Have you ever seen a t-shirt or a mug in a store and thought to yourself “I could design something better than that”? Did you ever think of slogan or catch phrase that you would love to wear but no store has anything like it? Thanks to the advent of internet sites like Zazzle and Cafepress you can create your own t-shirts, sweatshirts, nightdresses, even underwear and what’s more you can actually make money by selling your designs for others to use.

Both sites allow budding designers to upload their designs for sale on their sites, which are growing in popularity every day.

Zazzle allows artists and designers to build a store on their site and when customers choose your design to be printed onto one of the company’s products you receive a percentage of the sale. You can set your own royalty rate but unless you are Stella McCartney it is perhaps best not to set it too high right at the start.

Other sites like Cafepress work much in the same way. How much you make will of course depend upon the popularity of your work but some of the simplest amateur designs have actually become cult like in their popularity.

Selling your designs will probably not net you a steady income in the beginning, but if you have an artistic bent it is a great way to combine a hobby with a way to make a little (maybe even a lot of) extra cash.