Printful vs. Printify 2023 (My Thoughts after $1,000,000)
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Alec discusses the importance of profit margins in print-on-demand Etsy shops and compares three major platforms: Printful, Printify, and Gelato. He highlights their differences in control, pricing, and fulfillment, offering insights on how each operates and their impact on profit. Alec also provides a detailed cost analysis for mugs and t-shirts, revealing the financial implications of choosing each platform, especially considering discounts for high-volume sellers. His personal preference for Printify is shared, based on cost-effectiveness and control, along with a note on affiliate commissions.
Takeaways
- 💰 Profit margins are the portion of the sale that remains after covering all fees and product costs for a print-on-demand store.
- 🛍️ Print-on-demand platforms like Printful, Printify, and Gelato are popular for their market share but differ significantly in their operations and costs.
- 🔄 Printify distinguishes itself by not printing products themselves, but instead connecting sellers to a variety of third-party print providers.
- 🏗️ Printful operates in-house, handling printing and shipping from their own facilities, which can offer more control over the process.
- 🤖 Gelato uses an advanced algorithm to decide which printing facility to use for each order, but does not allow sellers to choose their provider.
- 📈 Printify's approach can lead to lower prices due to competition among fulfillment centers and can expand more quickly by integrating with new facilities.
- 📉 The downside of Printify's multi-fulfillment center approach is potential variability in quality, production speed, and responsiveness to issues.
- 💡 Printify assigns performance scores to each fulfillment center to help sellers choose the best provider based on quality control, production time, and stock reliability.
- 💼 The video suggests that choosing the right print provider is crucial for the success of a print-on-demand business, as they essentially manage the entire operation.
- 📊 The script provides a detailed cost and profit analysis for selling mugs and t-shirts on Etsy using the different platforms, considering both new and established sellers.
- 💰 For high-volume sales, Printify's premium plan and Printful's discounts can significantly impact profit margins, with Printify offering a potentially higher profit after discounts.
- 🔑 The importance of considering the affiliate commission rates of the platforms is highlighted, with Printify offering a lower rate compared to Printful and Gelato.
Q & A
What is the main focus of Alec's video?
-The main focus of Alec's video is to discuss the differences between three major print-on-demand platforms: Printful, Printify, and Gelato, and how these differences can affect profit margins for sellers.
What are profit margins and why are they important for print-on-demand store owners?
-Profit margins are the portion of the sale that a seller keeps after covering all costs and fees. They are important because they determine the actual earnings from each sale, which is crucial for the financial success of a print-on-demand business.
How does Printful differ from Printify and Gelato in terms of product fulfillment?
-Printful handles everything in-house, printing and shipping products directly from their own facilities. In contrast, Printify and Gelato act as intermediaries, connecting sellers with third-party print providers, with Printify allowing sellers to choose their print providers and Gelato using an algorithm to decide which provider to use.
What are the potential downsides of using multiple third-party fulfillment centers as Printify does?
-The downsides include variability in quality, production speed, and responsiveness to issues. If there's a problem with an order, the seller must go through Printify to contact the fulfillment center, which can lead to delays in resolution.
How does Printify address the issue of quality control among its third-party print providers?
-Printify assigns a performance score to each fulfillment center, which includes metrics for quality control, production time, and stock reliability. This helps sellers choose the best provider for their products.
What is Gelato's approach to deciding which fulfillment center to use for an order?
-Gelato uses an advanced algorithm to automatically decide which fulfillment center is best for an order at the time, without giving the seller the option to choose.
How does the cost structure of Printful, Printify, and Gelato compare for a new seller without discounts?
-For a mug, Printful costs $14.44, Gelato costs $14.11, and Printify (with District Photo as the print provider) costs $9.62. These costs affect the profit margin before any Etsy fees are applied.
What are the benefits of being an established seller with high sales volume on these platforms?
-Established sellers can earn discounts on product costs, which significantly increase profit margins. For example, with Printful, a 9% discount on product costs can be earned by spending $10,000 in product costs each month.
How much profit could an established seller expect from selling 10,000 mugs on Printful, considering the highest discount?
-An established seller could expect a profit of approximately $114,200 before Etsy fees, assuming they maintain the 9% discount by selling the required number of mugs each month.
What additional services do Printify offer to help sellers grow their businesses?
-Printify assigns a sales success manager to help sellers grow their business once they reach a certain sales threshold, providing personalized support and guidance.
What is Alec's personal preference and recommendation based on his experience with these platforms?
-Alec prefers Printify due to its cost-effectiveness, control over print providers, and the quality of service provided, including the assignment of a sales success manager.
Outlines
📈 Print-on-Demand Profit Margins and Platform Comparison
Alec discusses the importance of profit margins in print-on-demand (POD) businesses, highlighting the three main platforms: Printful, Printify, and Gelato. He explains that these platforms differ significantly in their operations and cost structures. Printful handles printing and shipping in-house, while Printify allows sellers to choose from various third-party providers, offering more control and competitive pricing. Gelato uses an algorithm to select the print provider, offering less control but potentially more convenience. Alec emphasizes the need to choose a print provider wisely, as it is crucial for the success of a POD business.
💰 Cost Analysis for Print-on-Demand Platforms
In this section, Alec provides a detailed cost analysis for selling mugs and t-shirts on Etsy using the three platforms. He calculates the average selling price for these items and compares the costs associated with each platform, both for new sellers and established ones with significant sales volume. Alec explains the discount structures of Printful and Gelato, and how they can impact profit margins. He also discusses the Printify Premium plan and its benefits for high-volume sellers. The summary includes specific cost figures and profit estimates, illustrating the financial implications of choosing one platform over another.
🚀 Choosing the Right Print-on-Demand Platform for Success
Alec concludes the video script by sharing his personal preference for Printify based on cost-effectiveness, control, and quality of service. He mentions the affiliate commission rates offered by the platforms, with Printify providing a lower rate compared to Printful and Gelato. Alec reflects on his experience with Printify, noting the provision of a sales success manager for high-volume sellers and the overall positive impact on his business. He encourages viewers to consider these factors when selecting a POD platform for their business.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Profit Margins
💡Print-on-Demand
💡Print Providers
💡Printful
💡Printify
💡Gelato
💡Etsy
💡Discounts
💡Affiliate Commissions
💡Sales Success Manager
💡Revenue
Highlights
Alec discusses the importance of profit margins in running a print-on-demand store.
The three main print-on-demand platforms are Printful, Printify, and Gelato.
Printful handles printing and shipping in-house, unlike Printify and Gelato.
Printify allows sellers to choose from various third-party print providers.
Gelato uses an algorithm to decide which print provider fulfills orders.
Multiple fulfillment centers on Printify can lead to quality and speed inconsistencies.
Printify assigns performance scores to fulfillment centers to help sellers choose.
Gelato's membership offers significant shipping discounts.
Printful requires sellers to re-earn discounts monthly based on sales volume.
Alec provides a detailed cost breakdown for mugs and t-shirts on different platforms.
Established sellers can earn significant discounts on Printful and Printify.
Gelato's flat rate pricing lacks competition and discounts.
Alec's personal preference for Printify due to cost-effectiveness and control.
Printify offers a sales success manager for high-volume sellers.
Alec's comparison of profit margins for hypothetical 10,000 mug and t-shirt orders.
The impact of affiliate commissions on platform choice.
Alec's recommendation for new sellers starting from scratch.
Transcripts
what's up guys it's Alec and after I
made my recent video on three million
dollar print on demand Etsy shops it
reminded me of a little detail called
profit margins profit margins are the
part of the sale that you get to keep
after you've paid all of the fees and
product costs if you've thought about
running a print-on-demand store you'll
know that there are a lot of options
when it comes to choosing a print
provider in my opinion the biggest three
platforms are printful printify and
gelato these three seem to have the
biggest market share and are used by the
most sellers overall but they're
actually extremely different from one
another so today I wanted to break down
the main differences between these
platforms so you can see how each one
actually works then I'm gonna break down
the cost differences so you can see how
much profit you'd bring home depending
on which platform you decide to use and
then finally I'll go over exactly what I
would do if I was starting over from
scratch before I had ever made Seven
figures and fifty thousand sales if you
plan on having success with print on
demand or you want to be a six or seven
figure seller it's extremely important
to choose wise when you're picking a
print provider because you're
essentially trusting them with your
entire business so let's get right into
the breakdown if you're unfamiliar with
print on demand here's a super quick
breakdown so you can see how everything
works and then you'll be able to
understand how these platforms are
different from one another first a
customer places an order for one of your
products either on a website or an
online Marketplace this could be
anything from t-shirts and mugs to
posters and phone cases next the order
is sent to the print provider where the
product is printed and shipped directly
to the customer usually within a few
days so if you're using printful as your
print provider once you get an online
order and you click submit it'll go
directly to a printful warehouse where
they'll print and ship the item directly
to the customer now this is where we
start to see the main differences and
how printify and gelato are slightly
different first of all printify doesn't
actually print and ship any products at
all they allow you to choose from a
variety of third-party print providers
to connect with if you're selling
T-shirts or mugs you might have several
different options for print providers
for who's going to handle that order one
of the benefits to this is you can find
specific print providers that are
holding the inventory that you need if
you need to sell extra small shirts in a
specific color you can probably find a
print provider who can offer that having
multiple different fulfillment options
also means there's competition this
competition keeps the prices lower and
it incentivizes each fulfillment center
to ship out their products faster than
all the other guys having multiple
third-party fulfillment centers also
allows printify to expand much faster
than printful they can just integrate
with a new facility once it's ready to
go instead of having to purchase new
warehouse space hire staff and fill that
entire Warehouse with the printing
equipment the downsides to this
multi-fulfillment Center approach is
that some print providers are far better
than others as far as quality production
speed and responsiveness whenever
there's an issue with an order if a
product hasn't been shipped on time you
have to reach out to printify and have
them contact the facility to see what's
causing the delays and once this happens
it could take a few days for the smaller
fulfillment centers to respond to
printify and then you still have to wait
for printify to respond to you but this
can usually just be avoided by picking
the best print provider for each product
so you don't have to worry about these
kind of delays printify handles these
issues by assigning a performance score
to each fulfillment center this score
includes quality control production time
and stock reliability to help you decide
on which Center is best for you I'll put
a list of my favorite fulfillment
centers on screen to help you decide
depending on what products you're
selling gelato is more similar to
printify where they're just a software
company that connects you to different
printing facilities around the world the
issue here is that you don't get to pick
which fulfillment center is printing and
fulfilling your orders instead their
Advanced algorithm will decide this for
you this could obviously create some
issues because you don't have the same
control that you have on printify and
printful there's also no competition
between the centers on gelato so they'll
just continue to charge you a flat rate
and there's no other price options now
it's fairly standard for all of these
platforms to have great quality and
great customer support so the main
differences here are just the way that
they're operated printful handles
everything in-house they'll print and
ship everything from a printful facility
printfi allows you to pick and choose
which print provider you want to work
with and with gelato they'll use their
algorithm to determine which print
provider at the time is best for that
order so ultimately the main differences
are how much control you want over the
products and what the price differences
are going to be there isn't much
difference in the ease of use on these
platforms either all three of these
platforms are very streamlined and easy
to use especially once you get going so
main differences aside assuming that the
quality and delivery speeds are roughly
the same now we can talk about price we
looked at several stores in my video
covering three million dollar shops and
since t-shirts and mugs are the most
popular items to sell we're going to use
these products to compare the three
platforms okay so here's how I'm
breaking down the costs we're going to
find the average price that mugs and
shirts to sell for on Etsy and then I'll
compare the costs for if you're brand
new and just starting out or if you're
an established seller getting lots and
lots of sales which is the end goal to
find the average selling price we're
going to look at these seven figure
shops to see what they're selling at and
then try and use a conservative estimate
if you want to see how I find these
seven figure shops make sure you watch
that video that I keep mentioning for
the mugs we're looking at two shops the
first shop called Ultimate Gift Shop
sells each mug for 17.99 with 5.95 of
shipping totaling 23.94 each mug another
shop we could look at is called Strictly
Business mugs and they're selling each
mug for 14.96 and 7.99 of shipping
totaling 22.95 so we'll use 23 dollars
as an average mug price this is what our
hypothetical store is selling each mug
for including shipping now on printful
to fulfill the mug order you'll pay
14.44 for the mug leaving you with 8.56
in profit before Etsy fees on gelato we
without any discounts you'll pay 14 and
11 cents for the same exact mug leaving
you with eight dollars and eighty nine
cents in profit before Etsy fees now if
we're using the high quality but still
very cost effective print provider
called District photo through printify
and we're not paying for any discounts
then the same exact mug is going to cost
9.62 that leaves us with a 13.38 profit
before any Etsy fees pause here if you
want to see the individual profit
breakdown for each platform okay but
that's for if you're a complete beginner
without any discounts but what if you're
an established seller and you're doing
let's say 10 000 mug orders per year
you're gonna want the best discount from
each platform so let's see what that
would come out to be now on printful you
have to earn each discount to earn the
largest discount of nine percent each
month you have to spend a total of ten
thousand dollars in product costs and
that does not include the shipping but
assuming that you earn this nine percent
discount every single month that's 7.95
mug becomes seven dollars and twenty
three cents plus the 6.49 shipping which
means each mug is going to cost you
thirteen dollars and seventy two cents
to fulfill so if we made ten thousand
mug orders at twenty three dollars each
order that's two hundred and thirty
thousand dollars if you're using
printful you would pay one hundred and
thirty seven thousand two hundred
dollars in product and shipping costs
and you'd be left with a hundred and
fourteen thousand two hundred dollars in
profit before any Etsy fees now a little
detail here is that you have to re-earn
that nine percent discount every single
month to keep it for the next month
which means if you're selling mugs you
have to sell thirteen hundred and eighty
four mugs each month to keep that nine
percent discount coming in but for the
sake of easy math we're gonna ignore
that fact gelato's membership costs a
thousand dollars a year and gives you
essentially fifty percent off all the
shipping so on gelato the mugs cost us
7.49 plus 331 in shipping to totaling
ten dollars and eighty cents after we
have the discount that means we would
pay a hundred and eight thousand dollars
to fulfill ten thousand mug orders
leaving us with a hundred and twenty two
thousand dollars in profit before Etsy
fees and that's before we subtract the
thousand dollar gelato gold membership
on printify you can purchase the
printify Premium plan for about twenty
five dollars a month and after about 25
mug orders you'll break even because you
save about a dollar a mug you would pay
eight dollars and fifty five cents per
mug order leaving you with fourteen
dollars and forty five cents in profit
before Etsy fees or if you are selling
ten thousand mugs out of your two
hundred and thirty thousand dollars of
Revenue you would pay printify 85 500 to
fulfill all those orders that leaves you
with a hundred and forty four thousand
five hundred dollars before the Etsy
fees and the three hundred dollar
printify Premium cost again pause here
if you want to see the individual profit
breakdown for each platform if you sell
ten thousand bugs a year with the
maximum product discounts so what what
about a successful t-shirt business if
you're selling 10 000 plus t-shirts a
year here's the breakdown and yes this
is absolutely possible if you want to
see then make sure you check out that
video I did on the three million dollar
print on demand Etsy shops we're going
to use the average prices from those
shops we looked at which is between 20
and 22 dollars per shirt order so we'll
use twenty dollars as a conservative
estimate but in my experience shirts
usually sell for about 22 to 23 dollars
so assuming we sell 10 000 shirts at
twenty dollars a piece that's two
hundred thousand dollars in revenue
printful is going to charge 11.78 plus a
399 shipping after the nine percent
discount so that's 15.77 for 10 000
orders is a hundred and fifty seven
thousand seven hundred dollars that
leaves you with about forty two thousand
dollars in profit before all of the Etsy
fees but again to keep that 11.78 price
you'll have to sell about 850 shirts
each month to keep that new discount
coming gelato plus gold they'll charge
you about 14.05 per shirt order meaning
for 10 000 orders you would pay a
hundred and forty thousand five hundred
dollars and that would leave you with
about fifty nine thousand five hundred
dollars in profit again before the Etsy
fees and the cost of the subscription
you'll pay
13.35 for a t-shirt from Monster Digital
on printify meaning for those ten
thousand orders you'd pay one hundred
and thirty three thousand five hundred
dollars on the products and shipping
leaving you with a sixty six thousand
five hundred dollar profit before Etsy
fees and the three hundred dollar
printify premium subscription pause here
if you want to see the individual profit
breakdown for each platform selling ten
thousand t-shirts a year with maximum
product discounts but this is just for a
proof of concept so that you can see the
percentages that these platforms run on
now for a little more context not every
order that you get is going to be a
single item like a single shirt or a
single mug you're probably not going to
be charging the exact same as these
platforms that we looked at and a lot of
orders might qualify for free shipping
which would drastically decrease your
Revenue but this is absolutely still
possible and almost all of my orders are
single items like one mug or one shirt
so that's just another piece of the
puzzle to keep in mind when you're
deciding between these platforms the
last thing that I do have to point out
that not everybody talks about and I'm
definitely not trying to throw shade at
anyone but we have to talk about the
affiliate commissions gelato and
printful have the highest commissions at
fifteen and ten percent compared to the
five percent that print of five pays out
to their Affiliates this could be a
complete coincidence and I am biased
because I am a printify affiliate link
down below but I'm also biased because I
fulfilled tens of thousands of orders
with printify and if I could go back to
day one and start all over I would use
printify all over again to me it makes
sense to use the most cost effective
option that gives me the most control
even though their partners are third
party a lot of them are still
outstanding and produce great quality
and really fast shipping times not only
that but printify will also assign you a
sales success manager to help you grow
your business once you reach a certain
sales threshold they have not paid me to
say this I just really like their
platform more than all of the other
platforms and it's made me substantially
more money than I would have made if I
had used the other platforms and since
their quality is the same I have better
control and their profit margins seem to
be much better to me I'm going to
continue using printify as long as
they're providing amazing service I hope
this helps I'll see you next time
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