From Doodles to Dollars

For many many years I have been a doodler, and now I can convert these doodles into dollars by selling t-shirts and mugs on sites such as Cafepress.com and Zazzle.com. Working with sites like these provide another income source for my craft business. It can get me through some leaner times when sales are slow or when I am building inventory that is not ready to sell.

Here is a doodle of cute skull and crossbones I did recently. I took what I had drawn on a piece of paper and scanned it to convert it into a digital .jpg file:


Then I took my software I bought very cheaply through Serif.com and drew over my pencil marks to create a digital drawing that could be adjusted and sized to any dimension I would need. I then exported it into a .png file, the file format I recommend when using these sites:


I then uploaded to my "shop" on the site and selected the types of products I wanted to have my doodle placed. This is one of the many t-shirt styles I selected. The website takes my design and then places my design over their image to give the potential buyer an idea of what their purchase will look like:

It is now on the internet for anyone to see and purchase if she wants.

These type of sites are called "Print On Demand" or POD. This term is used in the publishing industry but also describes companies who sell items such as t-shirts, mugs, tote bags and mouse pads. The company does the work for you, so you do not have to own a press or manage inventory.

A doodler uploads the image, decides the items the image should be sold on, and sets a retail price for the item. The web company has a base price for the item which can be looked at as the wholesale price. When an online customer purchases from the doodler, she pays the retail price plus ship charges. The website produces the item and mails it to the customer. The difference between the wholesale cost of the item and the retail price is placed into a "holding" account under the doodler's name. After a 30 to 45 day period, once it is clear that the item has arrived and won't be returned, the website sends the doodler a check. It can be called a royalty check or a markup check.

There is a certain amount of simplicity that is nice for sellers/doodlers using this retailing technique. It takes some creative ability and some time, but once the item is up on the website, the seller needs to do very little else. He or she can literally just wait for the monthly check to arrive in the mail. There are sellers on both sites that can and do make a very good living using this selling vehicle. For others, like myself, it is a nice way to diversify, use my creativity in a different way and receive some money for my efforts.

Cafepress: Cafepress has free shops, but their "dynamics" are limited and potential sales are effected by these parameters. Most full-time sellers on the site pay a monthly fee of $6.95 US to have a robust shop that has alot more features which can lead to higher sales.

Click the flashing button or the link to sign up and take a look around:

Open a Cafepress Store

Zazzle: Zazzle is a new venue for me but has been around awhile and has some interesting features. One new relationship that Zazzle has just begun is its ability to take my designs and put them on actual Keds (TM) shoes. They just went through a site redesign that I think looks great.

Click the button or the link to sign up and take a look around:

Open a Zazzle Shop

Another couple of points:

1. You don't have a doodle but a great "that should be on a t-shirt" idea, these are wonderful sites. Text t-shirts sell very well.

2. You don't want to sell anything but need several t-shirts with your logo on it to (wo)man a booth at a craft fair, this is another great way to get them printed fairly cheaply and quickly without having to invest in hundreds of t-shirts that might be required at a local t-shirt print shop.

Disclaimer: The links are set up through an affiliate program. I still recommend both sites and you can sign up without the affiliate association. Just go to the sites directly.

Copyright: The above drawings are my work and cannot be used without my consent. I own the copyright and they cannot be used for commercial gain.

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