Is print-on-demand worth it, or should I keep my own inventory?

Print-on-demand is a game-changer, especially for part-time artists. When you manage your own inventory, you have to invest money upfront, store items that may not sell (which end up sitting in your closet), and spend time fulfilling orders instead of creating. Print-on-demand eliminates all of that—you don’t hold inventory, don’t drive to printers, don’t send tracking information. This frees you up to focus on what matters: creating art. For artists juggling a day job, family, and their art business, removing the inventory management burden is essential to having any time to actually make work.

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Asked by an artist evaluating print-on-demand versus self-fulfillment · Answered by Brien Cole & Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-10-04