I've been on a print-on-demand marketplace for years but I'm not happy with the results. What's wrong with that approach?

The fundamental problem with most print-on-demand marketplaces is that you don’t own the relationship with your customers or control your presence. When you build on someone else’s platform, it’s not truly YOUR website or URL—you can’t take it with you if you leave. Search engines and AI don’t recognize it as YOUR property. You don’t own the buyer email addresses or customer relationships. Additionally, these marketplaces often take significant percentages of sales, leaving you with very little per transaction even when you do sell. While POD itself is tremendously valuable technology, you need to use it on a platform where you own your website, URL, customer data, and the entire business asset you’re building. That way you’re building equity in a property that belongs to you and can grow in value over time.

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Asked by an artist frustrated with a marketplace · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-06-08