Notadouche
Regular Member
- Dec 15, 2016
- 246
- 321
Just to answer a few of the questions because I do the same as OP but I`m a bit further down the road at $XXXX per month, my suggestion is to get your designs on as many platforms as you can. Amazon will always bring you the majority of your sales because of the traffic but getting a few hundred bucks per month from Redbubble, Teepublic and Etsy is nothing to spit on considering you are just copying over your designs and keywords. Making your own site sounds great and that's what I'm working on now because any platform can ban you and it's all over. The problem is that having your site costs money for SEO while the others do it for you. If you are on a hot trend and you get your design out first, you have good chances of ranking on the first page when it takes off and then it's money in the bank for years in most cases. So here is what I keep in mind when uploading to platforms:
Amazon: Do not mess with copyright/trademark. No matter how much you make, Amazon will shut off your lights because you are irrelevant. Also, be ready for chinese copycats to undercut all your listings and fighting them nonstop. Pain in the ass but most profitable. XXXX/month from this one and XX,XXX during Q4.
Etsy: Not as bad as Amazon but be careful for trademark. I just had my account banned, which was making 1000$ per month, for putting harry potter in my hidden keywords for a parody piece that didn't have anything else owned by Harry Potter but was clear to fans what it meant. I suggest customizable designs for this platform.
Redbubble: So this is where I put the stuff that I know won't fly on Amazon and Etsy. Be smart about the copyrighted stuff so that people can't specifically write the keyword but will immediately connect your design to what they are searching. For example, if you want to sell something from Michael Jordan, if you write Michael Jordan in your keywords or title, expect it to get rejected or taken down quickly. If you write Jordan Basketball, you'll get through and designs will stay on there muchhhh longer. Eventually they will remove the design once you've make a little fortune with it and tell you not to reupload it. Just move on to your next grey zone niche. I make around 300$ per month off this and it has about 20% of my designs on it.
Teepublic: This one is pretty much like Redbubble but a bit more strict in my case. Some things they seem to catch right away when I submit it. I make about 150$ from this but I only have about 10% of my designs on it.
Some pointers to those who may try this:
If you put in 40+ hours a week for 2-3 months, you could be living off this passively for years. This is what I did and now I only put in 5 mins per day to see if customers wrote me and I have been pulling in 3k+ for the last 4 years and only add up to 10 designs per year when I'm bored or if there's an obvious new trend about to hit the market. If I took this more seriously, I'd be able to quit my six figure job but I'm not wired that way lol. It pays my bills and I am satisfied with that.
Good luck and sorry to hijack your thread OP.
Amazon: Do not mess with copyright/trademark. No matter how much you make, Amazon will shut off your lights because you are irrelevant. Also, be ready for chinese copycats to undercut all your listings and fighting them nonstop. Pain in the ass but most profitable. XXXX/month from this one and XX,XXX during Q4.
Etsy: Not as bad as Amazon but be careful for trademark. I just had my account banned, which was making 1000$ per month, for putting harry potter in my hidden keywords for a parody piece that didn't have anything else owned by Harry Potter but was clear to fans what it meant. I suggest customizable designs for this platform.
Redbubble: So this is where I put the stuff that I know won't fly on Amazon and Etsy. Be smart about the copyrighted stuff so that people can't specifically write the keyword but will immediately connect your design to what they are searching. For example, if you want to sell something from Michael Jordan, if you write Michael Jordan in your keywords or title, expect it to get rejected or taken down quickly. If you write Jordan Basketball, you'll get through and designs will stay on there muchhhh longer. Eventually they will remove the design once you've make a little fortune with it and tell you not to reupload it. Just move on to your next grey zone niche. I make around 300$ per month off this and it has about 20% of my designs on it.
Teepublic: This one is pretty much like Redbubble but a bit more strict in my case. Some things they seem to catch right away when I submit it. I make about 150$ from this but I only have about 10% of my designs on it.
Some pointers to those who may try this:
- If you treat it like a hobby, which I do, expect hobby money. If you treat it as a business, you can scale it much higher than I have.
- It's better to make 10 Good designs than 1 great design. It's usually a numbers game on Amazon.
- Just because you think your design in amazing doesn't mean you'll sell any. I've made many garbage designs that I wanted to delete but put it up anyway and sold from time to time. Not my best sellers but money anyway.
- You need to be good at finding trends and upcoming events.
- If you make a design in a untapped niche and it sells, make 100-200 more to discourage other designers like me from finding it and stealing your customers. Discourage us by showing you own that market.
- Apply for MerchByAmazon NOW, it can take months to get accepted and some people get rejected for no reason. If you are reading this, apply now, you might thank me in a few months when it randomly comes in.
- If you are only on Merch, you're missing out. You should also be selling on Amazon Central through Shopify or another platform.
If you put in 40+ hours a week for 2-3 months, you could be living off this passively for years. This is what I did and now I only put in 5 mins per day to see if customers wrote me and I have been pulling in 3k+ for the last 4 years and only add up to 10 designs per year when I'm bored or if there's an obvious new trend about to hit the market. If I took this more seriously, I'd be able to quit my six figure job but I'm not wired that way lol. It pays my bills and I am satisfied with that.
Good luck and sorry to hijack your thread OP.
