Why I Don't Use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for Print On Demand

Summary

In this informative video, the speaker, a veteran print-on-demand t-shirt seller with a decade of experience, explains why they opt not to use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for their business. The video delves into the distinction between active and passive print on demand models, highlighting that the former involves creating a website, driving traffic, and handling customer service, while the latter leverages large marketplaces like Amazon and Redbubble that provide traffic and service. The speaker advocates for passive print on demand, showcasing how platforms like Amazon Merch on Demand, Redbubble, and TeePublic allow sellers to upload designs and earn profits from sales without the overhead of running a full e-commerce store. The summary also guides viewers on how to get started with passive print on demand by uploading designs to these platforms, emphasizing the ease and potential profitability of this approach.

Takeaways

• 🚫 The speaker doesn't use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for their print on demand t-shirt business due to their preference for a different business model.
• 🔍 There are two primary ways to approach print on demand: active and passive, with Printful and Printify falling into the active category.
• 💡 Active print on demand involves creating your own website, driving your own traffic, paying upfront for orders, and handling customer service.
• 🛍️ Passive print on demand involves uploading designs to marketplaces like Amazon Merch on Demand, Redbubble, or TeePublic, which handle traffic, sales, and customer service.
• 🌐 Amazon is the largest print on demand platform and offers a passive model where they handle the entire process after the design is uploaded.
• 🎨 Profits from a single design on Amazon can range from $5 per item, with the potential to earn thousands of dollars monthly from a single successful design.
• 📈 The passive model is attractive for new sellers as it requires less upfront work and eliminates the need for self-promotion and advertising.
• 🛒 Redbubble and TeePublic are recommended passive print on demand platforms that are specific to print on demand products.
• 💻 Setting up an active print on demand business requires additional costs and effort, such as setting up and maintaining a Shopify store.
• 📈 Passive print on demand allows sellers to leverage the traffic of large platforms without the need to build their own customer base.
• 📝 The process of uploading a design to a passive print on demand platform is straightforward and can be done quickly, with the potential for immediate sales.

Q & A

Why does the speaker not use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for their print on demand t-shirt business?

The speaker doesn't use these platforms because they operate under the active print on demand business model, which requires creating a website, driving traffic, and handling customer service, whereas the speaker prefers the passive print on demand model.

What are the two different ways to do print on demand mentioned in the video?

The two ways are active print on demand, where you create your own website and drive your own traffic, and passive print on demand, where you upload designs to marketplace websites that handle traffic and customer service.

What is the difference between active and passive print on demand models?

Active print on demand involves creating your own website, driving your own traffic, paying for orders upfront, and handling customer service. Passive print on demand involves uploading designs to marketplaces that handle traffic, sales, and customer service, with the seller receiving a profit split.

Why does the speaker recommend passive print on demand for new sellers?

The speaker recommends passive print on demand because it requires less initial effort and investment, as new sellers do not need to build their own website or handle customer service.

Which platform is mentioned as the largest print on demand platform?

Amazon is mentioned as the largest print on demand platform.

How does Amazon's Merch on Demand work for sellers?

Amazon Merch on Demand allows sellers to upload designs, and Amazon handles the printing, shipping, and customer service. Sellers receive a profit split from the sales.

What are some passive print on demand websites that the speaker recommends?

The speaker recommends Amazon Merch on Demand, Redbubble, and TeePublic as passive print on demand websites.

Why is Redbubble different from Amazon in terms of product offerings?

Redbubble is specific to print on demand items and does not sell a wide range of products like Amazon, which offers a broader selection of items beyond print on demand.

How much profit can a single design make on Amazon Merch on Demand?

A single design can make thousands of dollars in profit every month, depending on sales.

What is the sign-up process like for Amazon Merch on Demand?

The sign-up process is free, and sellers need to find the application page on Amazon, sign up, and then upload their designs to start selling.

What are the advantages of passive print on demand over active print on demand?

Passive print on demand allows sellers to upload designs to marketplaces with existing traffic, eliminating the need to build a website, drive traffic, and handle customer service, which simplifies the process and reduces initial investment.

Why does the speaker suggest avoiding mature content in designs for print on demand?

The speaker suggests avoiding mature content to prevent potential issues down the road, although platforms do allow such designs.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to Print on Demand Business Models

The video introduces the concept of print on demand t-shirt businesses and the speaker's experience in the field. It clarifies the distinction between active and passive print on demand models. Active print on demand involves creating a website, driving traffic, handling customer service, and paying for orders upfront. Passive print on demand, on the other hand, involves uploading designs to marketplaces that handle traffic, sales, and customer service, with the seller receiving a profit split. The speaker emphasizes that many new sellers are likely interested in the passive model and offers to show alternative platforms to Printful and Printify.

05:00

🌐 Exploring Passive Print on Demand Platforms

The speaker discusses various passive print on demand platforms, highlighting Amazon as the largest platform, where sellers can upload designs and Amazon handles the rest, including printing, shipping, and customer service. The profit per t-shirt is outlined, and the potential monthly earnings from a single design are calculated. Redbubble and TeePublic are also mentioned as notable platforms dedicated to print on demand, with differences in traffic and the specificity of their marketplaces. The video contrasts the simplicity of passive print on demand with the more involved process of active print on demand, which requires setting up a Shopify store and managing the store's appearance and trustworthiness.

10:01

📈 Getting Started with Passive Print on Demand

The video concludes with a demonstration of how to upload a design to TeePublic, a passive print on demand platform. It walks through the process of creating an account, uploading a design, titling and tagging the design, and setting options for product types and colors. The speaker also discusses the choice to offer designs on additional product types beyond apparel and shares personal preferences. The process is presented as straightforward, emphasizing the ease of entry into passive print on demand for those looking to start immediately. A full tutorial for passive print on demand is offered for further guidance.

Keywords

💡Print on Demand

Print on demand (POD) is a business model where printed goods are only produced when a customer orders them, reducing the need for inventory and upfront costs. In the video, the speaker discusses two types of POD business models: active and passive, which are central to the video's theme of explaining why they don't use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for their t-shirt business.

💡Active Print on Demand

Active print on demand involves creating a website, driving traffic, and handling customer service, which is a more hands-on approach to the business. The video contrasts this with passive print on demand, emphasizing that Printful and Printify are suited for active POD, which is not the route the speaker has chosen.

💡Passive Print on Demand

Passive print on demand is a business model where the seller uploads designs to marketplaces that handle the traffic, sales, printing, shipping, and customer service. The video highlights this as the preferred method for many new sellers, including the speaker, who finds it less labor-intensive and more accessible.

💡Fulfillment Service

A fulfillment service is a company that manages the logistics of order processing, picking, packing, and shipping of goods on behalf of e-commerce sellers. In the context of the video, Printful and Printify are examples of fulfillment services for active POD, while Amazon Merch on Demand is an example for passive POD.

💡Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves promoting products or services through social media channels to increase brand awareness and drive sales. The video mentions it as a method for driving traffic to an active POD business, which is a part of building a full-fledged clothing company using POD.

💡Paid Advertising

Paid advertising refers to the use of paid channels to promote products or services, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads. The speaker discusses it in the context of active POD, where the seller must pay for ads to attract customers to their website.

💡

💡Amazon Merch on Demand

Amazon Merch on Demand is a service provided by Amazon that allows sellers to upload designs and have Amazon handle the printing, shipping, and customer service for POD items. The video uses it as an example of a passive POD platform, emphasizing its large customer base and the ease of getting started.

💡Redbubble

Redbubble is an online marketplace for POD items where artists can upload their designs, and Redbubble takes care of production and shipping. The video presents Redbubble as one of the recommended passive POD platforms, highlighting its focus on POD products.

💡TeePublic

TeePublic is another online marketplace for POD products, similar to Redbubble, which was acquired by Redbubble. The video mentions TeePublic as an example of a smaller platform with a specific focus on POD, providing an alternative option for sellers.

💡Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that allows users to set up online stores to sell products. In the video, it is mentioned as a necessary component for those who choose the active POD route with Printful or Printify, where the seller must pay a monthly fee to maintain their store.

💡Customer Service

Customer service refers to the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products. The video discusses the difference in customer service responsibilities between active and passive POD, where active POD sellers handle all customer service, while passive POD platforms manage it.

Highlights

The speaker has been a print on demand t-shirt seller for 10 years and does not use Printful, Printify, or Etsy for their business.

There are two primary ways to do print on demand: active and passive print on demand.

Active print on demand involves creating your own website, driving your own traffic, and handling customer service.

Passive print on demand involves uploading designs to marketplace websites that handle traffic, buyers, and customer service.

Printful and Printify are for active print on demand, which is why the speaker does not use them.

Amazon is the largest print on demand platform and operates on a passive model.

Amazon Merch on Demand allows sellers to upload designs and earn a profit from sales without handling orders or customer service.

A single design can generate thousands of dollars in profit every month on Amazon.

Redbubble is a print on demand specific platform that also operates on a passive model.

TeePublic, acquired by Redbubble, is a smaller platform but focuses specifically on print on demand items.

With passive print on demand, there is no need to build or maintain a website; designs are uploaded directly to the marketplace.

The speaker provides a tutorial on how to start passive print on demand, including uploading a design to TeePublic.

Uploading a design to a passive print on demand platform like TeePublic is straightforward and requires minimal setup.

Designs can be offered on various products like apparel, stickers, phone cases, and mugs without additional cost.

The speaker recommends focusing on apparel and not enabling other product types for beginners.

Passive print on demand allows sellers to generate income by uploading designs to marketplaces with organic traffic.

The full tutorial for passive print on demand is available in the video description for those interested in learning more.

The speaker emphasizes the ease and potential profitability of passive print on demand for new sellers.

Transcripts

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to another video.

In today's video, I'm going

to be explaining why I don't use Printful, Printify,

or Etsy for my print on demand t-shirt business.

Now, for those of you who don't know,

I've been a print on demand t-shirt seller

for just about 10 years now,

and what a lot of people don't realize is

that I don't use Printful, Printify,

or Etsy to run my business.

In this video, I'm going to be explaining

and showing you onscreen recording why I don't use these

platforms and a lot of things

that people don't share about these platforms

that you really should know if you're just

starting out in this business.

So if you are just getting into print on demand,

please watch this video first.

I think it's going to save you a lot

of headaches down the road.

So when it comes to starting a print on-demand

t-Shirt business, the core of

that business is having a print on demand

fulfillment service.

Now, most tutorials out there that are going to teach you

how to start the business are going to show you

to use Printful or they're going to

show you to use Printify.

Now, although both of these are great print on demand

fulfillment services,

what most people don't realize is there are two very

different ways to do print on demand.

When it comes to print on demand,

there is active print on demand and passive print on demand.

This is something that very few people are sharing about the

print on demand business, but both Printful

and Printify are both in the active

print on demand business model.

Now for those of you who this is the first time you're

hearing about active print on demand versus

passive print on demand, active print on demand is

where you create your own website,

you bring your own traffic and your own buyers.

This is typically with social media marketing

or it's done with paid advertising,

and then every order that you receive,

you pay for that order upfront

and then you receive your full amount of money

with the profit afterwards.

And lastly, you handle all of the customer service.

This is more of building a full fledged clothing company,

but using print on demand to fulfill those orders.

Now when you look at the other way of doing print on demand,

which is passive print on demand, this is

where you are creating your t-shirt designs

and uploading them to big print on demand

marketplace websites.

They are bringing all of the traffic and buyers for you.

The customer who buys your product is paying

for the whole order upfront

and you are just getting a split of the profit afterwards,

and the big print on demand websites, they're handling all

of the customer service for you.

This way of doing print on demand,

the passive print on demand way, is the way

that I think a lot of new print on demand sellers are

actually looking for.

So with that being clarified, the reason

that I don't use Printify, I don't use Printful is

because both of these are for active print on demand.

Now with that being said,

I don't want to just leave you hanging in this video.

I actually want to give you a solution here.

So if you don't want to go down this active print on demand

route and you actually want to try

the passive print on demand route,

I'll quickly show you a couple websites

that you can use that are passive print on demand.

I'll even upload a design with you to show you

how easy this really is.

And then I will put a link in the description

to another video here on YouTube

that is a full passive print on demand tutorial taking you

from idea that you want to start,

all the way to getting your first sales.

So with that being said, let's switch back over

to the computer and let me show you some of this.

So let's start out on Amazon.

What a lot of people don't realize is

that Amazon is actually the largest print on

demand platform out there.

If you search for a type of t-shirt,

so this is gardening t-shirt.

This is just a great niche right now for print on demand.

And you scroll down here, all of these are going

to be print on demand designs.

So when you click on any of these, you'll see

that it looks like just any other product on Amazon,

but it has as little label right here

that says "Amazon Merch on Demand".

Now, whenever a listing has this little label right here,

it means that the person selling this only uploaded this

design and Amazon is doing everything else for them.

So when someone finds this T-shirt

and they pick what kind of item they want it printed on,

they pick what color, then they select what size,

they can add this to their cart,

and they can purchase it just like any other

product on Amazon.

What's going to happen

behind the scenes when this order is placed

is Amazon is going to receive the order.

They're going to go pick out whatever color

and size shirt you ordered,

and they're going to print this exact design on it,

ship it out to the customer

and handle all the customer service.

The creator of this listing is then just going

to get their split of the profit,

which on a t-shirt like this is going to be roughly $5.

Now, something that's really cool about Amazon is on some

of these listings, it's going to tell you how many of

that exact listing has sold in the last month.

For this specific design,

that is 50 plus bought in the past month.

If you're saying an average of $5 profit,

that's about $250 in profit per month from

just a single design.

Now, that's just on this listing,

but on some other niches, when you're scrolling through here

for print on demand shirts, you'll see 1,000

plus in the past month.

So a single design can make you thousands

of dollars in profit every single month.

Now, the reason that all of this works is because

Amazon falls into the passive print on demand category,

meaning that Amazon is bringing their own customers,

just Amazon alone gets about 750 million people

to their marketplace every month.

Now, all of them are not looking to buy t-shirts,

but I can tell you a substantial amount of them actually do.

So just to give you an idea on this,

if you are interested in selling on Amazon

as a print on demand seller,

just look up Amazon Merch on Demand.

Once you find this page right here,

this is actually their application page to become a seller,

just hit the sign up button right here.

Again, this is totally free to do.

So Amazon is just the first example of one

of these passive print on demand websites.

There's actually several more.

I've been selling on a lot of them over the years,

and there's a couple that really stand out over the rest.

Just to show you what those are,

the second one that I would really

recommend to you is called Redbubble.

And Redbubble is a little bit different than Amazon in

that Redbubble is specific to print on demand.

So they're not going to sell just every item

that Amazon sells, rather they're just going

to sell print on demand items.

So if you were to type in gardening t-shirt,

these are just all going to be results

specifically done with print on demand.

So when you click on one of these, you're going

to see what that looks like.

And again, you can pick all of these settings here,

you can add it to your cart and you can purchase it.

The same style here with passive print on demand.

None of these are actually printed yet.

So when Redbubble receives the order, the customer's paying

for the full order, Redbubble is going to print it,

ship it out, handle the customer service,

and we just get a split of the profit.

But I do want to show you just one more

of these passive print on demand websites,

just to show you that there are a lot out here to use.

This one is called TeePublic.

TeePublic was actually purchased by Redbubble a

couple years ago.

So it is the same layout as Redbubble.

Now, TeePublic is a smaller website compared to Redbubble.

To put it into perspective here,

TeePublic gets about a million people

to their website every month.

Redbubble gets about 10 million people

to their website every month.

But remember, both of these are print on demand specific.

So although Amazon gets a ton of traffic, they're coming in

to buy all different things on Amazon.

When people come to Redbubble or TeePublic,

they are coming in specifically

to buy something print on demand.

So this is where things start to get really cool

with passive print on demand.

So if we go back over here and we go to Printify

or we go to Printful, if you want to use one of these, yes,

you're going to be using the active print on demand route.

But what most people don't realize is that you actually have

to set up a Shopify store as well.

So although Printify and Printful,

they are free to use, you do have to pay for Shopify.

Now, the first month on Shopify is a dollar,

but after that, you're going to be paying $39 per month at a

minimum just to have your print on demand store live.

Now, beyond having to pay for it, you have

to build your store, you have to customize it,

you have to make it look good so

that people trust your store enough to make a purchase.

On the other hand, here with passive print on demand,

all you have to do is upload your design

and create the listing,

because everything else is actually on the big

print on demand website.

So you don't have to build the website yourself,

you are just adding your designs to their marketplace.

So for those of you who are considering passive

print on demand, you can absolutely get started today.

Again, I would recommend that

tutorial down in the description.

That's just going to be the best thing I have

to offer you from start to finish.

But just in this video real quick to show you

how easy it is to upload a design

and literally just get started from scratch,

when you come to one of these websites,

just click "create an account",

fill out your first name, last name,

put in your email address and a password,

and click "create my account".

On TeePublic specifically,

it'll have you verify your email address,

but once you've done that, then you can log into your

account and you can start uploading designs right away.

So once you've created your account,

the button here will change from

"create an account" to "upload art".

Just click on this.

Depending on how many files you have ready to upload,

you can do just single file upload

and upload just one at a time, or multi-file upload

and upload a whole handful of them at a time.

I'll just show you how to do it with one.

Just click this PNG icon right here

and select your artwork off your computer.

Just give this a second to load here

and it'll upload your file.

It'll then show you what your design file looks like.

You can scroll down here, you can give it a title,

and for your title, you can just name it

what is on your design.

So this design says,

"Gardening because therapy is expensive".

I'm just going to copy this,

and then you can put it down here

as your description as well.

Nice and easy.

Over on your main tags here,

we'll just type in gardening.

And then in your supporting tags, just click in here.

TeePublic will even recommend these for you.

So this is also about garden,

it's also about nature, flowers, floral, gardener,

plants, and anything else that is relevant to this design,

you can add into your supporting tags here.

Scroll down a little bit here.

Does this design contain mature content?

Just hit "no" here.

Yes, you are allowed to create designs for print on demand

that have mature content in them.

No, I don't recommend doing it.

It could just potentially lead to issues down the road.

So I would just click "no" here, keep scrolling down.

It's going to give you options that actually look similar

to Printful or Printify where you can say, what kind

of items do you want this to be offered on?

What color do you want those items

to be shown in by default?

And you can just select what you want here.

And then if you're good with all of these items,

it costs you nothing extra

to offer them on all these different items.

You can then keep scrolling down,

and you can actually pick what colors are offered

for these products as well.

So just scroll through here, hover over all these,

make sure that you can actually read your

design on all of these.

If anything looks too close to read, like a green on green,

just uncheck that,

and then keep scrolling through, make sure everything looks

good, and then scroll down a little bit further.

You can even offer your design on other items

beyond apparel with just one click here.

So stickers, phone cases, mugs, et cetera, all the way

through, you can turn those on.

It doesn't cost you anything extra

to offer your design on these other products.

I actually personally don't turn these on.

I leave it just to apparel.

If you watch that full tutorial, you'll get an explanation

of why I've learned to do this over the years.

So that's why mine are all turned off

and just apparel is turned on.

Just click "I have read and agree to the terms

and conditions", and then click "publish".

And just like that in a matter of minutes here,

you have a listing live on a print on demand website

that is getting organic traffic.

So by doing print on demand

with this passive print on demand route, all you have

to do is come up with good ideas

and upload them to these big print on demand marketplaces.

This, in my experience, is what a lot of people

who are getting into print on demand are

actually looking for.

They don't want to go down the active print on demand route

where they then have to start advertising campaigns

to bring people into their store.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about

passive print on demand and how do everything step by step,

that full free tutorial is linked down in the description.

So guys, I hope this video has been helpful

and saves you a lot of headaches.

If you enjoyed it, please just give it a thumbs up,

and I'll be seeing you guys all in the next video.