Shop Set Up Process
Here is the basic shop set up process I follow with all my authors interested in my Book Merch Made Easy services, specifically Chapters 2 & 3.
Choose E-Commerce & POD Platform: When choosing where to host your merch shop, my first recommendation is to host your shop through the same platform as your website. Most website builders (Squarespace, Wix, Wordpress, etc) have their own e-commerce platform capabilities and it is best to use those options. This keeps your readers on your website rather than sending them to a third party site. When it comes to choosing a printer for your merch, some things to look for are making sure it integrates with your website/e-commerce platform, does it offer products you want, what payment methods does it integrate with, and how does it handle taxes and other financial pieces.
Order Product Samples: Once we have set up accounts with your e-commerce and POD platforms of choice, we can order samples of the products you want to offer. Some POD platforms have initial discounts and/or sample discounts that you can take advantage of to make sure the designs look great on the product in person as they do on screen.
Set Up Payment Methods: At some point in the setup process, I will give you the login info for the platforms so you can enter your own credit card/bank account info for where the order payments will be deposited and what card the printer will charge for orders.
Create Listings: At this point, I will upload all the designs and apply them to the different products on the printer platform. I will include any necessary info in the product description, and set the prices (I will share with you my pricing recommendations and you can adjust as you see fit), and then send the templates to your store. Once they are connected to your e-commerce platform, I will make any adjustments and additions to the listings that are needed.
Mockups: POD printers will usually provide mockups for the products, so I will download a variety of mockups featuring your designs for you to use for marketing your shop on your website, email newsletter, and social media.
Edits & Testing: Once all the listings are viewable on your shop (but not live to the public), you will be able to look everything over and request any changes or additions to the listings. I will also test the payment methods to make sure it will all go smoothly once we launch the shop.
Launch Shop: All that is left is to make your shop live so all your readers can purchase the new merch!
That is the basic process I go through when setting up a merch shop for authors. Want to learn more about the design process for creating the merch? I have a post on that, too!