It never ceases to amaze me how many times I meet a teacher who has not heard of TPT before. As someone who has been teaching since this amazing site came onto the scene, I feel like everyone knows about it. Teachers pay Teachers is a wonderful marketplace for teachers to share resources, ideas and activities. Talk about not having to re-invent the wheel! I’m assuming if you are reading this that you already know about TPT and the resources it has to offer. However, you are now wondering how to start a tpt store.
The biggest myth I hear from people who are considering opening a tpt store is that they can’t create a successful TPT store because there are already too many sellers out there. This is just straight up false. Listen, the best time to start a tpt store was yesterday… the second best time is right now. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create a profitable side-hustle because you are afraid of competition. Just start, and figure out the little details as you go. You’ve got this!
How to start a TPT store: Step-by-Step
The Basics
Get Premium right away: The premium membership is 100% worth it. It gives you more money back for each sale you make. If you do not have premium, TPT will take a larger commission from each sale. This decreases your earnings and gives you a skewed view of your profit potential. At the time of this post, TPT premium costs $59.95 for the year. That comes out to $5 each month. You will earn this back by selling 1-3 items per month (depending on your price).
Set up your seller profile: Once you have created your account, it’s time to set up your seller profile. This includes adding some information about yourself and your store, such as your name, a brief bio, and a profile picture. You can also include links to your social media profiles and your personal website, if you have one. If you don’t, don’t worry about this yet. Your main focus when just starting out should be on product creation.
Find your niche: This one is tricky. You don’t want to create a store for the sake of creating one. You should have an idea in mind. Your niche can be focused on a subject (math, science, social studies, music, etc.), a grade level (PreK, upper elementary, middle school) or activity type (virtual field trips, escape rooms, STEM projects). If you want to get super specific you could focus on something like “3rd grade writing” or “middle school science projects.” It is ok to experiment a little when you start creating to see what you like creating the most. However, you want your store to have a solid theme to build trust with your customers that you have what they are looking for in the future.
Product Creation
Create your first resource: Now it’s time to create your first resource! Click on the “Create” button in the top menu and select “New Resource.” Choose a resource type (such as a lesson plan, activity, or worksheet) and fill out the form with all the details, including a title, description, and tags. There is a lot to learn in the area of writing a good title and description. If you’d like to get more insight on these topics, let me know!
Create covers & a preview: This is essential to success. It is something that a lot of new sellers overlook or think is not super important. This is where you can find you edge as a new seller. Your cover should be bold & inviting. It should have easy to ready fonts and it should STOP THE SCROLL for your customer. A preview shows the customer what they will be getting. Many people will not buy without a preview so ALWAYS add some sort of preview.
Set your price: When you create a new resource, you’ll need to set a price. TpT takes a percentage of each sale as a commission, so you’ll want to consider this when pricing your resource. You can also choose to offer your resource for free. Pricing depends on a lot of factors. In the beginning, just aim to price your product competitively with similar products. you will learn as you go how much someone will probably pay for different resources.
Publish your resource: Once you’ve completed all of the steps above, your resource is ready to be published! Just click on the “Publish” button to make it available for other teachers to purchase.
Finishing Touches
Promote on social media: To get more visibility for your store and resources, you can promote them on social media, your personal website, and other educational forums. Again, this is something you don’t need to worry about right away. If it is something that brings you joy, the earlier you can start a social channel, the better. However, your goal should be on product creation in the beginning. Don’t let the thought of creating a social channel stop you from getting started.
Pin on Pinterest: Pinterest is still a very useful search engine for most people. There is a to learn in the world of Pinterest just like many of the steps listed above. When you are just starting, just try to make a few pins for your product using photos of your product in action. Then pin these images on pinterest. As you continue with your TPT journey, we will discuss how to make a good pin and write quality descriptions. You will pickup on a lot of this as you go but just get started.
Final Thoughts
Teachers pay Teachers is a vast marketplace filled with lots of quality resources. Just like any business, there is a lot to learn but we must remember – Rome wasn’t built in a day. The important step to take is just GET STARTED. Don’t worry about all the little bits and pieces, they will fall into place as you grow. You must not try to figure it all out at once – or worse, let the stress of how much is involved overwhelm you and keep you from starting at all. Now that you know how to start a tpt store, it is time to take the next steps!
If you want to know more about something specific in the TPT seller journey or about product creation, please leave a comment below!
