even full-time businesses.

The best part? Most of these people weren’t dancing on camera, posting multiple times a day, or trying to become social media influencers.

Pinterest works differently. Unlike most social platforms, Pinterest functions more like a search engine. People come to Pinterest looking for solutions, ideas, products, and answers. They’re actively searching, which means they’re often much closer to taking action. That’s what makes Pinterest such a powerful tool for entrepreneurs, bloggers, content creators, and small business owners.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how people make money on Pinterest, the different business models you can use, how long it typically takes to see results, and the biggest mistakes beginners make.

And no, you don’t need a huge audience, fancy equipment, or years of experience to get started.

Let’s dive in..

Quick Navigation

1. Can You Actually Make Money on Pinterest?
2. What You Need Before You Start
3. The 5 Ways to Earn Money from Pinterest
4. The Secret Weapon Most Pinterest Beginners Skip (PinClicks)
5. Tips to Actually Get Your Pins Seen
6. How Long Does It Take to Make Money on Pinterest?
7. Common Mistakes to Avoid
8. My Favorite Pinterest Monetization Method

1. Can You Actually Make Money on Pinterest?

Short answer: yes. Longer answer: yes, but it works differently than most people expect.

Pinterest isn’t a social media platform in the traditional sense — it’s a visual search engine. People go to Pinterest the same way they go to Google: to find answers, inspiration, and solutions. That’s a fundamentally different mindset than someone scrolling Instagram to kill time. Pinterest users are actively looking for things — which makes them far more likely to click, buy, and convert.

With over 500 million monthly active users and a platform that skews toward people actively planning purchases, Pinterest sits in a sweet spot that most content creators haven’t fully tapped yet. That’s good news if you’re just getting started.

That said — and this is the honest part — Pinterest income is not overnight money. It’s slow burn, long burn income. The people who succeed on Pinterest treat it like a long-term strategy, not a quick fix. Keep that expectation in your back pocket and everything that follows will make a lot more sense.

So What Kind of Income Are We Talking About?

We get this question a lot. There are so many variables, from the niche you select, your learning curve, and how much time you invest in growing your pinterest account, but here is a general overview of what to expect…

2. What You Need Before You Start

Good news: the barrier to entry is low. Here’s what you actually need before your first pin goes live.

A Free Pinterest Business Account

Convert your personal account or create a new one at no cost. A business account unlocks Pinterest Analytics, which you’ll need to understand what’s working. It also enables the ability to add your website link to pins — which is where the money flows.

A Place to Send Your Traffic

Pinterest is a traffic driver, not a destination in itself. You need somewhere to send people — a blog, a website, an Etsy shop, or a landing page. Most people who earn money on Pinterest are sending clicks to content that earns through ads or affiliate links.

A Pin Design Tool

Your pins are your storefront. Blurry, cluttered, or text-heavy designs get skipped. The good news is you don’t need design skills — you need the right tool. A few worth knowing:

• Canva — The most popular choice for beginners. Drag-and-drop templates, thousands of Pinterest-specific layouts, and a free tier that covers most needs. Canva Pro unlocks more templates, a brand kit, and the background remover.
• Kittl — A popular choice for Print on Demand sellers and also works really well for Pinterest pin creation, which makes it worth mentioning separately. Kittl’s templates and AI tools are optimized for the platform in a way general design tools aren’t always.
• Ideogram — An AI image generation tool that’s surprisingly good for creating unique, eye-catching visuals for your pins. The free tier is generous, and the results can stop a scroll in ways stock photos can’t.
• Midjourney — For more advanced, highly stylized AI-generated images. Steeper learning curve than Ideogram but powerful results for creators who want truly distinctive pin aesthetics.

A Keyword Research Tool (This One’s the Game Changer)

We’ll cover this in detail in Section 4, but it deserves a mention here because it should be part of your setup from day one. Most people guess at keywords (aka search terms or phrases) and wonder why their pins never get traction. The fix is PinClicks — a Pinterest-specific keyword research tool that shows you exactly what people are searching for and at what volume.

3. Ways to Earn Money from Pinterest

There’s no one-size-fits-all path here. Some of these methods work better depending on whether you have a blog, a shop, a skill, or just a willingness to learn. Pick one to start — don’t try all five at once.

Method 1: Drive Traffic to a Blog or Website

This is the foundation of how to earn from Pinterest for most content creators — and it’s exactly what we do at Bloom Digital. The idea is simple: create pins that link to blog posts, and monetize those blog posts through display ads and affiliate links.

Here’s why this method is so powerful: once your blog qualifies for a premium display ad network, every single pageview earns money. You don’t have to sell anything. You don’t need the reader to click a link. They just have to show up and read — and Pinterest sends them there.

The two networks most bloggers work toward are Mediavine (which requires 50,000 sessions per month) and Raptive (formerly AdThrive, which requires 100,000 pageviews per month). Both pay significantly more than Google AdSense and are widely considered the gold standard for content site ad revenue. Getting accepted into either one is a major milestone — and Pinterest traffic counts toward those thresholds just as much as Google search traffic does.

Pinterest acts as a search engine that sends a steady, compounding stream of readers to your content. Unlike Instagram or TikTok where posts disappear within 48 hours, a well-optimized pin can resurface months or even years after you created it — continuing to build toward those session counts long after you’ve moved on to new content.

To put it in perspective: One of the websites we manage at Bloom Digital was in a high competition niche (Health & Wellness) and it went from zero to over 460,000 impressions in 90 days with 6,000+ monthly visitors to the website in less than 4 months. It driven almost entirely by consistent, keyword-focused pinning. No paid ads, no viral moments, just strategy, repetition and a focus on providing value to our readers. We were able to get the website approved by Journey by Mediavine (their intro program) and start earning ad revenue fairly quickly.

Method 2: Pinterest Affiliate Marketing

You don’t always need a blog between the pin and the commission. Pinterest allows you to link pins directly to affiliate products, which means someone can click your pin, buy the product, and you earn a commission — no website required (though having one definitely helps).

The easiest place to start is Amazon Associates. The approval bar is low, the product catalog covers almost any niche, and it’s the affiliate program most beginners can get into quickly. Commissions are modest (typically 3–5%) but the sheer range of products means almost any Pinterest content can be monetized.

Once you’ve got your footing with Amazon, you can level up to dedicated affiliate networks where commissions are significantly higher:

• FlexOffers — Strong for health, home decor, and e-commerce brands. Great if you’re in lifestyle niches.
• ShareASale — Wide variety of programs across almost every niche. Beginner-friendly approval process.
• PartnerStack — The go-to network for software and SaaS tools. If your content covers digital tools and online business, this is where the higher commissions live.
• Impact — Where you’ll find larger brand programs including Canva, and other well-known platforms.

FTC Disclosure Reminder: Always disclose affiliate relationships on your pins and linked content. A simple “This post contains affiliate links” at the top of your article or in your pin description covers you legally and builds trust with your audience.

Method 3: Sell Your Own Digital Products

Digital products are one of the best ways to earn money online because you create them once and sell them indefinitely. Pinterest is an exceptional platform for driving traffic to digital product shops because the visual format is perfect for showing off planners, templates, printables, and design assets.

Etsy is the most natural home for digital products if you’re just starting out. You can pin directly to your Etsy listings, and the platform already has built-in buyer trust.

If you want to know which digital products are actually selling before you invest time creating them, Everbee is a research tool that shows you Etsy sales data, search volume, and competition — invaluable for making sure you’re not creating products nobody wants.

Method 4: Promote Print on Demand Products

Print on demand and Pinterest is an underrated combination that most beginners completely overlook. The idea: create designs for products like t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, or wall art using a platform like Printify or Printful, and it will feed your new product listing directly to your Etsy or Shopify shop. You can just link directly to specific items in your shop from Pinterest.

Pinterest’s visual format is perfect for product discovery — especially for the kinds of niche, design-forward products that POD sellers create. A well-designed mockup pin in a specific niche (think funny dog mom mugs or minimalist motivational wall art) can drive consistent shop traffic without any ad spend.

The products that tend to perform best on Pinterest: wall art, seasonal items, gifts with personality, customizable gifts, and anything with a strong visual aesthetic. Think about what would stop you from scrolling.

Method 5: Offer Services or Coaching

Don’t have a product yet? Lead with a skill. Pinterest can be a surprisingly effective platform for attracting service clients — especially in creative, business, and lifestyle niches.

Virtual assistants, social media managers, pin designers, copywriters, logo creators, and coaches have all used Pinterest to attract clients. Create pins that demonstrate your expertise or speak directly to the problem your ideal client is trying to solve. Link to a simple landing page or contact form.

If you want to offer services but aren’t sure where to start, Fiverr is a good low-barrier platform to list your offerings while you build your portfolio and reputation.

4. The Secret Weapon Most Pinterest Beginners Skip

Here’s the truth about why most Pinterest strategies fail: people guess at keywords (i.e. what people are searching for on Pinterest).

They pick words that sound right, write pin descriptions that feel relevant, and then wonder why their pins sit at zero impressions week after week. The problem isn’t the design or the posting schedule. The problem is that nobody is searching for the words they’re using.

Quick example:

Let’s say you are adding a Pin about a new healthy, high protein cookie recipe you created. You fondly refer to it as “Mama’s Big Cookie Recipe”, but no one is going to visiting Pinterest and actively searching for that phrase. If you had access to a tool like PinClicks, you could uncover other phrases (keywords) that people are searching for like “high protein cookies” (1,200 searches per month) or better yet, “high protein snacks” (435,000 searches per month).

So instead of a Pinterest title called “Mama’s Big Cookie Recipe” you could do something like “Best High Protein Cookies – Made by Mama”. And in the pin description, you can add in a few other relevant keywords like “high protein snacks” or “healthy cookie recipes”.

This is exactly why PinClicks has been, genuinely, one of the most valuable tools in our entire toolkit. It’s a Pinterest-specific keyword research tool that shows you what people are actually searching for on the platform — with real search volume data.

On a personal note, I use PinClicks almost every single day – usually several times daily – and it is has completely changed how my team creates content and pinterest pins. Before, we were creating articles and pins based on browsing Pinterest (for hours!) and on intuition . Now, every pin title, every description, every board name is built around search terms we know people are actually looking for.

Here’s another simple example of how it works:

Say you want to write a pin about making money from home. You might naturally use the phrase “work from home ideas” — which sounds reasonable. But PinClicks might show you that “earn money from home” has 15,075 monthly searches on Pinterest while “ways to earn money online” only gets 828. Same general topic, dramatically different traffic potential. That’s the kind of data that changes everything.

If you’re serious about making Pinterest work as an income stream, this is the tool that bridges the gap between pinning and actually being found.

5. Tips to Actually Get Your Pins Seen

Once you know how to earn money on Pinterest, the next question is how to make sure anyone actually sees your pins. Here’s what actually moves the needle:

• Use keywords everywhere. Your pin title, pin description, board name, and board description should all include the keywords your ideal reader is searching for. This is where PinClicks data pays off directly — use the actual search terms, not paraphrases of them.
• Use the right dimensions. Pinterest is built for vertical content. The ideal pin ratio is 2:3 (for example, 1000 x 1500 pixels) or 9:16 ratio also works well. If you are outside these ratios, there is a chance that your pin image can get cropped or deprioritized in feeds.
• Create fresh pins, not repins. Pinterest’s algorithm rewards new content. Create new pin designs for your content rather than just re-sharing existing pins. Even linking to the same article, a new pin image is considered fresh content.
• Consistency beats volume. Pinning 3 to 10 times per day consistently outperforms pinning 50 times one week and nothing the next. Set a sustainable schedule and stick to it.
  • As of June 2026, I’m finding that it’s better to post 3 quality pins each day than just flooding Pinterest with 10 or 20 generic Canva-templated pins or pins that were 100% AI generated. Take a little extra time to make them look their best and it really pays off.
• Use niche-specific boards. A board called “Recipes” is fine. A board called “Quick & Healthy Dinner Recipes” is better. Specificity helps Pinterest understand who to show your content to.
• Design for the scroll. Use Kittl or Canva to create clean, readable designs with a clear focal point. The text on your pin should be readable as a thumbnail. If you have to zoom in to read it, it’s too small.
• Consider a scheduling tool. Tailwind is the most popular Pinterest scheduling tool and also shows analytics data that helps you understand your best-performing content. Scheduling in batches saves significant time.

6. How Long Does It Take to Make Money on Pinterest?

The honest answer: 4–6 months before you see meaningful, consistent traction. Possibly longer if you’re starting a new account from scratch.

That might feel discouraging, but here’s the flip side: a pin you create today can still be sending traffic to your site in 2027 or 2028. Pinterest has a compounding quality that no other platform matches. Your early pins don’t disappear — they accumulate, resurface, and keep working long after you’ve moved on to creating new content.

To put it in real terms: Bloom Digital went from a brand new Pinterest account to over 160,000 monthly impressions and 617% growth in outbound clicks in just 90 days — purely through consistent, keyword-driven pinning. That’s not overnight, but it’s also not years. The strategy works. The timeline just requires patience.

The people who quit at month two are the ones who miss the breakthrough at month four. If you’re building this as a genuine earn money online strategy — not a side hustle experiment — commit to six months of consistent effort before you evaluate whether it’s working.

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

Save yourself months of frustration by avoiding these:

• Pinning without keyword research. This is the single biggest reason accounts stall. If you’re not using PinClicks or a similar tool to find real search data, you’re essentially guessing.
• Ignoring Pinterest Analytics. Your analytics tell you which pins are actually driving clicks — not just impressions. Double down on what works, not what you personally like best.
• Only pinning your own content. Pinterest rewards accounts that engage with the platform broadly. Pin a mix of your own content and relevant content from others in your niche.
• Giving up before the algorithm catches up. New accounts take time to build trust with Pinterest’s algorithm. Consistency in the early months is non-negotiable.
• Cluttered or unreadable pin designs. More text is not better. More visual elements are not better. Simple, clean, and clear wins every time.
• Forgetting affiliate disclosures. Not just an ethical requirement — it’s a legal one. A simple disclosure on every pin and linked post keeps you compliant and builds reader trust.
• Treating every pin the same. Different income methods need different pin strategies. An affiliate marketing pin and a blog traffic pin should look and read differently. Tailor each one to the action you want the reader to take.

My Favorite Pinterest Monetization Method

If I were starting over today and had to choose just one Pinterest monetization strategy, I would focus on driving Pinterest traffic to a blog. Not because it’s the fastest option. Not because it’s the easiest option. Because it’s the strategy that creates the biggest long-term asset.

Here’s why.

Let’s say you create a helpful article about meal planning, home decor, personal finance, or any topic people are actively searching for on Pinterest.

Someone discovers your pin. They click through to your blog.

Now several things can happen:

• You earn ad revenue while they’re reading your article.
• They may click an affiliate link and purchase a recommended product.
• They might join your email list.
• They could buy a digital product, template, printable, or course.
• They may return later and become a loyal reader.

That’s multiple potential income streams from a single piece of content.

This is one of the biggest reasons I love blogging. You’re not relying on just one way to make money.

A single Pinterest pin can send traffic to a blog post for months—or sometimes even years. And every visitor creates another opportunity for your content to earn. Compare that to many social media platforms where a post gets attention for a day or two before disappearing into the internet abyss forever.

Pinterest content tends to have a much longer shelf life.

Now, I want to be realistic. This isn’t a “make money by next Tuesday” strategy.

Blogging and Pinterest both reward consistency. It takes time to create content, build traffic, and gain momentum. But if your goal is building a real online business instead of chasing quick wins, I believe driving Pinterest traffic to a blog is one of the smartest and most scalable approaches available today.

If I were building from scratch right now, that’s exactly where I’d start.

Ready to Start Earning From Pinterest?

Learning how to make money on Pinterest isn’t about finding some secret trick — it’s about understanding that Pinterest is a search engine, treating it like one, and showing up consistently enough to let the platform work in your favor.

Whether you’re here to drive traffic to a blog, earn commissions through affiliate marketing, sell digital products, launch a print on demand shop, or attract clients for a service — the foundation is the same: great keywords, great design, and a willingness to be consistent when the results aren’t immediate.

Start with one method. Pick the tools that fit where you are right now. Do the keyword research before you pin a single thing. And don’t underestimate what’s possible with a platform that keeps sending traffic long after you’ve moved on to creating something new.

Tools we use and recommend:

• PinClicks — Pinterest keyword research that shows you what people are actually searching for
• Ideogram — Pin design tool built specifically for Pinterest
• Amazon Associates — The easiest affiliate program to start with
• Printify — Print on Demand supplier with hundreds (if not thousands) of products you can customize and connect directly to your Etsy shop
• Everbee — Find winning Etsy products before you create them
• Tailwind — Schedule your pins and analyze what works

But here is the reality check that many “gurus” won’t tell you: a massive number of beginners open their shops, make their first few sales, and quickly realize they are actually losing money.

They make the classic mistake of looking only at the basic price to make the shirt. They see a t-shirt base cost of $10, sell it for $25, and assume they just made a clean $15 profit. They completely forget about the invisible expenses like shipping fees, platform cuts, and customer returns.

If you don’t know your numbers, Print on Demand can quickly drain your wallet. Let’s look at the sneaky hidden costs of POD—specifically around shipping and returns—and look at real-world examples so you know exactly how to price your products to protect your hard-earned profits.

The Shipping Traps That Eat Your Profits

When a customer buys from your store, the print-on-demand company (like Printify or Printful) will bill you for two things: the cost to make the item, and the cost to mail it. Beginners often get blindsided by how shipping math works in the real world.

The Cross-Border Surprise

Selling a shirt to someone in your own country is cheap and predictable. But international shipping can completely erase your profits in a heartbeat. If a customer from the UK or Australia buys a shirt from your US-based printing provider, the shipping cost can easily skyrocket from $5 to $15 or more.

The Multi-Item Nightmare

What happens if a customer loves your store and orders a t-shirt and a ceramic mug at the same time? If you sourced that t-shirt from one printing company and the mug from a different printing company, you just walked into a trap.

Because the items are coming from two entirely separate facilities, you will be charged two separate shipping fees by your supplier. However, on your storefront, your customer likely only paid a single, standard shipping fee. Guess who has to pay the difference out of pocket? You do.

The Real-World Examples

To see exactly how these costs add up, let’s look at two realistic examples using average industry prices. We will contrast a standard T-Shirt with a heavier, more expensive Cozy Sweatshirt.

Example A: Selling a Standard T-Shirt

Let’s say you list a basic t-shirt on Etsy. You choose to offer “Free Shipping” to attract more buyers, so you set your retail price at $25.00.

• Your Retail Price: $25.00
• Minus Base Production Cost: -$10.50 (What the printer charges to make it)
• Minus Standard Shipping Fee: -$5.00 (What the printer charges to mail it)
• Minus Etsy Listing & Transaction Fees: -$2.25 (Around 9% total cut)
• Your True Profit: $7.25

Example B: Selling a Cozy Sweatshirt

Sweatshirts are heavier, meaning they cost more to make and cost more to ship. You list a premium sweatshirt on your store for $42.00, and you charge the customer a flat $7.00 for shipping.

• Your Retail Price + Shipping Charged: $49.00
• Minus Base Production Cost: -$22.00
• Minus Heavy Shipping Fee: -$8.50
• Minus Etsy Listing & Transaction Fees: -$4.15
• Your True Profit: $14.35

As you can see, even though the sweatshirt costs much more to produce, your actual take-home pay is almost double what you make on a t-shirt because the pricing structure accounts for the extra weight and fees!

Please don’t miss the section at the end about other monthly costs and fees that can eat into your profit – there are several VERY important ones you need to consider when you start your new POD business.

The Truth About Returns in Print on Demand

In traditional retail, if a customer returns a shirt, it goes back onto a warehouse shelf to be sold to someone else. In Print on Demand, there is no warehouse. Every single item is custom-made to order.

Because of this, print-on-demand suppliers do not accept returns or offer refunds for “buyer’s remorse.” If your customer decides they don’t like the color, or if they accidentally ordered a size Small when they needed a Large, your supplier will not give you your money back.

So, who pays for mistakes? It depends on who made the error:

• The Supplier’s Fault: If a shirt arrives with a blurry print, a crooked design, or a hole in the sleeve, the supplier will print and ship a replacement to your customer for free. You just need to submit a photo of the defect to their customer support team.
• The Customer’s Fault (or Buyer’s Remorse): If the customer simply ordered the wrong size, you legally don’t have to give them a refund. However, if you want to keep a 5-star rating and protect your shop’s reputation, you will often want to send them a replacement. In this scenario, you have to pay out of your own pocket to buy a brand new shirt and pay for the shipping a second time.

The Mobile-Friendly POD Profit Margin Matrix

To keep your business running safely, you need to treat every product like a math equation. Here is a quick-reference guide of the exact elements you need to calculate before you ever publish a product link.

How to Protect Your Margins (Your Action Plan)

Now that you know where the hidden leaks are, here is how you patch them so you can build a highly profitable store from day one:

1. Restrict Your Shipping Zones: When you are brand new, turn off international shipping. Stick exclusively to selling within your domestic country (e.g., US only or UK only). This keeps your shipping costs 100% predictable.
2. Use One Print Provider at a Time: When setting up your store on a platform like Printify, try to source your core products from a single print provider facility (like Monster Digital or Swift POD). This ensures that if a customer buys a t-shirt and a sweatshirt together, they ship from the same building, protecting you from double shipping fees.
3. Write a Bulletproof Return Policy: Be open and honest with your shoppers. Add a clear notice on your store page stating: “Because every item in our shop is custom-printed just for you, we cannot accept returns for incorrect sizing. Please consult our detailed size chart before ordering!”
4. Use the “Rule of Three” Pricing Formula: To ensure you always make money, use this simple formula to set your retail price: Base Production Cost + Shipping Cost + Your Desired Profit = Your Retail Price. If a shirt costs $10 to make and $5 to ship, and you want to make a $10 profit, your retail price must be at least $25.

The Software & Tool Subscriptions (The Cost of Doing Business)

When people say you can start a Print on Demand business for “free,” they usually mean you don’t have to pay for inventory upfront. While that part is true, running a shop that actually stands out from the competition usually requires a small ecosystem of digital tools.

Many of these are technically optional when you are just playing around, but if you want to run a real, revenue-generating business, you need to factor these monthly software costs into your budget:

1. Design & AI Creation Tools

You need a way to actually make your graphics. While free tools exist, they often lock the best commercial features behind a paywall.

• Canva Pro ($15/month): While Canva has a great free tier, you almost always need Canva Pro to unlock the “Transparent Background” download feature we mentioned earlier.
• Kittl ($15 – $30/month): A massively popular design platform built specifically for t-shirt and merch creators, packed with advanced text wrapping and templates.
• Ideogram AI or Midjourney ($10 – $20/month): If you plan to use artificial intelligence to generate unique, high-end artwork for your merchandise, you will usually need a paid monthly subscription to get the commercial rights to sell those images.

2. Etsy SEO & Keyword Research Tools

If you are selling on a marketplace like Etsy, you can’t just guess what people are buying. You need data to find high-demand, low-competition keywords.

• eRank (about $8 to $10 per month) – This tool allows you to research popular search terms (aka “keywords”) on Etsy, so you can see what buyers are actually interested in before you start making all of your product designs.
• EverBee ($30/month): This tool also allows you to do keyword research, but takes it one step further, allowing you to essentially “spy” on the competition. You can see exactly how many sales other shops are making, how many sales specific products are selling each month, as well as the exact tags and keywords they used. This is an enormous help when you are trying to decide what niche you’d like to pursue and also how to structure your Etsy listing to make sure that it gets seen by as many possible buyers.

3. Professional Product Mockups

When you create a shirt on Printify, the default images they give you to show on your store look incredibly fake and computer-generated. To convince people to buy, you need realistic photos of people actually wearing the clothes.

• Placeit ($15/month) or Etsy Mockup Packs ($5 – $10 one-time): Placeit is a subscription tool that lets you drop your design onto thousands of professional model photos.

• Alternatively, many sellers buy premium mockup photo bundles directly from other creators on Etsy. I personally found these work a LOT better and generate more sales, but it is definitely an expense. You’ll need mockups for each type of product you sell, so if you are selling t-shirts, you may need Comfort Colors brand t-shirt mockups, Bella Canvas v-neck or long sleeve tee mockups. The prices can range from $2 to $4 for a single color mockup to $25 for a set with multiple colors.
  • In my first 6 months selling on Esty, I probably spent about $200 in mockups

4. Premium Supplier Accounts

• Printify Premium ($39/month): You can use Printify 100% for free. However, if you start making consistent sales, switching to their monthly Premium plan instantly drops the base cost of every single item by up to 20%.

The Reality Check Example:

If you are paying for a Printify ($40), Canva Pro ($15), eRank ($10), and a mockup subscription ($15), you have $80 a month in fixed overhead expenses before you even factor in the cost of a shirt.

If your average profit on a t-shirt is $7.25, you need to make at least 11 to 12 sales every single month just to break even on your monthly POD business operation costs.

5. Online Ads

This is definitely optional, but the hard truth is that many online sellers have to pay to run ads when they are selling on Etsy. This can range from about $50 per month to $1,000 or more, depending upon your goals and the competition in your niche.

If you have a Shopify store, you definitely need to run ads, or have a way to get people to your website. Some people have success with social media (Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook, etc), but many also still run a few ads, to keep a consistent stream of potential buyers coming to your shop.

Next Steps

Print on Demand remains one of the absolute best, lowest-risk online businesses you can start today. It requires no upfront inventory costs and lets you flex your creative muscles. But a real business requires knowing your numbers! By building a tiny safety buffer into your prices and choosing your shipping settings carefully, you can protect your cash flow and build an online store that genuinely thrives.

Ready to pick the best platform for your new store? Now that you know how to price your items like a professional, check out our full Printify Review to find the absolute highest-quality, most cost-effective printers to power your brand!

No inventory, no shipping, no customer service headaches. Just pure, beautiful passive income from an online business you can run in your PJs.

Welcome to the world of Print on Demand (POD)—a business model where you create designs, upload them to a platform, and let a third-party company print and ship the products for you. Your job? Design, list, and market. Their job? Everything else.

Sounds amazing, right? If you’ve ever wanted to turn your creative ideas into cash without the risks of traditional e-commerce, POD might be your perfect side hustle (or full-time gig).

Here’s everything you need to know to get started, from choosing the right platform to understanding how much money you can actually make.

What is Print on Demand (POD)?

Print on Demand is like having a personal print shop—minus the overhead. You create digital designs, upload them to a POD platform, and when a customer places an order, the platform prints and ships the item directly to them. No upfront inventory. No bulk orders. No post office runs.

Real-Life Example: How POD Actually Works

Let’s say you love funny coffee mugs and decide to sell them online.

1⃣ You create a simple design that says, “Shhh… I’m Only Talking to My Coffee Right Now.”
2⃣ You upload this design to Printify (a POD supplier) and connect it to your Etsy shop.
3⃣ A customer finds your mug on Etsy and places an order for $18.99.
4⃣ Printify automatically prints your design on a mug and ships it to the customer.
5⃣ You never touch the product, never package anything, and never visit the post office.
6⃣ Let’s say Printify charges you $8 for the mug + shipping, and the remaining $10.99 is your profit (before any Etsy or marketplace fees).

Key takeaway: You only pay for products when you make a sale, meaning there’s no risk of buying inventory that never sells. That’s why POD is such a popular side hustle (or full-time business)!

Common Print On Demand Products:

• T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops
• Mugs, water bottles, tumblers
• Tote bags, backpacks, phone cases
• Stickers, art posters, canvas prints
• Pillows, blankets, notebooks

POD is perfect for creatives, entrepreneurs, and anyone with a witty slogan or an eye for design. Even if you’re not an artist, you can still succeed (we’ll cover how in the next section!).

How to Start a POD Business (Even If You Can’t Draw a Stick Figure)

Step 1: Pick a Niche & Audience

Why sell just t-shirts when you can sell dog-lover t-shirts or funny teacher mugs?

• General designs get lost in the crowd. Niche designs SELL.
• Find winning ideas by checking Etsy, Amazon, Pinterest, and Google Trends.
• Further refine your ideas when you use a keyword analytics tool like Alura or Everbee.
  • These are paid tools, but you’ll be able to see what is actually selling on Etsy
• Look for passionate audiences (fitness junkies, book lovers, cat people, etc.).

Step 2: Create Your Designs

No art skills? No problem! Here’s how to get professional-looking designs:

#1 | Use free tools like Canva or advanced ones like Photoshop & Illustrator.

#2 | Try AI design tools (yes, AI is your new graphic designer!). Here are a few favorites we use:

• MysticPod – thousands of premade templates to get you quickly creating
• Ideogram – easy AI tool to create t-shirt designs (or anything else)
• Kittl – similar to Canva, but a larger inventory of pre-made designs you can customize

#3 | Outsource to a graphics pro on Fiverr, Upwork, or 99designs (Fiverr will probably be the most cost effective route.)

What NOT to do: Steal copyrighted images or slap a famous quote on a tee. If it’s not your original work (or in the public domain), it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Step 3: Choose a POD Platform

More on this below, but you can either sell on a marketplace (like Etsy or Amazon) or create your own store (Shopify, WooCommerce). You also have to select a service to print and ship the product.

Step 4: Upload & Optimize Your Listings

• Great mockups = More sales (use tools like Placeit or Canva).
• SEO matters – Use searchable keywords in your titles & descriptions.
• Price competitively: Expect to make about $2-$15 per sale depending on the platform (and the product you’re selling)

Step 5: Market Your Store & Get Sales

• Etsy SEO + Pinterest = A dream team for organic traffic.
• TikTok & Instagram Reels can make a design go viral overnight.
• Influencers & niche Facebook groups = Instant targeted buyers.

The Best POD Platforms to Start With

When starting a Print on Demand (POD) business, you have two main options:

1⃣ Marketplace POD (e.g., Etsy, Amazon Merch, Redbubble, TeePublic)
2⃣ Standalone POD Store (e.g., Shopify + Printify, WooCommerce + Printful)

Both have their pros and cons, but the biggest difference is how you get traffic and sales. Let’s break it down.

What is Marketplace POD? (A.K.A. The “Built-In Traffic” Model)

A marketplace-based POD means you’re selling on a pre-existing e-commerce platform that already has millions of shoppers looking for products. Think of it like setting up a booth at a crowded farmers’ market. Customers are already there—you just need to grab their attention.

Popular Marketplace POD Platforms:

• Etsy – Best for unique and niche designs, handmade-style products.
  • If you do use Etsy, they don’t print and ship for you. You’ll also have to sign up with a 3rd party service like Printful or Printify (my favorite)
• Amazon Merch on Demand – Access to millions of buyers, but invite-only and competitive.
• Redbubble, TeePublic, Society6 – Focus on art-based designs, good for passive income.

How It Works:

You upload your designs to the marketplace (Etsy, Amazon, etc.).
The platform lists your products and handles payments.
A customer places an order through the marketplace.
The marketplace sends the order to a POD supplier (Printify, Printful, Gelato, etc.).
The POD supplier prints and ships the product to the customer.
You keep the profit after fees.

Pros of Marketplace POD:

Built-in traffic – Customers are already searching for products.
Easier for beginners – No need to set up a website.
Faster sales – SEO-optimized listings can rank in searches.
Lower upfront investment – No website hosting or store-building needed.

Cons of Marketplace POD:

High competition – Your designs are listed next to thousands of others.
Seller fees & commissions – Marketplaces take a cut of your profits.
No customer ownership – You don’t get access to your customer emails, so you’re not able to do any re-marketing.
Less branding control – You’re building a store on someone else’s platform.

Best for: Beginners who want quick exposure and passive sales without managing their own store.

What is a Standalone POD Store? (A.K.A. The “Brand Builder” Model)

A standalone POD store means you create your own website or online store and sell your products independently. Think of it like opening your own boutique instead of renting a booth at a farmers’ market.

Popular Standalone POD Platforms:

• Shopify + Printify/Printful – The most popular option for serious POD brands.
• WooCommerce (WordPress) + Printful – More customization, better for tech-savvy users.
• BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace – Alternative website builders with POD integrations.

How It Works:

You set up your own store website using Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, etc.
You connect your store to a POD supplier (Printify, Printful, etc.).
A customer visits your website and places an order.
Your POD supplier prints and ships the product.
You keep full control of pricing, branding, and customer data.

Pros of Standalone POD Stores:

Full control over branding – You can design your store however you like.
Higher profit margins – No marketplace fees, just standard transaction fees.
You own your customers – Collect emails, remarket to past buyers, and build a loyal brand.
No direct competition on your store – Unlike marketplaces, customers only see your products.

Cons of Standalone POD Stores:

No built-in traffic – You have to drive all your own sales.
Upfront costs – Website hosting, domain, and store setup cost money.
More work – Requires marketing (SEO, ads, social media, email marketing).
Takes longer to make sales – Without built-in marketplace shoppers, gaining traction takes time.

Best for: Entrepreneurs who want to build a long-term brand and have full control over their business.

Marketplace vs. Standalone Store: Which One Should You Choose?

Feature	Marketplace POD (Etsy, Amazon)	Standalone POD (Shopify, WooCommerce)
Traffic	Built-in shoppers	You must drive your own traffic
Ease of Setup	Quick & easy	More complex
Branding Control	Limited	Full control
Customer Ownership	No access to emails	You own your customer list
Competition	High (listings next to competitors)	No direct competition on your site
Profit Margins	Lower (fees & commissions)	Higher (you set your prices)
Startup Cost	Low (free to list, small fees)	Medium (hosting, domain, ads)
Marketing Effort	Less (marketplaces bring traffic)	More (you handle all marketing)

So… Which One is Better?

If you want FAST results with less effort:
Start with a marketplace POD (Etsy, Amazon Merch, Redbubble, etc.) because they already have millions of customers searching for products like yours.

If you want to build a long-term brand with higher profits:
Create a standalone Shopify store and drive traffic using social media, paid ads, and email marketing.

Want the best of both worlds?
Sell on BOTH! Many successful POD entrepreneurs start on Etsy/Amazon, make sales, and then transition to a Shopify store once they’ve built an audience.

Final Takeaway: Start Where You’re Most Comfortable!

• New to POD? Start on Etsy for easy sales and use Printify or Printful to print and fulfill the orders.

• Want to go all-in on branding? Build your own Shopify store.

• Looking for passive sales? Upload designs to Amazon Merch, Redbubble, and TeePublic.

• Want full control? Run Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest ads to your Shopify store.

Pro Tip: Many top sellers combine multiple platforms to maximize sales!

TL;DR – The Big Picture

• Marketplace POD (Etsy, Amazon, Redbubble, TeePublic) = Easier, faster, but lower control & higher competition.

• Standalone POD (Shopify, WooCommerce) = More control, higher profit, but requires marketing & upfront effort.

Best strategy for beginners? Start with Etsy or Amazon Merch for instant traffic. Build your own Shopify store when you’re ready to scale.

How Much Money Can You Actually Make With POD?

Income Potential: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Let’s talk numbers:

• Side hustlers: $100-$500/month
• Serious sellers: $1,000-$5,000/month
• Full-time POD pros: $10,000+/month

The secret? More high-quality designs = More chances to make sales. The 80/20 rule applies—only a handful of your designs will become bestsellers, so keep creating!

Future of POD (2025 & Beyond)

• The POD industry is booming, projected to hit $39 billion by 2030.
• AI-generated designs and customization are game changers.
• POD isn’t going anywhere—if anything, it’s becoming more competitive, so start now!

Final Thoughts: Is POD Right for You?

Who should start a POD business?
Creative people who want passive income
Entrepreneurs who love low-risk online businesses
Anyone willing to put in consistent effort to grow

Who shouldn’t start a POD business?

• If you expect overnight success (it takes time).
• If you hate marketing (sales won’t just fall into your lap).
• If you refuse to keep learning & adapting (trends change fast!).

The biggest mistake beginners make? Overthinking it. You don’t need to be a designer, an SEO expert, or a social media guru—just start.

Other Print on Demand Resources

Here are a few top-selling POD business owners who share some valuable info about this industry.

Would You Like Fries With That? (Bonus Sections Coming Soon!)

• Best Free & Paid Design Tools for POD
• The 3 Biggest Myths About Print on Demand
• A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Checklist for Launching Your First POD Store

Stay tuned for more in-depth guides to help you turn your POD business into a success story!

Now It’s Your Turn!

• Have an idea for a niche? Start creating.
• Not sure where to begin? Test designs on Etsy.
• Want to sell more? Leverage social media & Pinterest.

The world is waiting for your designs—go make some money in your sleep!

Save this pin!