Inside: These are my best tips for figuring out What Sells on TeachersPayTeachers (TpT)
If you’re a mom who’s looking for a way to make some extra money creating beautiful printables you create, you’ve probably considered selling on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). TpT is an online marketplace where teachers can buy and sell lesson plans, worksheets, classroom decor, and other educational resources.
But what sells?
It's easy to get overwhelmed when you're first starting out, you want to have a successful shop, and you want to know what will actually sell. I want to give you a good idea of what sells — and what doesn't–on TpT so you can bring in that side income.
Here's a quick guide to help you:
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What Sells on Teachers Pay Teachers?
The most popular products on TeachersPayTeachers are task cards, interactive notebooks, teacher planners, and digital products like boom cards.
Interested in learning more about creating educational printables? Join my Facebook group, where I go live several times a week to take questions and talk about creating worksheets on PowerPoint and selling printables on TeachersPayTeachers and MORE. Click here to check it out.
But here's the thing you need to know about popular products on TpT: They change almost every day.
Although you might find products that are popular all year (those are usually bundles that have different products teachers can use all year long) most of the time you'll find the most popular products each day are seasonal.
In this example, you can see the most popular searches right now are “fall”, “hispanic heritage month”, “math”, “johnny appleseed”, and “morning work”.
Other times of the year, you'll noticed classroom decor is trending, or back to school.
By clicking on the search bar and seeing what drops down, you can see what search terms are trending on TpT any time. Use that information to create products that teachers are looking for, making you more likely to get sales.
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Using this method, you can have sales all year on TeachersPayTeachers, even when teachers aren't in the classroom.
When it comes to selling on TpT, buyers are looking for products that are high-quality, well-designed, and saves them time.
They're typically willing to pay more for products that save them time and energy.
Can You Make a Lot of Money on Teachers Pay Teachers?
Yes, you can make a lot of money selling resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. The key to success is putting in the work. If you put in the work. Most new sellers begin creating, then fall off when they realize how much work they need to put in to be successful.
To find success on TeachersPayTeachers you have to put in the work and continue to create new products and market them even when the newness goes away.
It's not as easy as it sounds. You'll see a lot of people telling you TpT is passive income, but it's not passive at all. If you want to see growth and income from TeachersPayTeachers (or really, any hustle!) you will need to put time in.
I have a guide about pricing your products on TeachersPayTeachers that will help you figure out pricing and push you toward success a little quicker.
Some of the best sellers on the marketplace are bringing in a million dollars, which will earn them a Tiffany Glass Apple they can showcase.
Most people will not reach top seller on TpT, though. The average income of sellers who spend some time each week on their shop will see between $300 and $1,000 a month.
Who Are the Top Sellers on TeachersPayTeachers?
Over the years, Deanna Jump, Rachel Lynette, The Moffatt Girls, Brooke Brown, and others have been among the best sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers.
They used to post all of the best sellers on their website, but TpT has since discontinued this because the top sellers were getting a lot of negativity. So there is no definite answer of who is the number one seller anymore.
According to TpT in 2014, the top seller had already made over $2 million. That was years ago, we have had a pandemic since then, where teachers had to create or purchase entire curriculums they could give their students online for distance learning.
Now, what if, instead of talking about WHO sells the most, let's talk about WHAT sells the most on TpT. Here are a few to get you started:
Printable Task Cards
These are easily one of the best sellers on TpT. It's a simple and easy way to save teachers time while still providing their students high quality material.
A lot of times task cards and printables are another way to reinforce lessons teachers have already gone over in class.
If you're thinking about selling task cards (or any printables!) be sure to design them with care–buyers can tell when a product has been rushed, and they WILL tell you when they find a mistake.
Classroom Decor
Printable classroom decor is always popular on TpT, since it's an easy way for teachers to add a little something to their classrooms without spending ALL SUMMER getting ready.
When designing classroom decor, make sure you're thinking about who your audience is. Are you creating for high school classrooms? They will look a lot different from elementary classrooms. Keep this in mind when you're creating to ensure you're giving the best product to your buyer.
Sub Plans
This is a BIG one. Especially with how to world is today. Some teachers are expected not only to plan for their sick days (what!?) ahead of time, but they're also expected to provide learning plans for their substitutes on their sick days.
Naturally, sub plans are BIG, because you don't want to think about how you're going to teach your students about the periodic table while you're laying in bed waiting for your medicine to kick in.
Offer teachers a way to save time while still delivering quality instruction to their students while they're sick. Be sure to include step-by-step instructions as well as all necessary materials so that buyers can hit the ground running with your product!
There you have it! If you're thinking about selling on TeachersPayTeachers, be sure to create high quality products that offer buyers value in terms of time and their energy, and you'll find success.
Looking for more advice about selling on TeachersPayTeachers or creating resources?
Join the Facebook Group for Creating and Selling Educational Printables!
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I go live Thursdays at 9am EST and answer your questions, and show you how to create amazing printables you can sell TODAY!
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