Hi friends! I hope you had a good Easter weekend and ate lots of yummy candy! I don’t know about you but I think that Easter candy is the best! Reese’s eggs are my favorite!!! Okay so today I want to share some insider blog business stuff with you about why I sell DIGITAL prints and how it is better for you as a customer and me as a shop owner!
About a year and a half ago I re-opened my Etsy shop and starting selling Art Prints. I would get them printed and physically ship them to customers. At the time I lived in a small town in Hawaii and there happen to be an amazing local Print Shop nearby. I worked with them closely to get the paper, color, texture and cut of my art prints down exactly. I was pleasantly surprised by how many State Prints I sold and love packaging them up with my husband {on our kitchen table} to send off across the ocean.
{For more tips about how I shipped my art prints > HERE}
Then last summer, when we moved back to Utah and everything changed. I had the intentions that after we moved to Utah I would find a new local printer to work with and continue to sell and ship art prints. I figured that if I could find a printer in Hawaii I could definitely find one in Utah!
It proved much more difficult than I thought. Yes, there are plenty of print shop here in Utah but none of them were working out for me… They were either to far from my house, had bad customer service, cost too much money, didn’t have good quality etc…
Basically the timing just wasn’t right. I have learned from experiences that if something isn’t working I need to take a step back and re-evaluate what I am doing. No need to force it.
So after getting frustrated with printing options I decided to sell digital art prints.
What is a Digital Art Print?
- Basically it is the digital copy of the art print that I design in illustrator/photoshop. This means that you will receive the .jpg or .pdf of my exact file from my computer. {This is the same file that I would have taken to a print shop, had printed, and then mailed out to customers}
Why Would I Sell Digital Art Prints?
- Basically it is beneficial for me as the seller and you as the buyer. Yay! It is convenient for you because you can purchase an art print and get it printed at your own convenience. This may mean you print it at home on your own printer or maybe you upload it to Costco and pick it up during your next shopping trip. Easy peasy!
- This also allows you to print multiple copies. If you order a digital print and then want to print an extra for a friend, be my guest! {Just please don’t share the digital file}
What does it cost?
- Another benefit of selling/purchasing a digital print is the cost. I can sell my work to your for a more affordable price {because there isn’t a ton of physical involvement for me like there would be if I had to go to the printer, package up your print, and take it to the post office}. These means you get a pretty piece of art up on your wall for less money!
Let me break it down. When I sold physical art prints I sold them for $15 + $3.25 shipping. So a total of $18.25.
For a digital art print I sell them for $5. Then when you get it printed it is going to cost you somewhere around $1 – $3 {for super heavy stock} … but you are more likely to spend closer to the $1 end. That makes a grand total of $6.
See, win win for both of us. Selling DIGITAL art prints allows me to provide you with a more cost-effective way to get art prints on your wall!
How Do I Access My Files?
Good Question! After making a purchase on Etsy you will receive an email with a link to download your files. Just click on the link.
What happens if you delete that email?
Login to your Etsy Account. In the top right hand corner you will see your profile. Click the drop down menu so that you can see > Purchases and Reviews. Click that. Then you will see a blue box on the right hand side that says “download files”.
Thanks for your support!
Thank you for supporting my shop and helping my with my goal to create and to help support my family! You guys are the best! If you have any other questions about digital art prints please let me know!
Browse my ETSY SHOP.
Lesa says
Great post and fun to read!
Erika Williams says
Thank you for the great post! What do you use to create your printables? Thanks!
Kendra says
Photoshop :)
jenni says
Love your Etsy Shop! Question, when you list your digital files in Etsy, how do you get the thumbnail images of your wall art in a picture frame? Are you printing each one at home and putting in a frame to take a photo of it? I am trying to open a shop but haven’t figured this part out yet!
Kendra says
Thanks! And good question! Some of the shop photos are pictures I have taken. Some are stock photos and I put my art print in them. You can find them on Creative Markets, Adobe Stock, etc… :) Hope that helps!
Sidney Drake says
Thank you so much for this post! I am receiving orders and I need to open up an etsy shop. However I literally 5 minutes ago said “I wish I knew the pros and cons of printing and shipping vs digitally sending. And then I came across this article! Thank you!
Becky says
Hi , great post , just what I was looking for. I was wondering, when I open my shop can I just offer my printables as PDFs or should I offer JPG as well ? Just thinking that a professional print shop might not take PDF if a customer wishes to have it printing on a canvas for example.
Thanks Becky
Kendra says
hi! I usually include both files. Or if not customers can email me and request the other files type if they need :)