---
title: 'How to Start Print on Demand with Zero Dollars'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=9tKeNT-k4kk'
video_id: '9tKeNT-k4kk'
date: 2026-07-12
duration_sec: 2023
---

# How to Start Print on Demand with Zero Dollars

> Source: [How to Start Print on Demand with Zero Dollars](https://youtube.com/watch?v=9tKeNT-k4kk)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive guide to starting a print-on-demand (POD) business from scratch with zero upfront investment. The presenter, an experienced entrepreneur, outlines a step-by-step system covering product selection, niche research, design creation, platform choice, and marketing strategies to build a profitable side hustle.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Print on Demand** [00:00] — Print on demand allows you to sell custom products like clothing, mugs, and posters without holding inventory. Products are printed and shipped after customers order, making it a low-risk business model.
- **Market Size and Growth** [02:08] — The global POD market is currently worth $10 billion and is expected to rise to $40 billion by 2031, indicating strong growth potential.
- **Finding a Winning Product** [03:21] — A winning product has two components: a product category with high profit margin potential and a design that appeals to a specific niche. Focus on one category until you hit $10k/month, then expand.
- **Product Categories to Avoid** [04:30] — Avoid seasonal products like Christmas items and low-margin categories like mugs and stationery. Aim for at least 20-30% profit margin.
- **Wall Art Profit Example** [05:42] — Using Gelato, a wall art piece priced at $49.99 had costs of $25.39 plus $6.98 shipping, yielding a 25% profit margin ($12.62 per sale).
- **Choosing a Niche** [06:55] — Pick a niche that people care about, like 'woodworker' or 'cat lover'. Avoid trademarked content by searching the USPTO database for free.
- **Market Research on Etsy** [08:56] — Use Etsy's public sales data to find low-competition niches. Look for shops with many reviews and analyze their best-selling designs. For example, a T-shirt with 130 reviews likely sold 1,300 units, generating $13,000 profit at 30% margin.
- **Design Creation Methods** [11:39] — Three ways to create designs: 1) Use free tools like Canva with ChatGPT for ideas, 2) Buy templates, 3) Use AI tools like Midjourney (with commercial rights).
- **Best Print Provider for Beginners** [15:34] — Gelato is recommended for its quality, global production facilities (32 countries), and seamless integration. It offers a free plan with no upfront costs.
- **Etsy vs Shopify** [18:58] — Etsy has 460 million monthly visitors and built-in traffic, making it ideal for beginners. Shopify offers more control and email marketing but requires driving your own traffic. Start with Etsy to test products, then move to Shopify once you have winners.
- **Hacks for Selling on Etsy** [23:43] — 1) Use attractive mockups to show products in real-world settings. 2) Research keywords from successful listings. 3) Create a professional brand with a clean logo and banner.
- **When to Run Paid Ads** [26:30] — Start with organic reach via short-form content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Only run paid ads after seeing organic success to avoid wasting money.
- **Focus on Profit Margins** [28:48] — Many POD 'gurus' flex revenue but ignore profit. Aim for 30% profit margin. Etsy fees include 6.5% transaction fee, 3% payment processing, and up to 15% off-site ad fee.
- **Is POD Saturated?** [31:11] — No, but it requires hard work. Most people quit too early. List at least 1,000 products before judging saturation. Success comes from persistence and skill development.

### Conclusion

Print on demand is a viable side hustle with low startup costs, but success requires strategic product selection, quality designs, and consistent effort. Focus on profit margins and use Etsy as a testing ground before scaling to Shopify.

## Transcript

through the sunny Streets of Dubai. While passive income continuously flows into your bank with the print on demand side hustle.
I've been around a lot longer to listen, then you won't succeed anyway. to start in Print on demand.
and what to do to make this business work with $0. and sell them internationally. who hasn't just started a few little internet businesses
I'm an established millionaire businessman that's been running companies for over 35 years, that you can only learn from having years of experience.
There's so much to learn. for beginner's video you need to watch So I'm gonna split this into 10 different sections
Firstly, what is Print on Demand? Let's say you wanted to start a clothing brand,
of unique clothing products, That's where print on demand swoops in to save the day. after your customers order them.
and delivered directly to your customers. This isn't just limited clothing. You can also do mugs, posters, bags, and even cushions.
of starting a full-time business, and as your income scales, Isn't it wild how these days you can potentially raking
This concept would've blown my mind in my day. As currently the global print on demand market is worth and that's expected to rise to 40 billion by 2031.
how crucial is to operate in the right market. Believe me, I've seen some seriously smart people hit rock market that was on the decline.
Even if you're just an average Joe in the entrepreneurial into a booming market like this one. One, a winning product.
Three, a place to sell product for a great supplier, But don't worry, we're gonna cover all of this today.
and I make video sharing my years of wisdom so So if that interests you, make sure to subscribe So how do I find a winning product?
getting into print on demand and rightly so. between your store getting hundreds of sales a winning product has two main components,
of these product categories are created equal, You need to be very strategic about which one you decide You may be thinking, why not just pick all of them
Now, although this may sound like a good idea, your designs probably aren't gonna be that great. and money focusing on different products
Instead, I want you to pick one product category Once you hit over 10 K per month with that product type, products in a new shop.
of one product than a jack of all trades. Personally, I'd never offer more than seven different to overwhelm the customer, and you know what?
So let me help you eliminate some of the categories. as they're extremely seasonal. and sells continuously no matter what.
and stationary, they don't really sell for very much. My role is to have at least 20 to 30% profit margin.
to sell them in large enough quantities, They have the number one listing on Etsy. When I search for a mug, now if I dig into their figures,
around $30,000 a month from this store. If we assume a 15% margin, then they're probably making around 4,500 pound a month in profit,
If they've managed to get a 30% profit margin, If we're evaluating options based purely on potential profit In my opinion. It's much easier to inflate the value
and modern artists have been using for years. Now, I've sold some wall art before using gelato. - Facilities over 32 countries on this point.
of orders are produced in the same country The customer As you can see, my price point was $49 and 99 cents, and my costs were $25
and 39 cents for the product and the printing. There was also a 6 98 shipping cost as well. So if we add those together, that gives us a price
Now, if we take those numbers and plug them into the Etsy free calculator, with everything taken into account, I made $12
which gives me a 25% profit margin on every product. to be eaten away. with a high profit margin potential.
I feel like switching it up. So what's the best niche to pick? It might seem obvious, but nobody cares about blank clothes.
You need to make them care about what you are selling. So I could just make a shirt like this That's the right kind of idea,
This is because a one simple word, trademarks, of potential trademark infringements, Luckily, this is free to do and super simple.
It's worth checking the UK and USA trademarks. Just click on basic word mark search Boomers are awesome and click submit.
Change this set into live. There you go. Okay, so if I can't use popular films I like your thinking,
but also, no, I'm gonna say something that might shock you. importance of not looking at other people's work. I have a theory that C grade studers often end up hiring the
There's actually a really good book that talks about this, It's based on the saying that good artists copy and great artists still, honestly, it works just as well
beginners falling into. and then just end up trying to sell something nobody wants. but most likely that gap's there
I'd say 99% of people fail at this step. So here's what you should actually do. Research the market. as all the sales information is public.
Now, since the T-shirt niche is extremely competitive, These are pockets of the market that have low competition,
So let's type in women's T-shirts Now look, ah, this is one you don't want
infringement of DC Comics and Wonder Woman. but seriously don't infringe on anyone's trademarks.
but in the long run, it's just not worth it when you run What we're really looking for is shops with lots of reviews, Now, let's click on this one
Now, let's go on their shop homepage to see what's selling at the moment. I like the look of a few of these designs myself.
You'll then just have to spend an hour that are selling well You might think this is a really small market,
but this T-shirt here has over 130 reviews. of thumb is the time's out by 10, So this seller has sold in a region of 1300
of $43,628 when you take Now with a 30% profit margin, that would be
around $13,000 in profit from this one design. and remember, you can have loads of these you can't simply copy these designs.
You are pulling different elements from various sources, to draw inspiration from multiple places.
So if you're gonna steal steal from many, for instance, borrow the colors from another The aim here is to whip up a whole bunch of unique designs
we can't always predict what's gonna sell like crazy. This step is one of the biggest roadblocks people
but they dunno how to actually make them look To be honest, I used to be one of those people, Even for an old boy like me,
Firstly, you can use a free tool like Canva. of woodwork related funny quotes here on chat GPT. I'm gonna take some design elements from other products we
found earlier, like the font from this listing It's pretty easy to get these mocked up on Canva Then I just have to click here
Secondly, you could actually buy a template or full design. and I download the image, then use the Google search
by image function, then you are quite often able Thirdly, and this is one I've actually been using a lot recently is AI tools to design it for you.
Now, I think Midjourney is the best for this kind of thing. and also have the rights to use the images commercially, Now I'm lucky that my son Curtis keeps me up to date
If I mentioned Midjourney they wouldn't have a clue what I'm on about. It's super easy to use.
Once that's set up, go to Mid Journey's website This will connect you to the Midjourney server You might as well join my free Discord group while you're in
help you out with everything business Click on add server, then me and my friends
I'm gonna call mine Mark's Designs. click on the Midjourney bot and add app. So I'm gonna click Mark's Designs first.
Let's get the settings right, type forward slash settings, Select model six and Stylization High right now.
Now, if we wanted then we would type something like this, butterflies
in the style of silhouettes in a tornado pattern on a I actually think the colorful version looks nicer. - Will the same prompt again to give me more options,
which will give me more variations like the fourth version. by pressing the corresponding U button.
that you can use it on your product. of the white background, I personally use photo room.com. Upwork and Fiverr.
and I've been pretty happy with the results. Here's a look at the brief I gave last time These are all good methods,
available time and budget. What's the best print on demand website for beginners? print them, and ship them to your customers.
as picking the wrong print provider will result in some and all around massive headaches. Most YouTubers recommend the absolute cheapest sites,
The reason a lot of them can charge crazy low prices is Wait a minute, I thought you were telling us Now you're telling us we've gotta pay for websites.
Well, the cool thing about most print on demand sites is you That way you actually don't need any money upfront. I live my life by the saying, buy nice or buy twice.
This essentially means if you go with the cheapest option, run as you'll have to take the hit for the lost items I tested out the gelato website for myself recently,
The experience was seamless with both the product quality Just look at how great this poster came out. because I like it so much.
and start uploading our design so you can see So I'm just gonna go to the menu on the left hand side and then select men's clothing.
with the heavyweight unisex crew neck T-shirts. and to be honest, gelato has a very high standard
it's nearly $2 cheaper than the other more premium options, to protect your profit margins. I'm gonna go with direct to garment for this design.
and definitely has that premium vibe, So I'd save that for that design. for embroidery, make sure it's super obvious when you're
it should seriously ramp up the perceived Okay, so I'm gonna start with the white option but I'll also repeat the same process
Now it's as simple as drag in There's also an option down here neck and sleeves.
I'm just gonna keep it simple and do the front. and you want to get 50% off your first order, then feel free They also give me a kickback if you use that link,
So if you use it, then thanks for supporting the channel. colors and sizes, it's time to start selling them. how most YouTube channels approach this question
They'll either say Etsy or Shopify, I'm not interested in rushing through this video I know if you got to this part in the video, then you want
So let's go through both of these options or route for all you American viewers. If we look at the figures from February, 2023, we can see
that Etsy had 460.6 million visitors. of every print on demand marketplace, In 20 22, 20 6% of sales were made
In other words, a lot of print on demand items and 45% of sales involved in international transaction. to a global audience of shoppers.
of my previous videos mentioning that I'd overlook the marketing cost, but I didn't. the customers are already there searching
All you need to do is rank high enough in the search Lots of people high up print on demand on Etsy, That's just the harsh truth.
but they have revealed that there are 5.4 million active sellers $2,169 in 2022.
by the more successful and established shops. that lots of folks just go of really studying the market like I've
But if you stick to the system I've taught you, Now, for Shopify customer data is one that a customer's email is worth about $1 a month
to a previous buyer. and instead is your own website. whereas Etsy doesn't have an option to do this legally.
So yes, you can just download the emails from your Etsy to your email list without facing some issues. it's also illegal in many countries.
to set yourself apart from the competition. that your products are always surrounded to compete on price.
of other print on demand videos recommended in the sidebar. though because it's the best one. but all you are seeing are my videos.
It's either stick with me or don't learn anything at all. If a customer wants what you are selling, they can't go off You've got them right where you want them.
So Shopify sounds like the clear winner, right? Well, no. to go with Etsy. to worry about marketing.
and better at designing products people want to buy. for honing your skills as the market doesn't lie.
then you won't make any sales. and level up as an entrepreneur. to a menu and stores.
However, before you start spending crazy amounts I recommend you post a thousand listings on Etsy.
which will be a total of $200, Once you've identified your winning products, and advertising on TikTok.
Shopify, then your marketing needs work. then the issue could also be your product Think of Etsy a bit like a testing ground where you can cast
and when you start catching some big fish, So how do beginners sell on Etsy? that you can do to help you get notice on Etsy
The first hack is to make attractive mockups. what your item looks like in the real world, to show them without having
Mockups also seem which instantly makes it seem more valuable to customers. super simple.
That looks pretty good, so let's go with that. The second hack is to use the best keywords. This is extremely effective as Etsy is a search engine,
Of course, you shouldn't use keywords that don't apply that are interested in pieing what you are selling.
So let's go back to the listing we found As we can see, they've used wood shirt, men woodworker shirt, men's funny shirt, funny shirts
So I'll just copy It's also worth looking around of them have other unique keywords you can copy.
You need to convey quality and trust. and you're not gonna get there You need to go for that premium boutique feel.
with a clear identity. You can use the free Shopify name generator to create a name Then use the name checker website
The most crucial platform is Etsy, but you should also check if it's free on other social media When creating your logo
Instead, focus on making it clean and professional. The key to a good Etsy banner is
which corporate banners often lack. Lastly, make sure your shop isn't targeting a completely and see a washing machine, even though they could sell them.
of maintaining a coherent brand image. then you are probably thinking, when should I run paid ads? as they can instantly give your sales a boost.
However, in my opinion, people start using paid ads well This means they either end up with no sales completely dry up.
We are living in an age of more free reach than ever before, limiting organic reach soon
of advertising dollars. short form content. This is great as you can post it across Instagram, TikTok,
It's the first type of content that enables you and it's perfect for showing off your products. which I'd recommend doing anyway as you need
Then it's just a case of creating some kind Don't just get fancy shots Actually make it a part of a story.
so if your content isn't entertaining, then it won't reach The more views you get, the more people will buy. The beauty of doing it this way is that you are able to see
what videos perform best with your target audience Once you're seeing some organic success, it's time This way you are building your side hustle on
I've seen so many people lose their Facebook ad accounts These platforms don't have enough employees to police it for them.
but that's not the biggest thing people do wrong. A lot of people get drawn in by the huge figures. but it's important to remember anyone can sell at break even
I have a feeling a lot of these print on demand, Gus They just make a loss on their products and then flex their revenue figures on YouTube to young
of focusing on the revenue you are generating. that your profit margins are everything
I used to sell a lot of items on eBay. tried to undercut beyond price. Then I'd continue to sell my products at my normal price.
of the time my competitor only made 5% profit margin. he would laugh thinking he'd driven me out of the market. I just smile to myself as still have my 30% profit margins
The same applies with any business. You don't have to be ranked number one to make money. you could be making more money than the top sellers.
this is even more crucial due to the associated fees. Etsy charges 6.5% transaction fee on both the price as a 3% payment processing fee on the total amount
Here's a little secret that not a lot of people know about. with a 15% advertising fee if a customer stumbles upon your product through an Etsy ad from outside the platform.
but honestly, it's not a bad deal as long as you're clued in and hey, don't forget about your time. but loads of people seem to forget to value their own time.
and figure out their hourly earnings, they might be shocked Now at the start, you're probably gonna have That's understandable,
making every so often. This will give you a pretty good picture But now it's time for the big question.
or is it too saturated? about this on my last print on demand video. Tell people how saturated the markets are
The world of side hustles are over. for taking the time to comment. I love reading your opinions
Although there are a couple of things I disagree with, There is one thing I agree with, so I wanna start with that. and there's no such thing as a quick,
I started as a relatively poor kid with no qualifications, and tears to get where I am today. That's just the reality of life.
I probably wouldn't have even started. to focus on the positives than the inevitable late Maybe I should get that across more in my video,
Now, as for the markets being saturated, It's hard to break into any market. Yes, there's a lot of people doing it.
Most people that say the markets are too saturated, bit of a rough patch. but you've gotta stick with it.
Don't do all the hard graft and miss out on the big payoff. to carve your own spot in the market. but don't let that get you down.
If you haven't listed at least a thousand different is saturated. and the more you work on your skills, the better you'll get.
that's like saying businesses are dead. If you want actual proof that side hustles aren't dead, as I share seven real stories about students making
But don't click on it just yet. Okay, I'll see you over there.