Pros and Cons of Print on Demand for Artists

As an artist, selling your art can be a challenging task. You need to find the right audience and market your work effectively as your main tasks. And as if that is not enough you need to handle the logistics of printing and shipping your art to your customers.
If you now feel overwhelmed (I totally understand!) I have some good news for you!
You can just concentrate on making your art and marketing it while a POD (which stands for Print on Demand) service takes care of creating your products and shipping them to your customers.
With POD, you can create high-quality prints of your art on-demand and sell them directly to your customers.
But is print on demand right for you? Let's take a look at the pros and cons.

Pros of Print on Demand for Artists

There are good reasons to dig deep into Print on Demand. You basically create your products digitally and market them while your POD provider takes care of the rest.

Here are some pros for Print on Demand

1. Low upfront costs

One of the biggest advantages of POD is that it has low upfront costs. You don't need to invest in expensive equipment or inventory. You simply upload your artwork to the POD platform and start selling.

2. Easy to get started

Another advantage of POD is that it's easy to get started. You don't need any special skills or knowledge to use POD platforms. Most platforms have user-friendly interfaces that make it easy to upload your artwork and customize your products.

3. Wide range of products

POD platforms offer a wide range of products to choose from, including prints, canvases, mugs, t-shirts, and more. This allows you to offer your customers a variety of options and reach a wider audience.

4. No inventory management

With POD, you don't need to worry about inventory management. The POD platform handles everything from printing to shipping, leaving you free to focus on creating art.

With Pros there are also Cons so here are the Cons of Print on Demand for Artists

1. Lower profit margins

One of the biggest disadvantages of POD is that it offers lower profit margins compared to traditional printing methods. Since the POD platform handles everything from printing to shipping, they take a percentage of the sale price.

2. Limited control over quality

Since the POD platform handles everything from printing to shipping, you have limited control over the quality of the final product. You need to trust that the POD platform will produce high-quality prints that accurately represent your artwork.

3. Less control over the customer experience

With POD, you have less control over the customer experience. You can't personalize your packaging or include handwritten notes like you could if you were shipping the product yourself.

4. Limited customisation options

POD platforms offer customisation options, but they're often limited. You may not be able to choose the paper or ink type, or you may have limited options for packaging and branding.

Is Print on Demand Right for You?

POD can be a great option for artists who want to sell their art without the hassle of managing inventory and shipping. However, it's important to weigh the pros and cons before deciding if it's right for you. If you're looking for higher profit margins and more control over the customer experience, traditional printing methods may be a better fit. On the other hand, if you're looking for an easy and low-cost way to get started selling your art, POD could be a great option.

My 2 Cents

With today's experience I'd always go for a POD Service. In 2016 journal stickers were incredible popular. And I loved my Erin Condren Planner as well as creating stickers for it. So my idea was to use all the digital scrapbooking kits I already had and turn them into stickers. 
I got a Silhouette and we also had a good printer. We bought packaging and my mum packed the orders with lots of love. We added extra stickers, "Thank you" Stickers and coupons. So yes, our customers definitely had a good experience when they opened the package.
What we didn't know was that some stickers were not cut correctly. Sure we sent it to the Silhouette and it cut them but some just didn't get out of the sheet. We didn't know because we couldn't see (any sheet was different somehow) and therefore our customers must have been unhappy sooner or later. Of course if we got aware of that we replaced the stickers but sometimes we were just not aware of the bad quality.

If nothing else I believe that this is a good reason to trust POD services. If they would have created the stickers for us we might still sell stickers.

Try it before you sell it

Having that said please still first purchase the product you wanna sell. Start small, maybe really just with some stickers. Let your POD Service print them for you to test them out. Chances are good that the quality is the same when they send the stickers to your customers. But don't just upload your designs and never look back although it is tempting. 
It's much better if you purchase your own product and test it out. Beside that you'll get valuable pictures for your marketing and you know your customer's experience from A to Z.

I hope this blog post was helpful in understanding the pros and cons of print on demand for artists. Remember to weigh your options before deciding which method is right for you. Good luck in selling your art!