Hi I'm Sabrina, owner and creative designer for AMRetailTherapy.  I started this shop as a hobby to challenge myself, enhance my skills in design software and to see what emerging technologies are on the horizon.  It is amazing to me all the things you can do from your home space.  

I kept seeing TikToks about side hussles and print on demand options. This obviously peeked my interest because I've always had a creative mind.  So I started researching all the details about a few of the side hussles.  I watched hours of YouTube videos to learn what others were doing and how successful they were. Then I looked at several sites to compare costs and ease of use. I ultimately landed on starting an Etsy shop.  

I wanted my shop to represent who I am and the designs to be inspired from my experiences, my friends, and family.  So, I initially named my shop AllThings2MakeUSmile.  I thought how cute is that, because I'm always trying to make people happy.  What I quickly found though, was that this name was way to long and people had a hard time remembering it. So, I changed the name to AMRetailTherapy. A is for my oldest son Andrew and M for my youngest Matthew. I actually have a tattoo with their initials which is now my store logo too.  Retail Therapy is just something I've always used as a way to say, "I need to spend money because I'm stressed out!"

My first real design was given to me as an idea from my cousin.  She is a huge ELVIS fan.  Her grandson has been in many Live performances as Elvis. She asked me to make her a shirt that had lots of sparkle and the name ELVIS in gold block letters.  This was also about the time when the movie was pretty popular on Netflix.  So I made the design and put it on a black Plus Size Tshirt.  To this day it is still my most popular seller.   

Other designs have been created at the request of friends and family.  Many of my close friends have kids and grandkids who play sports.  I've made numerous sports designs for shirts, cups, bags.  My mom has been my biggest fan on here.  She has asked me to create several designs for her knitting hobby and also several to show off her grandkids. (If you see designs that have Nana on them, it's one of hers)

Now that I've been doing this for over a year, I've learned the ins and outs of print on demand, what works and what doesn't.  One of the biggest challenges I feel with POD is the shipping costs.  It really adds quite a bit to the cost of your design, regardless of what it is. It's been a struggle to get pricing right.  Also I've found certain products that I like over others.  For instance, when you do POD, you don't have the inventory yourself.   So if you are looking for a soft T-shirt that's not see through, you have to depend on the description from the print vendor.  So I've definitely found the ones I like and I stick to those. Same with cups, bags, and other products. 

Thanks for staying with me and supporting my small business.  Please take a look at my shop.  I'm happy to customize almost anything you find.