As a photographer, you need to diversify your income streams. Selling photo prints may be one of your primary sources of income from photography. What if you can generate more revenue by selling custom merchandise using your photographs. In this guide, I will share 8 such custom photography merchandise that you can sell through your site. It will definitely help you to generate more income.
Unlike early days where we could only print on different types of photo paper, now the photo printing process can be done on various mediums. Thus, it helps to generate new business ideas. So, as a photographer, you must also explore these options and try to implement the feasible ones to boost your photography business.
1. Photography Tees 
Selling photo tees is one of the best options for photo merchandise. You can include round neck tees and V-neck tees in your store. Make some fabulous designs with your images.
If you are not good at designing t-shirts, you can even get help from a professional designer. Some online tee printing services will allow you to upload your image and make a custom design. You can go for that option also.
2. Photo Face Mask 
With the outbreak of COVID, a face mask is a mandatory accessory when you go out. So, it is a good idea to get your photos printed on face masks. It will definitely attract customers.
Make sure that you have good face mask designs for men, women, and children. You need to ensure high-quality photo print on the mask. Try to get masks in different colors.
3. Photo Blankets
You can also print your favorite images on blankets and sell them online. All your pictures won’t look good in a blanket. Only some of them will look good.
So, you need to previsualize and see how the photo will look on the blanket. You can shortlist a few images from your collection that will look attractive on the blanket. Use these images to create a set of custom blankets and put them for sale.
4. Photo Mugs 
Photo mugs are another option. Many people are interested in buying photo mugs for themselves as well as for gifting.
You can take some good images from your portfolio and convert them into awesome photo mug designs. There are two types of mugs available: a normal one and a heat-sensitive mug.
The heat-sensitive mug will have a black color on the outside by default. When you pour a hot liquid inside the mug, you can see the actual photo print on the outside. You can list both of these items.
5. Photo Jackets & Hoodies 
Other good photo merchandise options are photo jackets and hoodies. Many photographers sell their custom photo jackets to generate an extra income. So, you can also start selling your photo jackets.
You need to ensure that the jackets and hoodies on which you are going to print your images are of excellent quality and provide good comfort while wearing. You can print on both front and back side of the jacket.
6. Photography Caps 
As a photographer, you will have a logo. You can get this logo printed on caps and sell it. The logo can be either printed or stitched onto the hat.
Make sure that the cap looks good with the logo. Give multiple color options for the caps. The colors in the logo must blend with the cap color.
7. Photo Cushion Covers 
If you are a landscape photographer or a wildlife photographer, getting the photos printed on cushion covers is another option.
You will need an image in square format to print it on the cushion covers. You will be capturing the image with an aspect ratio of 2:3. So, you need to crop the image to a 1:1 ratio to make it fit for printing for the cushion covers.
8. Photo Towels
Creating photo towels using your pictures is another option. You must be very careful while making photo towels. People will use it after showers and for wiping faces. So, the ink that you use for printing must not cause any allergic reactions to the skin. It must be safe for use.
When printing photo towels, go for the sellers who offer the best quality and address these safety concerns. You can also give a couple of size options for the photo towels.
Final Thoughts
These are some of the best photo merchandise options that you can go for as a photographer. You don’t have to list all these items on your web store initially. Select a couple of items initially, and depending on their sales; you can add more merchandise.
There are many online photo printing services that can take care of printing such photo merchandise. You can use your photographs to design your photo merchandise. Canvasdiscount.com is one such printing house where you can get many types of photo merchandise printed. You can list the final printed merchandise for sale on your website or Etsy store. It will definitely help to generate additional revenue for you.
