As a Redbubble seller, one of your most important jobs is to find out what will sell the most for you!
And one of the best tips I can give you that will help you find designs that are already trending and are selling is not using Redbubble for this type of research.
If this sounds a little bit confusing to you, let me explain it.
There is a marketplace, with over 400 million monthly visitors, in fact, they are not visitors, they are buyers, and this marketplace is called Etsy.
What is Etsy
Etsy is a wonderland for all those who are passionate about custom-made items, vintage, or those who are into creating personalized stuff themselves. Etsy has around 82 million active customers and it is the next logical step you should make when selling your artwork on t-shirts, mugs, or pillows.
I love Etsy as a customer, and right now, I’m starting to upload my best-selling designs from Redbubble on this platform too.
However, in this article, I want to show you a little trick that helps me find designs people are buying on Etsy.
But before I get right into the article and show you the Etsy trick to finding selling designs, if you are new to NechEmpire, then you should subscribe to my YouTube channel, because, on this channel, I like to talk all about print-on-demand business models, and helping people to create this interesting side hustle.
How to Find Selling Designs on Etsy
As I already said, Etsy is a huge marketplace for people who are selling custom-made and original items. It is the second-largest marketplace after Amazon and a huge opportunity for all designers.
Similar to Amazon, Etsy also has its own search engine, that is helping people to find the right item in a second.
Let’s go to Etsy. You can see, there is a search box at the top of the page with the label Search for anything.
Just clicking into the box field will show you trending items on Etsy. Although this is a cool trick to find trending products, I want to show you how to find selling products.
Let’s type a funny shirt into the search bar.
At the top of the page, there are always advertised designs. This means sellers are paying Etsy to advertise their best designs. So, let’s click on this seller and go to its Etsy shop.
When you click on the Etsy shop a seller, scroll down, until you can see something interesting under one design.
Under some design is a red sentence with simple words… Over 20 people have this in their cart. When you click on the design to get more details, you can see that under the Add to cart button, there is a cart icon with a sentence… Other people want this. Over 20 people have this in their carts right now.
In simple words, this design is interesting enough that more than 20 people are buying it right now.
And this is what you want. You want to find a design that other people are willing to buy.
Now, it is your turn. Don’t copy the design, create something similar, but be unique. Add some graphics, or change colors.
And don’t forget to look at the title of this shirt. It has all the keywords you need to target in your title and description.
So, this is a free Etsy method, I like to use to find designs that sell. I know, it takes lots of time, but research is one of the most important parts of any successful print-on-demand business.
So, do your research, find something trending, and create a similar design from it. Don’t copy it, instead create something unique, add some graphic elements, use different colors, and so on.
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Here Are Some of My Favorite Tools For Print-on-demand
DESIGNS: For getting started, I like Kittl. It is a fantastic place with highly professional templates, that can be edited and used for print-on-demand. In my opinion, it is a go-to place for any person, who wants to make money with POD.
Another of my favorites is Creative Fabrica. They have millions of cheap graphics that can elevate your t-shirt design. If you are not the most skillful designer, then try Placeit or Vexels. These are platforms, where you can find thousands of pre-made t-shirt designs you can easily edit and publish on any print-on-demand platform. I recommend Placeit for beginners and after you get some sales move to Vexels.
I also use a platform called Simplified, which is an all-in-one tool that combines an AI writer, design editor, video editor, and social content planner into one simple platform. I love it. Just like Canva, Simplified has a free version, so you can try it here.
FREE DESIGNS: I love Canva. I’m using this platform almost every day. With Canva, you can create stunning t-shirt designs, they already have an entire section, where you can make your artwork from scratch or use some pre-made templates and edit them. Canva comes with two main pricing plans: FREE and PRO. And if you are a beginner, then I recommend the free plan, it should be enough for you.
SELL YOUR ART – Start selling your graphics, vectors, or photography on Wirestock to save time and make more money. Its Wirestock Program allows you to submit to multiple stock agencies and marketplaces in a single click. It is currently partnered with Shutterstock, Adobe, Alamy, Dreamstime, Pond5, and Depositphotos. Get a FREE account.
SELLING LOW-CONTENT BOOKS – Selling low-content and no-content books on Amazon can be a great way to boost your online income. Im using Book Bolt to do the research, get pre-made interiors, and create covers. And you can try the platform for free.
Take your POD business to the next level. If you are serious about selling your designs on t-shirts, mugs, and other products, you need to sell them on the biggest marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon. You should also sell for the best prices through on-demand fulfillment companies like Printul or Printify.
Disclosure: Some of the links above may contain affiliate partnerships, meaning, at no additional cost to you, NechEmpire may earn a commission if you click through to make a purchase.
