9 Things to Know as a New TPT Seller
Teachers wanting to get started with a Teachers Pay Teachers store are always looking for tips and advice on how to do it and what they should know from the beginning. Today I'm sharing some tips for you if you are in that spot.
I started selling on TPT in August of 2013. I previously had a business of creating and selling digital scrapbook kits. I made a little extra "fun money". Well, the lady who owned the site closed it. That left me with a need to find something that would continue to provide that $30-50 a month "fun money".
✽✽ I do love a good Vera Bradley bag, so "fun money" was a desire of mine. ✽✽
As I was browsing TPT for things to purchase for my classroom, I realized that selling on TPT could be my thing. As a Special Ed Resource teacher, I had been making things forever for my students. So I jumped right in. I had no idea what I was doing. There weren't FB groups to get advice from. There weren't blog posts to read or YouTube videos to watch. You could get a bit of information from the forums. That was it. You could say that I was just winging it. But through much perseverance it worked!
There are many things that I would have wanted to know from the beginning. There is A LOT to learn with running a TPT store. Here are a few tips that will help you get started if you are excited about taking the next step.
☑If you haven't started your store yet, be sure to check out my post 10 Tips to Start a TpT Store.
1) How can I get more Followers?
Followers will come in spurts. It will be slow. Organic is the best way to go. You want people to follow you that are interested in your products.
2) My buyers aren't leaving feedback. What can I do?
The overall feedback percentage is pretty low - think 10-20%. The percentage is even lower for free resources. You can remind people to leave feedback at the end of your description and in your resources. You do want your feedback to come from people who actually use (or will use) your products so don't make something free just to get feedback (that includes doing this in FB groups with sellers).
3) Should I pay for the Premium Membership?
I feel like if you are really wanting to sell on TPT you should just pay the Premium fee. It's about $60 a year. That means if you are making at least $5 a month it's worth it. You will receive a lot more in earnings as a Premium seller vs a Basic seller.
4) If I do sell something when & how do I get paid?
All payouts are paid through PayPal - don't forget to put your PayPal email when setting up a store. TPT usually pays on the 10th of each month. They do have until the 21st to pay us. Your payout will be for the month before. For example, anything that you earn in November is paid in December. Also know that PayPal does charge a fee (even though you don't see it). So your payout will be less that fee. The fee is never more than $1.
5) Where can I find my stats?
The Dashboard will be your "home". You can view any sales & how much you earned. You can view how many people are viewing your store. You can also see where people are coming from (traffic).
You can also find stats (these aren't always as accurate) on the My Statistics Page. For individual sales, check out the My Sales Report page.
TPT also has an app that you can download to get some stats.
6) Do I need to have a blog, email list, FB, IG, and Pinterest accounts?
You will see people talking about blogs, email lists, FB pages, FB groups, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts. That's a lot of things to think about. Do you need all of them? No. You can, but you don't have to. You will burn yourself out if you just jump in with both feet and try to keep up with everything. Ease yourself in. For new sellers, I recommend picking ONE platform to start with - learn it & use it. Then move on to adding something else. I personally prefer Pinterest, but others find FB or IG to work better for them.
7) I see someone is doing {fill in the blank with whatever you've seen}. Should I also do that?
Avoid all of the "bright shiny objects" that are distractions. They will eat away at your creation time. They can be time & joy suckers. Just because "everyone" has a blog, FB page, IG account, Twitter account, Pinterest account, is on Snapchat, is making videos, is turning everything digital, is using this scheduling app or that program, etc. doesn't mean you have to. Start with what you can handle. That may be just creating quality, professional products. You may be able to do a couple of things, but you don't need to do it all. There is something "new" that comes about all the time. We don't have time to do it all and be good at it all. Pick what you have time for.
8) Why am I not selling anything?
You are new and you don't have a lot of products yet. That doesn't mean you should rush through creating 40 products. Quality products are much better than the quantity of resources in your store. Your sales most likely won't be consistent for a year or two. Be patient and keep creating quality resources.
9) How do I get repeat buyers?
Be sure to put out quality resources that have value. If your resources don't look professional, buyers won't return. Try creating product lines. If they like the first one in the series, they'll come back looking for more. Give it time.
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I'm sure you have many more questions. I know I did when I first started. You don't have to wing it though. I can help answer your questions about the how to's for selling on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Join my Course ➻ New TpT Sellers Workshop
Join my FB Group ➻ TPT Seller Tips and Advice
☟Sign up for my Seller Newsletter☟
You have to try things, learn, keep persevering, and sometimes even wing it. Let's grow your store together - one step at a time!
