Art galleries aren’t the only way to display your work. Here’s a new flexible platform that will make selling your art online easier.
By Chew Yuin-Y
If you’ve ever thought about getting your artwork printed on or turned into merchandise, you have probably considered setting up your own online shop on platforms such as Etsy or trying out print-on-demand (POD) sites like Society6 and Redbubble.
An online store on Etsy or Shopee is a digital storefront, requiring you to handle the production and shipping of the product yourself. Other POD services are essentially simplified marketplaces for creators to put their work up, get found by buyers, and have the service handle production and shipping for you—but you have to use their platform. Gelato combines these two, offering creators flexibility.
Gelato allows creators to integrate Gelato’s POD services with their own existing online stores, whether it’s Etsy, Amazon, or even a creator’s own website on Shopify, Wix or Squarespace. So if you have an Etsy store already and are currently having to print your own T-shirt designs then ship them out yourself whenever an order comes in, Gelato can help you streamline this process. Connect your Gelato account to your Etsy store, and when someone places an order on Etsy, Gelato will process the order for you. Far simpler than having to do it all yourself!
If you don’t have a digital storefront of your own, that’s all right. Gelato is still a printing service, so you can place orders for products with your designs on them and have them delivered for you.
The advantage to POD services like Gelato is that you don’t need to order and hold large inventory for custom pieces, nor would you need to manage the packing and shipping yourself, which frees up your time and space at home.
Besides saving you time and space, Gelato helps save on costs. Gelato has a wide production network, with production hubs in various countries around the world—there are 39 in North America alone, and there are also production hubs in Malaysia and Singapore! Having such a wide network means reduced shipping costs and a shorter lead time overall, as a product will be delivered from the nearest possible production hub instead of having all the products delivered from only one country that may be on the other side of the globe from the receiver. Gelato’s production network can help reduce this particular expense, which ultimately benefits both creators and buyers. So, for instance, if someone in London wants to buy a T-shirt with your design on it, you can place an order with Gelato and Gelato will automatically find the nearest UK production hub that produces T-shirts and have it printed there and sent to your London buyer. Without Gelato, you might have to print the T-shirt here in Malaysia and then ship it yourself all the way to London, which would probably result in quite a high shipping cost.
The convenience of having local production hubs helps to ensure not only that the products get made and delivered more quickly (lead times are estimated at 3–5 days on average) but also that the delivery process is also more sustainable as your products need not be shipped from halfway round the world. Consumers usually value faster delivery, which means that products not only need to be made more quickly but also delivered as fast as possible. This often results in more delivery vehicles on the road (or sea or air), which increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to vehicle emissions. With local production hubs in various countries, Gelato can be a more sustainable option for fulfilling orders, especially if you have orders from abroad. However, not every product is available at local production hubs, so do check the product catalogue for details—each product page lists the countries where it can be fulfilled locally.
Currently, Gelato’s most popular products are wall art pieces (e.g. poster, canvas, and metal prints) and mugs. Besides those, Gelato also offers printing services for cards, clothing, tote bags, phone cases, photobooks, and stationery such as brochures and business cards.
Gelato is a great choice for anyone looking for a POD service that can be integrated with your existing online store and that delivers worldwide. Gelato is partnering with Penang Art District, and is currently offering a 50% discount on your first order when you sign up. Use the exclusive promo code Gelatox3 to unlock two more orders at 30% off.
Check out Gelato’s Resource page to find out more, or feel free to contact Isabelle Chiang of the Gelato team via e-mail or on Whatsapp:
+65 8308 5201
Chew Yuin-Y hails from Penang and is currently based in Kuala Lumpur. She teaches advertising design at Taylor’s University’s School of Media and Communication and works on personal art projects in her spare time.