Selling printables is one of the best ways I know to earn income. While it’s always a good idea to have perennial favorites in your shop, including birthday printables, there’s no denying that some printables have a season.
In this post, I’ll explain why seasonal printables are profitable and can help you earn income year-round and give you some tips and pointers to create and sell seasonal printables in your online shop.
What Are Seasonal Printables?
Let’s start with an overview of what seasonal printables are. Simply stated, seasonal printables may include printables for holidays such as Easter, Independence Day, or Halloween. They may also include things like Fall and Spring classroom posters, Winter Wonderland decorations, and more.
Seasonal printables can have a place in your shop at any time of year. Some people like to shop early for their next Halloween or Christmas party. Teachers often shop months in advance to ensure they have the products they need for their bulletin boards and classroom décor.
Why Is Selling Seasonal Printables a Good Idea?
Printable products are always popular but let’s talk about why I recommend selling seasonal printables in your online shop.
Looking at the numbers, six product categories on Etsy account for a whopping 80% of all sales. Of those six, two are related to printables, including crafting supplies and paper and party supplies. What that means is that there’s a big demand for all printable products.
Seasonal products are extremely popular, particularly those for holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. In total, there are more than 50,000 seasonal printable products listed for sale on Etsy with more being added each day.
Even people who don’t ordinarily buy printable products may make an exception when they’re hosting a seasonal party. For example, Halloween printables could include everything needed to host a kids’ Halloween costume party, including decorations, name tags, invitations, party games, and gift bags.
Seasonal printables are also extremely popular with teachers who spend their time and money creating appealing classroom bulletin boards and door décor for their students. Seasonal educational printables are popular on Etsy and even more so on educational website such as Teachers Pay Teachers.
How Can Seasonal Printables Generate Year-Round Income?
The key to generating year-round income with seasonal printables is to create printables for a variety of seasons and occasions. You should make them available year-round (even when they’re technically out of season) because some people may want to shop early to prepare for the next season or holiday.
Let’s look at an example of what your shop’s seasonal printables might include if you wanted to generate income all year long.
- New Year’s Printables
- Valentine’s Day Printables
- Spring printables
- Easter printables
- Patriotic printables
- Mother’s Day printables
- Father’s Day printables
- Fourth of July printables
- Summer printables
- Fall printables
- Halloween printables
- Thanksgiving printables
- Christmas printables
- Winter printables
A few of these categories can do double duty. For example, spring printables might also be incorporated into someone’s Easter décor. Patriotic printables could be used for President’s Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day.
Since it can take time to create seasonal printables, people who are just getting started should begin planning and creating products several months ahead of the season or holiday in question. As a rule, it’s a good idea to put products in your shop well in advance of the season they represent. For example, you should put Christmas or Hannukah printables in your shop in the early fall.
Tips to Create Seasonal Printables That Sell
Here are some of my best tips to help you create and sell seasonal printables.
Research Your Competitors
The first, essential step is to research your competitors. Search for specific seasonal printables on Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers, or Amazon Ignite. Make notes about what’s available. If you notice a hole in the market—for example, a lack of secular Christmas or Easter decorations—make a note of it and prioritize any niche where you think there aren’t enough products.
Make Your Products Unique
Selling products that look like other seasonal products won’t help you stand out in a crowd. Your research should point you in the direction of some ideas to create seasonal products that are unique and appealing. You can still use free templates or public domain content to create your printables; just be sure to modify them to make them special and unlike any others on the market.
Put Products in Your Shop Early
Seasonal products are most likely to sell in season but it’s essential to make sure that they appear in your shop well in advance of the season they celebrate. For example, many people start their Christmas shopping and planning months in advance. Introduce new Christmas printables no later than October and promote them as much as possible to amplify your sales.
Bundle Seasonal Products to Increase Your Sales
Bundling seasonal products is an effective way to increase sales. Someone who comes to your shop looking for printable place settings for Thanksgiving dinner might not seek out other products, such as printable décor and menus. But if you bundle these things together, they may choose to buy the bundle because your products inspire them to create a cohesive look for their Thanksgiving table.
Keep Seasonal Products in Your Shop Year-Round
Seasonal products may not sell as frequently when they’re out of season but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t leave them in your shop year-round. Someone who finds your shop because they’re looking for Spring decorations may get inspired by your Easter printables or patriotic printables and buy those, too. Even if they don’t buy at that moment, they may be inspired to favorite your shop and come back later in the year.
Conclusion
Seasonal printables make it easy to expand your product offerings and increase your sales. Pick any month or time of the year and you can find opportunities to celebrate holidays, seasons, and activities that may inspire people to buy your products.
Do you need help taking your printables shop to the next level? Click here to learn how to work with me directly.
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