The first step is coming up with a prompt. We use ChatGPT to come up with a list of descriptions for various graphics. Something like, "generate a list of 10 physical descriptions for crazy planets that are nothing like earth."

We read through the list and choose one to share with Midjourney AI. This is done by talking to the AI on Discord, by asking it to "/imagine" a specific scene. So we ask it to imagine the prompt generated by ChatGPT.

Midjourney AI proceeds to generate four versions of it's interpretation of the prompt. We pick our favourite and then have the image upscaled into a more useful size/version.

From there, the final version of the graphic is uploaded into the Printful app, which is a direct integration with our manufacturers, who make and ship our coasters. When customers purchase a coaster, Printful automatically receives the request and fulfills the order on our behalf.

Once the graphic is uploaded, and details about it's respective product are entered, the app automatically creates the coaster as a product in our Shopify store/website. We then generate extra product mockups, and upload them manually as additional product images.

All payments are processed through PayPal, exclusively. Customers may purchase coasters without a PayPal account (there is an option to proceed "as a guest"). We also pay for our products from Printful, with PayPal, which helps keep things simple accounting-wise.

Printful charges us $6.75 per coaster. We're currently selling all of our coasters for $15 each. That gives us a gross profit of $8.25 per coaster sold ... but then PayPal charges us up to 4% of the order total (depending on where the customer is from and their payment method), plus $0.30 per order, for handling payments. We're able to pass on the shipping portion of PayPal's fees to the customer, but the product and tax portion of their fee comes out of our profits ... so we net approximately $7 per coaster (depending on the tax % collected).

We do not aim to make any profit on shipping charges. Shipping rates are provided by Printful directly, and vary depending on the customer's country and shipping preference.

First item - $8.45
Additional items - $1.35 each

First item - $4.99
Additional items - $0.95 each

First item - $5.29
Additional items - $1.15 each

As mentioned above, we add on PayPal's transaction fee of 4% + $0.30 per order, to our shipping costs. This means we essentially break-even (or profit slightly) on the shipping costs, as we charge the customer a blended rate of what Printful and PayPal charges us.

All of our coasters are 'white labeled', meaning our logo/branding isn't printed on the actual coasters. For any retail stores that want to sell our coasters, we offer a wholesale pricing discount of 33% ($4.95 CAD discount per coaster) for any order of 50 coasters or more ... so we net approximately $2 per coaster for wholesale orders. This discount is automatically applied at checkout, for qualifying orders.

It's just a basic drop-shipping store with an AI twist to it. Everything is as automated as possible, where the only things we have to do on our end are; continuing to add new coasters, and finding ways to market the store to potential customers.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about our business, and we hope you enjoy your coasters!