Why I Sell on Teachers Pay Teachers

Every so often, someone asks me a question that seems simple on the surface, but actually has a whole story behind it: “Why do you sell on Teachers Pay Teachers?”

Sometimes it comes from a fellow teacher who is curious about how the platform works. Sometimes it comes from a homeschool parent who stumbled across a resource and wonders how it ended up there. And sometimes it comes from a teacher-author who is quietly thinking, Could I do this too?

A mockup of someone looking at The Teaching Astrophysicist

So here is my honest answer, written in a friendly way, with the teacher reality kept firmly in view.

My name is Oliver, and I create science teaching resources under the name The Teaching Astrophysicist. I sell resources on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) and on my own teacher resource website (and a few other places too). Most of what I create is designed for middle school and high school science classrooms, with a big focus on resources that save time, boost engagement, and build real understanding.

I sell on Teachers Pay Teachers for one main reason: it helps my resources reach more teachers, which means more classrooms get supported, and I can keep improving what I make. But the full story is a bit richer than that.

Teachers Pay Teachers is a place teachers already trust

Teachers are some of the busiest people on the planet. Planning time disappears quickly, and even when you want to build everything yourself, reality often says otherwise. When teachers need something practical, they tend to go to places that feel familiar and trustworthy.

Teachers Pay Teachers has earned that reputation for many educators. It is widely known, it is easy to search, and it is built specifically for teachers looking for classroom resources. When someone discovers my work on TPT, they are not starting from zero trust. They already know the platform, they understand how downloads work, and they are used to browsing previews and reading reviews before they commit.

That matters, because purchasing teaching resources involves a quiet question we all ask:

“Will this actually work with my students?”

TPT helps answer that question through previews, ratings, reviews, and a familiar marketplace environment. It makes it easier for teachers to take a chance on a new seller, especially when they have never heard of my brand before.

The reach of a marketplace is hard to replicate

I also sell on my own website, and there are wonderful things about having a personal store: freedom, flexibility, control, and a more direct connection to the people who use your work.

But there is also a reality: building traffic to your own site (like The Teaching Astrophysicist Store) takes time. It takes search visibility, content marketing, and consistent outreach. A marketplace like Teachers Pay Teachers already has what individual creators spend years trying to build:

• an audience of teachers searching daily

• powerful search tools

• established categories and trends

• buyer habits and platform credibility

So when I upload a science resource to TPT, I am not just placing it online. I am putting it into a huge teacher-focused system where educators are actively searching for materials.

That difference is enormous. It means a science teacher looking for genetics worksheets, a punnett squares practice pack, an astronomy reading passage, or a science debate activity might discover my work at exactly the moment they need it.

And that is the best kind of discovery: a teacher with a real need finding a resource built to solve it.

Selling resources supports my family and supports better resources

I do not think there is anything wrong with saying this clearly: selling resources helps support my family and helps me build a more sustainable future.

Teaching is meaningful, but it is also demanding. Many teachers and educators look for ways to create additional income streams, especially ones that align with what they are good at and what they already love. For me, resource creation became that path.

When teachers purchase my resources, it does more than create income. It creates time. Time to:

• improve existing resources

• develop new formats

• explore new topics

• upgrade designs and layouts

• respond to what teachers actually want

• build whole unit bundles rather than one-off worksheets

That is the long-term dream: to make this a full-time job, which would allow me to create better and better resources with more consistency.

In other words, every sale helps me do more of the thing that helps teachers: making high-quality science resources that reduce planning load while increasing student learning and engagement.

How it started: a few resources, Canva, and a spark

Like most teacher-authors, I did not begin with a huge catalogue. It started small.

A couple of years ago, I had a handful of resources I had used in my own teaching. I had an idea: what if I reorganised them, cleaned them up, and presented them in a format that felt more polished and more teacher-friendly?

That is where Canva came in. At first, it was simply a tool to make things look clearer. But I quickly realised something: I genuinely enjoyed the process.

I liked:

• experimenting with layout and structure

• trying new resource formats

• turning dense science content into student-friendly tasks

• finding ways to make lessons feel more engaging without losing rigour

And once you start enjoying the creation process, you keep going. One resource becomes three. Three becomes ten. Ten becomes fifty. And over time, you look back and realise you have built something that resembles a real library. I am nearly at the point of making literally thousands of resources and with experience comes higher quality.

That is how it grew: slowly, steadily, through a lot of experimenting, and through the simple joy of making things teachers can actually use.

The honest challenge: marketing is hard

Here is the part I have never tried to hide: I am much more comfortable building resources than I am marketing them.

Creating teaching materials feels natural. Marketing can feel like a different world entirely. And in a social media landscape that is incredibly saturated, even good work can struggle to be seen.

Many teacher-authors can relate to this. You can create something genuinely useful, but if you cannot communicate it clearly, showcase it effectively, or get it in front of the right people, it stays invisible.

That is another reason Teachers Pay Teachers matters. It helps carry some of the marketing load because teachers are already searching there. They are actively looking for resources. I am not always forced to shout into a busy social media feed and hope someone notices.

TPT does not solve marketing completely, of course. You still have to write clear descriptions, use good thumbnails, create helpful previews, and earn trust. But it provides a foundation, and for a creator who is still improving their marketing skills, that foundation helps a lot.

Why I make some resources free

Part of my process has always been creating free items as well.

Some of that is simply because I want to give back. Teaching is hard. Budgets can be tight. Sometimes you need a quick resource and you need it now. I like being able to provide some helpful materials at no cost.

But free resources also serve another purpose: they allow teachers to experience my style before purchasing. They can see:

• how I structure questions

• how I scaffold difficulty

• how student-friendly the wording is

• how the layout supports learning rather than distracting from it

If a free resource works well in a teacher’s classroom, they feel more confident about trying a paid resource later. That is not manipulation. It is simply trust-building. Teachers deserve to know what they are getting before they spend money.

Is it odd to sell to other teachers?

This question is understandable. Teaching is a profession built on sharing. We swap ideas in staff rooms, borrow lesson structures, and send each other resources all the time. So yes, selling can feel unusual at first.

But it can also make perfect sense. Here is why.

Teachers are asked to create constantly:

• lesson slides

• worksheets

• differentiated tasks

• assessments and rubrics

• literacy supports

• engaging hooks

• extension tasks

• revision materials

That is a lot to build from scratch, and time is limited. A teacher resource marketplace exists because teachers need support, and because creating high-quality materials takes time, skill, and repetition.

When I sell on Teachers Pay Teachers, I am not trying to replace a teacher’s craft. I am trying to reduce their load. I am saying:

“Here is something I have already built, tested, formatted, and packaged in a way that saves you time and supports student learning.”

That exchange is not odd. It is practical.

And there is something else: as teachers, we are used to helping each other. Selling resources is just another form of that support, especially when it allows a creator to keep improving their work and keep releasing new materials.

Why reviews matter so much on TPT

One of the most valuable parts of Teachers Pay Teachers is the review system. Reviews matter because they help teachers make informed decisions.

When a teacher sees that a resource has many reviews and most are positive, it reduces risk. It answers questions like:

• “Is this resource clear?”

• “Does it work in a real classroom?”

• “Is it worth the time and money?”

• “Will it engage students?”

I am genuinely grateful for the teachers who take time to leave feedback. It helps other educators decide whether a resource is right for them. It also helps me improve. Reviews often highlight small things that matter: a wording tweak, an answer key adjustment, or a suggestion for how to use the resource.

At the time of writing, I have over 125 reviews, and the great majority are 5 stars. That is meaningful not because it feels flattering, but because it suggests the resources are doing what they are meant to do: supporting teachers and helping lessons run more smoothly.

That kind of trust can be hard to build on a brand new independent website. TPT gives teachers a familiar place to see that social proof.

Who this blog post is for

If you are a science teacher, I hope this explains why Teachers Pay Teachers is a big part of how I share what I build. If you enjoy ready-to-use materials that reduce prep time and increase engagement, you are very welcome to explore my resources through TPT or my own site.

If you are a teacher-author, you might relate to the creative satisfaction of making resources and the challenge of marketing them. If you ever want to connect, swap ideas, or learn from each other, I genuinely enjoy that side of this community.

If you are a homeschool parent, TPT can be an excellent place to find structured science resources that go beyond simple experiments. Reading passages, projects, and guided tasks can add depth and consistency to home science learning.

And if you are someone working in education marketing, publishing, or the micro-influencer space, this is also a window into what I am building: a growing library of science teaching resources, a steadily developing brand, and a long-term project that aims to support teachers with high-quality materials.

Why I’m staying on Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers Pay Teachers is not perfect, and no marketplace ever is. But it remains one of the best places for teacher resources to be discovered, tested, reviewed, and shared at scale.

I sell there because:

• teachers already trust and use the platform

• it helps my resources reach more classrooms

• it reduces some of the visibility challenge in a crowded online world

• it supports the sustainability of my work

• it allows teachers to leave reviews that guide other teachers

• it helps me build something long-term that can keep improving

At the end of the day, that is what this is about: making science lessons easier to teach, more engaging to learn, and more consistent across different classrooms.

If you have ever looked at your week and thought, I just need something ready to go that still feels high quality, that is exactly the problem I am trying to solve. Teachers Pay Teachers is one of the best places for me to do that, and I am grateful every time my work ends up helping someone else’s classroom run a little more smoothly.

Thanks for reading

Cheers and stay curious

Oliver - The Teaching Astrophysicist