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 one of the most popular items to purchase, and because of that, they are also one of 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 how to sell coffee mugs online, from creating the design all the way to marketing and selling your product.
Make Your Design
You no longer need to be a pro at Photoshop to create simple graphics. By far, the most accessible way to create designs is by using Canva. Canva has a free tier and a paid tier. While you 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 made of simple quotes that require minimal work. You can also play around by adding shapes, switching up colors, and using the huge graphics library to piece together 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 still choose to use Adobe Illustrator to create your designs. This has a sharper learning curve and a higher price point, but there are no limits on what you can create.
A Note on Copyright
When learning how to sell mugs online, many people don’t pay attention to copyright. It’s crucial that you only sell designs you have the rights to. 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, be sure to talk to a legal professional.
Sell Print-on-Demand Products
Print-on-demand (POD) coffee mugs are ideal for those who don’t want to actually 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 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 other platforms.
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 handing off a chunk of your profits as well.
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 all kinds of products, including socks, phone cases, T-shirts, pillows, and, yes – 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 from your profits; you simply pay a set base price for each product you print, making it affordable to get started. They also offer bulk discounts for high-volume accounts.
While you can list products 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 huge print-on-demand service that’s very popular with 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 several options – 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, eBay, Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, or another one of their partners. Whenever someone places an order, Printify will handle all the 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 have Spreadconnect, which allows you to sell on some of the most common e-commerce platforms, such as 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 largest e-commerce site in the world? 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 that extra step of integrating your shop over to Amazon.
5. Gelato
Gelato is a global print-on-demand company that services 32 different countries and offers sellers a huge 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 originally sold mugs and other merch 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.
Create Your Own Mugs
Of course, you can also make and sell your own custom coffee mugs. The mugs that go for the highest price are those made from scratch, such as hand-painted mugs. But you can also easily print your own designs on Canva and put them onto mugs.
The home crafting brand Cricut has a wonderful product that allows you to print designs onto your mugs directly at home. Using the Cricut Mug Press, you first print your design using their Infusible Ink transfer sheets. Then, you 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. Better yet, it completely holds up to 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.
Where to Sell Your Mugs
Is selling mugs profitable? It sure can be, as long as you actually take the time to market your mugs and get the word out there 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 widest global reach (though it can be hard to show up in searches!). Luckily, it’s fairly 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 to sell handmade goods, including mugs! You can choose to print and create the mugs yourself to ship or link a print-on-demand service, and they will do 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 the listing, make sure to fill out as much information as possible so that your results can appear in the search.
If possible, offer a custom mug option on Etsy. Mugs are a great gift for special occasions, and people love to customize the mugs to have names, pictures, etc., unique to them. For example, create a generic design for a bride to gift to a 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 and Father’s Day or any number of other special events. Plus, it takes minimal work 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 a platform such as Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace. This allows you to really look professional and customize the site completely. You can make your own branding and logo and have a clean-looking place for your customers to shop.
The only difficulty in 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 showcasing over 40 different places you can sell your handmade items.
Marketing Your Mugs
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!
Advertising 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, also give TikTok a chance. People love seeing behind-the-scenes videos of artists at work creating their products. Social media will help you reach more people beyond your 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 like Etsy or Amazon, you want to fill out everything 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 Wrapup
And that’s how to sell coffee mugs online! First, just begin designing and get the creative juices flowing. 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 home-based mug business? Be sure to grab our free business plan template.
Originally published October 24, 2022. Content updated October 2024.
