I’ve been talking for years about creating seamless patterns and illustrations using Photoshop or Illustrator and now I want to tell you more about what you can do with them.
Did you know that you can build a thriving business by selling your artwork? And the best part is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars building your online shop.
I’ve talked about e-commerce platforms before, but today I want to show you six online marketplaces where you can sell patterns and illustrations.
Digital vs. Physical goods
Before you open a shop on one of these websites, you have to decide whether you want to sell digital products or you want to see your patterns on physical goods.
In my opinion, selling digital products is easier than selling physical products. Why? Because the initial investment is very small, you don’t need to worry about shipping and there’s no inventory.
On the other hand, a lot of people want to purchase physical goods and you can sell them for a higher price than a digital item.
When choosing what type of product to sell, you also have to take into account who you are selling to. Most of the people that buy digital patterns and illustrations are crafters, designers, or other creative business owners. While you can sell a t-shirt to anyone.
To make this decision easier for you, I’m going to show you a few websites that handle everything for you so you can focus on creating beautiful products. Here are six places where you can sell patterns and illustrations:
Creative Market
Creative Market is my favorite place for buying and selling digital products. You will be able to sell your patterns to other designers and business owners and you might see them on the many wonderful items that your customers will create with them.
Unfortunately, not everyone can open a shop on Creative Market. You have to apply with a solid portfolio and examples of the types of products you want to sell there. Once you get in, you can upload anything you want. Although, if you want to succeed you have to upload high-quality products that stand out amongst over a million other products.
You don’t have to pay any fee to sell there, but Creative Market will retain 30% of each sale.
The Hungry JPEG
The Hungry JPEG is a newer marketplace that’s very similar to Creative Market. It started out as a bundle website, and the wonderful bundles are still there, but now you can also open your own shop.
To open a shop, you have to submit your portfolio and write a few words about why you want to open a store. Make sure you include a few examples of the products you want to sell there.
There’s no fee and you earn 70% of every sale you make.
Etsy
Etsy is a great place to sell handmade physical goods, but did you know you can also sell patterns and illustrations? I know this comes as a surprise to many people. Etsy is filled with patterns, clip-art, blog and website themes, and social media kits.
Unlike the previous two websites, Etsy’s audience is made out of crafters and other Etsy sellers. So while you might be able to sell vectors on Creative Market and The Hungry JPEG, Etsy is a place where you will have more success with clipart and digital papers.
Anyone can open a shop on Etsy, but there’s a $0.2 fee for every item you add and they also take 3.5% of every item you sell.
Spoonflower
I’m sure all pattern designers want to see their patterns on fabric or paper. Spoonflower is a website where you can upload your designs and they will print them on fabrics, wallpaper, and wrapping paper.
I’ve recently ordered some fabric samples with my own designs and I love all of them.
You don’t have to apply to open a shop. All you have to do is upload your patterns and order samples of the items you want to sell. You might need to make small adjustments to the color or size of your patterns. Once you are satisfied with them, you can start selling.
Spoonflower has no fee, but you will only receive 10% of every item you sell.
Society6
Society6 is another online platform where you can upload your designs and see them on art prints, pillows, blankets, mugs, iPhone cases and many other items. And just like Spoonflower, they handle the printing and shipping for you so you can focus on design.
To open a shop, all you have to do is create a new account and upload your artwork. You are able to set your own price and the website only takes a small part of the profit. How much you make on each item depends on the type of item you want to sell.
Printful
I’ve only recently heard about Printful, but it seems like a great website and I wanted to share it with you. This is not an e-commerce platform where you can open a shop. It’s a print on demand website that you can integrate with your Shopify, Amazon, BigCartel or even Etsy shop.
You can print your patterns and illustrations on many items like shirts, pillows, tote bags, mugs, art prints, and more. You can list these items in your shop and connect it to Printful. When someone orders an item, they will automatically receive the order and they will handle the production, packaging, and shipping.
Each item has a starting price and you can set your own profit.
Do you sell patterns and illustrations? What is your favorite e-commerce website?
