A few years ago, I started a side hustle selling my designs on Zazzle, which is a print-on-demand marketplace. Let me start with a caveat: I did not get rich. I don’t make six figures. What I do earn is a steady $500–$1,000 a month in fairly passive income—and for something I built in my spare time, usually when I was sitting in front of the television.
Before Zazzle, I sold printables on Etsy—mostly gift tags and invitations. I enjoyed the creative side of it, and sales were steady. But over time, the constant stream of customer questions, customization requests, file resends, and last-minute edits became overwhelming. So many orders required hands-on work. It definitely wasn’t passive.
So I signed up for Zazzle. I uploaded a handful of products, checked my dashboard for a week or two… and nothing. No sales and no traffic. I figured it wasn’t for me and forgot about it.
A few months later, I randomly logged back in, and I had made a sale. But that small notification did not changed anything. Etsy had made 400 times what I earned on that one sale, and so even though it had worked, it still didn’t seem worth it.
I let it sit again.
It wasn’t until I was furloughed during the 2019 government shutdown that I really gave it attention. With unexpected time on my hands, I started uploading designs for wedding welcome bags. To my surprise, they sold. So I made more. Then coordinating items. Then paper goods.
When the pandemic hit, I had even more evenings and weekends at home. Instead of scrolling, I designed. Slowly, consistently, I built out collections. Over time, my shop grew to around 5,000 products. I quit Etsy.
I still work full time at another job. I go months without logging in to Zazzle. I am not consistent. I do not treat it like a hustle culture experiment. And yet, it continues to generate income.
Zazzle is not a get-rich-quick plan. It is more like planting seeds and occasionally watering them.
If you’re thinking about starting on Zazzle, here are some tips based on what actually worked for me:
1. Think in Collections, Not Single Products
Don’t just upload one design on one item. If you create a wedding welcome bag design, put it on:
- Stickers
- Invitations
- Gift tags
- Water bottle labels
- Welcome signs
- Favor tags
One design can become 20+ products. That’s how you scale without constantly reinventing the wheel.
2. Choose Niches with Ongoing Demand
Weddings worked for me because people get married every year. So did baby showers, holidays, and graduation. Think about life events, not trendy one-off moments.
3. Keep Designs Editable
One reason I prefer Zazzle over Etsy for printables is customization tools. Customers can type in their own names, details, and dates. And if you upload svgs for images, then they can also change the colors. That eliminates most back-and-forth messages. Design with editable text boxes wherever possible.
4. Volume Matters More Than Perfection
My first uploads were not masterpieces. What made a difference was building inventory and also gradually improving my designs through trial and error. With more products, you increase the surface area for search results. You don’t need viral designs—you need searchable ones.
5. Titles and Keywords Are Crucial
Zazzle is a search engine. Be specific:
- “French Blue Botanical Crest Wedding Welcome Bag” performs better than “Pretty Wedding Tote.”
Think like a customer typing into the search bar.
6. Expect a Slow Start
You might not see sales for weeks—or months. That doesn’t mean it’s failing. My first sale happened long after I stopped checking. Zazzle has a long shelf life.
7. Treat It Like a Long Game
This is not fast money. It’s compounding effort. A design you upload today could sell three years from now. Many of mine do. On the flip side, some never sell. And some sell really well for a couple years, then die off as styles and trends evolve.
8. Design for Real Use Cases
Ask yourself: What is this for?
A wedding welcome bag isn’t just a tote—it’s for hotel guests. That context helps you write better descriptions and reach the right buyers.
9. Accept Imperfect Consistency
I’m not a productivity guru. Some months I upload nothing. Some months I upload 100 products. Life happens, but the catalog remains.
10. Build Assets, Not Tasks
On Etsy, each order felt like a task. On Zazzle, each product is an asset. Once it’s live, it can sell repeatedly without additional effort.
Selling on Zazzle hasn’t made me rich. Unlike what so many people peddling courses will tell you, it is highly unlikely that you will ever be able to quit your day job. A few people have, but the vast majority have not and I am not going to lie to you.
But if you’re patient, willing to learn the platform, and okay with slow growth, it can absolutely become a steady side income. Let time do its thing.