Advice on Starting a New Store on Teachers Pay Teachers

New TPT Seller

Jan 25

Advice on Starting a New Store on Teachers Pay Teachers with woman typing on laptop

Teachers all over the world are thinking about starting a TPT store and selling on Teachers Pay Teachers. Maybe that’s you! You’ve created lessons and activities for your students and want to start selling them. But you are trying to get information on how to actually have a TPT store and to see if it’s worth it.

In 2013, I was just like you! I had created so many activities for my resource students and just knew I could start a TPT store and sell them. I was pretty optimistic that it would work out. In fact after 2 weeks of being on the site and having made $4.08, I upgraded my membership to Premium and never looked back. It’s been over 10 years and I love my TPT store and the business I’ve created.

Before I go any further in this post, I will say that I run my TPT business full-time and am not in the classroom any longer for various reasons - TPT was not one of them. I ran my store for 2 years while teaching full-time so it is completely possible to do.

The road to selling and having a business isn’t always easy. Let’s look at a few tips and thoughts that I’ve discovered over the years.

Is Selling on Teachers Pay Teachers Worth It?

I think so. I earn a decent revenue amount from my store. I’m not going to sit and tell you that it’s easy and you’ll be making thousands of dollars in the first month. That isn’t true. It would be very rare for someone to make that in the first month. TPT is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. You can’t go into this thinking you’ll replace your teacher income in a matter of a few months. TPT is a journey that you walk through.

It will take a while to learn to create products for commercial use.
It will take time to learn the ins and outs of selling.
It will take time to earn a consistent income.
It will take time to get followers and feedback.

It’s definitely worth it to go in “eyes wide open” knowing that it will take hard work and time. Know that you are helping teachers all over the world provide meaningful lessons to their students.

How do you earn money on TPT?

1) Create resources in an area which you are familiar.

These resources should be created by you with original materials.

They should not be copied from someone or copied from a textbook.
They should not include free items you find on the internet or on TPT unless the items are for commercial use.
They should not include someone else’s work.
They should not include copyright or trademark violations.
Everything used in the resource should be for commercial use.

The product needs to be unique and original. I cannot stress this enough!

You can use just about any software to design your products - Powerpoint, Keynote, Photoshop, Canva, etc. Pick something that can be used for commercial use and that you know how to use.

2) You need to upload your resources to TPT. You will first upload a free product. After that you can upload paid and free resources to your store.

You can check out my post, 7 Mistakes to Avoid when Uploading, to see how to upload your resource.

3) Then it’s about learning

💡best practices for product listings

💡how to update using data

💡which marketing platform you should market with & how to use it

💡all the things that will make your store great!

You can learn through the Seller Forums, Seller FB Groups, Seller resources, & Seller Courses.

Are you ready to jump into selling your resources on TPT?

Want to fast track getting your store started?

🩷 Join my Get Your Store Open in 5 Days Email Challenge!!

This challenge will break down some of the beginner information for you. The challenge emails will be sent to you over several days so that you can learn & take action. So click the button below & get signed up!