9 Things You Should Know Before Selling Digital Products on TPT
One of the best side hustles for teachers is selling on TPT to other teachers. You can sell digital products with little investment. If you’re thinking of starting a side hustle or even a full-blown business read on to find out what you need to know to get started.
1 | You can make great money
There is money to be made with selling products on TPT. Did you know that over 300 teachers have earned over one $Million selling products on TPT!?! I know, crazy right? If you want to start a side hustle or a small business, it’s possible. But it will require your time and effort.
You’ll have to do some research, invest in resources to help you and do some trial and error to see what works. If you want to make money, be sure to track all of your business revenue and expenses for tax purposes.
2 | The TPT Account You Choose Matters
TPT offers two types of accounts for sellers, and you’ll want to decide which one is best for you before you sign up.
- Basic Seller Account- This account cost a one-time non-refundable fee of $29. With this account you are paid out 55% on all of your sales and there’s a 30-cent transaction fee per resource.
- Premium Seller Account- This one costs $59.95 per year and you are paid out 80% of your sales and there’s a 15-cent transaction fee per resource but only on orders less than $3. The premium account also gives you access to premium features and marketing tools.
If you want to be a serious seller and make some money, then the premium account is the way to go since you get to keep 80% of your sales. In your first year if you sell $150 worth of products you’ll keep more of your earnings with the premium account. To get around the 15-cent fee you can price your products at more than $3.
The Basic account is best for teachers that want to sell some products for fun but don’t intend to try to make it a business.
3 | Canva is Your Best Friend
If you want to be a TPT seller than you’ll want to learn Canva. Canva is a graphic design site where you can make tons of cool stuff. Learn the tips and tricks to design in Canva will help your work look professional and high quality.
4 | Ensure that You are Not Violating Canva’s License Agreement
Canva does allow you to sell products created with their software but there are some restrictions. When selling products that you created in Canva be sure to read the Canva content license agreement to make sure that you are following their rules. The point of the license agreement is for Canva to make sure that the artists that provide art and designs for Canva are getting full credit for their work.
5 | Find the Right Niche
TPT is a very competitive site so to earn money you’ll need to stand out from the crowd and create a loyal customer base. To do this you’ll want to select the right niche and understand the needs and the preferences of your target market.
Do some research to find out what’s selling and consider what your expertise is in as well as what you’re passionate about. A great place to start is with the grade level you teach and your favorite subject area.
6 | Get Social
Once you’ve set up your account and have started to create resources be sure to promote them with social media. Some of the best platforms to promote your digital products are ones that other teachers are one.
Try Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Tik-Tok. You don’t have to do all of them, find the one you like the best and go all in on it to have the best results.
7 | Set Up Terms of Use for Digital Products
When selling digital products, it’s important to establish clear Terms of Use for your customers. This will help you maintain control over your intellectual property and prevent any unauthorized usage.
Begin by specifying whether the products are for personal or commercial use. For commercial use, you might want to include a separate licensing option with an additional fee.
Next, make sure to include information about:
• Sharing and distribution: Clearly state that sharing your digital products with others or distributing them on multiple platforms is prohibited.
• Modification: Define if your customers are allowed to modify the digital products, and if so, to what extent.
• Copyright and attribution: Emphasize that the copyright remains with you and your product should be attributed accordingly.
Create a concise and easy-to-understand Terms of Use document and make sure to include a link to it on your product pages.
8 | Manage Feedback & Improve Products
Actively engaging with your customers is essential for long-term success.
Encourage buyers to leave feedback on your digital products by:
- Including a call-to-action within the product file.
- Responding to their comments and addressing any questions they have.
- Thanking customers for their feedback, even if it is negative.
Use this feedback to make improvements to your products and develop new offerings that cater to the needs of your audience.
9 | Learn What Sells Best on TPT
On TPT there’s an easy way to see what digital products are selling best. Go to the TPT search and then filter by printables and then sort by rating count. This will show you what products have the most ratings.
The rule of thumb is that about 10% of customers will leave reviews for products. So to find out how much of a product has sold divide the number of ratings by 10% and this will give you an estimate of how many have sold.
To make it a little easier for you, I created a little cheat sheet. Click here to download my list of the 10 Top Selling Digital Products on TPT.
I hope you are ready to get started with your TPT store. If you found this post helpful, please give it a share on your favorite social.
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