Print On demand (POD)

 The Ultimate Guide To Starting A Print On Demand Business [Updated 2023-2024] 

What is Print on Demand (POD)?

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 ecommerce 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 Print on Demand Still Profitable in 2023-2024?

The custom T-shirt market worldwide is expected to cross 100 billion dollars by 2030. It shows no sign of slowing down. 

Every T-shirt has someone’s name, a quote, a picture, a drawing, or a symbol on it. And not just T-shirts, we’ve seen the same trend in other types of apparel, jewelry, phone accessories, medical implants, or even pharmaceuticals (think: custom pills).

With many best print on demand sites out there, you can start selling custom products anytime you want. It’s easy to do it.

But there is another bigger reason why print on demand is still profitable in 2022 (and other years to come).

To understand it, think about why Gen Zers (born 1997-2012) are crazy about this T-shirt:

OK boomer implies Gen Z’s endlessly repeated retort to the problem of older people who just don’t understand Gen Z culture and politics. This meme quickly became a merch — some sellers received more than $10,000 orders just after promoting it on TikTok. 

The text is personalized, relatable, and “proof of how much the sentiment resonates with people [Gen Zers], “ as Joshua Citarella, a researcher who studies online communities, explains. That’s why Gen Zers love it.

Nearly 70 million in the US are Gen Z. Compared with previous generations, Gen Zers are keen on custom products at a higher level. They want to stand out and always look for the next unique product. “Different” is the name-of-the-game for these young adults. 

According to a 2018 report from IBM and the National Retail Federation, nearly half of Gen Z shoppers want products tailor-made to their tastes and interests. 

That means you have so many opportunities to turn your designs into real money. After all, where there is demand, there is supply, right?  

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. Here are some of the best platforms that you can consider:

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. 

#1 Sell on your chosen platform’s marketplace

 With this method, you just need to create an account, upload your design, and start selling. Recall that you assumingly choose Teespring to sell your design. The platform has already done all the marketing legwork, so you can make use of free traffic to grow sales. Besides, selling your products through Teespring makes it easy to manage your entire collection.   However, this selling method comes with the downside of no branding at all. You don’t get the benefits of naming your brand and branding your own store. In addition, you would be one of hundreds of thousands of other artists selling their work on that platform. The competition is very high, and your potential customers can wander around your store, but then go to another to buy. Obviously, it isn’t always a bad thing, but if you’re looking to sell the stuff on your store under your own branding, this method isn’t the right choice.  

#2 Sell on your own site 

You have to create your store site on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, ShopBase, etc. Then, upload your designs to your store and connect with a print on demand platform. Also, you’re responsible for marketing your products. Once you have an order, your chosen platform will print the design and deliver the product to your customers.  So, how can you know which method is better to sell your design? Generally, it depends on your business strategy and budget. If you have a large investment and don’t want to compete against others, building your own print on demand store may suit you. But, if you know a platform has a large audience and want to make use of it, you should list your design on this platform. We continue to assume you want to sell directly on Teespring. Move on to find out what the next steps are. 

How to Start a Print On Demand Business From Home

It’s easy to start a print on demand business, but to ensure your store is properly set up and ready to sell, there are certain steps you need to follow. By doing that, you’ll also avoid common mistakes that beginners often make when starting a POD business. 

1. Determine What to Sell

New merchants often think about T-shirts, which is incredibly profitable. However, you can also start with mugs, blankets, phone cases, etc. 

On Printbest, there are over 71 products to choose from, so you’ve got quite a few options. 

A worthy note is that your product should be acceptable under marketplaces’ and ecommerce platforms’ terms and conditions. Also, go through social media networks’ advertising policies and check what types of products are permitted to advertise on those sites.

2. Pick Your Niche

A niche is a sub-market or category your product appeals to. It can be around anything, from a profession, a specific animal, a movie, a fictional character, or just something fun and trending. 

A niche is a thing that a specific group of people are passionate about and feel related to. When you define your niche, you have a customer base who are more likely to buy your product. You understand their behaviors and what interests them, so you can tailor your designs to their needs. 

That’s what makes a niche so important. That’s why no matter what you choose to sell, your product should be around a niche. 

Your POD store can focus on a specific niche. For example, you want to target those who love dogs and create designs around them. 

While there’s nothing wrong with this, you may want to consider another option: cross niche. 

A cross niche is a mix of two or more niches. So, where dog lovers would be a single niche, dogs and women who love sarcastic jokes and drinks are a cross-niche. In this case, you’re targeting dog lovers who ALSO love joking and drinking. 

When choosing a cross-niche, you narrow your audience. But that’s not a bad thing because your audience becomes more specific and targeted. You can analyze them more thoroughly and understand them at a deeper level. 

You may tap into a very passionate audience that not many sellers are targeting. That means less competition and so more opportunities to earn higher profits. 

To find your niches, think about what makes you curious, what’s trending, what people are talking about every day. You can also do research on marketplaces, social media, and other ecommerce stores. 

Dig deeper into how people think, how they act, what they want, their demographics, personalities, fears, hopes, beliefs, etc. 

Once you understand what your target customers want, it’s time to find your winning idea and make a design. 

3. Make a Design

In a traditional ecommerce store, products have already been designed and manufactured. They’re ready for you to sell and deliver to customers.

But for a print on demand store, you’ll need to create or buy art to sell on your products. When it comes to POD, designs are everything. They can make or break your business. 

If you’re very creative, that’s amazing! But if you’re not good at brainstorming ideas, that’s okay as well — there are some ways to find design ideas.

The first and most common way is to spy on super popular winning designs. According to Shopify expert Clayton Bates, Etsy is a great place to find what’s working and get inspiration from people already making money.

Also, Etsy is an online marketplace for hand- and tailor-made products, making it an ideal place for print on demand sellers. 

Let’s say your niche is those who work from home, and you want to sell designs for T-shirts. You can go to Etsy and type “work from home, t-shirt” in the search bar.

10 BEST PRINT ON DEMAND SITES

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.