Where to Sell Print-On-Demand Products?

[00:02] Shopify, maybe having thoughts of is this something that I need? Is Etsy enough? Is Shopify even for me? Or how to understand it as a platform? And if in your mind about should I start on Shopify? Is it for me? Then this video's

[00:17] for you. You're not alone. We're going to be breaking down the benefits of Shopify and when you should maybe incorporate it into your actual selling beneficial and it's not as scary or intimidating as it may seem. And just to

[00:32] clarify, this is not about me quitting Etsy or bashing Etsy. I absolutely love Etsy. I've been a seller for 6 years and I will continue to sell on Etsy. I just you're on an e-commerce marketplace to understand your options as you grow. But

[00:47] Etsy is still an incredible resource. It's an amazing way to start an online business if you're a beginner, to test products, do research, and just sell on a marketplace. So by no means are we saying that Etsy is dead and that I

[00:59] want to share with you some options and things that you should understand about maybe wanting to expand or diversify your business. So first, let's understand why Shopify and Etsy are different as platforms. So Etsy is

[01:13] what's called an e-commerce marketplace. This I like to think of as if you're going to have your products in a store like Target or Walmart or even Amazon. marketplace. [music] Essentially, in these stores, there are

[01:26] lots of different people selling lots of different things. If you go into a of different brands that are all selling you the same product, right? That's similar how Etsy works. We're going and putting our products available against

[01:39] competition and hopefully people buy from us. What's great about this is that this has built-in traffic. Meaning people are already coming to Target to yours, sure, they're going to grab it off the shelf, right? So it's the same

[01:53] Etsy with the intention to make a purchase and [music] they see your item, through reviews because you can see what other people say and your products will pop up amongst others that are already selling because Etsy wants to make more

[02:08] as that of it's like you are bringing your product and borrowing the credibility of that store that already has active buyers. Now, differently with Shopify is it's not a marketplace. Shopify is a standalone storefront. So,

[02:22] Shopify is essentially our website host that we create our website on and our website is not going to have that same built-in traffic. Think of it as you go from Target. You have your own standalone storefront that you're

[02:36] responsible bringing people to because they're not just going to be walking in marketing's on point, but just to the fact of it's about having a standalone store and we're responsible to bring that traffic to us. Now, that might seem

[02:49] right away like that's a complete con and it's not good for Shopify, but with that comes a lot of benefits that you're not going to see on Etsy and vice versa. Currently on Etsy, we are experiencing a lot of confusion, right? With Etsy, we

[03:03] don't have full control of our actual store. We're a part of the marketplace. So, we don't have full ownership of our store. That's why sometimes people's store gets suspended or closed down or just it's a dead shop. It's not getting

[03:17] we really can't control because with constantly changing things and even as myself as a seller, these are things time working on a listing and think for sure it's going to sell and then it goes

[03:31] waste all my time doing that just because Etsy doesn't want to push it. Etsy works. I'm not saying it doesn't, of like we don't have full control. And the biggest thing that actually moved me

[03:46] from Etsy to Shopify was the lack of control on my branding. I love a branded store and on Etsy you can only do so much. You're not in control of your fonts. You can put a logo in a header, but nothing about your shop, you know,

[04:00] screams different than any other shop that someone would click on. So, that's something that I always find challenging because I am an aesthetic person, and that was one of the main reasons what led me to be like, "I'm going to open a

[04:12] Shopify store and just see how this works." And how much more branding you can do on there is incredible. Because in the long term, to have a full-time income from a brand that you want to scale and have no cap on, having your

[04:25] it's something that I've experienced, too, moving off of Etsy. So, now after knowing all of that and how it works, let's talk about when you should open a Shopify store and if it's for you. So, what I like to tell sellers is if you

[04:40] are on Etsy for over 6 months and you're seeing consistent sales, you should absolutely open a Shopify store. Not only to get more traffic and more reviews, but to also just diversify your income and where you're selling, and to

[04:55] have it as a net of if for some reason you're no longer able to sell on Etsy or you just don't want to anymore, you have another option. And with that, thinking more long-term. Now, if you are a beginner that is completely in the first

[05:10] few stages of Etsy, I would say to consider it, but maybe see what's working for you and what you can learn on Etsy first, and then move that over to Shopify. Now, I want to just hop over to Shopify and show you some of my

[05:23] favorite things about it, how it can really become, you know, a business versus having a shop. So, on Shopify you'll see that there's lots of free ones. You don't need to pay for some super fancy uh template. You can

[05:38] bring in the mock-up photos that you already have from Etsy or from your marketing and just use those on your homepage. And with Shopify it's a drag-and-drop system. So, you just go through the template and then drag in

[05:51] and add in your information. I also use ChatGPT for this because you can put in everything about your Etsy shop or give it the link to ChatGPT and ask it to do some copy for you to put onto your actual Shopify store. So, once you

[06:04] already have the Etsy shop built, you have the bones of what to put into scratch if you're moving over. So, you have the products, you have the branding essentially ready to go. It's just about amplifying that. This also includes the

[06:17] SEO that goes into your store on Etsy. You probably learned a lot on about SEO and what works, and you can implement that into your Shopify store and your description and in your Google search terms and all these things to have more

[06:32] control on visibility of who finds you on Google. And you'd be surprised how your Shopify store, even though again, it's a standalone, as long as you take the time to put into that SEO. Also, with customization, Shopify offers apps

[06:46] in their app store, which honestly is endless. There are so many different apps you can implement to help you get more sales, to help customize things, so on and so forth. I like to use bundling apps to offer customers to buy more and

[06:59] add to their cart. I like to use a size chart app that really has helped with getting more sales and more trust from customers cuz they can see what size to interactive on Etsy. And then I also like to use different review apps to add

[07:14] reviews to your Shopify store. You can take what people say on Etsy and add it as a review of your product, the same product, to a Shopify store. So, it's like you're starting on Etsy, you're not starting from zero. You have all these

[07:26] and bring them into your standalone website, which I think is so valuable. And there's a lot of really cool Shopify apps on there. Now, another benefit to having your Shopify store is the accessibility, meaning who you can sell

[07:38] to and who can actually create a Shopify store. I get a lot of comments about Etsy not being available or whether to be a seller or to purchase things. And so, honestly, I think that if you are going to be someone that opens your

[07:51] Shopify store, you are going to have a wider reach. You are more in control of who you sell to and where your products are available. Especially with selling products, these are things that can be shipped to multiple locations and full

[08:04] transparency with Etsy and being a print-on-demand seller. I don't sell internationally on Etsy. It gets too complicated. There's a lot of fees going to me. So, it's something that I choose not to do. I'm in the US and I sell

[08:17] primarily to the US on Etsy because of this. But on Shopify, it's not as complicated and not as limited. You can also offer multiple payment options that different countries. And I do want to mention this because it's something that

[08:32] I get a lot of questions about. And if you are somebody that is going to sell on Shopify for this reason, I would highly recommend grabbing what's called beneficial. It helps you manage your money in different currencies. Airwallex

[08:46] is a global payments platform that's for online businesses and is especially powerful if you're planning to sell internationally or scale globally. It supports over 160 plus payment methods including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna,

[08:59] Afterpay, and different e-wallets as well. And this is huge because customers are more likely to check out when they see a payment method that they're familiar with. Your customers can pay in their local currency and then you can

[09:11] which is through like-to-like settlements, which is supported across 20 plus currencies. You can also pay suppliers directly through their local currency and issue multi-currency corporate cards that can be spent on

[09:25] multi-currency balances. [music] This makes managing everything a lot easier through different currencies. And on the checkout side, showing prices in local currency and having familiar payment methods can really increase your

[09:38] checkout's completion rate. And by avoiding forced currency conversions, you could potentially save up to 4% of your sales volume. And Airwallex works directly with Shopify, the setup is quick and simple, and it works alongside

[09:51] with Shopify payments. And just a note that some Shopify plans will require you to use Shopify payments for your card transactions, but you can still use Airwallex for non-card payment methods like buy now, pay later, and e-wallets.

[10:04] in the description, and if you're somebody that sells internationally, I want to expand your brand globally. And overall, with Etsy and Shopify, while they are completely different, they still do go hand in hand. I think that

[10:19] Etsy is the best for beginner, getting started, and seeing what's out there, and what the market wants, and then transitioning to Shopify while still selling on Etsy is the best option. It's something that I did, and that I wish I

[10:33] would have done a little bit sooner. Having a successful Etsy shop for over a year without starting on Shopify, I think is a missed opportunity. I think that you should offer more things, and you know, really build up your branding,

[10:47] you can have two different businesses under the same one. You have your Etsy sales, and then ultimately see which one works for you. Shopify is more of a long-term game. It doesn't mean that you can't start as a beginner, but overall,

[11:01] in my mind, starting on Etsy and then shifting to Shopify after consistent sales is the best way to go, and what I've done and do recommend. Please feel free to leave any questions that you may have below. If you are wondering what to

[11:13] other sellers, or something you're concerned about, I always check out the comments, so I'll answer any of those that I do see. And then also, there is a link for a Shopify discount code of their best current deal, as well. So, if

[11:26] be something that you can check out, because it does have a really great deal. Currently, um right now as I'm filming this, it's 3 days for free on Shopify and then $1 for your first 3 months before you'll have to make a $29

[11:40] monthly payment for their most basic plan. However, having those first 3 months for only $1 is a pretty good way to test if it's something that you do want to consider and try out. So, I would recommend doing that while they

[11:54] amazing in my opinion. And just test it out and see what works. Thank you so so video was helpful and that you learned something and I'll see you in the next something and I'll see you in the next video.