Venues for Selling Greeting Cards Online


As the greeting card industry changes, I've noticed a dramatic expansion of cards being sold online in a variety of ways: through apps, crowdsourcing, Print-on-demand, and eStores.

These are venuse for card designers to sell cards, and others seek out submissions from designers. This list is a result of recommendations by people who have used them.

*Please note:  Website links can often change. If a link does not work, do a simple search on Google for the Venue




eStores: Artist to Consumer Venues

These companies usually allow an artist to post their cards on their site and then when a customer orders, the artist makes and ships the cards.

Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/
 Artist sets price and ships product. Artist pays fees for website usage and sales commission.

Lilyshop
http://www.lilyshop.com/
Artist sets price and ships product. Artist pays site a sales commission.

Bonanza
http://www.bonanza.com/
Artist sets price and ships product. Artist pays site a sales commission.

Written Cards
www.WrittenCards.com
Submission Guidelines: http://www.writtencards.com/how-it-works.html

LOL Cards
http://www.lolcard.co.uk/index.php
Submissions: http://www.lolcard.co.uk/submit-card_design.php 
10% Commission.



Print on Demand Card Venues (POD)

These companies allow artists to post card designs on their website.  When a customer orders, the POD company makes and ships the cards.

Greeting Card Universe
http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/
Submit: http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/about/questions.asp
Artist is paid percentage of units sold.

Cafe Press
http://www.cafepress.com/
Submit: http://www.cafepress.com/uploaddesign
Artist receives profit after manufacturing cost.  Some fees apply for premium memberships.

Zazzle
http://www.zazzle.com/ 
Submit: http://www.zazzle.com/sell
Artist receives royalty from sales. POD that sells everything you could think of. Free to set up and sell, Set your own pricing, and return policy. Had good results with very little work.

Zoggin
http://www.zoggin.com/index.php

Society6
www.society6.com
iPhone cases, tshirts, art prints, notecards, tote bags

Fine art America
www.fineartamerica.com
Allows one to sell originals or prints. You can also use their marketing services and POD.

Moo
http://us.moo.com/
Allows you to print different greeting cards on every card in the run (starts at 25)

Red Bubble
http://www.redbubble.com/


App Makers

These companies usually sell cards through apps on mobile devices. Designs are usually curated and selected by the app makers. Many companies allow the customer to write card text and pay to have it mailed, stamped and sent to the recipient. Many of the app makers also have a companion website for ordering.


Felt
http://www.feltapp.com/
Send an email to design@feltapp.com
Your email should include: 6 card designs and a short statement about why your creative genius and why Felt app is a good fit for you.

Thankster
http://www.thankster.com/
submit: http://www.thankster.com/contents/view/submit_yours

Just Wink
https://www.justwink.com/app
Submit to American Greetings http://corporate.americangreetings.com/contact.html

FStop
http://www.fstopimages.com/
License: http://www.fstopimages.com/pages/license-images/
Submit: http://www.fstopimages.com/pages/submit/



Additional Card App Companies  (Guidelines Not Available At This Time):

Sincerely http://sincerely.com/contact
Red Stamp https://www.redstamp.com/
Artogram http://www.artogramapp.com/  
Ecard Express http://www.ecardexpress.ca/
Bucketlabs http://www.bucketlabs.net/  
Cartolina http://www.cartolinaapps.com/
fStop http://www.fstopimages.com/fcardsinfo/



Call-Outs

These companies post projects by clients who are looking for a designer. Theses companies have greeting card and stationery categories.

* Design Crowd
http://www.designcrowd.com/
Submissions: http://designers.designcrowd.com/stationery
Has a stationery category.

99 Designs
How to submit your designs.
Connecting designers to freelance work.




Crowdsourcing

These companies usually curate what designs they promote.  They often have design challenges for artists and will feature, print and sell a design based on what their website fans vote for.

Minted
http://www.minted.com/
Submissions: http://www.minted.com/contest
Cash award plus 6% royalty.

ModCloth
Type in "cards" in the search bar.
http://www.modcloth.com/
Submissions:http://blog.modcloth.com/category/news-contests/

Threadless
https://www.threadless.com/

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Greeting Card Books
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Get Your Greeting Cards Into Stores: How to Find and Work With Sales Reps (Updated 2017 paperback) If you like to make greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them nationwide.  Learn about changing trends in the indie card market and niche opportunities available for artists. Book includes detailed guidelines on pricing cards for a profit, getting professional feedback on your designs, finding sales representatives, pitching your card line to them, approaching stores, and the industry standards you should follow. Information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals and calendars.

Start and Run a Greeting Card Business From a British author, whose country has a long history of greeting card design, she takes you step-by-step through the process of starting and running your business with lots of useful practical advice to help you, including: - Deciding what type of cards to produce - Finding your market - Dealing with printers - Copyright and licensing - Pricing and profit. Kate's note: Some specs are different (card sizes) since it is UK standards.

Greeting Card Design This volume features a vast array of fun, elegant, simple and imaginative greeting cards designed by internationally-known artists, illustrators and calligraphers. With over 300 full-color photographs of creative, popular, and inspiring greeting card designs, this invaluable sourcebook showcases the very best of what is happening in the industry today. Accompanying text explores the history of the greeting card industry and examines the major contributions from the leading innovative companies.


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If You Worry...

Heard this quote yesterday and made a piece of art out of it. A great piece of advice.



Getting into the Greeting Card Business: New Online Class



I have collaborated with skillshare.com to create an online course on Getting into the Greeting Card Business.  The content is based on my experience of working in the industry for over 20 years, and from publishing over 1,000 cards.


When: 
Anytime. Class is self-paced with student/teacher feedback on your final project in the skillshare gallery.

How to Register: 
Register here. 

Cost:  $20

In this class you will learn:
  • The fundamentals of professional card design.
  • Transforming art into a greeting card.
  • Writing sentiments.
  • Making designs "market-ready" according to industry standards.
  • Top selling occasions.
  • How to turn one card into a larger "collection".
  • How to make a card out of any image.
  • Handmade cards.
  • Where and how to sell cards (including online).
  • Licensing art on cards.
  • Manufacturing and distributing nationally.

The class includes:
  • 8 Units
  • 14 videos
  • 39 steps
  • Final project
  • Feedback