While there are many different ways to start selling yoga mats online, in this article I’ll cover specifically how you can start a yoga mat business via print on demand.
Selling yoga mats via print on demand is not only super easy to get started, it’s in my opinion the best way to get started.
With print on demand, you have very little up front investments. This means that you can focus your investments in finding your audience, instead of spending money on manufacturing a product you aren’t sure is going to sell.
The best part? You can completely personalize the yoga mat to your likes and offer as many products as you want!
But I’m probably getting ahead of myself so let’s first get into what print on demand is before I sell you on why print on demand is the best way to get started in the yoga niche.
What Is Print On Demand?
Print on demand is a form of dropshipping. Basically, you are offering a product for sale that you don’t actually have in stock yourself. Once someone purchases your product, your dropshipping supplier handles the shipping for you.
This is the most ideal way to start an online business because it’s so easy and risk-free to get started with.
Now you can start dropshipping yoga mats from different suppliers worldwide, but that’s not what this article is really about.
This article is about dropshipping personalized yoga mats. And for this, you need print on demand dropshipping.
A print on demand supplier will print whatever design you want, on your yoga mats. And they do this — as the name states, “on demand”. This means you have zero upfront costs.
Here’s a quick example:
Elfie is an avid fan of yoga, she’s in the market for a new yoga mat and found your online Shopify store. After browsing for a bit, she decides to make a purchase. You get the CA-CHING notification on your phone — someone just made a purchase for $70. A couple of hours later you receive an email from your print on demand supplier stating they have received the order and they will get started on it right away. The supplier will then print the product and ship it to your customer.
Do you see how easy it is? There is no input on your end from checkout to shipping. This is all done for you!
The only input you will be providing is the store setup, adding product designs, and providing customer service.
These are all things, that eventually, you can outsource too! (Should you want that, of course)
Read Also: Print On Demand Guide
Print On Demand Yoga Mat Supplier
When most online sellers think “print on demand” they mainly think about t-shirts. This is the primary print on demand product and thus what people associate the term with. However, most print on demand providers offer a whole lot more than just t-shirts in their catalog.
But those products mainly consist out of accessories, art prints, and home decor. Yoga mats are pretty niche, and not easy to find in print on demand.
Both Printful and Printify do not offer yoga mats in their print on demand catalog, even though these are major players in the POD world.
These two giants are often the go-to for most sellers so when they don’t offer a certain product, many believe that the product is not available through print on demand. There are print on demand solutions for almost anything you can imagine: car seats, dog bowls, etc.
One POD supplier who does sell yoga mats, is Gooten.
Gooten is a popular print on demand supplier that allows integrations through Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, and their custom API.
So if you want to get started selling yoga mats through print on demand, Gooten is your guy (or in this case, supplier).
Selling Print On Demand Yoga Mats Via Shopify
You’ll need to have a platform to start your custom yoga mat business on.
The best place to get started fast and easy is with Shopify. Shopify is an eCommerce builder that lets anyone set up a webshop in minutes.
Shopify has mastered simplicity and usability and this has made both the creation and running of a Shopify store a piece of cake.
All you have to do is create a store account and you instantly get access to your store dashboard in under a minute of your time. This is completely free as Shopify lets anyone start their 14-day credit-card-free trial.
Shopify can be fully integrated and synced with Gooten through their Shopify app. This means that you can create products within Gooten and then import them into Shopify. These products will be synced up and when someone orders from your store, Gooten will take care of the rest.
It really doesn’t get any easier than this.
If you want to start a shop selling custom yoga mats, Shopify is the place to go.
Selling Custom Yoga Mats Via Etsy
If setting up your own store through Shopify seems a bit too daunting, you can opt for an Etsy shop instead.
Etsy is a marketplace, kind of like eBay where sellers offer their products and ship those to their customers.
Anyone can create an Etsy shop and Gooten also integrates with them just like they do to Shopify.
Starting a shop on Etsy is a bit different from starting a shop on Shopify. While on Shopify you are creating a store under your own brand. On Etsy, you are relying fully on the Etsy marketplace to do the marketing for you.
This means that you need to bring something new to the table as there is a lot of competition on Etsy. You’ll also have to deal with competitors trying to undercut you, that’s part of selling on Etsy.
Etsy has a subcategory specifically for yoga mats so there is definitely a demand if you want to get started on this platform.
Quick tip: Etsy customers LOVE personalized items. So if you plan to sell on Etsy, try to incorporate this. (e.g. you can let customers add their own name or a custom quote on their yoga mats)
Selling Print On Demand Yoga Mats via Society6
If you plan on creating a large number of yoga mat designs, you can opt for selling yoga mats on the Society6 marketplace as well.
Society6 is a print on demand marketplace, similar to Redbubble and Teespring.
Shoppers often go to these marketplaces with the intention to shop specifically for print on demand products.
However, these marketplaces are often saturated (even more so than Etsy) so unless you have very unique and outstanding designs, I would not recommend going this route.
Just like with Etsy, you’re also very limited in branding and advertising for these marketplaces.
Here’s the category page for yoga mats on Society6, to get an idea of what other people are offering.
Design Your Custom Printed Yoga Mats
If you have design experience, you’ll use Photoshop and/or Illustrator to create custom yoga mat designs and easily add them to your store through the Gooten app.
However, if you don’t have design experience (which I expect the majority to not have) don’t worry. You can still start a custom yoga mat business!
You can hire a designer on Fiverr to design a yoga mat for you. There are even sellers on Fiverr that are specifically for custom yoga mats!
You can completely leave it up to the designer, or come up with your own ideas and let your designer do the magic for you.
You should always download the printing template before starting the design process. This way you’ll be designing on the correct format. Always be sure to use at least 150dpi when using photoshop.
Here’s the link to the download if you can’t find it on the product page.
If you’re using a Fiverr designer, you should still download the template and send it to them. Or let them know you’re using Gooten yoga mat print on demand.
Final Thoughts
That’s about all you need to know on how you can get started selling custom yoga mats through print on demand.
If you want to create your own store and really start a brand that you can advertise through paid advertising or social media you should consider starting a Shopify store and syncing it with Gooten.
Other options include the Etsy marketplace or by selling designs on Society6.
But I do highly recommend going with Shopify so you can brand your store and scale it through advertising, social media, blogging, and other channels.
This article covers how you can get started with print on demand, step by step.
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