During the holiday season, businesses are also going to be busy in giving out greeting cards. These businesses sometimes send themed cards like construction Christmas cards for them to show their gratitude to their most valued clients. As this season commences, it is but good to also grab the opportunity to earn additional income by selling greeting cards online.
There are two kinds of people when it comes to shopping for greeting cards – those who read the cards before they buy them, and those who look at the image on the cover first, and then even without having read the contents, take it to the cash register and buy them. There are a number of people who prefer to read the contents first and are spending a good deal of time scanning, reading, picking up and putting the card back. This is because there are people who want the cards that they tend to mean something to the other party. They should either laugh out loud or begin to tear up or be moved by the message written on the cards.
There are five ways for you to sell cards:
- Sell the design or message for a one-off payment
- Upload a design that can be saleable
- Create a physical card and then market it through different sites
- Freelance and make cards that are based on customer needs
- Create a website and then sell both of your own and another artist’s uploaded work
1. Use Print-On-Demand Sites
You can choose to sell your greeting cards on a website that you love. There are also other print-on-demand sites which you can sell your cards. If you have not yet heard of the term print-on-demand, these are companies that print an image on a product when someone buys it. A customer to the website will be able to see a product that they like and then they can customize it if they wish, and then the product will be printed.
People will be able to upload images on a wide variety of products which includes greeting cards and then sell these products through these companies. The site will then takes care of the printing and fulfillment. These sites are easy to use including the fact that your product will continue to sell for years to come. The amount of money that a designer makes is set by the designer himself. There is a base price for the product and then the designer will add the commission that they want to make. The default commission rate is at 10% but, you can, of course, make it higher or lower. The price that you make on each card might only be just 20¢, but when you know that the card will sell for years, you can see the benefits that you will reap. If you are still not convinced, you can upload as many as you want and then do not think of it as 20¢ for one card. If you have a hundred designs on cards or one may be a thousand cards that are available for sale, in twenty-four hours a day, a year-round to a worldwide audience, you should now be able to see the potential to earn money.
Here are some advantages when you are using print-on-demand sites:
- There is no financial outlay. This is a big advantage especially when you want to make more money instead of spending it.
- No shipping cost.
- There are no questions from customers. The website handles all customer questions. However, it may be possible that a customer will contact you for a design request if you want.
- There are no payment hassles. The site will handle all payments and then pays the designer thru PayPal or check depending on where you are located.
- The design will continue to sell, therefore you are earning a passive income.
2. Sell you Hand-crafted cards online
There are also numerous sites where you can sell the handmade cards that you designed. Unlike the print-on-demand sites, there is a cost that is associated with making the cards. But even though the cost incurred in making the card is higher, the profit is higher as well.
You will just need to buy the crafting materials needed to make them. The materials include the card, some rubber stamps, some stickers, and other ornamentations that you wish to add on the cards.
If you already are producing the cards but you want to expand your market, be sure to associate yourself with a site that is going to be a great place for you to start. There are a lot of people who have garnered success by affiliating with the right sites in promoting and selling their greeting cards.
3. You can build your own website selling cards
There are still various options when it comes to creating your own website. The possibilities are endless when it comes to setting up your own website and selling the cards that you have created. Of course, you need to build a website that can take the order, and then mail the card to the customer.
There are also other ways wherein you still have your own website but not in handling the product by using other sites. Here, you will be building your websites around products which you or other designers have created on their site. So, when a customer clicks on that ad on your website, they will be redirected to such site, where they can further customize the product.
By sending customers to such site, you may be able to make a percentage of such sale for the referral, plus if it was your own product, you will also be receiving a commission as well. As exciting as it is that you have your own website, you will have to compete with other high ranking sites. This is not to discourage you, but this is for you to be aware of the time that you will have to spend tweaking your website. This is because for people to buy your cards, they will have to find your website in the first place. So, you will either have to learn about search engine optimization (SEO) or pay someone to do this for your site in order to increase your site’s visibility.
The ideas are limitless. It is up to you with how to use it well.
