Newbie Question About Product Base Price

[Cherylb]

I've been doing a lot of research on POD marketplaces, POD websites like printify, product pricing, retail, wholesale, printing products by myself and selling them, selling downloads, shipping costs, etc.  I've been doing some much research and reading up on stuff that I'm dizzy.  Basically, I was trying to find out if there is a cheaper way to buy products at a wholesale price, have them printed and shipped out to customers at a price that won't chase off the customers.   I'm an artist at heart, and that's what I'm good at.  I don't really want to be caught up with the headaches of running a store.  I just want to create.  

The reason that I started doing all this research is because of the high base prices I'm seeing on these POD websites.  I'm trying to figure out why someone would buy a mug for $19 when they could get one at Target for $6.  I mean I know that I'm an artist and a creator, but my last name isn't Picasso.  I started doing some digging into the quality of the product sold on Zazzle, Redbubble, FineArtAmerica, etc.  It turns out that the quality is much better than what you'd get at Target and the printing method itself is more long lasting and durable.   So now, I'm feeling more comfortable with the base price, because I still need to make a commission/royalty/markup on top of that price

I'm still on fence, because I just don't know if someone is going to pay that much for a mug.  Then I researched the demographics of people that buy on these websites.  It turns out that it's a mainly middle to upper-middle income demographic.  So I researched what percentage of the US is upper middle.  Turns out 15-20% - not much.  Middle incomers are going to be more price sensitive.  If we hit a recession, I'll probably lose them.  If you look globally at other developed nations, it's about 10-15% upper middle income (even less). 

I don't know how truly saturated this website is, but it seems like everyone is trying to get that 15% to buy their products.   In addition, I don't know how much money that 15% of the population is willing to part with per item.  I don't know if I'm doing analysis to paralysis here, but I just don't want to waste my time doing something that will never work.   Are there any experienced, successful people on the platform that care to chime in?  

[Sandra-]

Hi @Cherylb welcome to Zazzle!

My honest advice is try not to overthink things. There is a market for all price ranges. A lot of customers come to Zazzle as they love to personalise items with their names and photos etc. Zazzle’s design tool makes this easy (as long as templates are set up correctly when we design our products). 

Personally, I’d set up your store and just go for it. It’s not a get rich quick by any means, and it takes time and effort to make a successful store. But it does work as long as you persevere, don’t get discouraged when sales don’t roll in at first, and promote your products as much as possible. There is a lot of training available to help setting up your store, best practices etc, and I definitely recommend you join some to start you off on the right track.

Zazzle has been my main source of income for several years, although it took a while to get to that level, but such an enjoyable journey and I absolutely love it here!

Good luck!! 

[ArtElixir]

How many products should be created to see sales?

[CreativeLeahG]

Re

"The reason that I started doing all this research is because of the high base prices I'm seeing on these POD websites.  I'm trying to figure out why someone would buy a mug for $19 when they could get one at Target for $6.  I mean I know that I'm an artist and a creator, but my last name isn't Picasso. "

You can't buy a personalized mug from Target.

Customization is what validates the price point - however for how long will that be the case when we are seeing more PODs now offering customized products for much less not least of which is Amazon, Temu etc. 

However if the item is still very 'niche' and it can't be bought elsewhere, then price becomes much less of a factor as 'scarcity' is what drives the sale.

[Cherylb]

Temu's doing POD now??  Amazon doesn't seem to have nearly as many products though.  Are you talking about Amazon Merch?  I think Temu products take forever to ship, too.  

[KeegansCreation]

I'm still on fence, because I just don't know if someone is going to pay that much for a mug.  Then I researched the demographics of people that buy on these websites.  It turns out that it's a mainly middle to upper-middle income demographic.  So I researched what percentage of the US is upper middle.  Turns out 15-20% - not much.  Middle incomers are going to be more price sensitive.  If we hit a recession, I'll probably lose them.  If you look globally at other developed nations, it's about 10-15% upper middle income (even less). 

On the one hand, 10-15% of a population isn't much. On the other hand, Zazzle isn't trying to be Walmart or Target. Every single product that ships is a one-off and that just doesn't scale. The high price is because it is so much more labor intensive to have every single product have its own unique design. So embrace that! Zazzle is for people who want something that is unique to them. Maybe it has their name or a photo. Maybe it is a design that speaks to them on a personal level that can't be found at Walmart/Target because their taste or interests are too niche for Walmart/Target to bother creating 10,000 mugs that cater to it. If they have the money to get it here, they will. If they don't, they will settle for something pretty but generic from Walmart/Target.

[Cherylb]

Thank you so much everyone for responding.  I didn't think I was going to get much of a response.  It's really great to know that there is an active community.  I know customization is the big seller, so I'm going to focus on that. 

I did a little more research on the quality of the products Zazzle, Fineartamerica and Society 6 tend to sell.  (I'm not even bothering with RedBubble after the garbage they pulled.)  They seem to range from low to mid-priced.   This helps explain the base price much better.  I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if the mid-range priced items such as posters, canvas prints, the apparel and throw pillows with higher quality fabrics tend to sell more or are the run of the mill products selling just as much?     

[RodneyK]

I have been on Zazzle since 2011. I have never even once had a problem from Zazzle. I also have shops on other platforms. Each platform is different and you can't really know all the ins and outs until you are using them. The best thing to do is focus and creating great designs and how to display them the best way. Zazzle's personalization is well known. Other aspects of Zazzle are first rate. The quality of the products that I have seen has been excellent. When you are thinking about profit, remember that if you had a brick and mortar store you might have only a 5 to 15% net profit. So from a business perspective the royalties are decent. Once you are proficient at creating designs for products you will have a skill you can always use.

[RodneyK]

I note that above, it says that I am a new contributor. I haven't replied in the forum for a long time and I also changed my Zazzle name. Actually I have contributed through the years.