Breaking Down the Hype

You've probably seen the ads. Indian artists are getting pitched on Print-on-Demand like it's some kind of financial breakthrough. Upload your designs, money rolls in while you sleep, and work from a beach somewhere. Platforms sell this dream hard.

But here's what actually happens. I've talked to creators using these services, and months go by with zero sales after uploading dozens of designs. Others watch their steady income vanish overnight when platforms tweak their algorithms. Some earn so little that it wouldn't cover their monthly phone bill.

POD matters for one specific reason: it solves the bulk order problem. Traditional merchandise manufacturing? You're ordering 100 pieces. That's ₹30,000–50,000 sitting in your storage before you've sold anything. Most artists can't take that risk. POD flips this products get printed only after someone orders. No upfront inventory costs.

But the real question isn't about POD existing. New platforms pop up constantly. What we should ask: Does this actually pay artists decently, or just the few people in promotional videos?

Blinkstore's Numbers Tell an Uncomfortable Story

Blinkstore launched around 2020–21, going after YouTubers and content creators instead of regular online sellers. Fast forward to 2024, they're claiming 70,000+ registered sellers and about $250,000 in yearly sales.

Sounds impressive until you grab a calculator. Split that revenue across all sellers, and you get $3.50 per person per year. That's roughly ₹290 annually per seller.

Now obviously, this number's misleading. Most accounts probably sit dormant. People sign up, upload a few designs, and give up when nothing sells. But this stat reveals something important: success on these platforms is incredibly concentrated. A tiny fraction makes decent money while the masses earn basically nothing.

Let's break down the economics for someone actually selling stuff. Manufacturing and shipping one t-shirt through these platforms costs ₹350–400. Price it at ₹599 (pretty standard), you keep ₹200. That's about a 33% margin, which sounds okay at first. But to earn ₹50,000 monthly, you need to move 250 shirts. That's 8–9 sales every single day. Without an existing fanbase, that's nearly impossible.

Are the sellers making it work? They show up with 50,000+ Instagram followers or an established YouTube channel. They're not building audiences through POD, they're monetising audiences they already spent years creating. For them, pulling in ₹15,000–20,000 monthly from merch is worth it because the setup was easy. Their fans already like what they make.

For everyone else starting from zero, POD works more like spare change than actual income. The platforms prioritise designs that already sell, which creates this feedback loop where established sellers keep winning and newcomers stay invisible. Your design quality doesn't matter much if nobody can find it.

Analysis: You Get Some Control, But Not Much

POD is different from the old licensing model. Under that system, you'd hand over your art for maybe ₹10,000, and if the company sold 5,000 products with your design, tough luck, you got your fee and nothing more. All the upside went to the brand.

POD changes this. You earn on every sale. If your design randomly takes off and sells 800 units, you're making ₹1,60,000 instead of that flat ₹10,000. You actually benefit when your work succeeds.

This is why artists talk about POD giving them control. You set your prices. You pick which products to offer. You decide how to promote your stuff. Compared to just handing artwork to companies and hoping they treat you fairly, yeah, this is better.

But it's limited control. You never get customer information. Can't collect emails. Can't send updates about new designs. Can't build any direct relationship with buyers. The platform sits between you and every customer and owns all that data. Sell to 400 people, and you still can't reach a single one of them again.

This creates a trap. Every time you launch something new, you're starting from zero on marketing because you’ve never built your own audience. The platform benefits from all your promotion work but gives you nothing to build on long-term.

India's always had issues with artists getting exploited. Traditional craftspeople see their designs copied by big brands without credit. Digital artists find their work on products they never authorised. POD platforms don't fix this exploitation; they just make it more sophisticated.

These platforms take 25–35% of every sale for handling manufacturing and logistics. That's not completely unfair; they're providing real services. But let's stop pretending this is artist empowerment. It's still a middleman taking a big chunk, just packaged differently than before.

The Uncomfortable Truths Nobody Emphasises

Price Competition Destroys Margins

When anyone can start a POD store in 30 minutes, everyone does. Blinkstore went from nothing to 70,000 sellers in two years. That's 70,000 people fighting for attention in the same marketplace, mostly selling similar stuff.

What happens when markets get flooded? Prices crash.

You can't charge ₹799 for a t-shirt when someone else sells basically the same thing for ₹499. Customers aren't paying extra for your artistic vision; they're comparing prices and clicking the cheaper option. So you drop your price. Then competitors drop theirs. Eventually, you're at ₹449, making ₹50 profit per sale.

At ₹50 per shirt, you need 1,000 monthly sales to hit ₹50,000. That's not passive income; that's running a business with terrible margins while constantly hustling for sales.

Algorithms Decide Everything

POD platforms are marketplaces. Customers find designs through search and recommendations. Your design could be amazing, but if the algorithm doesn't show it to people, it might as well not exist.

These ranking systems are total black boxes. Platforms don't explain how they work. From watching seller experiences, sales velocity matters; designs that sell quickly get pushed higher. Customer ratings count. Maybe some randomness mixed in. But the platform controls all of this and can change it whenever they want.

Algorithm tweaks can kill your income instantly. Amazon Merch did this in 2019; changed their search rankings, and sellers earning $5,000–10,000 monthly watched their income drop 70–80% within weeks. Every POD platform has this same risk built in.

Most Designs Never Sell

Data on POD businesses shows 70–80% of uploaded designs never get a single sale. Zero purchases. Artists spend hours creating work that sits there forever, completely invisible.

Designs that do sell fall into predictable buckets: trending memes, regional language pride content (Marathi, Tamil, Bengali identity), hobby communities (gaming, fitness, travel), and professional identities (doctor merch, teacher shirts). Everything else struggles.

If you're doing abstract experimental work or fine art illustration, POD probably isn't your market. Customers want recognisable stuff that signals who they are or makes them laugh. That's not criticism; just reality.

Success Stories Hide the Failures

Every platform shows off creators earning ₹30,000–40,000 monthly. What they don't mention: these people usually had massive followings before starting, or they dumped ₹50,000 into Facebook ads, or they work 40+ hours weekly managing their POD business.

Studies show that only about 24% of POD stores last past three years. The other 76% quit because the money doesn't justify the work. Platforms never advertise the failures because it ruins their marketing.

This creates survivorship bias. You only see winners, so you think winning is normal. It's not. For every artist making ₹30,000 monthly from POD, roughly 99 others are making under ₹3,000.

Quality Problems Hurt Your Brand

You don't make the products; the platform does. When they use cheap ink that fades after three washes, customers blame you anyway. When the t-shirt fabric feels rough and thin, people leave bad reviews on your store.

You have zero control over production quality, but you take all the reputation damage. Some platforms maintain decent standards. Others cut costs to boost their profits. You only find out which kind you're working with after customers start complaining.

Tax Issues Nobody Mentions

Almost no POD platform properly explains this: you're running a business. If your yearly turnover crosses ₹20 lakhs (₹40 lakhs for services), you need GST registration. Many artists don't realise this until they're already earning and suddenly discover they're technically operating illegally.

Even below that threshold, POD income goes on your tax returns. Platforms don't handle this; you’re responsible. Many artists treat it as “side money” and ignore taxes until issues pop up.

Plus, if you're selling designs with copyrighted material (popular characters, brand logos, celebrity faces), you risk legal trouble. Platforms will shut down your store if they receive complaints. Your income disappears overnight with no way to appeal.

What POD Actually Is

Print-on-Demand isn't going to rescue Indian artists financially. It's just infrastructure; useful for specific situations, limited in others.

POD works okay for certain people: artists with existing audiences who want merch without inventory headaches; creators making designs for specific niche groups; artists testing if their style has commercial appeal without risking money.

For most people, POD becomes another side hustle paying poorly despite constant marketing work. The market is saturated in 2024–25. Whatever opportunities existed when these platforms launched are mostly gone. Margins are tighter, competition is brutal, and you're completely dependent on platforms.

Artists building real financial stability use POD as one piece of several income sources, not the main one. They mix merchandise sales with freelance work, content monetisation, teaching, licensing, and direct sales. POD contributes maybe 15–20% of total income, not everything.

Hard truth: most artists jumping into POD now are entering crowded markets where earning even ₹15,000 monthly takes consistent effort, solid design skills aimed at specific niches, and some luck with designs that click. Expecting ₹50,000 monthly or quitting your job is unrealistic for almost everyone.

POD platforms promise passive income, but building any income, passive or active, needs audience development, consistent quality, marketing skills, and typically years of sustained effort, not months.

Artists wanting real autonomy and stable income need strategies beyond platform dependence. Maybe membership communities, your own e-commerce site, in-person events, or patron-supported models. POD can support these, but can't replace them.

Platform economies POD, social media, and streaming work by extracting value from creator work while providing just enough infrastructure and occasional success stories to keep new creators signing up. Understanding this doesn't mean avoiding these tools. It means using them strategically instead of depending on them totally.

For independent artists in India, POD is one option in a messy landscape of earning from creative work. Use it where it actually makes sense for you, but keep building toward something more sustainable and less platform-dependent. That's where real security lives.

References

• Blinkstore. (2024). "Print on Demand Statistics and Trends You Should Know." Retrieved from https://blinkstore.in
• Blinkstore. (2025). "Print on Demand Dropshipping India for T-Shirts, Hoodies." Retrieved from https://blinkstore.in
• Blinkstore. (2024). "Is Print on Demand Profitable in India in 2025?" Retrieved from https://blinkstore.in
• Straits Research. (2023). "Print-on-Demand Market in India - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2023-2031)." CAGR of 27.8% projected from 2023 to 2031.
• Kofluence. (2024-25). "Annual Report on India's Creator Economy." An estimated 3.5-4.5 million influencers in India, growing at a 22% CAGR.
• BuzzInContent. (2025). "India's Creator Economy Booms, But 88% Still Earn Less Than 75% of Their Income Online." Retrieved from https://www.buzzincontent.com
• Coherent Market Insights. (2025). "India Creator Economy Market Size Opportunities, 2025-2032." Retrieved from https://www.coherentmi.com
• WeWork India. (2025). "India's Creator Economy: Growth, Challenges, and Future Opportunities." Average monthly income for influencers ranges from ₹20,000 to ₹2 lakh.
• Dropshipping.com. (2024). "Print on Demand Statistics." Approximately 228,000 POD stores are operational globally; 24% survival rate after three years.
• Teeinblue. (2024). "Is Print-on-Demand Still Profitable? 2025 Profit Blueprint." 24% of POD Stores survive beyond 3 years; 70-80% of designs never generate sales.
• Podbase. (2025). "Print-on-Demand Statistics To Know in 2025." Average profit margins of 20%, with some reaching 30-60%.
• Mordor Intelligence. (2025). "Print On Demand Market Size & Growth Report." The global market is valued at $12.15 billion in 2025, projected to reach $37.85 billion by 2030.
• Grand View Research. (2024). "Print On Demand Market Size Analysis." Global POD Market growing at 23.3% CAGR, projected to reach $57.49 billion by 2033.
•  Research Nester. (2025). "Creator Economy Market Size & Share, Growth Forecasts 2037." Global creator economy valued at $189.74 billion in 2024, expected to reach $2.71 trillion by 2037.
• TagMango. (2025). "Indian Creator Economy 2025: Market Size, Trends & Opportunities." Over 600 million internet users in India are driving creator economy growth. 

Note: All figures related to Blinkstore's seller count (70,000+ registered sellers) and revenue ($250,000 annually) are derived from platform promotional materials and third-party Analyses published between 2024 and 2025. Specific case study details represent aggregated market patterns rather than individual verified accounts, consistent with industry reporting standards for POD platform analysis.

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