Selling Print on Demand Photography

Marequitta D. - Author

Marequitta has over 8 years of prior writing experience plus 6 years of customer service experience. She's successfully worked with many companies of all sizes.

If you're an aspiring photographer, then you must already be familiar with the challenging and complex process of selling your work; however, the playing field has dramatically changed with print on demand services. The amazing thing about these services is that it allows photographers to have a simple and convenient way to sell their work and reach a global audience. Photographers who are looking to monetize their work are now choosing to use print on demand because it gives them the ability to customize products, track analytics, and earn passive income.

Today we will talk about print on demand photography and how photographers can benefit from it.

How Print on Demand Photography Works

The entire transaction of print on demand services is fairly simple and that’s the reason why both photographers and customers love to use it. Print on demand is a type of dropshipping business that has grown into a 4.91 billion dollar market and is expected to grow even bigger by 2030 at an estimated 39.87 billion! Therefore, photographers who sign up with print on demand websites now will have a key advantage once the market grows.

Here how it works:

1. Photographer sign up for a print on demand website.
2. Photographer showcase their work on their website, which will also appear on the print on demand service provider’s site due to the connected service features.
3. Customers make an order on 1 or more photos/images available for sale.
4. The service provider prints and ships the order(s) to the customer.
5. The service provider gets a certain percentage for each product sold as agreed upon with the photographers. Or the provide sells it for a flat fee and makes a profit from the product margin.
6. The customers get their orders on time.
7. The photographers get paid automatically via their money transfer apps or bank accounts. Or if they're running their own site they get paid by the e-commerce platform.

However, photographers can sell their own prints on their own website without signing up with print on demand sites, in case they don’t want to give away a certain percentage of the profits they’ll make on each sale to the service provider. For example, if the photographer has a local studio and most of his or her customers are from within the area he operates his photography business, then all he has to do is host a website with prints and then fulfill them directly as required. He can do this by hand with a printer or use a service such as OrderMerch to provide paper posters with the images he takes.

This way photographers will get 100% of the profits they’ll make from selling their work. Using print on demand services is great for all artists as it is more cost-efficient to use such services than to fulfill orders on their own.

Benefits of Print on Demand Photography

I’ve listed some very noteworthy reasons why photographers may benefit from using print on demand services for selling art.

Diversify Your Sales Channels

Print on demand services allows photographers to reach a wider audience easily because they sell their art on the web, and they can also diversify their sales channels through it. There’s no need for a “middle man” because they can sell their photos from their own site, or on marketplaces (e.g. Society6, Redbubble, OrderMerch, and many more) and they get a share between 15% - 20% fees from sales, which is not bad.

Increased Convenience

Having an inventory and shipping products to customers is also a thing of the past now with print on demand services. It’s either the courier you hired or the service provider from the marketplace that will handle all shipping work for you, and all you have to focus on is creating and promoting your work.

Cost-Effective

Print on demand photography reduces the need for investments in inventory or large print runs. The only time photographers will shell out money is when customers make a purchase, the rest is handled by the services provider or courier.

Customizable Products

Print on demand products ranging from traditional prints to phone cases and clothing are available to photographers, and they can choose which product they want their work to be sold as. Plus they can set prices for each of them.

Global Reach

Photographers can easily reach customers all over the world because print on demand service providers already have a large customer base. All of the shipping, and taxes are also taken care of, so photographers will have more time for creativity.

Passive Income

Creating a passive income stream is what print on demand services gives photographers. All they have to do is set up their shop and start selling, while the service provider will handle the rest.

Increased Exposure

Because print on demand platforms are web-based and due to the fact that they utilize SEO strategy on their websites, photographers are ensured to increase their exposure and reach new audiences. The platform's marketing and promotion efforts become a bonus for member photographers.

Easy to Use

Dropshipping sites that offer print on demand services ensure that photographers won’t have a difficult time using their platform to sell their work. It’s mostly click & drag and doesn’t require a lot of technical skills.

Analytics

Another benefit that photographers can get from print on demand services is its analytics feature, which allows users to track sales and identify their top selling products. Photographers can then use this information to formulate their business strategy and be able to boost their profits.

Risk-Free

The best thing about print on demand services is that there are no upfront costs or inventories that do not sell. Photographers only pay for what is sold, well, technically they actually earn when their product is sold, so service providers only get a share from the income which is a low-risk method of selling photos on the web for photographers. That is unless the POD provider sells the product at a flat rate like OrderMerch.