Print On Demand Etsy Over $6,000 In Sales With One T-Shirt Design

About this video

Martinez interviews designer Tony (Odyssey Rock), who recounts his career and a viral Etsy weekend. Tony says he has worked in design for about 30 years, starting with airbrushing at Los Angeles swap meets in the late 80s/early 90s, then graphic art and about 20 years coloring comics including work for DC Comics, plus entering Shirt.Woot derbies — which he describes as paying $1,000 upfront plus about $2 per shirt to top winners. The central story, stated in the transcript as Tony’s claim, is over $6,000 in Etsy sales over one weekend from a simple three-word Halloween shirt reading ‘worst costume ever.’ He says it was featured in Etsy’s newsletter in early October, sold close to 200 shirts the first day by his account, and he fulfilled it himself using cheap plastisol screen-printed transfers (about 25 cents each by his account), blank shirts tracked by size/color in a spreadsheet, and his wife shipping while he pressed. He explains reinvesting profits into equipment — a quality Geo Knight heat press and a Graphtec vinyl cutter bought after a rally squirrel shirt — preferring to print himself for quality control over print on demand, and shifting on Etsy toward personalized name/city/hobby designs because general designs get copied. His closing advice is to start with what you know — your culture, hobbies and inside jokes — add a twist instead of copying trending phrases, and accept slow, obsessive learning.

Key takeaways

• Per Tony’s account, a simple three-word text shirt (‘worst costume ever’) did over $6,000 in Etsy sales in a weekend after an Etsy newsletter feature
• Simplicity sells: buyers needed almost no decision beyond finding the idea funny, and he sold close to 200 shirts the first day by his account
• For a surge, he used low-cost plastisol transfers, a size/color spreadsheet, extra stock in best-selling sizes/colors, and family shipping help instead of screen-printing inventory
• Reinvest early profits into reliable equipment, starting with a good heat press, and print yourself if quality control matters more than hands-off fulfillment
• Reduce copycat risk with personalized designs, and start from niches you personally know so you can judge whether a design would sell

Episode details: published May 2, 2021 · 44:52 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are RJ Martinez’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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