The global personalized gifts market is estimated to be worth $34.3bn by 2026, so if you haven’t already considered selling print on demand products online, now’s the time. With print on demand, you can forget all about wasting money on buying a stock you might not need, spending all your free time printing and packing orders, and dealing with logistical headaches around order fulfillment.
All you have to do is add your design to the products you want to sell, upload the images to your online store and market them. This article will enlighten you on the opportunities you will benefit in print on demand.
- What is Print on Demand?
- How Does Print on Demand Work?
- Best Print on Demand Services
- Tips for Starting With Print on Demand Business
- 10 Best Print on Demand Companies
- Print on Demand for eCommerce Business
- Print on Demand in the UK
- 10 Best Print on Demand Products for Selling Custom Merchandise
- How to Sell Books With Print on Demand
- Starting Your Print on Demand Store
- Top 5 Best Sites to Make Money With Print on Demand
- Print on Demand Amazon
- Where to Source Print on Demand for Pet Portraits
- Good Print on Demand for Non-Profit
- How can I Get Design Ideas for Print on Demand?
- What are the Best Industries for Print on Demand in India?
- Print on Demand for Custom Children Books
- Web 3 Print on Demand Shirts Services
- What are the Top Niches for Print on Demand Products?
- What is Print on Demand Clothing
- Is Shopify Good for Creating a Print on Demand Business?
- What are the Pros and Cons of Print on Demand Dropshipping?
- What is the Best Print on Demand Service for Posters in Europe?
- What Print on Demand Services do you Recommend for Selling Artwork?
- How do I Find Quality Photos to Sell the Print on Demand?
- What Print on Demand Service Sell the Cheapest Stretched Canvas
- How do you Monetize Your Print on Demand Business?
- How do I Succeed on Print on Demand Without Skills?
What is Print on Demand?
Print-on-demand (or POD) is an order fulfillment method where items are printed as soon as an order is made, often, without order minimums. With POD, you can create customized designs for a variety of products and sell them under your brand.
How Does Print on Demand Work?
The print on demand concept is very popular among booksellers and publishers. Although, Print on demand products include t-shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs, and many other items. The print on demand model works on one simple defining principle – print after ordering. Consumers place an order and the product is created only after that order has been made.
Read Also: Quick Selling Items on Etsy in 2023
Jay Hartman, Editor-in-Chief at Untreed Reads shares his insight on the topic.
In the case of publishing, typically the publisher uploads their cover template and the book layout to the printer/distributor. In their case, they accept on-demand print orders through both Ingram and Amazon. Once they receive and process the files, the book is put out for sale through their distribution channels.
When a customer orders a copy, one is printed and sent out to them. Likewise, if we take an order through our site, we can place a direct order and have copies printed and drop-shipped to our customers.
Incidentally, there’s a pretty terrific company that works with Ingram named Espresso Book Machine (EBM). It’s a combination printer/binder machine that is in many bookstores and libraries around the world.
In this case, a customer can walk into any location where there’s an EBM and have a copy of the book printed and bound right on the spot. In most cases, there is very little difference between one they would have ordered through a retailer and the one they had printed right before their eyes.
Best Print on Demand Services
Print on demand is a fulfillment model that makes all of that possible without having to hold your own inventory.
But choosing the best paid or free print on demand companies to work with and bring your vision to life can require a lot of research. Each platform has its own distinct catalog of products, shipping considerations, and unique features that will factor into your decision.
To help narrow your list of options, we’ve reviewed 5 of the best free and paid print on demand sites for designing, selling, and shipping your own custom products.
1. Printful
Printful is the service Smart Money Mamas uses for t-shirts and my print-on-demand shop, Kingdom of Threads. Setting up a shop through Printful is a painless process that gives you access to excellent video tutorials and a good resources page to help you get started.
Printful offers over 280 product types, from t-shirts to backpacks, and has over 15 printing facilities around the world to shorten shipping times and costs, no matter were your customers live. In our experience, turnaround time is 2 to 7 days. However, expect fulfillment to take slightly longer during the holidays.
When connecting to Shopify or Etsy, you can leave the printing and shipping to Printful to free up more of your time to focus on creating. And, for a personalized touch, you can add a short message on your packing slips to your customers and place a custom sticker of your logo on all your packages, too.
2. Printify
Printify is another great print-on-demand provider with an even wider variety of items than Printful. Printify offers over 600 product types and they have 67 print facilities around the world. In addition to all the usual print-on-demand product options, Printify offers bento boxes, pet items, hooded blankets, comforters, ornaments, puzzles, and more.
Quality from Printify is excellent and their average fulfillment time is about the same as Printful. You’ll also still need to set up your own shop on Shopify, Etsy, or another platform to make sales.
3. Gelato
Gelato is a European-based print-on-demand provider with over 100 product options and over 100 production facilities across 34 countries. With all those locations, fulfillment time is faster, shipping distances shorter, and you get less carbon emissions from long shipments.
Turnaround time for Gelato is also fast, with an average turnaround time of 2 to 6 days and most orders delivered within 72 hours. A great benefit when competing with the likes of Amazon!
The downside to Gelato is the narrower product catalog and production types. For instance, Gelato can’t do embroidery or laser engraving. Also, the majority of its production facilities are in Europe.
So, Gelato is a great fit for European-based companies that want to focus on more common items like t-shirts, sweatshirts, wall art, mugs, etc.
4. Teelaunch
Teelaunch is a smaller print-on-demand provider, with over 100 product options including some very cool products like headphones, Bluetooth speakers, laser engraved cutting boards, and high-end backpacks.
Teelaunch’s pricing is reasonable and allows for a good profit margin. From product testing, we’ve found the print quality for t-shirts isn’t as sharp as Printful or Printify, but the product still looks nice.
The downside to Teelaunch is that they use third-party manufacturers for some of their products, which can lead to inconsistent quality and longer fulfillment times. Especially during the holidays and for international orders, delivery times can be 2 to 3 weeks.
Many print-on-demand providers use Teelaunch due to good product pricing, especially for some of those higher-end products. Just make sure you’re clear with your customers about the potential extended timeline to receive their orders!
5. Sublimation
Sublimation is the process of transferring dye to a fabric using heat. It creates a vibrant, all-over print that actually becomes part of the fabric, making it longer lasting.
While all the other print-on-demand providers listed in this post can do sublimation, Subliminator specializes in the process, has a range of products available and has excellent product quality.
With Subliminator you can make swimsuits, leggings, microfleece hoodies, kids sweatshirts, jerseys and more.
The downside to Subliminator is that products are all shipped from China. So, while production times are usually quick, delivery times can be extended due to shipping time. However, shipping is included in Subliminator’s pricing, so neither you or your customer are surprised by hefty shipping charges.
Hooded blankets, dog apparel, and leggings (with pockets) tend to be well selling items from Subliminator.
Tips for Starting With Print on Demand Business
Using a print-on-demand service might be easier than managing your own inventory, but there are some considerations unique to this approach that you should be aware of. Luckily, for most of these challenges you’ll face, there are creative solutions.
Here are some of the best print on demand tips to help you out.
Choose a niche with true potential
Different niches present different opportunities for a print on demand business. And your own interests (and talents as a designer) certainly play their part in determining which niche is right for you. Moreover, you’ll need to pick a niche that has enough demand for you to generate sales, but one that is not oversaturated with existing stores.
Remember, you want to stand out from the competition – that will be even harder to do if there are too many shops already selling similar products.
Find the ‘right’ products to sell [for your niche]
Along with finding a viable niche for your future print on demand business, you’ll need to do some research to make sure you choose the right products to sell within that niche.
Thinking to start a print on demand t-shirt business? A niche consisting of younger people could be ideal. Funny or sarcastic text could work, or maybe one of your own custom designs. Printing t-shirts with photos of pets might not do quite as well…
Likewise, if you’re considering opening a business for print on demand business cards, you’ll want to make sure your niche consists of professionals. Aiming to sell custom business cards to an audience of 18-24 year olds will be tough going, to say the least.
Invest some real effort into your website’s design
Instead of going to school or becoming a YouTube graduate of professional web design, you can opt to build a Shopify print on demand business from scratch. Creating a website through Shopify is easy even for those of you who aren’t computer geniuses.
Regardless of how you go about it, you’ll want to put real attention to your website’s quality in the customer’s eyes. It takes a fraction of a second for customers to form an opinion about your website – don’t waste that opportunity to get them hooked!
Partner-up with the ‘right’ POD supplier
When you select a POD supplier, you’re also choosing a business partner. Perhaps not in the traditional sense where you split the risk and the reward, but a partnership all the same.
The supplier you end up going with is the supplier you’ll need to regularly communicate about orders, fulfillment, returns, and many other aspects of the business. Ideally, you’ll have easy ways of reaching out to your supplier whenever you need to, and you’ll be able to build a strong relationship with them.
Do your due diligence before selecting a POD supplier – look at reviews and check online forums and ask for advice from experienced POD business owners to see what the consensus is for the supplier(s) you’re considering.
As we noted above, you can always switch suppliers if you don’t like the one you’ve gone with. Yes, there are some complications that can arise if you switch – but if it’s a matter of your business’s success, you may have to make that decision.
Develop an effective marketing strategy for your shop
Let’s face it, this is one of the most important aspects of your print on demand business plan. You need to create a unique brand and promote it across the web, and go up against the competition at the same time. A strong e-commerce advertising strategy can make all the difference.
As an online business, you’ll want to be actively marketing your shop across several platforms and websites. A diverse approach to online advertising is a must:
- Social media marketing
- Blogs and landing pages
- Influencer marketing
- Email marketing
- Etc.
Track, analyze, adjust, and repeat
As with any sort of business, becoming successful doesn’t happen overnight. While some people may say “just give it time”, that’s only half the equation. It’s true you’ll need to wait some time, but while you wait you need to also be tracking how your business progresses. Without some way to look back at the history of your business, how can you really tell how it’s doing now?
10 Best Print on Demand Companies
Print-on-demand (or POD) companies are businesses that provide a complete e-commerce fulfillment solution—this includes sourcing and storing products, printing products and packaging materials, and shipping orders to customers.
Print on demand is a type of dropshipping. All you need to do is create eye-catching designs, configure your products, and sell them online—a print-on-demand company will take care of the rest!
Here are our favorite print-on-demand sites to consider.
1. Printful
Printful is one of the most popular print-on-demand companies out there.
It offers more than 220 different products and provides a range of printing options, such as direct-to-garment, cut-and-sew, sublimation, and embroidery. You can also add custom tags to your products and include stickers and inserts in the product packaging.
Printful’s mockup generator makes customization easy, and the service integrates with all major platforms, including Shopify and Etsy. Plus, products are typically ready to ship in two to five business days.
2. Printify
Printify provides access to an extensive network of print-on-demand suppliers around the world. As a result, you can choose the best supplier in your country for fast and cost-effective shipping. Of course, this also means that shipping times and product quality will vary depending on the supplier you choose.
This print-on-demand company enables businesses to customize more than 300 products in many ways, including embroidery, sublimation, and direct-to-garment printing.
Printify also offers Premium and Enterprise plans that provide significant discounts for businesses with a high turnover.
3. CustomCat
CustomCat is a US-based print-on-demand company, and orders are typically ready to ship in just two to three business days. This print-on-demand shop offers a few printing options, such as direct-to-garment, 3D dye infusion, and sublimation.
CustomCat also boasts one of the largest print-on-demand merchandise catalogs available—so it’s a good choice if you’re looking for unique print-on-demand products.
4. SPOD
SPOD is one of the fastest print-on-demand companies out there, boasting a two-day turnaround. It also provides a handy shipping calculator.
SPOD offers many different printing options, including digital direct, laser transfer, special flex, and sublimation. And you can use the service to sell more than 100 products. You can also use SPOD to enable customers to customize products with their own designs and images.
5. TPop
TPop is one of the best print-on-demand companies in Europe, with orders printed in France. This print-on-demand company focuses primarily on apparel and accessories and allows users to customize and sell 36 different products.
TPop offers a complete white-label print-on-demand service, with customizable packing slips and packaging. This print-on-demand company is also committed to preserving the environment with zero-plastic packaging and 100%-recycled paper packing slips.
6. JetPrint
JetPrint is one of the best print-on-demand companies for watches and other exciting product categories like shoes, yoga accessories, and homeware. For this reason, it’s an excellent choice for those looking to bootstrap a business around a particular product or niche.
Once you upload your designs, this print-on-demand service will automatically generate professional-looking product photos to show off your products from multiple angles.
Orders are usually ready to ship in three to five business days.
7. teelaunch
Teelaunch allows you to sell print-on-demand merchandise via Shopify and Etsy. It also provides an impressive range of products that aren’t as generic as many typical print-on-demand products—including electronics, apparel, and homeware.
Teelaunch offers a few different printing options, such as direct-to-garment, cut-and-sew, all-over print, and laser etching.
Production typically takes three to six business days. There’s also a manual order tool you can use to order products to sell in person.
8. Gelato
Gelato is a global print-on-demand company with more than 100 print partners in 30 countries, delivering products to over 200 countries and territories. It also integrates with all the top online sales channels, including Shopify.
Gelato provides an extensive library of products, such as apparel, wall art, and stationery. Plus, this print-on-demand company works fast, promising to produce and deliver most orders within just 72 hours.
9. Gooten
Gooten is a popular print-on-demand site offering a range of printing options and products, such as apparel, homeware, and travel accessories. Products are typically produced and shipped within one to six business days.
Gooten’s API and integration options are more complicated than many print-on-demand companies. However, this means it’s very developer-friendly and offers more flexibility.
10. Printy6
Printy6 is a print-on-demand site for Shopify based in China. As a result, shipping takes longer and costs more than many other print-on-demand sites.
However, Printy6 offers many eye-catching and cheap print-on-demand products, including a large range of clothing, accessories, and homeware. Plus, production time only takes one to three days.
Print on Demand for eCommerce Business
If you’re planning to start a print on demand business, begin by choosing a niche and the products you want to sell. Then get your designs and website ready. After that, look for a print on demand service and add the products to your store so you can start to sell products. Once you start marketing your website, you’ll begin to receive orders, and your print provider will take care of the fulfilment.
There are a number of products you can sell with print on demand. Some of the popular print on demand products include \ t-shirts, caps, mugs, wall prints and posters, drawstring and cloth bags, hoodies, towels, phone covers, notebooks, cushion covers, sweatshirts, and leggings. You can technically do print on demand for free, but will likely need to spend some money on marketing and ads to start seeing results.
Print on Demand in the UK
Print-on-demand is a technology as well as a business model that involves placing graphic designs, photography, and/or art on a standardized series of print-on-demand merchandise such as custom t-shirts, hoodies, tea mugs, posters, and lots of other clothing and household goods, to sell online.
You can design the products you would like to sell with print-on-demand in the UK and publish them to your online store. Only after the product has sold does the production process begin. The product is then shipped directly to the customer.
You will work with great local UK print providers to produce your print on demand products that are close to your customers across Europe. Because there is no order limit or minimums, you may sell any amount of products, from a single unit to tens of thousands.
Sourcing print on demand merchandise in the UK is also taken care of. The products come directly from the print providers, who have designated printing areas for your customization. Your merchandise will be drop shipped directly from the print provider to your customers without too much hassle on your part. There’s no need for you to stock up or keep an inventory to fulfill your orders.
The instrumental advantage of not keeping inventory is what makes print on demand so revolutionary. It allows you to sell, sample, and diversify products easily without incurring the cost of large quantities of blank products.
10 Best Print on Demand Products for Selling Custom Merchandise
We’ll walk you through the 10 best print on demand products for selling custom merchandise
1. Jigsaw puzzles
Shooting straight to the top spot, custom jigsaw puzzles are one of our most popular products right now — apparently two years’ worth of lockdowns have turned us all into hardcore puzzle enthusiasts. And with the jigsaw puzzle market predicted to grow from $689.2mn in 2020 to $765.8mn by 2026, there’s never been a better time to design and sell jigsaw puzzles online.
Made from pressed paperboard and available to order in a range of five sizes — from 30 pieces to 1000 — our jigsaw puzzles are printed on demand, sealed with a high-gloss varnish and supplied in a premium presentation tin with your custom jigsaw puzzle design recreated on the lid. Ordering them is the easy part. Completing them, on the other hand, not so easy.
2. Phone cases
If, like us, you’re racking up more hours on your weekly screen time reports than you’d care to admit, don’t worry — you’re not the only one addicted to your phone. It’s estimated that there are 6.378bn smartphone users worldwide today, which translates to a whopping 80.76% of the global population.
What’s more, the global mobile phone protective cover market size was valued at $21.61bn in 2020 and is projected to reach $35.81bn by 2028. You see where we’re going with this…
Phones don’t come cheap, and investing in some added smartphone protection is a no-brainer for most people. Pair that with the latest trend for custom phone cases and you’ve got yourself an extremely sellable print on demand product.
3. Mugs
If there’s one thing we love more than our smartphones, it’s tea and coffee. In the UK alone, we drink approximately 100mn cups of tea every single day and 95mn cups of coffee. We’ve got the caffeine jitters just thinking about it.
To add to that, nearly 60% of us have an emotional attachment to a mug. So, yeah. Our mugs are kind of important to us. But gone are the days of everyone having the same mug as everyone else (and yes, we are referring to that giant Sports Direct mug), because times are changing and it’s all about personalization.
After all, if we’re drinking that much tea and coffee every day, we might as well drink it out of a personalized mug that actually means something to us, right?
4. T-shirts
We couldn’t write a blog post about custom merchandise without mentioning the humble tee. The OG of custom merch, print on demand t-shirts are just as profitable as ever. Valued at $3.64bn in 2020, the global custom t-shirt printing market size is expected to grow by 9.7% from 2021 to 2028.
A wardrobe staple worn by millions every day, custom t-shirts are perfect for creatives wanting to get their designs out there — we’re talking graphic prints, slogans, band logos, artwork and more. And in a world where a t-shirt featuring a keyboard-playing cat can achieve commercial success, it really is a case of anything goes.
5. Fine art prints
The internet has revolutionized our lives in more ways than one, including fueling our obsession with interior design (we’re looking at you, Pinterest). There was a time when buying fine art prints would’ve involved a trip to your local art gallery, but not anymore.
Thanks to the print on demand industry, it’s now easier than ever to connect with artists and designers all over the world and buy their prints. As well as highlighting unique artwork that showcases our individual tastes, it’s also a real goldmine for lesser-known artists and personalities looking to sell prints displaying their amazing designs and slogans.
We offer a range of specialist fine art papers and are recognized as a fine art printer, so you can trust that you’re in good hands.
6. Dog bandanas
Arguably one of our favourite print on demand products, custom dog bandanas might just be the cutest way to get your custom merch out there. If you’re a pet owner or an animal lover, then you’ll probably know just how much potential there is in selling personalized pet accessories.
Research shows that 26% of UK adults have a dog with an estimated population of 9.6mn pet dogs, while 44% of Americans own a dog. That’s a lot of good girls and boys.
Our dog bandanas come in sizes small, medium and large to suit all dog breeds. They also have an adjustable neckerchief tie fastening and are weatherproof, stain-resistant and easy to clean. What’s not to like?
7. Yoga mats
Ok, so probably not the first product that pops into your head when it comes to custom merchandise, but hear us out. Custom yoga mats make ideal merch for health and fitness influencers, as well as sports labels. They’re great for getting your name out there, as your followers will act as ambassadors for your brand every time they roll out their mat in a yoga class or at the gym.
In fact, investing in custom gym equipment is very in keeping with the wellness zeitgeist, what with around 45mn adults in the US owning a gym membership, along with 4.5mn adults in the UK. Yoga mats are just the start…
8. Face masks
The accessory no one saw coming, face masks have become the “new normal” for people all over the world since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020. And despite guidance on wearing a face covering differing across the globe, many are still choosing to mask up in certain places, even when it’s not mandatory.
In Britain alone, reusable face coverings are the most popular protective covering of choice, with seven in ten of those who opt to wear some form of protective covering using a washable face mask. We’ve moved on from the surgical, single-use face masks we all started out wearing in favour of custom face masks that now serve as a new form of self-expression. Plus, they’re still a relatively untapped market.
9. Stickers
Believe it or not, custom stickers are never not popular in the world of print on demand. The global die-cut stickers market was valued at $179.7mn in 2020 and shows no signs of shrinking any time soon.
Our personalized stickers are made from premium vinyl to ensure long-lasting stick and optimum print quality, and can be used for everything from merchandising, gifting, labelling and scrapbooking to personalizing special occasions like weddings and birthdays — making them an excellent product to sell in any custom merchandise store.
10. Canvas prints
Designed to replicate the look of original oil or acrylic paintings by actual artists, canvas prints have a premium look and feel. They’re also ideal for print on demand sellers, since they’re often significantly cheaper than traditional framing.
The canvas itself is super lightweight and helps cut down on shipping costs, while the absence of glass means less risk of in-transit breakages — win, win. Even better, we now offer an eco-friendly print on demand canvas. Made entirely from recycled plastic bottles and stretched over a lightweight, recycled frame, our eco canvas is a great way to introduce some sustainable art to your online store.
How to Sell Books With Print on Demand
Take your time
Most authors can’t wait to rush their finished book off into the marketplace. But that’s the last thing you should do! Think of it this way: You’ve spent months and possibly years to write and edit your book. Why would you want to waste all that time and energy on a poorly produced and hastily scheduled book launch?
Set a Print On Demand release date about 8 weeks out. We recommend you make your book release date at least 50-60 days in advance of the day you upload your book file to BookBaby.com. Why? Because it takes time for your printed book to be created, proofed, printed and loaded into all of the retail systems. But don’t worry — It’s to your advantage to have a long pre-sales period for your book.
Understanding the POD project timeline
No two book projects are the same. As a result, your book project timeline will be unique. Many factors go into how long it takes – especially the time it takes for authors to approve their book proofs.
BookBaby prints books “on demand” of the retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s and all the rest. BookBaby will print and ship your books to retailers based on their own inventory systems. We do not automatically ship books into the retailers’ warehouses. This is true for all Print On Demand (POD) programs, including BookBaby.
POD listings are different from eBook listings on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others. For the buy button on each store to show “In Stock”, stores require actual inventory in their warehouse so that they can fulfill orders upon request. Amazon and other companies use sophisticated inventory tools to determine how many books they need to have on hand to ship to customers.
POD services allow self-published authors the opportunity to sell in these retailers without their own risk of inventory. Every POD title in every store will have periods of time when it is listed as “out of stock”. We cannot guarantee your book will be in stock 24/7/365.
That’s not available via POD – from CreateSpace, Lighting Source/Ingram – or anyone else. Retail stores typically purchase a few books to have on hand – sell out – and then reorder. When they do not have physical inventory in their warehouse it will be listed as “out of stock”. The retailer will order additional stock based upon actual purchases and/or inventory forecasts.
Starting Your Print on Demand Store
Whether you are a designer, an artist or even just a normal person, provided you have some creative juices flowing and want to make a living from them, you can start your own print on demand business right now. Forget about creating products, shipping the items, or doing any of these time-consuming tasks.
All you have to do is to design your stuff, have it printed on demand, sell it, and you can earn a passive income day in, day out. Interested? If so, let’s dive into this 6-step process to learn how to start a print on demand business today.
Step 1: Choose the right platform When running a print on demand business, the first and very important step is choosing a platform. Think about this: whenever a buyer places an order, that platform will print, manufacture, and ship the order individually for the buyer.
They control the whole process of production and delivery, so your success heavily depends on them. There are so many print on demand sites to choose from, so you should do a bunch of research to pick the right one.
Step 2: Decide how you want to sell your design There are two common ways to sell your print on demand products. You can choose to sell on your platform’s marketplace or on your own store.
Step 3: Find your print on demand products: Most people know they can make a career with print on demand. But many of them are struggling with finding their niches. “What should I sell at TeeSpring?” seems to be a common question. Print on demand is a big label for an (almost) endless list of different products.
We’re all familiar with t-shirts, mugs, towels, and phone cases, but increasingly there are new products available to print on demand. On Teespring, you can design a lot of products, like basic tees, tank tops, v-neck shirts, stickers, pillows, etc. Everything else from mouse pads, magnets to underclothes and bodysuits can be a good niche, as well.
Step 4: Get your design ready: For creatives like artists and illustrators, their design is probably ready good to go. In case you don’t currently have any design, and you’re looking for inspiration to create some yourself, you can try these ways to find ideas:
- Go to other stores on TeeSpring and learn from their ideas. Never copy their ideas exactly but you can edit them to make your own. For example, the Pencilmation store has many awesome designs that can inspire you a lot.
- Look back on some of TeeSpring Success Stories to see how top creators developed their design concept.
- Read the hottest all-over print design trends to try with TeeSpring.
- Check out Pinterest, Zazzle, Amazon, Etsy, etc. for popular designs and niche themes.
- Google Search your design “message” to see if there are existing or similar designs you can get inspiration from.
- Reach out to your community or target audience for suggestions on what they’d like to see.
Once you find some ideas, you can use Canva, Place-It T-shirt Designer, Typorama, or Pablo by Buffer to create quality designs for your products.
Step 5: Create your products This step is about creating a listing and setting up a storefront on Teespring.
Step 6: How to promote your products: You’ve already created your products to sell on Teespring. It’s time to share them with the world. Try these three best practices to advertise your products and get the first orders:
#1 Cross-sell products on your storefront: There’s the Cross-Sells option when you create a storefront. This is a useful feature for increasing your buyers’ cart size at checkout – resulting in higher average order value. When you enable Cross-Sells, Teespring will show your other products at product pages (also called campaign pages), checkout pages, and the thank you pages after purchase. See the example below:
#2 Use Instagram to boost sales: Many Teespring sellers use Instagram to advertise their work and get very good results. Some claim that most of their sales come from organic Instagram traffic. To grow sales with Instagram, try the following ad-free tips: Create one Instagram account per storefront/niche.
If you have many storefronts, create a separate Instagram account for each of them. Then, add your store link to the “bio” section on Instagram, as the @quarrot account did. Use all of your hashtags, but avoid use generic hashtags like #shirt. The more specific the better.
#3 Host contests: You can give away some incentives to get your followers to share your products. For example, the Teespring seller Jahova offered signed shirts and custom video game equipment to his audience on YouTube.
The game rules are simple, that is, his followers had to submit a picture of themselves in a shirt bought on his tore. By the time the game ended, he sold over 2,000 shirts. Also, you can run Facebook ads and other advertisement methods to boost your conversion rate.
Top 5 Best Sites to Make Money With Print on Demand
1. PrintBase
PrintBase is by far the most popular print on demand platform with a huge collection of products. They ensure the highest product quality, and the printing quality is also much better than many of their competitors. Printbase platform for print on demand business Generally, RedBubble works similar to other print on demand sites out there, but it’s merely a print on demand platform of its own.
Pricing: PrintBase has a clear pricing policy. The platform only charges for the base price of each item, and anything extra that you get goes straight to your wallet. For example, if an item costs $5 (base price), and you sell it for $15, then you make $10 in profits.
Delivery: PrintBase doesn’t offer free shipping, but they give you a good shipping service which makes it worth the money.
2. Teespring
Teespring allows you to create custom products to sell on their platform. Like Redbubble, Teespring also takes charge of printing, fulfillment, delivery, and customer service. Start a Print on Demand Business On Teespring, you don’t need to set a sales target.
When an item is sold, the order will be fulfilled and shipped, meaning you get the money. Regarding printing, each product has a different printable area where you can put your design. These printable areas have a limit, so if you cross this limit, your entire design won’t be printed.
Pricing: Teespring charges you a fixed price per item as Redbubble does. You choose the selling price and keep 100% of the profits after deducting the base price.
Delivery: Teespring has three different shipping fees, depending on whether your customers are based on the United States, Canada, or outside these countries. Rush shipping is also available on some products with an extra fee.
3. TeeChip
TeeChip has many of the same features as other popular print on demand platforms do, but it offers some unique ones as well. The first thing, also their unique selling proposition, is custom-domain offering. It allows you to create your own store on TeeChip and customize it with your own domain name. Here is a typical example of a store with a custom domain created with TeeChip.
Pricing: TeeChip has a base price and a retailer price minimum for each product. You can go to the official product pricing page to see how much you have to pay and how much you can earn on each item.
Delivery: TeeChip offers different shipping costs, based on the destination and the number of products in each order. Normally, the platform charges $3.99 per item along with $1.99 per extra item for delivery.
4. Merch by Amazon
Started by Amazon in 2015, Merch by Amazon is a fairly new print on demand platform, compared with others in this list. This site mainly focuses on t-shirts and possibly limits for those who want to sell mugs, beach towels, etc. It is available by invitation only.
Pricing: Merch by Amazon offers you a royalty for each of your product sold. This royalty is based on the list price that you set excludes Amazon’s costs for raw materials, printing, fulfillment, customer service, and shipping. Go to the Royalties page to learn more about this.
Delivery: Merch by Amazon products have the same shipping options as other items sold by Amazon. If a customer spends more than $25, they get free shipping. All other customers are given the option to buy ground shipping or pay more for faster delivery.
5. GearLaunch
GearLaunch is ideal for eCommerce owners who already have a Shopify store. This POD platforms also provides full-service storefront which you’re able to sell under your own domain.
Pricing: GearLaunch uses a tiered pricing structure to make sure you get the most money as possible. You can use this product catalog to figure out their current product offerings and discounted pricing per tier.
Delivery: Shipping fees vary depending on the size, weight, and number of items in an order. Standard shipping times for domestic orders is between 5-10 working days. For international orders, shipping can take 2-4 weeks.
Print on Demand Amazon
Selling POD products on Amazon is a simple enough process. You’ll need a few things to get started, like a POD company you want to work with, and an account as a seller on the Amazon website. However, once you have those things, the majority of your work will flow pretty smoothly.
Start by setting up your Amazon seller account. The first thing you should know here is Amazon offers two different kinds of accounts for sellers. There’s a free account called the “Individual” plan, which allows you to sell a few products each month. However, if you want to build a relatively scalable business on Amazon, you’re going to need the professional plan. This does have a monthly fee attached to it, but it could mean you can sell more than a basic seller.
Professional plans on Amazon are particularly useful, because you’ll get access to the Amazon Marketplace service. This means you can link your Amazon account with other tools, including Print on Demand suppliers.
Where to Source Print on Demand for Pet Portraits
With 412 products to choose from, you can pick anything you’d like. Get the companion’s photo printed on a shirt or make a cozy custom pet blanket. Fans of wall art will definitely appreciate a custom canvas with a portrait of their pet.
Printful offers international shipping! The shipping rates and speed depend on the destination and the shipping method you select. As a seller you can set up your own product and shipping prices to increase your profit.
Good Print on Demand for Non-Profit
Print-on-demand works particularly well for charities by allowing you to have a range of branded and themed products that resonate with your charity’s audience, that are only printed, packaged and shipped on the completion of the purchase.
For example if you were selling charity branded apparel, this means that you don’t have the usual upfront costs related to ordering bulk stock in all the different sizes and colours that you’d usually need to cater to your audience.
You simply upload your designs, add them to products (virtually) and then publish them to your online store. You can test different designs and introduce a huge range of awareness raising products to your audience, without spending a single penny of your nonprofit’s funds upfront on stock.
When a sale is made, the POD technology takes care of everything – your order is automatically sent to the printer/supplier who then manufactures and prints the product, packs it neatly and ships it to your customer’s door. Your charity pays the wholesale cost and keeps the profit.
The best part? Apart from adding designs to products and publishing to your online store – you don’t need to lift a finger.
How can I Get Design Ideas for Print on Demand?
Whatever is trending in your niche, there’s a good chance that you’ll find a clever quip about it in one of these platforms.
Platforms where you can search trending, viral, or meme items:
- 9Gag. A website and social site where you can publish and curates jokes and memes for a variety of niches.
- 4Chan. It’s similar to Pinterest in a sense that it’s a bulletin board for images, but the difference is you don’t need an account and you’ll see lots of comments on some images, which might be helpful in your research
- Reddit. The site is divided into different communities, and some communities will have sub-groups (a.k.a. “subreddit”) to further organize the conversations. The best posts get the most replies and votes (a.k.a. “upvotes”) from community members.
Not everything you find in these websites is applicable to POD, as the majority of the information you’ll find here isn’t commercialized. These are just people talking about all sorts of things, so you’ll need some creativity to imagine how the information can be translated to a hoodie or POD blanket design.
What are the Best Industries for Print on Demand in India?
POD implies that you do not need a significant quantity of things to start, instead, each order is printed, as it comes in. The most important advantage is that you are not bound to keep the inventory, however, the disadvantage is that sometimes, it takes more time to fulfil each order separately which slows down the process.
Modern technology has made printing t-shirts, books, cakes, and even your cappuccino easier and more affordable. As technology advances, the production cost per unit is decreasing, making the ‘digital press’ cost-effective.
With POD, you don’t need to bother about logistics, shipping, or inventory management. A third-party service provider will handle everything from printing to packaging and delivery. Many POD fulfilment service providers also help you to connect to eCommerce sites through their platforms.
The demand for customized products is increasing day by day. With this, the popularity of print-on-demand companies is also increasing. The following are the top ten print-on-demand sites in India:
- Printrove
- Qikink
- Blinkstore
- Owl Prints
- Print Ship
- Vendorboat
- Eprintcare
- Doipe
- Printwear
- Gelato India
Print on Demand for Custom Children Books
Here’re the 5 best custom children’s book print-on-demand companies (no minimum).
1. Lulu
Founded in 2002, Lulu is the top print-on-demand service to design and create your own children’s books, comics, novels, textbooks, yearbooks, cookbooks, calendars, magazines, notebooks, and eBooks with no minimum.
As a Certified B Corporation, the company is committed to balancing purpose and profit. It prioritizes sustainability and strives for the highest standards of social and environmental performance.
Lulu offers children’s books with over 3,000 possible combinations. For example, you can personalize sizes (A4, A5, square, pocket, US letter, etc.), interior pages (blank, lined, graph, or dot grid), bindings (paperback perfect bound, coil bound, saddle stitch, hardcover case wrap, linen wrap, or wire-O), paper types, colors, and cover finish (glossy or matte).
2. IngramSpark
IngramSpark is a subsidiary of IngramContent – a renowned publishing group that has catered to hundreds of thousands of independent & large-size publishers. It also owns one of the industry’s largest active book inventories of 7.5M+ titles.
IngramSpark uses the most advanced technology to offer high-quality print-on-demand hardcover/paperback children’s books in a wide variety of print options (30 trim sizes, gloss or matte cover lamination, standard or premium interior colors, etc.) at an affordable price.
3. Blurb
The next best children’s book dropshipping print-on-demand company is Blurb. It was launched in 2005 in California USA and has now surpassed the milestone of 20M products printed and shipped.
What to love about Blurb is its beginner-friendly & powerful design tool with free templates to help you quickly create dynamic, vivid, and high-quality children’s books.
4. BookBaby
Since its inception in 2011 in the US, BookBaby has grown to become the nation’s leading self-publishing supplier and helped over 50K independent authors to create, publish, and distribute their print-on-demand adult & children’s books around the globe.
The company takes zero commission when you sell your publication through its retail partners, including Amazon, Walmart, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books, Books-A-Million, and other leading bookstores.
5. Doxzoo
Doxzoo is a reliable kids’ book wholesale print-on-demand provider with no MOQ established in 2014 in the UK. It serves a wide range of customers, from students, individuals, small-medium companies, charities, to larger organizations.
Until now, Doxzoo has received over 5.5K reviews with an average rating of 4.7 stars.
Web 3 Print on Demand Shirts Services
Here are the 5 best print-on-demand t-shirt dropshipping services for anyone to start selling t-shirts online.
Printful | Printify | CustomCat | Print Aura | Gooten | |
Printing Methods | DTG, Screen Printing | DTG | DTG | DTG | DTG |
Average Fulfillment Time | 2-7 days | 3-4 days | 2-3 days | 3-5 days | 3-4 days |
Cost of Low Price Tee Printed | $8.95 | $8.10 | $7.00 | $10.25 | $6.90 |
Mockup Tool | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
API Access | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Branding | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Shipping Location | California, North Carolina, Latvia | California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, United Kingdom, China, Canada | California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Texas | New York | Minnesota, Ohio, United Kingdom |
What are the Top Niches for Print on Demand Products?
We will now single out 5 print-on-demand niches that are hugely popular and profitable.
1. Animals and Pets
The first print-on-demand niche we’re going to be talking about today is all about pets. People love spending money on their beloved fur babies and are spending more and more every year. This has led to a huge market for animal-related products, especially those with dog and cat-related themes. According to a recent survey, in 2022 the value of the pet industry in the US will reach 109.6 billion dollars.
2. Activism and Social Causes
We’re living in an age where people are becoming increasingly passionate about their beliefs. They’re actively hunting for accessories and apparel that allows them to express their views visually and support their cause. There are plenty of opportunities to create a whole host of profitable POD niche products.
3. Families and Couples
The families and couples niche would be perfect for virtually any print on demand store. Items in this POD niche are ideal for family gatherings, trips, parties – you name it. It’s also super cute for couples, as there is no shortage of people looking for ways to visually declare their love.
Products in this POD niche tick all the right boxes:
- They have a strong emotional element that helps drive sales;
- They’re usually bought as gifts;
- They’re often attached to an event like an anniversary, birthday, or holiday.
4. Humor and Internet Memes
T-shirts, posters, and mugs are obvious candidates for funny slogans and graphics. Millions of people exchange funny jokes and memes that they’ve discovered online, primarily from being subscribed to comedy accounts on platforms like Instagram. Look at this list of popular meme and humor accounts and their huge following, which at the time this article was written, were as follows:
- Funny Memes (@epicfunnypage) – 16.3 million followers
- Memes • Comedy • Culture (@memezar) – 23.5 million followers
- F**KJERRY (@f**kjerry) – 16.5 million followers.
- HoodClips (@hoodclips) – 11.9 million followers
- Funny Memes (@funnymemes) – 6.6 million followers
- Relatable Memes l Comedy (@insta.single) – 6.4 million followers
- Sh**headsteve (@sh**headsteve) – 6.9 million followers
5. Jobs and Hobby-Related Niches
Many people are extremely passionate about their hobbies, and they’re keen to show off their interests with hobby-specific t-shirts and other garments. When it comes to job-related niches, these are the sorts of items that are almost always bought as a gift. People love to buy their friends or colleagues presents featuring work-related quotes, catchphrases, and pictures (or memes).
The job or hobby niche allows you to again take advantage of sets of keywords we talked about a few paragraphs back, to create wording that appeals to specific groups such as nurses, plumbers, lawyers, teachers, and members of the military. There are hundreds of job roles that you could build products around, and in the case of niches like the military, it’s even possible to build an entire business just selling to this particular sub-group.
What is Print on Demand Clothing
Print on demand is a way to sell custom products that feature your own designs. You create a design for a T-shirt and upload it to your website. A customer orders the blanket featuring that design, and a third-party print on demand company fulfills the order.
You don’t have to pay for the product until you sell it. So, there’s no need to buy in bulk or hold any inventory yourself.
Plus, your print on demand service will handle everything after the sale, from printing to shipping. That means you can focus on designing and marketing, which is less stressful than running a traditional e-commerce business.
Because of that nature, print on demand makes it easier for anyone to start selling online. As long as you have a creative idea, you can monetize it.
Is Shopify Good for Creating a Print on Demand Business?
From creating designs to building your online store, Shopify has everything you need to start a business using print-on-demand.
Launch for less
Start your business with minimal costs. Using a print-on-demand service means saving on inventory space, and not paying for products until you’ve sold them.
Work on what matters
Fulfill and ship orders with only a few clicks. Print-on-demand services free up time to perfect your products, optimize your marketing, and talk with your customers.
Sell globally
Grow your business by selling to customers all over the world. Many print-on-demand services offer worldwide warehousing and fulfillment.
Test for success
Experiment with new designs, products, and sales channels. Print-on-demand services provide a low-risk way to find what works best for you and your business.
What are the Pros and Cons of Print on Demand Dropshipping?
What are the real pros and cons of the POD business?
THE PROS OF PRINT-ON-DEMAND
- You don’t need to print anything in bulk. In print on demand, the emphasis is on the “on-demand” part – the printer will only print the product once it’s ordered. This means you don’t have to gamble with your money – you won’t end up with a huge stock of t-shirts with a design that doesn’t sell as well as you’d hoped.
- You don’t need to buy equipment. Your POD partner takes care of the technical side of the printing process – you don’t need to buy any expensive printing machines, And you don’t need to learn how to print a product either.
- You can save time on the technical side of running a business. Since your POD partner takes care of the whole technical side of your business, including fulfilling and shipping out your orders, you can concentrate more on the fun side. Invest more time in creating your designs and marketing your store!
- You can experiment with designs easily. POD also lets you take more risks with the designs you offer – you can easily add new designs to your store and test if your customers love them or not. Since products are printed on-demand, you’re not making a huge investment in something that might not sell in the end. If a design isn’t as popular as you might like, you can easily remove it from your store.
- You can experiment with different products. You can experiment not only with designs but also with products. More and more print on demand services are expanding beyond the scope of just ‘printing’. Print on demand is not about only selling graphic tees anymore—now you can create your own apparel lines for a variety of niche audiences.
- It’s easy to customize your designs. You can offer more customization options for your customers – for example, your customers can incorporate something unique of theirs, like their name. Print on-demand services are responding to the ever-growing need for personalization in people’s shopping experiences.
- It’s easy to establish your brand. A common thing for print on demand services is that they’re white label. This means you can customize your products and packaging with your branding so that when your customers receive their orders, there’s no sign of it coming from a third party service.
- Take advantage of services and resources. Working with a POD service is a partnership. Your success as a seller is also a success for them. Your print-on-demand partner can help you not only with the technical side of fulfilling your orders, but it can also be a valuable hub of resources to help you start up or grow your business. From free product mockup images, you can use on your store as product photos, to professional photography, design, or even store set-up services – print on demand companies are growing their offering to make your journey to success easier.
THE CONS OF PRINT-ON-DEMAND
- You lose control over the fulfillment process and quality of the products. Just like with any drop shipping service, POD means that you don’t see each product yourself, so you have to trust the printer to do their job properly. This is why it’s important to test your products before you start selling to see how they look. It’s possible that you or your customer might receive a damaged item. It could be a manufacturer’s error, fulfillment error, or damaged during shipping. There’s no denying that these things happen for any product manufacturing business. As you already know, we have quality control that the fulfilled products go through. However, as with everything, we might accidentally let through a defective item. If your customer receives a damaged or defective item because of our mistake, we take full responsibility and cover the error at our expense.
- You depend on your printing partner for products and their availability. POD companies work with different suppliers to source products or product materials, for example, fabric. This means there are a lot of moving parts, and sometimes products may go out of stock or become unavailable.
- Order fulfillment takes longer. Since every product is printed on-demand, it takes longer to fulfill orders than it would if you already had available stock. As a store owner, you have to manage your customers’ expectations – let them know that each product is printed on demand and that this takes a bit longer than sending out an already made product.
- Returns management may require more attention. Since you’re working with a third-party service, there’s more to consider when it comes to dealing with situations where your customers might want to return a product. So make sure you set up a return policy that goes hand-in-hand with your POD partner’s policy.
What is the Best Print on Demand Service for Posters in Europe?
GlobeNewswire shows that items decorated with photographs are widely used by individual customers as personalized gifts. Among all regions, Europe holds the second-largest revenue share of about 28%.
The data indicate that the EU is a consumption market for custom products that cannot be ignored. And, to start selling profitably within the continent, partnering with a reliable EU print-on-demand supplier is a must.
In order to save your time from scouring the internet, below we will show you the 10 best ones of them.
- Printful
- Printify
- Prodigi
- Spreadshirt
- Two Fifteen
- InkThreadable
- Snuggle Printing
- Contrado
- Zazzle
- Pwinty
What Print on Demand Services do you Recommend for Selling Artwork?
The most used service from our survey was Fine Art America. Artists not just used the site, but recommended it for its ease of use and overall quality. Artists wrote in that Fine Art America connected easily to their website, which made ordering straightforward.
Redbubble and Society 6 tied for the second most used services. With similar sites Zazzle, Moo, Contrado, Threadless, Vistaprint, Blurb, and Pixels being listed as well.
Clare Winslow, a painter, printmaker, teacher and designer said her favorite print-on-demand site is Artistic Photo Canvas and recommended Finerworks for paper printing. “Artistic Photo Canvas is reliable, detailed, and an actual person will chat with you after you upload the image and before you have the canvas printed,” she told Artwork Archive.
“I am keen to keep my quality high because I think we should present the best work we can, even when we are having a vendor produce work for us.”
Many artists that responded to the survey, along with Lexington-based artist Amantha Tsaros, included Art of Where among their favorite print-on-demand services for open editions. “Their products and reproductions are of high quality; they have a reasonable turnaround time and excellent communication,” said Tsaros. “I like that they will brand your package with a custom sticker and there is the option to add branded tags or business cards to your orders. Most importantly, my collectors have been pleased.”
With mass production abilities, can come caveats to quality of service or materials. Users commented that Zazzle has longer shipping times and that the paper quality from Pixels was unsatisfactory.
How do I Find Quality Photos to Sell the Print on Demand?
You can find a lot of quality photos online, however, for that privilege, you will have to spend some money. Just use good old Google with keywords. The alternative is to shoot your own unique photos that you reckon might look good on POD products.
Here are the places to look:
- Alamy
- 500px
- SmugMug Pro
- Shutterstock
- iStock Photo
- Etsy
- Getty Images
- Stocksy
- Can Stock Photo
- Adobe Stock
What Print on Demand Service Sell the Cheapest Stretched Canvas
Consumers are increasingly preferring to buy their art off the internet. According to Statista, global online art print sales rose from $4.8B in 2019 to nearly $7.9B in 2020. Hence, it’s a lucrative print-on-demand niche to jump into and make money.
Here’re the 10 best custom canvas art print & poster print-on-demand companies.
- Pictorem
- Prodigi
- Creativehub
- Awkward Styles
- Camaloon
- EPROLO
- Printful
- Printify
- Gelato
- Picanova
How do you Monetize Your Print on Demand Business?
To get started, you’ll need to find a website that will manage to print your designs and ship them out to your customers. Printify is a perfect example. Printify allows you to create stores on Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce, Wix, and Shopify. Their print on demand service is free as well, though if you sign up for premium at $29 per month, you’ll save up to 20% on all of your orders.
Read Also: Trusted Online Money Making Sites
When using Printify, you’ll first create a store by picking the platform you intend to sell on. Once your store is set up, you’ll be able to pick from clothing and other apparel to upload your designs to. They offer loads of custom products and various shipping options.
If you’re a US-based company, you might choose a US-based printing company so that your customers get their products shipped to them quicker.
After you’ve chosen a printer, you can move on to the screen where you upload your design and customize the design further (such as adding color to clothing fabric if you’re designing clothes). When you’ve completed that, you can add a description, and finally, you’ll be presented with the cost to make the item and be able to enter your selling price.
Once you’ve added all of your designs, you’ll be able to export them to your store. Printify handles the dropshipping, billing, and everything else for you. You just need to create the design, price the product, and market it to your audience.
How do I Succeed on Print on Demand Without Skills?
Print-on-demand services offer an accessible place to begin for new entrepreneurs or for anyone who just wants to test an idea before they invest in it. There are thousands of white label products out there that you can make your own, and no shortage of possible designs to pair with them.
Select combinations will inevitably sell better than the rest, but it’s relatively easy to repurpose the same core design for several products.
If your business idea pans out and you start generating a meaningful number of sales, you can always graduate from print on demand to holding your own inventory, or continue to use these services while finding new ways to grow your audience.
The greatest advantage of the print-on-demand model is the flexibility it affords your business and the time it gives you back to focus on growth.