Whether you’re an artist, an entrepreneur, a writer, and a designer, physical products can be the perfect canvas to monetize your creativity. Welcome to A free Print On Demand Shirts guide to help you find products, design a store, launch, and make your first Print-on-demand sale.
From backpacks to books, t-shirts to posters, you can put your original spin on your everyday products and sell them online.
However, if you follow the traditional route of buying and holding your inventory, Somebody would leave you with a pile of products that are not sold.
Print-on-demand dropshipping model offers an alternative way to bypass time, investment, and risk associated with inventory management, allowing you to switch from creating to selling custom products at a fraction of the cost.
Let us kick off on how to sell Print On Demand Shirts using Shopify ecommerce Platform
A Detailed Guide To Selling Print On Demand Shirts Online
Welcome to the Print-On-Demand Products guide. If you intend to make some extra bucks selling merchandise using POD-technique, then you are in the right place.
Here we are not talking about some virtual reality concepts. Print-on-demand is a dropshipping business model that is exponentially becoming commercially viable.
Print-on-demand in a similar fashion as other selling structures has a considerable potential to generate a decent income for the end retailer.
For beginner store owners, print-on-demand is a compelling category in the eCommerce business model-it simple to get started since you do not need an inventory.
However, to balance the equation, it goes without saying that you need to put in a significant portion of creativity.
And the following is why.
You want to have unique design concepts. The better part is that as a merchant, you do not have to create the designs.
There are, out of the commonplace, print-on-demand businesses to help you do just that. In this guide, we will take a look at some of the obvious ones.
To align your profit margins up, you may need to look at a couple of the design options.
To lead you on, it is practical to list some of the viable niches in the market. Print on demand products, in the first occurrence, are typically blank products.
Marketplaces such as Alibaba and Amazon sell plain hoodies, mugs, t-shirts, caps of standard quality.
An online retailer gets to source the products and custom-designs the graphics. There is one ideal thing that makes the print-on-demand method treads over the other model.
And it is that POD gives the seller independence to customize their product. They can likewise work with designs from customers.
In other words, there are no design limits. Custom merchandise has a winning clientele base.
As soon as the client places an order, the retailer promptly designs the Print, makes finished merchandise, and ships it to the shopper.
How the Print-On-Demand Model Works
It is about that time this guide delves into a practical perspective.
The Print on demand appears to house so many businesses.
Say a writer, for example, can impeccably fit in this model and produce better profit markups like not ever before.
One way of hacking that is by selling demand books. The same goes for designers and artists.
Currently, it is not rare to see wall arts and art prints listed on 3rd party sales channels.
How do professional banks on the POD system? You ask
Similar to other dropshipping models, there are a few POD alternatives to suit your definitive niche.
To achieve an unequaled target audience, you want to reach the peak by eventually standing out from the bunch.
Clients need to have overwhelming confidence in your merchandises’ quality. Big print-on-demand brands employ this approach to have chronic clients all year long.
The quality of your material needs to be top-notch. This way, it is pretty tough to fall short of your proceeds prospects.
As a rule of thumb, the foremost step to maintain the value that clients see in your merchandise is by sourcing extraordinary quality items from suppliers.
You want a blank product to print a custom design-one that has no markings.
It is prudent to seek clarification on the same from the supplier while placing the order.
Print-On-Demand (POD) dropshipping.
Factoring in the current trends, the POD model appears to align with the drop shipping performance entirely. A deal takes place in effect upon a client placing an order.
As a result, the trade does not need to hold onto any inventory of any kind.
It practically means that you do not need to have huge portions of stock levels in your storeroom.
If you choose to use the sales channels, says Shopify, you can try a few POD merchandise.
The objective is to find one that has the potential to generate huge profits.
Besides, with POD dropshipping, you leave every requirement task at the hands of the supplier.
It includes printing the custom design and shipping the finished items to the end-user.
And by this means, the vendor gets to ease the order fulfillment procedure in brief.
To be confident on this part, you can try the print-on-demand services to discover unexploited business opportunities in a specific niche.
In close linking to that, it helps you to eke some extra bucks out of a pre-built shopper audience.
The way to look at it-put into consideration your influence on social media, Instagram, for example, can be a real-world medium to create shoppable posts for your POD merchandise.
You take into account the need to carve a great niche; as a retailer, you can create visibility for your brand using the most traditional print-on-demand ideas.
It, in turn, sets you apart from your competition, longing for an equal audience in the market.
Mainstream Print-On-Demand Product Ideas
T-shirts
There are several ideas you can try using the print-on-demand system. Plain t-shirts are picturesque products sellers can use to sell their custom brands.
The majority of suppliers sell various t-shirts designs in bulk and at an exceedingly low price. (round-neck,polo, v-neck t-shirts).
The pact with t-shirts is that they are high selling and are easily flexible to numerous print-on-demand services. IBM owners, for instance, may find it easy to customize the companies’ brands on t-shirts.
Backpacks
It is one niche that is not so highly flooded and, at the same time, has a high conversion probability. Platforms like Pinterest-with an invasion of freshly updated designs can be a great source of trendsetting fabric design prints.
To a high school teen or a college millennial, I trust that a custom branded backpack feels like a must-have, and therefore as a POD drop shipper, you want to work with the right demographics.
Also falling under this category are the Drawstring bags.
Often the bags are principally used by the organization as emblems to raise some theme awareness.
Hoodies
Closely akin to t-shirts, selling custom-printed hoodies often goes far afield. As it is, China market is aggressively investing in selling replica hoodies.
If you spot ‘Champion’ branded Hoodies on AliExpress retailing at sic ($30), chances are it is a replica. That said, there are so many income merchants who are eking out on this front.
But on the contrary, it is vital to pay close attention to quality.
Merchants have a reliable alternative to sell POD services to online buyers by printing any design ordered.
Mug
Mugs is one of the most drenched niche categories on the POD model, yet highly lucrative one. Walk-in any behemoth firm, and you will not miss spotting a mug branded in the company’s logo.
For most companies, it is more of a ritual that pretty had to let go. To achieve reasonable sales, you have to be a little crafty and churn-out designed brand extending beyond the bare bone-so to speak.
Yoga Pants
Lessons on Yoga are not going anywhere; they are here to stay—what a fantastic way to monetize POD business other than venturing into yoga pants.
The yoga pants are easy to blend with multiple print designs. Take a look at the yoga enthusiast; I mean to make no mistake, the market potential is quite noteworthy.
That alone is a pointer that you can add yoga pants into your online store product category as a POD service.
Phone Covers
Everyone owns a smartphone. A customized cover seems like a cheap yet powerful facelift idea, and it gives your smartphone that glossy look-hiding those embarrassing dents.
Besides your Print-on-demand business set goals over and above, a decent entrepreneurial spirit to hone some eccentric design skills goes a long way.
Towels
It is a grand plan to sell custom printed towels in boosting some sales on your POD storefront. It sounds pretty far-fetched? Right. I know.
But societies cuddle going to the beach. We do not doubt that, do we? It is an undeniable demand market to leverage as an online merchant.
eCommerce stores selling fancy branded towels gain tons of traffic from summer lovers and gym members.
Wall Stickers
How about becoming an interior deco guru? It sounds like a bold idea! Not so fast, buddy.
But here is the thing. At some point, people just want to spruce up their personal living space by adding some extra accessories.
You might be taken aback by the craze folks have for lightening up their living spaces.
As a potential hunter for this opportunity, what you want to have in check are close links to premium quality canvas suppliers.
Leggings
Be it a yoga lesson or that early morning jog, leggings are almost always a sound mood wave for women-sporty and convenient for such exercises.
To complement all that, some online merchants opt to add a yoga mat, a ‘frequently bought together’ product; it is a tactic with some multi-fold perks.
Number one is getting to expand your Print-on-demand base by introducing new merchandise on your catalogs.
And on the other hand, you are trying your purchaser’s impulsiveness to make more sales.
Neckties
Ideally, neckties are one niche product that kind of blends in with trendy designs. Furthermore, just like a watch or socks, neckties any occasion regardless of which day of the week.
Most of the 8-5 job; guys who sort to dress up and especially on that casual Friday mood-worry not, necktie have got your back to pull that a unique office look.
A Summary of other POD Product Finding
- Throw pillows
- Pin-back buttons
- Fridge magnets
- Shower curtains
- Table clothes and blankets
Print On Demand Sites.
With an impactful headway of the print-on-demand services, you can optimize your objectives if you dig up the right tools as a retailer.
Which is the best solution to source service from when it comes to selling branded merchandise to a client?
Well, to take this question to bed, this segment seeks to exhaust all the functionalities that each Print on demand site has,
So here is the final descriptive takeaway.
As it stands, Printiful is setting the bar a notch higher if you put into account all the Printiful features. Printiful is mainly an eCommerce sales channel with the tendency to print-on-demand merchandise.
Fortunately, there is no minimum order or sign-up fees. The Software program lets users either sell their item or buy straight from Printiful.
To put it in not so many words, Printiful affords you a front-row anytime you want to customize and drop ship any of the following merchandise:
- Hoodie and sweatshirts -Sports bras
- Backpacks -Sweatpants
- Coffee mugs -Phone case
- Stickers -Swimwear
- Engrave wristbands -Tote bags
- Jackets -Beach Towels
- Leggings
There is plenty to order from Printiful.
The Workings of Printiful Print-On-Demand Service
Similar to other POD solutions, first connect your online store to Printiful. The majority of its users are Shopify store owners.
Printiful syncs quite impeccably with other bigwig sales channels like:
- Magneto
- Squarespace
- Bigcommerce
- 3dcart
- Ecwid
- Weebly
- Woocommerce
- Shipstation
Equally, merchants can ply with massive marketplaces like Inktale, Amazon, Etsy, Wish, and eBay.
By assimilating the store with Printiful, practically, you can upload merchandise with your designs.
The Software automates the order fulfillment requirement and eases on the logistics concisely.
It is possible to send all orders directly from your supplier to Printiful’s storeroom in a practical context.
Printiful stuff then prints all orders, packs, and ships to the rightful clients.
As part and parcel of order fulfillment, the Printiful team sends a notification to the vendor-attaching a tracking number of each shipment.
In the end!
Your customer gets the product packaged in your brand. Fleetingly, it appears as though you shipped it yourself.
Printiful’s Foremost Features
Besides order fulfillment and warehousing, there is much more to benefit from Printiful that fuses your Print-on-demand dropshipping business.
In any case, it still goes above the bare minimum; in the meantime, it has four centrally positioned warehouses currently.
Printiful is on the ground in Mexico, Latvia, North Carolina, and California. These camp bases make it easy to reach clients.
That POD works with global carrier companies in effect; it lessens the shipping costs.
Printiful-a POD oriented platform has various print customization options; this wide-reaching number stabilizes deliveries’ success rate.
And because Printiful syncs seamlessly with your store, it becomes possible to automate the order import process at the button’s click.
Principal’s mobile-friendliness is absolute, Printiful as cloud-based Software; it is accessible via an app on both Android and iOS devices.
Long story short, its ease of use is incomparable to a similar platform. Right from the dashboard, a vendor can design, sell, and view each of the ordered merchandise’s status.
There is absolutely no doubt that Printify is somewhat confusingly similar to Printiful. And guys, the similarity we are talking about here is not just limited to the prefix.
Furthermore, it is a high-ranking solution whose features kind of resemble those of Printiful.
Printify is free to use, also it an assimilated network of print design suppliers. With close to 300 pieces of unique merchandise to list on your store.POD is an option for many POD merchants/
Workings Of Printify Print-On-Demand Service.
Wholly Printify functions effectively in the same style as Printiful. The users get to choose a product from its POD-focused litany.
In the case you have a specific logo or brand in mind, Printify’s design options make all your likely clients’ demands materialize.
For the basic fact that this solution integrates with Shopify, thereby garner some significant credibility in the action-packed market.
Similar to matchups, Printify also links influential eCommerce website builders and leading marketplaces,
The likes of PrestaShop, Wix, and WooCommerce, are big on in its integrations list. It hints to vendors that they can list merchandise on their store, and using Printify gets you ahead of the curve regarding the order fulfillment process.
The Printify API section lets you make all kinds of adjustments to upraise your eCommerce business.
So what are the plans-like?
Every vendor, while in search of the most gainful solution pricing, is something that never misses on their bucket list.
Apart from the free package that allows only five stores per account, Printify has a premium version.
Printify’s premium plan for only sic ($29) per month lets users scale up-connecting up to 10 various stores on one account.
As a merchant, you can customize the order import process and give a 20% discount on each product.
On the other hand, is the Enterprise plan which packs the most perks. On this plan, there are no limits to the number of online stores you wish to add.
All a seller needs to do is make an official inquiry to get the Enterprise plan custom quote.
Printify’s premium allows merchants unmediated access to updates and newly launched features quite regularly.
You have access to API integration; however, you will need to acquire the Enterprise package to continue working with it.
Printify plans’ versatility gives access to a dedicated account management team.
Lulu Xpress
If you are in the vending of books, then your go-to is Lulu Xpress. It distinctively sets itself apart from the rest.
Lulu Xpress deliberately fashioned out to let merchants boost their turnovers in their respective bookselling businesses.
On Lulu, xPress exists a varied numeral of Print-on-demand options that make it flexible even though designing and printing books.
Workings of Lulu Xpress
You will need to upload a file with the content that gets printed on your ordered books. The next salient step is to select a well-connected book format. Lulu has a large portion of the format and layout options.
With over sic (3000), formats range from A4 sizes to pocketbooks, executive designs, digest guides, et cetera. Once you have decided on the format, select the binding option.
The binding option is strictly subject to the size of the book.
The color options are worthwhile when fulfilling a book order. Quite marvelous, Lulu has a hands-on glance at what your Print-on-demand needs are.
The following are the color variants that Lulu has in store:
- Standard black & white. They are widely used on dull and comprehensive content. That is to say, a book with little to no graphical illustration and images.
- Standard text-the style suits a book with weighty content and a couple of pictures on top. It is impeccable for use in mid-range ink density illustrations.
- They are often used because a merchant gets to save a couple of bucks on printing expenses.
- Premium black & white- it is an elite version of the standard option, and it is practical as well. On this option, the ink density is massive, and it is perfectly ideal for books heavy on images and graphical illustrations.
- Premium color-the option serves best for books whose content is heavy on pictures and light on text.
Besides, there is a wide range of paper sizes to pick from. On Lulu, order fulfillment is a straightforward process.
The team ships orders to more than 150 countries globally.
It may take anywhere between 3-5 business days to customize a print book in its entirety.
With an online calculator auto-generating a custom quote for each print order, Lulu makes pricing inquiries an easy affair.
Working with on-target figures, you want to select a project type, be it a calendar or a book. Keep in mind to key in the following project specifications:
- The trim size
- Number of pages
- Interior color could be standard or premium
- Paper type
- Binding type
- Cover book
The carrier service that you choose is the crucial determinant of shipping rates. Express shipping, for example, takes only two business days in Africa, the US, the rest of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
ShopBase
ShopBase has made it easier than never before to specialize in white label and Print on demand drop shipping.
Similar to other sales channels, you can build your online store on ShopBase and start making sales. An eCommerce running on ShopBase is quick on the uptake.
All product pages load fast and therefore making it easier to speed up conversions. All online merchant wants to get paid using the newfangled payment gateways.
Fortunately, ShopBase is alive in the following fact.
As you set up your Print-on-demand online store, you can customize the checkout page to your preference. It helps if you are savvy-using programming languages like Javascript and CSS, you can make a few changes.
By integrating with globally accepted payment solutions, ShopBase helps merchants scale up their business projections.
Integrated globally accepted payment solutions give likely clients room to maneuver as they make payments for merchandise.
Attending to the logic, ShopBase has in-built functionality that allows drop shipper to make payment via:
- Stripe
- Visa
- Paypal
- Mastercard
- Bluesnap
ShopBase Winning Features.
Akin to other sales channels such as WooCommerce or even Shopify, ShopBase-loaded with tools that help build a print-on-demand online store.
ShopBase store builder has a wide range of customizable themes. Highly skilled developers design the majority of the themes.
Of significance is that ShopBase has a preview mode that depicts
Precisely what you are to work-with.
Every theme on its marketplace is highly optimized to spin stunning conversions. Stats show that most shoppers place orders using their mobile devices.
And because the use of mobile devices by shoppers is the bedrock of traffic, ShopBase runs a mobile-friendly software that is seamlessly accessible.
Your cart options need to be a top-notch failure to which the abandoned carts will hit the roof. As a store owner of Print on demand, it can be more or less disheartening.
ShopBase allows users to customize the checkout page to prevent possible mishaps with eyes on-to even out the odds.
eCommerce, at times, boils down to wins and losses. Ideally, the gains ought to outweigh the latter. As it were, ShopBase gives a cart abandonment recovery solution to help out.
Send out email alerts to convince visitors to complete the checkout. Furthermore, set up Whippy shipping retes that a likely customer finds convenient. And that you can opt to work with:
- Weight-based rates
- Tiered pricing
- Fixed shipping prices
- Location-based pricing
As you list a product virtually, you can choose to include a couple of related variants. The beautiful part regarding this feature is that a customer can shop by color, material, and size.
As a vendor, you can set multiple images and bulk-import the merchandise info via CSV file. Precisely, you can list nearly any product niche on the print-on-demand system.
You can try out the following few suggestions; t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, tote bags, art prints, or even phone cases.
ShopBase does not limit its users on the number of products to upload in a rather satisfying way.
ShopBase showcase itself as cloud-based Saas solutions.
It means you get a mobile dashboard just like in Shopify. On this end, you get to monitor all actions in real-time from any location provided you have a mobile device.
Merchant clicks a button to fulfill an order and contact a client, updating them on the orders’ status.
Your online store security is paramount. To alleviate those concerns, it is essential to reckon that ShopBase is an SSL certified solution-that is to say, it is keen enough to run a fraud analysis on any order.
Teespring
Teespring is a revolutionary eCommerce platform-it revolutionary in the logic that it has gained so much traction over its competition; meanwhile, it impressively changes the cause of running a print-on-demand business.
Each category pronged into other related listings say, for instance, on Teespring, there are different kinds of socks-passion socks, love socks, cat socks, Camo socks.
In the home décor category, a retailer can place a design order for print-on-demand for items like:
- Pillow
- Posters
- Tapestries
- Canvas prints
Mugs and accessories follow the same; however, what appears to be grabbing more attention in Print on demand is the t-shirt and sweatpants categories. Also, doing pretty well in the phone cover category.
Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt has sufficiently served POD drop shippers dating back to 2002. If you look to dealing in t-shirt niche-creating personalized products in bulk, Spreadshirt lets you do just that at low rates.
Spreadshirt comes across as a directory of themed t-shirts. It works with newly developed techniques to design custom t-shirts, from funny to awareness printed t-shirts, you name it.
Spreadshirt is a jack of all sorts of trade in the print-on-demand model.
To start selling on Spreadshirt, build an online store, then list any product category-viable and high selling.
Spreadshirt designs in the marketplace are making it stand out. There is zero need to tirelessly spend sleepless nights designing the logo, leave it to the experts.
Spreadshirt has got very proficient designers churning out exceptional designs that fit your needs.
Creating unique designs is one compelling factor that makes Spreadshirt a profound solution up skilled with all the custom branded t-shirts demands.
Additionally, women, kids, and men’s clothing are part of the merchandise catalog, including gifts, tank tops, Hoodies, and group wear.
As part of its ‘call-to-action technique or rather incentive, Spreadshirt give its clients up to 70 percent discount any time they place the order in bulk. Also, all orders are subject to a 30 days return policy.
Gooten
Gooten is a print-on-demand platform that leads entrepreneurs to newer heights; Gooten’s speedy integration is good riddance if you are a merchant on the Shopify platform.
Gooten per se can not be termed as a niche-focused software in Print-on-demand business. But it has essential tools that let you create designs for your product.
Gooten, for lack of a better word, Is free spirit-it is a dynamic solution with rich product listing on each product.
For instance, if you head to its home & living category, Gooten has a glut of print designs for kitchen items like mugs and aprons.
You can choose exceptional designs for products like pillows to spruce up your living room’s accessories. A retailer can do print designs for bathroom curtains as well.
To help you save on time as you push orders, Gooten cuts to the chase by listing what is in high demand in the market, say like apparel -it has steadily become a top-selling category.
What is more arresting about Gooten is this white label support. It lets a vendor cuts down the expenses linked to enhancing a client’s experience.
Gooten attends to all questions emanating from your customers and promptly forwards all the customer’s feedback to your inbox.
Pricing for trending products is relatively fair, thereby affording merchants room to adjust profit margins.
Merchify
Much like other Print on demand out there. Merchify integrates with Shopify, thus automating order processing at any measure.
Download and install Merchify right from the Shopify apps marketplace.
Because Merchify design cuts as a print-on-demand drop shipping business, you do not need an inventory.
Owing to Shopify’s sales responsive channels- that is mobile friendly-a vendor can immensely improve their conversions and merchandise search.
Let’s face it. Online Shoppers at times get impatient, and therefore you have got act fast. To execute that, Merchify makes it easy to boost order value through its user interface when importing product listings to your eCommerce store.
To start selling, first off, you must upload a product-it could be a canvas or t-shirt print. Secondly, import images and set keyword-tuned product descriptions, then finally, you get to put out your products on Shopify.
Once the customer places an order, the processing starts within the next working day. Merchify handles the packing, printing, and shipping tasks. That helps a vendor cut corners and delegate the necessitating priorities.
Merchify’s staff sends a tracking number as soon as a shipment is dispatched, thus easing the logistic processing as both the customer and the merchant are keen on the order.
Okay, to help you set retail price markups, Merchify directs all the billing info to your Shopify account. Perse, you can bring about all the shipping options and profit margins, correspondingly. Since a client places a custom print order, Merchify notifies the same online vendor through email.
The particulars in the notifications highlight client billing info, an auto-generated order number, their shipping address, and also the description of the product bought.
A shipping authorization follows as soon as the Print on demand is ready for dispatch. Provided that your Shopify’s sanction settings are in check, Merchify directs a tracking number to the client instantly.
Print Aura
Print Aura is one of the most cost-efficient platforms that lets you design and print your custom brand. There’s a large tarn of products to select. You can either Print or buy their brand at a low rate.
The size of your store notwithstanding anymore, Print Aura has no restrictive minimum number of orders. Therefore without any extra commitments, you can even print a single t-shirt.
The turnaround time-TAT is convenient for both the merchant and the shopper as well.
Theoretically, Print Aura’s stuffers process an order within 3-5 working days. Aura’s premium version does the processing in just 48 hours.
Though there might be a necessity for an intensification of the production capacity, the product quality as anticipated by the customer gets affected in no way.
In short, Print Aura cuts out to scale your business of any kind peaks your objectives or goals are.
Importantly Aura has design mockups of high quality. Aside from that, the merchants customize the return labels and packing slips to market their brand.
It is a good sign that provides a print guarantee for all products. The warranty covers the probable and foreseeable mishaps, such as the common manufacturing defects.
In addition to Shopify, Print Aura integrates with Storenvy, Etsy, Opencart, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. All factored in. It is easy to begin the t-shirt business on Print Aura.
Above and beyond, there are more than 150k proficient designers on Print Aura to help you wade the path.
Customcat
If you are a crafty artist and you are also interested in monetizing your ideas, then Customcat is a print-on-demand tool for you.
Customcat is a solution whose integration makes product imports through CSV files and links to WooCommerce or Shopify channels.
Also, Customcat is a hub for independent developers-highly experienced with custom API.
Beyond a product printer for Sweatpants, Hoodies, t-shirts, and the kinds, Customcat is an enterprise-attentive solution made for industrial-identical scalability.
If a retailer sells more products, the revenues correspondingly go up. Customcat gets this goal to materialize because it has a big warehouse to deliver on mass customization orders.
Last takeaway
Is the Print on demand eCommerce business worth it? You would ask. Undoubtedly yes, it is worthwhile.
But here is the hack.
It works best only. Shopify-a sales channel integrates with nearly all the Print-on-demand solution. The implicit here is that you do not need to be savvy or possess any print and design skills.
However, if push comes to shove, platforms like Dribble are host to seasoned designers on hire at budget-friendly rates.
Another alternative approach to Print-on-demand business is to place an order for a few samples from the supplier upon settling on a particular mockup.
POD dropshipping is an option to many because the model lets you test so many products.
Furthermore, Shopify gives optimal results for merchants selling products on demand.
In light of Shopify’s plan flexibility, It is possible to begin a business on a munificent eCommerce sales channel.
Because it is a revenue-generating model like any other, you want to keep your customer support apparatus in check.
All the considered print-on-demand websites in this guide are individually good; You want to contemplate what your needs are.
What’s Print on Demand?
It’s a way to sell customized products such as t-shirts, wall art, and other items with your designs on them, made on a per-order basis with a printing service.
It means you don’t pay for the product until you’ve made a sale, therefore eliminating the need to pay upfront, buy in bulk, or hold any inventory.
Like dropshipping, this drastically reduces the barrier to entry into the world of ecommerce and frees up funds to allocate into marketing strategies.
When using Print on demand, everything after the sale, from printing to packing and shipping, is handled by a printing partner.
Your profit is the difference between selling your product minus the product’s cost from your supplier.
So, if you are selling a t-shirt for $25 and your supplier charges you $7.50 for the product + printing and packaging, your profit is $17.50.
Let’s dig deep into this Print On-demand Course and learn what many would charge you to know.
Who Is Print on demand for
It doesn’t matter if you’re entirely new to ecommerce or not tech-savvy, as it’s a great business model to introduce yourself to the world of ecommerce.
And if you’re already an influencer or musician, this is an excellent, low-risk business model to add an extra revenue stream to your existing operation.
With Print-on-demand, you can easily create an online merch store and sell custom branded products to your existing fans and followers.
It wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t define POD in this Print On-demand Course, hence the need.
Types of Print on demand Products To Sell
When it comes to products you can create, there are plenty of options, and new products are continually being added. The type of product to sell matters, so this topic plays a significant role in this Print On-demand Course.
We must find your Print-on-demand niche before anything else.
Traditionally, you see many people creating custom t-shirts and wall art, but there are many more products you can print on. You can create custom (takes a deep breath):
- Mugs
- Sweatshirts
- Hats
- Pillows
- Shower curtains
- Jackets
- Leggings
- Skirts
- Swimwear
- Dresses
- Backpacks, tote bags, fanny packs
- Flip flops
- Laptop and Phone cases
- Socks
- Stickers
- Aprons
- Beach towels
- Bean bag chairs
- Jewelry
- Canvas shoes
- And even puzzles
Open and set up your store overview.
- Sign up for Shopify
- Choose a theme
- Choose a print on demand partner
- Set up payments and shipping
Sign up for Shopify
The first most important thing you should do suggested in this Print On-demand Course is to create a website. Once your Shopify store is created, you are then expected to log into the Shopify admin panel.
Shopify offers 14 days free trial to help you design the store, research the product, and customize your store before launch.
Withing the Shopify 14 days free trial, your shop won’t be live, customers won’t be able to see your homepage or live URL of your store unless you choose one of the Shopify pricing packages, which are:
The admin page is where you get to manage everything that has to do with your store.
Here you can:
- Add products
- Fulfill orders
- See your sales for the day
- Configure your storefront
- Add sales channels
- And a whole lot more
The goal of this training is to get you to your first sale quickly, so I’m not going to show you everything you can do with the Shopify store and instead focus on the fundamental essentials.
Join Print-on-demand Webinar and learn more! CLICK HERE
In the subsequent time, you can explore everything else on your own later.
Choosing a Shopify theme
The Shopify Theme Store has tons of beautiful themes you can use in getting your store started.
You can preview what your store currently looks like by clicking the “eye” icon next to “Online Store” under your “Sales Channels.”
I recommend Turbo Portland by out of the sandbox Shopify theme.
Most of the installations followed by the newest kid on the blog, the Debutfy theme, are taking over the ecommerce world by 150,000 Installations in few months after launch.
Are you still reading Print On-demand Course? Well, let’s dig further.
You can as well explore the below themes:
- Ella Shopify Theme – Unique Multiple Layouts And Styles
- Booster Theme Review: Scaling Your Shopify Sales
- Flex Theme Review: Another One By Out Of The Sandbox
- Ecom Turbo Shopify Theme Review: My 1 Year Using It
How to find a new Shopify theme for your Print on demand store.
- Click “Online Store” under “Sales Channels.”
- And under Themes
- Theme library
- Visit the theme store to explore Shopify themes.
Since this is your first store, you might as well explore the nine different free themes Shopify has to offer.
Click “All themes” on the top bar and tick off “Free” to explore the free themes.
With all Shopify themes, you can preview a demo of the theme and see what it looks like on Desktop and Mobile.
Click the “Add theme” button and let the theme install. Great. The theme is added to your store already, but it’s not yet published.
- Scroll down and click “Actions.”
- Click “Publish” and
- Click “Publish” again.
Your theme has been installed and published in your store.
Print on demand partner
Now that our store is created with a great-looking theme, you need to choose a print-on-demand partner and integrate them with your store.
The great thing about doing Print on demand with Shopify is that so many great prints demand partners that integrate seamlessly with Shopify.
Head back over into your Shopify Print-on-demand dashboard and click “Apps” in the left toolbar.
It is where Somebody will locate all the apps you’ve installed in your one product store.
- Click the “Visit the Shopify App Store” button.
- Click on “Categories,” “Finding products.”
- Click “Print on demand.”
A vast majority of them choose from, and making a decision can be overwhelming so let’s walk through what to think about before deciding on a print-on-demand partner.
A few important things to consider when you’re choosing a print on demand partner are:
- What products interest you?
- If you want to sell t-shirts, every Print on demand supplier has t-shirts available, but you should consider what type of t-shirts you want to sell.
- Do you want your t-shirts to be American Apparel, Champion, or Gildan?
- Do you want a specific weight of t-shirt, or even style like v-neck, tank top, or a partner that offers all over t-shirt printing?
If you want to sell more specialized products like Print on demand shoes, you might want to check out Pillow Profits Fulfillment.
Maybe you want to sell Puzzles, and in that case, you would like to checkout Subliminator.
When choosing a print-on-demand partner, some other things to consider would be the price of products and any applicable service and production fees.
Some print-on-demand partners allow you to print designs in more than one location on a t-shirt, as an example.
You can print in front of the t-shirt, back, and inside where the tag would be sleeves and more.
Each supplier will have different costs involved for those additional design placements.
Lastly, you’ll want to consider the location or locations of your supplier’s facilities.
Maybe you want only to serve customers in the United States, so it would make sense for your supplier to have a facility in the States to reduce shipping costs and fulfillment time instead of being in Europe.
In this article, we would be making use of Printful as our Print on demand supplier.
Printful already has the highest reviews and installation on the app store.
Click “Add app,” and then click the “Install app” button in the bottom right.
For this supplier, you’ll need to create an account with Printful.
Click the “Connect Store” button, and we now have Printful integrated with our Shopify store.
Create your first Print-on-demand design
We’ll come back to Printful in a bit, but first, in this Print On-demand Course, let’s talk about creating designs for your Print on demand products.
This part is a lot of fun, and you can let your creativity shine.
Now, I should mention you don’t have to be a designer for this part.
I’m going to provide you with three different ways to get awesome designs to start selling your products.
Create it yourself
Create it yourself. If you are a designer, you can, of course, make your Print on demand store designs yourself.
It is the ideal option or an excellent option for someone looking to throw something up and quickly run a test.
You can use any program you like to create your designs; keep in mind that each supplier may require specific image dimensions and formats.
Be sure to look at these requirements yourself before you start designing.
As a general rule of thumb, you should save your file as a PSD or transparent PNG.
As I said, dimensions will vary depending on the supplier and the products you’re printing on.
The image dimensions for a mug versus a t-shirt will be different, as t-shirts are larger than mugs.
With any design, regardless of size, you’ll want it to be the highest resolution possible. But always refer to your supplier’s product requirements.
Photoshop or Illustrator is the most advisable programs in designing graphics, but some free alternatives are
- Photopea.com
- Pixlr.com
- Canva.com
Hire someone
Hire someone. The alternative to creating your design is to hire someone to do this all for you.
The cost of hiring a well-experienced freelancer will vary depending on where you go, but the quality will change, too, depending on how much you’re willing to pay.
You can find freelancers on websites such as Upwork or Fiverr, or you can go to websites where artists publish their work and portfolio to find designs similar to the look you’re going for.
Just reach out to them and check if they are interested in working with you. Great artist portfolio websites to check out are Behance, Dribbble, and DeviantArt.
You can also find artists on Instagram by diving into hashtags related to graphic designers such as #GraphicDesigner, #FreelanceDesigner, #GraphicArtist and more.
When you search for a trending hashtag, you can also explore the related hashtags to find more examples and designers.
Buy design templates
The last option to get your designs is to buy a template. There are a few websites offering design templates that you can use and sell on your products.
It might be the most affordable option, but maybe not the most ideal, since technically, anyone can sell the same designs as you.
Sites like Designious and T-Shirt Factory specialize in offering t-shirt designs that can be purchased for anywhere from $7 to $25.
Creative Market and GraphicRiver, on the other hand, sell different kinds of graphic assets and templates that can be used on all different types of products.
Create a product mockup
Once you have your design file, you can create a product mockup.
A product mockup will allow us to create lovely product photos without ever needing to take a picture of our product ourselves.
Mockups are a realistic representation of your design that you can use in your ad creative, store, and product pages.
The first way to create a mockup is to use a free mockup generator. Printful and many other Print demand partners offer free mockup generators, and it’s what we’ll be using.
Alternatively, websites like Creative Market and GraphicRiver sell mockup templates for all products in different styles and formats.
There are mockups on models, lifestyle shots, and the product by itself. Mockup templates will cost anywhere from $9 to $40, depending on your needs.
These paid alternatives offer a bit more flexibility if you’re willing to spend money and look for something specific.
Adding your first product to your store
Now that we have a design, let’s add our first product to our store. There are a few ways to do this, and it depends on your print-on-demand supplier.
- Click “Apps” and then the Printful app.
- Click “Products” on the top bar,
- Scroll down and click “Add product.”
Now, these are not required before launching your store, but I highly recommend doing these things before you launch.
Product pages help you sell your product, but you need several other pages on your store to tell your story and sell your brand – this will help establish trust with your customers.
Before launching, you should have a few standard pages ready to go:
These pages include:
- An about us page
- A contact page
- A privacy policy and terms of service which you can generate within Shopify
- A refund policy
- A Shipping policy
- And an FAQ page is addressing common questions and concerns your customers might have.
Payments
Okay, now let’s set up our payments. It will allow you to accept credit cards and PayPal in our store and enable you to get paid!
Under “Settings,”
“Click on Payments.”
Here we can set up Shopify payments, change payment providers, and add payment providers.
I’m going to recommend Shopify payments as the primary payment gateway for your store.
This will allow you to accept major credit cards, such as Visa and Mastercard. Alternatively, you can use Paypal or both Shopify Payments and Paypal on your store to get orders from customers.
Suppose Shopify payments are not accepted in your region, or you want to use another payment gateway to accept credit card payments.
In that case, you can click “Change provider” and select from a list of popular payment gateways to integrate with your Shopify store.
- We’re going to use Shopify payments.
- Click complete account setup to get started.
- You’ll then be asked to enter your business details.
If you’re not sure or don’t have a business registered yet, I recommend setting up as an Individual.
You’ll also be asked to provide banking information so that Shopify can pay you.
Just follow the steps, fill out the forms, and you’ll be ready to accept credit cards in your store.
Or if you are a non-us resident but need either LLC, EIN, ITIN, or US bank account, you can use Mollaelaw services they will provide you with a US Bank account for non-resident or LLC within a few days.
You can as well go with UK Company registration for non-resident, which in turn will allow you to have a UK stripe account or UK PayPal and UK business account on Transfwerwise, which comes with a debit card; hence you can operate your dropshipping business or Print on demand store with no payment limitation and bans.
Get UK Company registered as a non-resident Click HERE.
Shipping
Next, let’s set up shipping.
Here’s where we can set the shipping rates and methods for our customers.
Again, click “Settings” and then “Shipping.”
You can set shipping rates for your store, fixed different shipping rates for other countries, and choose how shipping is calculated at checkout.
Our choices are to calculate shipping rates for our customers by weight, price, region, or by calculating them at checkout using an app or API from a shipping provider.
If you want, you can also skip this section and let an app such as Printful override these shipping settings.
We can also set flat rates for shipping here or just make shipping free. I like keeping things simple, so I’m going to make shipping free on our store and solely factor that into the cost of products we’re selling.
To set Free Shipping on all orders in your store, you should first Delete the default Shipping zone Shopify that was already set up for you and leave the “Rest of world” shipping zone.
Studies have shown consumers are more receptive to free shipping, so we might now see more conversions and purchases since we can now advertise “Free Shipping” across our store.
Remember that shipping prices will vary to different countries.
Instead, you may want to have Free Shipping to the US and a flat rate for the Rest of the World. It will depend on what items you’re selling and what print-on-demand supplier you’re using.
Settings
Next, you’ll want to go through all the settings on your Shopify store.
There might be a setting you never knew existed or an option you might want to change that you never knew you could.
Whenever I’m learning new Software or platform, I know how to use it the fastest by merely playing around with it.
One thing I always do is look at every single option available.
You should do this too with Shopify, especially if it feels overwhelming to you right now.
Password page
There’s one last thing we need to do to launch our store. And that’s to make your store live!
If we visit our myshopify.com store URL, we’ll notice that there’s a password page protecting our store while we’re creating it.
Head back over to “Online Store” in our dashboard and click “Preferences,” and you’ll see our Password page options.
To make our store live, we’ll need to click “Disable password.” Once we do that, our store is accessible to anyone who visits it.
Getting your first sale
Congratulations! If you’re following along, your store is now live and ready to accept orders! Now let’s focus on getting you some customers!
Here are some things that won’t help you get your first sale:
- Perfecting your website won’t get you your first sale – make it good enough and move on
- Optimizing your website won’t get you your first sale
- And Spending days thinking up a logo or branding won’t get you your first sale
Here’s what will help you get your first sale.
- Focus on easy-to-try marketing channels that provide immediate results
- Play with free methods and work with paid ways of getting traffic
- Focus on one marketing channel
- And learn as much as possible
Where will you get traffic for your Print on demand store?
Okay, now that we know what will help us get our first sale and what won’t we need to figure out where we will promote our products and find our customers.
Here’s a list of all the standard ways business owners are driving traffic to their stores.
These aren’t all the ways and places, but it’s an excellent start. If you focus on just one of these traffic sources and make it work, it’s often enough.
So, where can you get traffic from?
First, we can use paid advertising from platforms like:
- Instagram, which Facebook owns
- And Google Ads, which includes Search ads, Display ads, Shopping ads, and Youtube ads.
Personally, when it comes to paid advertising, Facebook is the platform I’d start with.
You can get started for as little as $5 a day, and their targeting options allow you to simply set up highly effective campaigns designed to reach your ideal customer.
Read: Shopify Tutorial For Running Paid Facebook Ads For Beginners
And they also provide you with fast results, meaning, within a few minutes of someone purchasing your product from a Facebook ad, you can see precisely what ad provided the results.
There are tons of great online resources to get you started with Facebook ads, including Shopify Compass, which has free online courses covering multiple topics to get you started.
Influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing, if you’re not familiar with the term, is a marketing method to tap into a person of influence with a following of people who respect and trust what they have to say.
It’s like if a good friend of yours recommends a new movie or music to listen to; because you value their opinion and taste in film and music, you are much more likely to take up their recommendation.
Influencers come in all forms, and you can find them almost everywhere.
Places to start looking for influencers can be:
- Youtube
- Blogs
- Twitch
- Tiktok
Influencers also come in all sizes, from micro-influencers with a few hundred or a few thousand followers to massive influencers with millions and millions of followers.
Usually, you pay an influencer a set fee to post your product to their following for a set amount of time.
Affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a reward-based system that encourages partners to promote your Print-on-demand products in exchange for a commission.
You can pay affiliate marketers a set fee for every sale they make or a percentage of each sale they get you. What’s great about affiliate marketing is you only pay your affiliate after they make you a deal.
There are many great affiliate sites that you can post your offer, such as Share-a-sale, or you can create your affiliate program. Another traffic source you can tackle is content marketing.
Content marketing
Content marketing consists of mainly creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract new customers.
These can include:
- Posting blog articles on your website that relate to your business or product.
- Designing infographics, you can post to Pinterest.
- Creating videos for your Youtube channel.
- Posting consistently on your Instagram and Facebook page.
- Or Starting your podcast geared towards your target market.
Although content marketing might not initially drive a large amount of traffic and sales, it helps support your other marketing efforts, and it’s a lot of fun to create the content.
Lastly, you can engage with existing communities across multiple platforms.
Places like:
- Facebook groups
- Online forums
- Quora
- Medium
Contributing to places like these can help build authority within your niche and make people see you as an expert and a trustworthy brand. Learning something in this Print On-demand Course?
Keys to Success
As you get started on your journey, here are a few things you should focus on to set yourself up for success.
Focus on things that drive traffic and sales and invest in long-term marketing efforts.
Don’t set your profit margins too low, so you have room for advertising costs.
Don’t expect quick results – it will take some time to learn what designs and products your niche will love.
During your trial, you can apply everything you learned today to:
- Set up and launch your store
- Find and add products
- And work on getting your first sale.
Summary
As always, it was a great pleasure to introduce printing on-demand with Shopify.
If you were looking for Print On-demand Course to help you start a print-on-demand business, I hope this guide helped.
Print-on-demand services provide an accessible inventory source for new entrepreneurs or anyone who wants to test an idea before investing in it.
Suppose one of your ideas emerges, and you start generating a significant number of sales.
In that case, you can always graduate from using the on-demand print site to hold your inventory or continue to use these services while finding new ways to increase your audience.
Yours is the choice. I wish you all the best on your journey, and I hope to see you soon!
