How to Start a Successful Print Reseller Business: A Complete Guide

Summary: With the number of profitable resellers growing day by day, it’s the ideal time to launch a print reselling business. If you are thinking of starting one too, and don’t know how to begin, you’re at the right place. This guide covers all the necessary information you need to start and successfully run your online reselling print ecommerce store. Read on!

In today's digitization-led innovative world, the print reselling business model is attaining outstanding traction because of its ease, cost-effectiveness, dynamic nature, and high chances to stay profitable.

As per research, resellers can make up to 20% to 50% profit on their sold products by setting the right profit margins and utilizing a strategic roadmap. However, not everyone knows the strategic and effective approach to starting a print reseller business. If you are one of them, this blog is a must-read for you.

In this blog, we will discuss everything necessary for starting a reselling business, from the significance of a print reseller network, steps to begin with print reseller e-commerce, how an advanced trade printer solution can be helpful, and whatnot!

Whether you are a seasoned PSP looking to expand your horizon into the reseller business or a novice printer seeking insights into this flourishing print reselling realm, this blog is your compass.

Your adventure begins now!

What is a Print Reseller?

A print reseller is an individual or business that connects end customers and printing companies by fulfilling orders of various types of print products without owning their in-house printing equipment. The print reseller business plan primarily comprises sales, marketing, designing, customizations, and order-taking capabilities.

Once orders are placed, wholesale printers for resellers come into the picture as they take care of the production and printing. This type of business model of a print reseller program makes it profitable, as a reseller can offer colossal print products to buyers without bearing any associated overhead costs involved in maintaining a full-proof printing infrastructure.

With the advent of modern web to print solutions, print resellers can automate the ordering process, let customers personalize design on their own, and do a lot more, in turn, delivering memorable customer experiences.

What is a Print Reseller Network?

The term print reseller network is often used in the printing industry for a collaborative ecosystem of various print resellers, printing companies, and relevant stakeholders. This network works systematically by connecting reseller printing services with multiple print vendors in one place.

The print reseller network functions with a cooperative approach with the ultimate goal of enhancing individual resellers' offerings and competencies, leveraging collective resources and valuable partnerships within the printing industry.

By making the most out of a print reseller network, you can expand your product range irrespective of your business model. Whether you are a generic print reseller or want to start a reselling print-on-demand business, there is scope for all!

Moreover, you can meet specific customer demands and ensure high-quality print results by working with different wholesale print vendors of the network having expertise in various dimensions of print production. Also, when you become an integral part of a print reseller network, you can scale your business by tapping into the network's resources and partners as demand grows.

Top Benefits of Becoming a Print Reseller

Does print reselling look appealing to you?

It is a great idea to enter the print industry as this business model offers several unique benefits. We have discussed the top ones among them below:

• Low Investment: You only need to make a small investment as a reseller printer because a third-party print vendor will meet your printing needs. You don't have to spend capital on setting up printing equipment and other physical frameworks.
• No Maintenance: In print reselling, you can save costs and time without worrying about the maintenance, repair, or upgrades of printing machines.
• Volume Discounts: Print reselling is about leveraging partnerships and volume discounts through a reseller network. This, in turn, can help you with offering cost-effective printing solutions to end customers, doubling up your customer experience levels.
• Focus on Sales: You can focus more on strengths like sales, marketing, and customer relationship management while not worrying about production.
• Scalable Offerings: As your business grows, you can scale up with varied product offerings by collaborating with more and more printing partners and eventually reaching a more extensive customer base.
• Easy Website Setup: You can instantly create dynamic printing reseller websites by utilizing the web to print software, the most popular technology in the print reselling business landscape.
• Work Remotely: It is possible to function virtually from anywhere as a print reseller, so you can attain the utmost geographic flexibility.
• Network Growth: In the print reselling business, networking is critical, and that boosts your probability of collaborating, gathering knowledge, and ensuring business growth.

How Can You Establish a Print Reselling Business?

Now that you know the significance of setting up a print reseller business, are you all set to establish one? Don't wait anymore! Get started now. Below is a step-by-step guide to starting a reselling business. Read on.

Step #1: Do Your Groundwork & Arrangement

The first and foremost thing you should do to establish a print reseller business is comprehensive research and planning.

Begin with researching the latest trends in the printing industry, understand how you can automate your printshop, and explore different types of printing services, like digital printing, offset printing, screen printing, etc.

After that, choose a specific niche you want to focus on and select products you wish to offer.

Step #2: Setup Your Print Reseller Business

Next, decide the structure of your prospective print reselling business as you move forward.

Whether you want to go for sole proprietorship, partnership, or LLC, finalize that and register your business according to the laws of your country or region. Make sure you have obtained the required licenses and permits.

Now it's time to plan your business. Define your goals and objectives, explore your target market, set up your pricing strategy, make the financial projections, and have your growth plan ready.

Step #3: Select Your Printing Partners

Choose your desired wholesale print partners. This is one of the most critical steps to take care of while starting a print reseller business. Because you will trust the trade printers for printing, you must be cautiously deciding upon how to use the trade printer web-to-print solution for your business.

Look for those companies that offer premium quality products with affordable pricing and trustable services. Understanding their operational model, pricing, and minimum order requirements is critical.

You must also legally review the terms and conditions of trade print reseller agreements. All these together finally make you ready for the next step.

Step #4: Create Your Brand-Specific Print Reseller Online Store

Once you finish the basic steps mentioned above, it's time to go online and create your digital brand identity. Go for a business name, logo, and branding material showcasing your niche and service type.

Using print shop management software to set up your online store would be the best idea here. It can ensure a user-friendly website, helping you give better visibility to your printing solutions, products, contact information, etc. Leveraging SaaS based web-to-print solution for creating an online store will also help you keep your website SEO-optimized.

Step #5: Plan the Print Order Management Process

After you have set up your digital store it's time to design a robust print order management system. Ensure it is automated enough to quickly push the orders to your print partners' system and fulfill them as soon as possible.

You must focus on curating a streamlined end-to-end order management process that should start from order placement until payment and delivery. Simultaneously, it is also critical to coordinate and communicate with your print suppliers at this stage. This helps you ensure efficient production and timely delivery of orders to your customers.

Step #6: Customer Engagement, Marketing & Promotions

After you are done with the fundamental establishment of your print reseller business, consider focusing on offering solid customer experience and building strong relationships with them. Make it a point to respond to inquiries promptly, address customers' problems, and ensure timely delivery of orders.

Leveraging the power of the next-gen B2B web to print storefront, you can offer all that with utmost precision and efficiency. Moreover, remember to leverage proactive digital marketing strategies like social media, email, and content marketing to reach your target audience.

Also, attend industry events, trade shows, and networking events to connect to your fellow print resellers, potential clients, and trade printers. Building invaluable relationships can help you gain extraordinary credibility in the print reseller business.

Step #7: Unveiling the Trade Printer’s Significance

In the above discussion, you have already read about trade printers. Now it is the time to explore and understand their enormous importance in the print reselling business. Yes! We are talking about your print partners or suppliers!

Trade printers are professional printing companies with a B2B business model and typically serve print resellers, designers, and other printing industry businesses instead of end-buyers directly. In a nutshell, they provide printing services to resellers like you at wholesale prices, allowing you to rebrand and resell the printed products to your customers!

Web-to-print solution providers like OnPrintShop enable seamless integration with top trade printers or suppliers in the print market like Sina Printing, 4Over, Print.com, & Route 1 Print. Setting up an online store with OnPrintShop can allow you to directly leverage the potential of these suppliers.

How Can You Choose the Best Trade Printer for Your Print Reseller Business?

There are innumerable trade printers out there in the print industry. And with so many known names, it often becomes difficult for print resellers like you to choose the best trade printing company to support your business. Below are the most prominent factors you should consider while selecting the best trade printer, and you will be able to partner with the most appropriate one as per your needs.

• High-quality printing capability
• A wide range of services and products aligning with your business needs
• Faster turnaround time
• Reliability & consistency to deliver as promised
• Price competitiveness, the right balance between cost and quality
• Available print customization options
• Involved Innovative technology; the most modern print technology must be desired
• Responsive and helpful customer support
• Reviews and ratings
• Location of the trade printer; a nearby location can save your shipping costs, delivery times, and communication effort
• The flexibility to accommodate your future growth

Wrapping it Up!To conclude, starting a print reseller business by leveraging emerging technologies like web-to-print is a highly profitable option. Web to print solution provider like OnPrintShop offers the best trade printing solutions for boosting the growth of print reseller businesses.With capabilities like automated order management, streamlined operations, enhanced customer experience, user-friendly storefronts, powerful design tools, and a vast product range, OnPrintShop empowers you to stand out in the competitive print reselling market.So, are you ready to digitize and elevate your print reseller business? Request a demo with OnPrintShop today to explore our award-winning w2p solutions and transform how you do your reselling business.