Finding the Sweet Spot in MODs

As an online retailer who uses Merchandise-On-Demand suppliers to create my inventory, I'm always looking for the best quality, selection and price that I can pass on to my customers.  One thing is clear - no single MOD supplier is best for everything.  Have you found this, too?  You may have found that one MOD is best for T-shirts, while another is better at stationery products, and yet another for household items. It's really not that hard to use a bunch of MODs, grabbing a product here and a product there to put together the best product mix for your target market.

The key is to find the "sweet spot" for each type of product you plan to offer. For example, I sell a lot of note cards and greeting cards. If my customer just wants one card, GCU is my best choice. But if they want a set of 10 cards, well then it depends on whether I'm making the cards glossy or matte. But in any case, there's a sweet spot for everything, and you just need to look at my comparison charts, apply them to your own situation, and suddenly you have instant inventory.

Sample POD Comparison chart

Some readers have already sent an e-mail requesting a copy of my POD Comparison spreadsheets, and I've been happy to oblige.  I'm looking forward to all your feedback, comments, and suggestions.  See a screen shot of one of my spreadsheets below.  If you'd like a copy, just send me an e-mail!

Comparing products across the PODs

If, like me, you use a variety of print-on-demand services to create merchandise for sale, you've found there are so many details to compare when choosing one POD or another for each product type. Which one has the best price, for a certain quantity, shipped within a specified timeframe?  Not to mention comparing quality and features. 

To keep all the details straight, I've created spreadsheets that compare products on each of the major PODs.  In these spreadsheets I capture product details (such as sizes and colors), my cost for the product, and my cost to have the product shipped directly to my customer (drop-shipped) for various shipping times (economy, standard, express, etc.).  I've pulled all this together, added and divided, and voila - I've found the "sweet spot" for each product/shipping scenario.  If I decide to design a mousepad, a quick glance at my POD Comparison spreadsheets tells me which POD provider to use! 

Here's where you come in.  I am happy to share my spreadsheets with fellow MODsters, because I'd like your input and feedback.  If you use CafePress, Zazzle, Printfection, Spreadshirt, VistaPrint, Greeting Card Universe, or other print-on-demand suppliers to create merchandise for your online retail site, send me an e-mail (jand@theMODlady.com) and I will reply with a POD Comparison spreadsheet for your perusal.  Review it, keep it, use it, or share it!

External Store Options

Back in the day, I set up my first external store the "pure" way, coding pages with HTML and uploading them to my domain. I added an electronic shopping cart, set up a merchant account... I'm getting tired just remembering it all!  But you don't have to go through all this. There are a number of reasonable options for you to roll out your own storefront, independent of the PODs, without too much time or hassle.  I'm talking about Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, or vStore. 

You can set up a store using Yahoo's storefront program for about $40/month, plus a fee of 1.5% of your sales. The benefits of a Yahoo storefront is that your store will look clean and professional.  Yahoo gives lots of great tools, like a coupon creator.  To learn more about opening a Yahoo-hosted storefront, go to Yahoo's small business section and look into the Merchant Starter plan.

Another option is an Amazon store. In this case the program is called Amazon Pro Merchant. Again, the fee is $40/month, but Amazon will take a bigger cut of your sales - 15%, in most cases. An Amazon-hosted storefront is a good idea if most of your potential customers are also the kind of customers who buy lots of books and other media on Amazon. 

But what if most of the potential customers for your designs/sayings are bargain hunters looking for obscure items? Then an eBay store might be the way to go.  Fees start at $16/month plus $0.20/month for each product you list for sale (whether it sells or not.)  eBay traffic has been on the decline lately, though. Statistics show that eBay had 9% fewer shoppers in 2009 compared to 2008.

Finally, vStore.  The only one that is totally free. The thing is, vStore-hosted storefronts all have that certain look to them.  See an example at http://www.vstore.ca/featured_store.php.  If you don't mind the look and feel, and if you're already pretty savvy about e-commerce (vStore support is fairly dependent on you handling things yourself), then check them out at http://www.vstore.ca/.

An external store gives you more control

Whehter or not to open your own store, outside the walls of CafePress, Zazzle, or other PODs that provide storefronts, is a decision we all must face one day. There are pro's and con's, of course. Let's start with the con's so I can get to the reasons why I feel most MOD'sters (that's you!) should have their own external store.

The reasons some people stay away from their own external store are time (plan on 5-25 hours/week to set up and manage an external store) and money (the better external storefronts aren't cheap - plan on about $150/month.) 

But let's get to the Pro's -- the reasons why an external store is a good idea.  First, you can set your own prices.  Some PODs put a cap on the amount you can charge for a product within their storefront system, and you may (rightly) feel that your design on the product is worth more. An extreme example - GCU (Greeting Card Universe.)  Your commission on a card sold through GCU can be as low as $0.38.  Yikes!  Sell the same card on your own site for about $4.50, have GCU drop-ship it to your customer, and your profit will be closer to $3.00.

Second, you can do your own marketing. Hoping that the POD will feature your product above all others is all well and good, but don't hold your breath. Instead, if you have your own external store, you can submit your product feed to Google (for free!), using your own keywords. If you're a control freak like me, this is the way to go.

In my next posting, we'll talk about your external store options.

Stay on top of coupon codes

If you have an external shop (more on that in future blog posts!), you need to stay on top on the various coupon codes that the merchandise-on-demand providers offer. These codes change quickly. Usually they are only good on certain products and last just a few days - if that. But they're worth looking for if you're about to place a drop-ship order to your customer. 

Follow this blog and you'll always be updated on the coupon codes for CafePress, Zazzle, Spreadsheet and others.  To get us started, here are today's codes.

On CafePress, get $10 off an order of $50+ with CafePress coupon code SAVE10NOW. 

On Zazzle, get free shipping today (Sept. 15, 2010) with Zazzle coupon code SEPTFREESHIP. 

And remember, each time you place an order on CafePress (shipping to yourself or directly to your customer), you're asked to enter friend's e-mail addresses in return for a $5 coupon.  You have to enter at least two e-mail addresses for this to work, but one of those can be your own e-mail address.  And you can keep entering your own e-mail address everytime!  If you foresee another order within a few days, go ahead and fill this in to get the $5.  Just don't be surprised if the code they send you is only valid for a short time.

Great scarves on Spreadshirt - for fashion, that is

Spreadshirt added scarves to their product line-up about a year ago which pleased many MOD shop keepers who anticipated lots of holiday sales. Winter scarves are a great Christmas present, right?  Well, it's not quite like that.  The scarves offered by Spreadshirt are more of a thin fashion scarf meant to be worn inside, not a winter scarf intended as outerwear. They're still a good option for you to sell, especially when you see so many teen girls and young women wearing a different scarf to match their every outfit.  Just keep this in mind when designing and positioning scarves with your phrase or design. No snowflakes or ski bum phrases.

Get the green by recycling your designs

When you think about it, there are so many ways you can re-use the same design on different products just by using a different word or border, or positioning the product for a different market.  The same design can be used on greeting cards, for example; just by spinning the interior message differently, you can use it as a holiday card, a birthday card, a new baby announcement...

Don't be afraid to re-use your art to make more money. You can even take some designs off your virtual shelves for a while, then bring them back with new key words or tags. This keeps your shop looking fresh. And it doesn't hurt that many of the merchandise-on-demand suppliers give marketing priority to recently refreshed key words.

Is Quick Create really a good idea?

It's so tempting. You've got a great cartoon or design, or maybe a funny phrase, and now you're ready to place it on a bunch of different products and sell them.  Oh, did anyone warn you how slow this process can be? Most of the merchandise-on-demand suppliers, including CafePress and Zazzle, give you the ability to place one design/phrase onto many products at the same time. And in no time at all, your virtual shelves are stocked.

But is this really a good idea? IMHO, usually the answer is "no". Just as you can't fit a square peg into a round hole, some designs and phrases just don't look right on some products. And if shoppers see these products that just don't look quite right, they're going to turn away from your shop. It's like walking into a clothing store and seeing an evening gown on a male mannequin.

There's another reason to avoid the quick create shortcut. You really need to spend the time to give thoughtful and unique titles and descriptions to every product. The search engines are going to read those titles and descriptions, so you don't want to waste the opportunity by repeating the same words over and over.

50% of MOD saes are text-only. Who knew?

Designs, cartoons, and amazing photos do well on MOD products, but what if you can't draw a straight line with a ruler?  Well take heart from this statistic from CafePress. A little more than 50% of products sold on CafePress have only text, no art, on them. These can be catchy slogans, funny sayings, or political statements.

How can you come up with text that will sell? First start with your theme, and then find a crowd around that theme.  Here's what I mean. If you sell dog-related products, go to a dog show. If you sell resort products, go to the beach. Then stand still in a crowded area and just listen to the people walking by you. You'll hear snippets of conversations that just might inspire you.

This Is Not Your Father's Drop-Ship

You may be more familiar with drop-ship suppliers, since they have been around longer and represent a more traditional business model. Here's an example: Legends Concert Posters.  You sign up to become an affiliate of Legends, grab their banners to post on your own site, and if your customer clicks through to purchase a poster, you get 15% of the sale.  Pretty good, but nothing's ever that easy. Since anyone with a web site can become an affiliate, you'll be competing with thousands of other retailers trying to earn the same piece of the pie.

How do the MOD suppliers differ from the drop-ship companies? Can you make more money with a MOD (merchandise-on-demand supplier)?  You can if you have something unique, and that something is your art or your phrases.  Or better yet, both.

If you've created an image, a design, or a cartoon, or if you've come up with a saying or phrase that catches on with your target market, you can create products that no one else has.  Put them on products on your own MOD shop and all the commissions go to you.

Don't Buy It Until You Sell It

So how does this all work? Basically you create “virtual” products made up of your art or sayings placed on products, such as mugs, umbrellas, skateboards, posters, duffle bags, postage stamps, etc. I’m calling them “virtual” because these products won’t be physically produced until a customer actually BUYS them!

You place your virtual products on the virtual shelves of the MOD’s storefront, thus opening the door for customers to buy from the MOD. Then the MOD pays you a percentage of the revenue. And that’s where you make your money. If you have created a product that resonates with buyers, you could potentially make thousands of dollar. Even if you don’t have a mega hit, you can still make hundreds of dollars a year, all while working from home, working whatever hours you choose.

Can you tell I’m a huge fan of this business model? But in case you’re wondering – no, I do not work for any of the MODs. So why this blog? I’d like to hear from you about your successes and failures, lessons learned and unexpected surprises from your foray into the MOD world. Send me an e-mail and you may see your topic covered in an upcoming blog post.

If cash is king, then art is the emperor

If you are can draw or design, if you take great photos, or if you have a way with words, you can make money with zero investment. Your art, designs, cartoons, and photographs, or your humorous sayings or political statements, can easily be printed on T shirts, greeting cards, mugs and posters that people want to buy. This has been true for years, of course. But in the past, you had to put up your own money and take the risk, buying inventory, receiving orders, and shipping to customers. A logical model, but very risky. What if you printed one hundred calendars featuring your photographs but only ten people bought your calendar? With the advent of PODs (Print On Demand shops), this risk is eliminated. You do not need to buy any inventory or pay for anything until the customer has already paid you. PODs have gone way beyond their initial offerings of just cards and books. Today there’s a plethora of different products ready to be printed and produced for you, so I’m calling them MODs for “Merchandise On Demand.”

Let's talk about MOD

What are we going to talk about in this blog? Here’s my roadmap for the coming months. But I’ll cheerfully take detours based on your feedback!
* Your art and your words are your income.

* Who are the MOD suppliers and how can you make merchandise with them?

* More importantly, how can you make money with them!

* What kinds of merchandise can they produce for you?

* Comparing the MODs: CafePress, Spreadshirt, Zazzle, Printfection, VistaPrint, GreetingCardUniverse

* Their products – so much to choose from, but choose wisely.

* Product creation. This is the fun part!

* MOD shop set-up. Time to open the (virtual) door for customers.

* MOD shop maintenance - keep it fresh.

* Legal stuff. Protect your creations and stay out of trouble, too.

* Affiliate programs can expand your revenue possibilities, if they just weren’t so darned complicated.

Making Money with MODs

After 10 years as an online retailer for party supplies and gift items, I've come up with a new business motto -- don't buy it until you sell it. 

I spent thousands of dollars purchasing inventory to sell in my online store, and some things sold well.  But the cost of my mistakes - the inventory sitting in my garage for years, unsold - really floored me.  It stunned me to see how much money I had wasted if the public lost interest in the products I had selected.

That's when a wonderful mentor (big thank you to Sarah) nudged me to the print-on-demand suppliers, also known as PODs.  At first I didn't see much value, thinking PODs were only good for two things: silk screening T shirts, and printing books for would-be authors.  But my interst was piqued when I noticed other products.  Winter scarves?  Skateboards?  Christmas tree ornaments?  Who knew that these products could be produced one-at-a-time, just when I wanted it? 

Flipped the switch in my mind from "print on demand" to "merchandise on demand."  And boy did that open up a whole new world of potential revenue for me.  Let's expand the term from POD to MOD, because it's gone way beyond typically printed products.  It's all kinds of merchandise. 

It's a whole new business model, too.  But we'll get into that in later posts.
The MOD world is huge and navigating it is not easy.  But if you spend some time learning the in's and out's, you really can make money using the MODs to produce just-in-time merchandise.

That's what this blog is all about.  Meet me back here each day and we'll navigate together.