Do you love cute coffee mugs? I mean, who doesn’t, right?! What if your obsession could actually make you money? From funny quotes to hand-painted art, here’s how to sell coffee mugs online for extra cash!
What do you get for the person who has everything? Or the person you don’t know well? Or something you know someone will actually use? A coffee mug, of course! Coffee mugs are among the most popular items to purchase, and as a result, they are also among the best items to sell online.
If you are looking for a side hustle or a way to build a profitable and fun business, consider selling coffee mugs! Here’s a step-by-step guide to selling coffee mugs online, from creating the design to marketing and selling your product for a profit.
Decide on the Types of Mugs You Want to Sell
There are many ways to start your coffee mug empire, from custom-printed mugs to hand-painted designs, to using a Cricut machine, laser engraving, or even sculpting your own mugs from clay. The direction you take will depend on which art medium you enjoy working with the most.
However, before you dive into designing and creating coffee cups, consider who your target audience is. Do you want to design one-of-a-kind, high-end coffee mugs that also serve as art? Or would you like to create coffee cups with humorous sayings that appeal to a broad audience? Picking a niche can help you narrow down many of the decisions you’ll face as a coffee cup business owner.
Creating Your Own Mugs
Of course, you can also make and sell your own custom coffee mugs. The mugs that command the highest prices are those made from scratch, such as hand-painted mugs and personalized cups. However, you can also easily print your own designs using a Cricut machine.
The home crafting company Cricut offers several ways for you to create mugs from the comfort of home. First, you can use the flagship product, the Cricut cutting machine, and add vinyl images to mugs. With Cricut, you have access to their own design software, where you can gather pictures, designs, and templates. They also have an Angel Policy, which delineates what you can use for commercial use and what’s not allowed.
They also have a product called the Cricut Mug Press, which enables you to print designs directly onto mugs at home using their Infusible Ink transfer sheets. With these sheets, you can draw or cut your design into sheets, and then attach the design to the mug and insert it into the press. At the click of a button, the design will be transferred to your mug. Best of all, it withstands the dishwasher and microwave.
If you plan on selling your mugs in person, making your own mugs allows you to control your stock and easily create custom designs.
Creating Custom-Printed Mugs
If you’re most interested in printed mugs, by far, one of the easiest ways to create designs is to use the online design program Canva. Canva offers a free and a paid subscription. While you’ll get more options for creating graphics with the paid account, there’s still plenty you can do with a free one, and you shouldn’t need to upgrade unless you find yourself bored with the free options.
In Canva, you can create mugs featuring simple quotes that require minimal effort. You can also experiment by adding shapes, switching colors, and utilizing their extensive graphics library to create a unique design for your totally custom mug. These are all free for commercial use.
Another popular option is Procreate, which is available for iPads. This allows you to draw your own designs digitally and easily save them as an image. Of course, you can also use Adobe Illustrator to create your designs. This has a steeper learning curve and a higher price point, but there are no limits on what you can make using this program.
The last option you may want to explore for custom-printed mugs is using stock images. At stock photo sites like Deposit Photos and Shutterstock, you can purchase affordable photos, vectors, and illustrations that are for commercial use. Be sure you read the usage terms before buying and using them on your coffee cups.
A Note on Copyright
When learning how to sell mugs online, many people overlook the importance of copyright. It’s crucial that you only sell designs for which you have the rights. This means not selling any images or words that you didn’t write unless you have purchased the rights to use them commercially.
This includes:
- Photos you didn’t take (including images of famous figures)
- Lyrics, quotes, or phrases you didn’t create
- Company logos or slogans
- Sports team logos
- Meme images
- Movie or TV show figures or images
- Images found on social media or search engines
What you can sell is original designs (including those made on Canva), original quotes, and generic sayings.
Disclaimer: We’re not lawyers, so if you have questions about copyright and commercial licensing, please consult a legal professional.
Sell Print-on-Demand Products
Print-on-demand (POD) coffee mugs are ideal for those who don’t want actually to create the mug by hand. With print-on-demand services, you can upload your designs, and your supplier will print them onto mugs for you. Some platforms allow you to list your product on the site for people to purchase, while others let you link to it directly through your own website or another sales channel, such as Etsy.
The benefit of this is that it is relatively hands-off. You never have to worry about holding inventory or shipping it to the customers. Print-on-demand companies handle all the printing and fulfillment for you.
On the downside, this means that your profit margin is smaller.
If you are interested in using print-on-demand, here are some companies to consider:
1. Spring
Spring, formerly Teespring, is one of the most popular print-on-demand services for creators. You can create a wide range of products, including socks, phone cases, T-shirts, pillows, and, of course, coffee mugs! Using their product launcher, you can upload your own designs or use their design tools to create your own.
Spring is totally free to use, and they don’t take any commission fees until you make a sale.
While you can list products directly on Spring, it works best to integrate them into their boosted network. This allows them to be posted on big hubs like Amazon and eBay. You must meet their qualifications first to be eligible for the boosted network.
2. Printify
Printify is another popular print-on-demand service, particularly among Etsy sellers. First, you can either upload your unique mug designs or use their tools to make one. You then select the type of mug you want to print your design on and set the sale price. With Printify, you can choose from a variety of options, including white ceramic mugs, accent mugs, black mugs, two-tone coffee mugs, heart-shaped mugs, color-changing mugs, enamel mugs, travel mugs, and more.
With Printify, you’ll need to integrate your products with an e-commerce platform, such as Squarespace, Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, or one of their other partners. Whenever someone places an order, Printify handles all printing and delivery—it’s as easy as that!
3. Spreadshirt
You also can’t go wrong with using Spreadshirt for your print-on-demand mugs. When you begin selling, you can choose to sell on Spreadshirt’s marketplace or open your own Spreadshop. In their marketplace, your products are immediately available to any Spreadshirt visitor. With Spreadshop, you can make your own custom website using Spreadshirt’s platform. They also offer Spreadconnect, which enables you to sell on some of the most popular e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, TikTok, Squarespace, WooCommerce, OrderDesk, Magento, API, and Shopware. Like the other POD platforms, once you make a sale, they’ll print and ship for you!
4. Amazon Merch on Demand
Why not work directly with the world’s largest e-commerce site? Amazon Merch is Amazon’s own print-on-demand platform. It works very much like the other print-on-demand stores, where you upload your design, select your product, and fill out a description. They will then print and ship any orders for you. The benefit of this is that Amazon will automatically generate a product page for you. You don’t have to worry about the extra step of integrating your shop on Amazon.
5. Gelato
Gelato is a global print-on-demand company that services 32 different countries and offers sellers a vast array of high-quality products to design and sell online. From mugs and tote bags to clothing for men and women, they have something for everybody. With this POD platform, you can use their design tools to create your merch or upload your own designs to the platform. Once you have your products, you’ll connect your e-commerce platform (Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, or BigCommerce) to Gelato.
6. Redbubble
With Redbubble, you can choose between 70 unique products to sell, including coffee mugs! To get started, create an account and upload your designs to your shop; when a consumer purchases an item from your shop, Redbubble will custom print the item and ship it directly to the customer. Redbubble is free to join, and they only take a small fee from your profits when you make a sale.
If you’re unsure about selling coffee mugs through a POD platform, be sure to check out Jessica’s story. She initially sold mugs and other merchandise straight from her home, but hated the storage of inventory and the physical act of shipping products to customers. Then, she decided to switch to the POD business model, and now she has more time and earns a nice side income from home.
Where to Sell Your Coffee Mugs
Is selling mugs profitable? It certainly can be, as long as you take the time to market your mugs and get the word out about your products.
Here are some of the most popular ways to generate sales for your mugs.
Amazon
You can sell literally everything on Amazon. Selling coffee mugs on Amazon will give you the broadest global reach (though it can be hard to show up in searches!). Luckily, it’s pretty easy to become a seller on Amazon.
First, you must open a seller account. You can do a free individual option (if you’re only listing a few things at a time) or a professional paid monthly account that allows you to list as many products as you want and integrate easily with print-on-demand websites.
Etsy
Etsy is the largest online platform for selling handmade goods, including mugs. You can choose to print and create the mugs yourself to ship, or link to a print-on-demand service, which will handle all the work for you. Like most sites, Etsy does take a small percentage of the profit for using its site.
For new sellers, it can be challenging to get those first sales. But once you start getting reviews, the sales keep trickling in! When creating a listing, ensure that you fill out as much information as possible, including relevant keywords, so that your results can appear in search results.
If possible, offer a custom mug option on Etsy. Mugs are a great gift for special occasions, and people love to customize them with names, pictures, and other unique elements. For example, create a generic design for a bride to gift her bridal party. Then, add an option to change the name on each mug; it feels like a much more special gift. And the opportunities for this are endless! You can offer custom photo mugs for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any other special event. Plus, it takes minimal effort to add a name or photo to an existing design on Canva.
Learn more about how to be successful selling on Etsy in this article.
Create Your Own Online Store
You can use many of the print-on-demand websites to create your own online mug store using platforms like Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace. This allows you to present a professional appearance and fully customize the site. You can create your own branding and logo, and have a clean-looking space for your customers to shop.
The primary challenge of having your own online shop is getting people to visit it. This method works best for those who already have a following you can advertise to or are prepared to put in the effort to drive traffic to their site.
Other Places to Sell
Want even more options? Check out this article, which showcases over 40 different places where you can sell your handmade items.
Marketing Your Coffee Cups
Once you have everything set up, it’s time to spread the word! One of the best ways to showcase your mugs these days is through social media. Every business, including your DIY mug business, needs a few social media accounts!
Showing some of your new products on Instagram and Facebook is a great way to get the word out about your online business. If you’re feeling brave, give TikTok a chance as well. People love seeing behind-the-scenes videos of artists at work creating their products. Social media can help you reach a wider audience beyond your local community. You can even consider running your own ads on social media to promote your mugs.
The other thing you want to do is optimize your products for search, also known as search engine optimization (SEO). Whether it’s on the print-on-demand website directly or a different e-commerce platform, such as Etsy or Amazon, you want to fill out as much information as possible in the product description. Use keywords you think potential customers would use when searching for products online, and include these words in your product title and description. This allows your listing to become more searchable and actually get views on these websites. More views mean more sales!
How to Sell Coffee Mugs: Conclusion
Need some more inspiration? Rachel Rofe, a serial entrepreneur, started selling made-to-order coffee mugs on Amazon as a side hustle in 2015. Her pit bull dog mug quickly took off, prompting her to create and sell a variety of dog mugs. What started as one product soon evolved into thousands of products for sale. Besides selling over seven figures in coffee mugs, Rachel has also started her own print-on-demand company, CustomHappy.
And that’s how to sell coffee mugs online! First, start designing and let the creative juices flow. Soon enough, you’ll have plenty of designs in no time and can start making a profit selling coffee mugs on the side.
Ready to start your coffee mug business? Be sure to grab our free business plan template.
