This is probably a dumb question, but let me explain. I have a service-based business, and while I'm happy not to have a boss, client work gets challenging too. I'm ready to have less of it and introduce selling products, and my business is definitely the type for that transition to be a natural one. Many people in my space are doing the same.A print-on-demand service like Printful selling and mailing out merch makes sense to me, because there's no upfront cost. However, the selection at those places is slim, and wholesale really appears to be the way to go. Not only for a larger selection of products, but also for quality--I got some samples of products from a custom wholesale printer recently and was so impressed with the quality in comparison to what I've gotten from POD.So here's what I don't understand. I'm looking at a few wholesale options right now. Let's say I purchase 60 long-sleeve shirts to start, 10 shirts at 6 sizes (which I understand is not many, but I need proof of concept first, as I haven't sold merch before and I need to know people want it). That costs roughly about $850 wholesale. If I sell them for $35 each max, which is all I really feel comfortable charing for that kind of item, I'll initially make about $2,100, minus $850 investment is $1,250. .....But then I have to buy another shipment, leaving me with about a measly $400 on top. And then it just keeps going, which does slowly stack up, but how long until I even make a few thousand?I understand that with wholesale, the per-item price drops as you purchase more, so as you become more successful at selling your stuff, it becomes more and more worth it. But with what I'm seeing, you would have to be very successful and sell thousands upon thousands of items before it really felt like something worthy of your work (designing, packing, shipping). It doesn't seem like it's super worth it for a side-portion of the business, and yet so many people in my space are selling side-merch that I have to wonder what the point is.The reason why this is confusing to me is because most of them are designers, and they are simply designing beautiful things for merch, without even putting their logos on them....so it seems to be merch for its own sake, as opposed to promotional merch. And given that I see the amount of followers they have and the amount of engagement they get, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold a fair amount of items (maybe dozens a month), but certainly not a ton. They rent their little storage units, buy all this stuff....for that small of a profit? Time is money! We get paid 4-5 figures per project, I just don't get it.Is there something I'm missing about this entire space? Is there a way to make a greater profit, faster? Am I underestimating how many people buy merch from businesses they follow? Or, are people more likely to buy merch from independent, smaller-type businesses (which we are), cause the items are more unique and less corporate? see hubwealthy.com/wealthy
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