We hear so often how teaching is an underpaid job. It can also be expensive as many teachers are investing their own money into educational materials and supplies. As a result, many online marketplaces have popped up over the past 10 years allowing teachers, parents, and homeschoolers to save valuable time and buy and sell the worksheets, printables, planners, and curriculum they need at a discount.
Selling teaching materials has become a popular passive income opportunity for many educators, some claiming to have earned six figures through their online sales. Today we are looking at five popular destinations for your learning products.
Teachers Pay Teachers claims to have almost 300 users of the site making over $50,000 per year selling their teaching resources. The site allows users to sell or list free lesson plans, activities, worksheets, printables, quizzes, and more. Both free and premium accounts ($59.95 per year) are available. The site takes a commission for each sale made through the site. In the past, we spoke to several sellers here. Payments are made by PayPal once per month. You can also choose to take payment through Dwolla.
Educents offer both storefronts and a “daily deal” aspect to sellers. For regularly priced items, sellers receive 85% of the sale. For daily deals, you will receive 50%. This site is extremely popular among the homeschool crowd and has received numerous awards from the education community. Payment is made by PayPal or checks within 15 to 30 days depending on the type of sale.
Teacher Lingo offers a setup similar to Teachers Pay Teachers. The basic membership is free and you will earn 65% of each sale. With a paid membership of $49 per year, your royalty bumps up to 85%. The site pays once per month via PayPal with a $20 minimum. This appears to be a small community, but they do offer forums and directories to connect with other educators.
Etsy is a popular destination for all creators. We have recently heard success stories from several women earning a full-time living selling printables, downloads, and other digital products on the site. You will also find a lot of educational listings on the site, primarily designed for homeschooling parents and teacher resources. There are no membership fees at Etsy. It’s $.20 to list your item and they take only 6.5% when your item sells. Receive payments by PayPal, check, or Direct Checkout.
If you are a teacher under contract, make sure you know who holds the copyright to the works you create before trying to sell them. According to the National Education Association, “If your employment contract assigns copyright ownership of materials produced for the classroom to the teacher, then you probably have a green light. Absent any written agreement, however, the Copyright Act of 1976 stipulates that materials created by teachers in the scope of their employment are deemed “works for hire” and, therefore, the school owns them.”
Edward Shane says
Hey, we have a 6th source now! Hoot of Loot is a website for teachers to use for free, to buy and sell used teaching material. It’s also owned by teacher. Enjoy! https://hootofloot.com