What is POD?
[Updated May 20, 2012]
POD stands for Print on Demand. Without going into too much detail it is a system whereby you can get your t-shirt (or other items) printed by another company. Recently some of those companies will also sell your design on tee shirts and deal with all the logistics including packaging, shipping, payments and even customer complaints.
Most people don’t have the finances to set up their own t-shirt printing company or deal with the logistics so these PODs have created a way for people to do so with little or no start-up costs. Cafepress, Zazzle and Spreadshirt are probably the most famous and most successful PODs at the moment. I use both but because of recent changes at Cafepress I can’t recommend joining them. I highly recommend Zazzle though.
List of T-Shirt PODs that allow users to set up their own shop.
If you know of any other POD selling t-shirts please let us know.
Hi been visiting your blog for awhile now…
finally got the guts to ask if my store can be added to your list please? CustomDesignPrinted.com
Cheers
Kelly
p.s: keep up the nice blogging LOVE IT!!!
oh btw we are offering free stores for a limited time so people can start their own tee business…. 😉
Hey Thanks for the add… i appreciate it… if we can help you out in any way feel free to contact us.
There is a new POD that started up earlier this year and is based just outside of Toronto and is called T-Shirt Monster. Their selection right now isn’t very large but they do have a good affiliate program and also monthly themed design contests.
tshirtmonster.ca
Does anyone know of a POD that offers several organic options? My brother and I are in the process of setting up a site with our designs, and my focus is infant/toddler clothing, but I want to primarily if not entirely design organic products. Any info is much appreciated!
Lisa, Printfection recently launched a complete line of organic apparel. We now have the POD industry’s largest selection of organic apparel. Here’s our blog post for more information: http://blog.printfection.com/printfection/2010/01/ecofriendly-organic-tshirts.html
If you have any other questions just contact me! My first name at printfection.com
-Casey Schorr
Co-Founder/ CEO, Printfection
CustomTshirts.com is missing from this list
Added. Thanks.
It seems that Great Apparel For You (greatapparelforyou.com) is a major player not included in your list. I Googled “internet shirt fulfillment” and “web shirt fulfillment” and they were number 1. Then I took a look at their offerings, and it looked as if they were a full-service Print-On-Demand shirt and garment company loaded with different options including custom packaging and labeling. I called them, and they claimed they fulfilled for many online companies. That is left to be seen, but they seemed to know what they were talking about.
Anyway, Great Apparel For You is missing from your list, and in the spirit of full disclosure should be added to the list above. I’ll leave the selection process to the individual companies.
It’s not a POD though as far as I can see and all the PODs listed here allow for users to set up their own shop which I don’t believe this company does.
Is T-Shirt Monster not worthy of the list?
I thought I had that one there already. Thanks. Added.
Here’s another one missing from your list: online-shirt-stores.com
All the standard features, plus it’s a family run business rather than a big company, so you get really good customer support.
Since you seem to be an expert…. Can you recommend the best POD apparel company if I like the back-end services of printmojo.com, but I wan the POD functionality? I’ve been going through your list, but haven’t found one that really stands out.
What “POD functionality do you want?
Jessica,
If you want complete control of your merchandise store, check out Printfection. Here’s some exclusive features we have you might like:
* The ability to private-label everything (store, checkout, and packaging)
* Domain mapping, so your store lives on your own domain
* Customized pricing/ discount plans
* Dedicated account managers
* A powerful API
Last week, we launched the icing on the cake. Now you can see detailed
information about your customers and their orders. Information you can use to
follow-up with your customers, match their orders to your internal customer
database, send them opt-in marketing communications, and more. Read our blog
post to learn more: http://tinyurl.com/ykzp6vg
If you have any other questions I’m happy to answer them personally. My first name @ printfection.com
Casey Schorr
Co-Founder/ CEO, Printfection
Based on my working knowledge, I think PrintMojo is a nice alternative and offers a front-end shopping cart, but for the money, I still think Great Apparel For You perhaps the best, although I see they’re still not listed above.
I’m pretty sure Great Apparel doesn’t have a shopping cart yet, but they’re working on one. What’s nice about them is the very broad selection of garments and unique options–including printing on darks, relabeling, and branding. There’s always Zazzle, CafePress, Printfection, etc., but their costs are considerably more than the middle-sized companies.
Plus, I noticed Great Apparel For You ranks very high in Google for Direct to Garment Printing which is really the only technology you can use for P.O.D. services. That implies to me they’re probably good at it.
Great Apparel For You fulfillment info: greatapparelforyou.com/fulfillment_services.htm
Good luck.
I don’t think they provide a POD service so I imagine POD like functionality is non-existent. Also ranking high in Google for that phrase doesn’t even imply that they do Direct to Garment Printing. Wikipedia and the T-Shirt Forums rank higher for that phrase and certainly don’t.
I’m looking for a good quality, legitamate, inexpensive way to do print on demand. Are there any companies that offer a quality product, but cost less? I’ve seen a few POD sites starting around $15.00 for men’s t-shirts…(how am I going to successfully mark that up…that is the price I want to charge my customers).
Bottom line…I am looking for quality, price, with no minimum quantities…anything out there?
As far I know there aren’t but Printfection used to have reasonably priced t-shirts.
I want to sell our t-shirts locally at different events this summer.
The cost to get the shirts to Alaska already adds a bundle to the $15.00 charge.
Shirts up here don’t sell for much more than $15.00…sometimes less. I guess I could ask local merchants where they get their shirts done.
I like the POD due to lack of storage space and uncertain sales.
Thanks for the reply.
If you are sure you have a market for your tees and are not afraid to buy in bulk you should check out Storenvy. They also provide an online store for you free of charge.
Printfection offers custom discount plans. Contact us on our website and ask for more information. A dedicated account rep will answer all your questions.
Thanks for the list, this was helpful. I’ve been looking forever for a POD company that offered black tank tops, which Tshirtmonster did. Too bad their design interface and customer service suck. Hopefully Zazzle or Spreadshirt will have black tank tops soon.
You’re welcome.
Spreadshirt and Zazzle often add and subtract products so keep your fingers crossed. Spreadshirt are also very seasonal in what they provide so they may get tank tops in for the summer.
Yes, good call on Storevny. Also, if you’re looking for a front-end, Volusion is a good product.
As for Print On Demand and Great Apparel For You, I know of several online shirt companies that use them, and their website actually specifically mentions POD on the link I provided above. (BTW, I’m not trying to be argumentative; I’m just trying to provide accurate information.)
Cheers.
Thanks guys for the information. Now I have a few choices to try and hopefully one of them work out for me.
Thanks again!
Update on Tshirtmonster.com, they e-mailed me a few days after I sent in a question, and said they have no phone support. Not very happy about that. Ended up ordering two tank tops from them anyway, at the beginning of the month. The products didn’t even ship until about 5 days later, on the 9th of the month, and with their standard shipping I still haven’t received them, almost another two weeks after that. CafePress sucks, big time, but at least I didn’t have to wait nearly a month for products from them.
Cafepress sucks for shopkeepers, esp. ones who were there before the changes but as for ordering items I rarely had problem.
My sister was talking to a web guy who said that T-shirts are the #1 best selling items on people’s websites no matter what the website is about.
I have some text and graphics for some T-shirts and I’d like to try to get some printed. How does it work? Do visitors choose any size or color that the want and the company makes it up and ships it to them directly? I don’t want to turn my house into a mail order storage unit, so I’d love some tips and tricks to get started from anyone who has gone through the process and learned what to do and not do.
Thanks so much,
Nancy
Using PODs you don’t need to store anything in your home. Check them out and read their “How it works” page.
Hi Nancy
After looking at your website, I don’t think you should just stop at t-shirts. You have some beautiful art that would look very appealing on a variety of products, which a few of the PODs offer.
Judging from my own experience, Zazzle would be a good fit for you based on several criteria. First of all, it’s completely free. Second, in addition to opening a free store hosted by them, you can host your own store on your site with their Store Builder and have it match your website scheme. They have other products your art would look good on such as mugs, mousepads, posters, postage stamps, business cards, stationery, shoes etc. Zazzle handles all the transactions, printing, delivery and returns. They have several regional domains for countries like U.S., Canada, France, Germany, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Brazil and Portugal.
They also offer a lot of promotional tools for you to use on your website and get referral commissions.
By no means should you only consider Zazzle. Have a long look at the list of PODS above and do some comparison “shopping” to decide which is best for you. It is only my opinion that Zazzle would suit you best.
Good luck!
Thanks Caza and Rude Retro and everyone else who has answered or previously posted to this blog,
You answers, input and suggestions have been extremely helpful to me. I think this is going to be fun!
I met an 84 year old artist/author the other day who self-pubished a book about 9 years ago and only has 2 copies left from the ones he originally ordered. His book is timeless, ageless wisdom. Just simple koan type statements and a cool line drawing below the sentence. I offered to put his book into POD format for him because I thought it was worth it and he was so elated. Then I thought, hmmmm …. they’d make great T-shirts and mugs. I never thought about my own artwork! Thanks for mentioning that. Silly me!
So thanks again for all these suggestions that now have my creative wheels spinning. I started looking through Zazzle but I need to sit down and read through it thoroughly to figure out where to start and what to do. I’ll probably need more help then.
I love the idea of putting a storefront on my website. I’ve kind of wanted to do that for awhile but I didn’t have much to sell, just a couple books. This new direction is exciting. Does anyone make many sales from t-shirts and other products with their images on them? Is there a lot of marketing involved like everything else we try to sell online, or is it like my sister’s friend said – that T-shirts sell?
Blessings,
nancy
Most PODS have a free public marketplace where anyone browsing can see your designs but depending on how popular the POD is, your designs could be lost in a sea of millions of other designs.
However, you already have a big head start on a lot of POD store owners and that is your own website with your own dot com domain. That alone will get you great exposure without relying on a specific POD’s marketplace. I don’t even have a dot com domain (I’m working on it) and I am a pro seller at Zazzle.
Don’t forget that with affiliate and associate programs, there will be other POD store owners who would be more than happy to promote your products. I have built a links page on my site promoting other’s stores and many other people have also.
As far as what product sells most, it depends on the subject matter. Most of the time it’s t-shirts that sell the best but I have sold lots of postage stamps, stickers, postcards, mugs, hats and all I really have is a blog to promote my stuff.
You don’t have to commit yourself to just one POD. Many of us have opened a store at several of the PODs you see above.
However, if you are interested in learning more about Zazzle, here is a link for beginners in the Zazzle forum.
http://forum.zazzle.com/new
Oh, excellent suggestion about the affiliates. I’ve wanted to move my work out to affiliates for a long time but that end of the business was so mind boggling. I don’t like marketing. In fact I have put out so many biz partner/marketer posts on craigslist and other places wanting someone to do the marketing for me, but nothing ever came of it. The option you are presenting to have affiliates and associates (not sure what associates are) sell my shirts, etc. is very promising! I was thinking of doing a t-shirt with the image of the drawing on my book. Buy the t-shirt get the e-book at discounted price.
This is a great blog with so much to absorb. Thanks so much.
Associates are just what Zazzle calls affiliates for their in-house affiliate program.
That is a good idea about the e-book discount if they buy a t-shirt. Good marketing.
Marketing is not my most favourite thing either but like I already mentioned, Zazzle has lots of easy-to-use promotional tools to use on your website and you can post on the forum to announce when your shop is ready for affiliation.
I should mention that I first started out with Cafepress about 6 years ago. I got good sales from it for a while but then CP made some controversial policy changes, so I and countless others closed our stores there and made Zazzle our primary stores.
There are a few other PODs I use that are also good for different reasons. I also have stores at Printfection, Spreadshirt and T-Shirt Monster but I haven’t had near the success with those as I’ve had with Zazzle. I just find Zazzle the most user-friendly out of all of them with the most to offer and it has a great product designer.
Printfection has been making great strides and is also a good choice, although it is a little cumbersome to use. I think they also have a way to build a store right into your website if I’m not mistaken.
Same with Spreadshirt. It remains an interesting option but it needs to be a little easier to navigate. I haven’t really worked that much on this site.
T-Shirt Monster is the baby of the bunch (from my list, not Rude Retro’s) only having been around since 2008 I think. They only have t-shirts but I think they are planning on unveiling new products in may. Their store layout is very simple and organized but needs to include a search by categories. Also, their marketplace is not very user-friendly and needs to be vastly improved but I think they mentioned they will be overhauling the site in may so that will probably change. Sales are slow at this store like the other two above but so were my sales at Zazzle when it was brand new.
What you’re probably referring to is more “fulfillment services” than POD. Fulfillment service companies print on demand AND manage the distribution and branding of your garments.
Do a search for “internet shirt fulfillment” or “shirt fulfillment services” and you’ll find a bunch. Shop around, though. Offerings vary, and prices can be all over the board. Also, don’t forget (if you’re interested) to find a POD that offers printing on dark garments. You’ll want to maximize your offerings.
Good luck.
Actually all of the PODs on this list provide fulfillment services (on a print on demand basis) and quite a few of them print on dark tees.
Oh, okay, thanks. I guess I thought that POD for t-shirts was like it is for books. I published 2 POD books with Lulu.com and Createspace.com and just put the paypal links on my site for visitors to buy the books directly from there. It takes them to the lulu site for check out and everything is handled by lulu.com, all the shipping, etc. And they print one book or however many the visitor wants.
Is that what shirt fulfillment services offer? I’d like to put the t-shirt on my site and let people order and have the company deal with the rest. Do I have to make one in a variety of sizes or does the customer just order my design in whatever size fits him/her?
Thanks,
nancy
Hi Nancy,
Your first impression was right. All the PODs in this list operate like lulu.com.
Your customer buys items from these PODs and they print and deal with the transactions and shipping according to what the customer orders.
The PODs then pay you a commission.
Rude Retro
Nancy, depending on what POD you choose, your customers would be able to pick the coulour, style and size themselves. For example, PODS like Zazzle and T-Shirt Monster let you place your design on a single t-shirt and visitors can select a different shirt than what you have displayed on your site. They are not limited to the one you have chosen as your default model. It is simply for display purposes.
I finally got my two tank tops from Tshirtmonster today. I am very disappointed. The graphics are printed very low on the shirt, and the text outlines on the graphics on the backs of the shirts are “chopped up”. Very unhappy with the cost, quality and shipping time, and would not recommend them.
Hey Drew
Sorry to hear about that. Can you elaborate on what you mean by “chopped up”? Would it be possible for you to post a pic somewhere?
Have you let them know that you are not satisfied with your order or are you just cutting your losses?
Don’t forget that you can have your order replaced or your money refunded.
tshirtmonster.ca/
The outlines of the text were broken and shifted where those outlines intersected with the outlines of a background image. I will post a link to a photo. Also, the images were placed far below what I expected based on the preview in their design software. I wanted the tops of the graphics to start close to the tops of the chest and shoulder blades – not half way down the back. It looks rushed and half-assed, in my opinion. If it were my company, I would never have shipped them. I would have re-done them and eaten the cost rather than risk losing repeat business and getting bad word of mouth.
Hello,
My name is Shawn, and I am the president of Great Apparel For You. I was reading your blog and noticed that someone had referenced us as a P.O.D. yet we do not appear on your list. Indeed, we are a print on demand t-shirt fulfillment service. We offer the traditional direct to garment P.O.D. services, additional branding locations, branded hang-tags & envelopes, and warehousing options for items that are traditionally screen printed or embroidered.
Our proprietary developed fulfillment system handles all orders, guarantees absolute consistency, handles scaling of art for everything from infant to adult sized garments. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality results possible with DTG printing and have a turn around time that is second to none in the industry.
I think it is also important to note that we take a hands on approach with everyone of our clients. We take pains in making sure our clients understand exactly what is required in the art files to ensure all prints meet or exceed expectations and can always be reached by phone.
I invite your readers to check out our all our available service at greatapparelforyou.com – namely –
Fulfillment: greatapparelforyou.com/fulfillment_services.htm
P.O.D.: greatapparelforyou.com/print-on-demand-t-shirts.htm
I also respectfully request that you add our company to your list above.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Shawn Drimmel
GreatApparelForYou.com
Thank you. At a minimum, competition is a good thing. I will check you guys out, because, quite frankly quality and pricing has made me uncomfortable with CafePress for quite some time.
Cheers
Hello,
I have started to research different POD, but I haven’t found the information I’m looking for… Do you know if any of them offer the option of not displaying your product in the common store, but only in your own shop?
This might look strange to you, but the t-shirts would be made for a specific organisation, and I’d prefer to make them not public. I don’t think I need them to be fully private, just not listed in the common store of whichever POD service I would use. The objective would not be to make money from the t-shirts, just make them available to the organisation, so I don’t need the advantage of having them visible on a high traffic site.
Thank you
Cafepress allows you to opt out of their marketplace.
Which is what most CP shop owners have done anyway if they haven’t completely closed up their shops, what with the controversial policy changes.
I’d say just a small fraction of shopkeepers have opted out. Have you seen the marketplace recently?
Sorry, I should have said “a lot” instead of “most”. I have no doubt that a most of CP users are still opted into the marketplace. I’m referring mainly to the number of shopkeepers who decided to abandon the website all together, which is difficult to estimate how many that really is.
I have my own brand label.
I create designs and would like to upload them onto t shirts to sell using POD technology.
I have my own website created with WORDPRESS with these virtual t shirts that need to be linked up to a POD company.
I do not want any sign of the POD company on my website/ecommerce store.
I need to protect my own brand value and allow the customer to be secure that they are officially buying through me.
I entered a very large niche market that no ones has done before so I will be uploading many designs.
I want to keep t shirt prices as low as possible with a decent profit margin
Low shipping costs
I want to leverage as much API from the POD as I can to make sure there is no sign of POD company
I want to ensure my customers receive the best quality t shirts on time and great customer servics for any issues
I want the POD company to ship international if needed
My first two choices are printfection or spreadshirt
Please help me decide who is the best for my company needs? Can be any POD other than the ones I mentioned
Bellechan,
Printfection is specifically setup as a POD focused on your own storefront, and your own brand. It’s the only thing we focus on and we have a whole slew of features to prove it.
If you’re looking to make your items somewhat private, we have a few options. You can setup a “hidden” store and just give out the URL to people you know, or create an “open” store but not be in any sort of “common” marketplace. You can also attach your store to your organization’s existing website with your own URL. And, lastly, if you don’t want people to know they are buying from Printfection we can private label everything, including the shipping boxes and packing slips.
Depending on the volume we can work discounts just for you.
I frequently recommend our competitors if it’s a fit, but in this case I think you would be a good fit for Printfection. We are focused on serving other businesses, not individual designers or consumers. This is a major distinction when you compare us to other POD services. We’re B2B focused, whereas the others are B2C focused.
Let me know if you have any additional questions, casey at printfection dot com is my email.
-Casey Schorr
Founder/ CEO, Printfection
funkytshack.com will set up “hidden” client pages for organizations such as Scentsy and Avon reps.
Hi everyone!
Thanks for a great thread of information. I am looking for the best POD company to choose to sell alongside my kawaii blog. I am leaning towards Zazzle or SpreadShirt. Zazzle because I can see that many kawaii designers use them and you can customize you shop to look like your design. SpreadShirt because they have a better looking t-shirt selection (for women, which is my target audience) than most companies I have studied. What do you think, which is the best.
I am from sweden but i intend to sell international. I have noticed that the prices are much lower in USA than in Sweden, for SpreadShirt anyway a t-shirt for 15.9 USD I have to pay about 24USD if i state that i reside in Sweden. Any thoughts about that? Is there a better company for european sellers?
Hi, have you looked at Printfection? If you’re looking to sell alongside your blog, and don’t need or want a marketplace, we’d be a great choice. We focus all of our features on the storefront, for people who already have an audience/ fanbase (like you!).
Our prices for T-shirts start at $14.99 and we’re happy to extend discount pricing depending on your projected volume.
You can customize your store to look however you want, and even use your own domain like store.yourblogdomain.com. We have a wonderful assortment of women’s apparel, too.
Regarding international shipping, we are experts as 15% of our business is outside the USA. We have a special arrangement with DHL for international shipping. The packages arrive faster, and at a lower cost.
Lastly, I promise you our “customer love team” (customer service) will take great care of you. Email me directly, anytime– casey at printfection dot com
Have the best day ever,
Casey Schorr
Founder/ CEO, Printfection
Anyone know of a POD service that offers moisture wicking t-shirts for running such as Dri-Fit, technical t-shirts, etc?
I can only find cotton so far.
Thanks
Jeff, what’s your use case for the moisture wicking shirts. I don’t know of any major POD offering these currently, but I’m curious to know why you want them and how you plan to use/ sell them.
Let me know, we’re always willing to add new products if the market is there. We have all of the printing technology, machines, etc to do full-color, all-over prints on lots of moisture wicking apparel. We just haven’t brought it to market yet, not enough demand.
Let me know,
Casey Schorr
Founder/ CEO, Printfection
casey at printfection dot com (email)
I am going to assume that Jeff wants these for athletic events maybe, such as jogging, marathon running, working out, exercising etc. I’ve seen requests for this type of shirt before in other forums.
Hello Casey
We would like to know if you might be interested in getting into the motorcycle riding market with your co? I’m a social media publicist for The MeanStreet Riders a new country rock music group. They currently have fans in 57 countries from our facebook fanpage and don’t have any music even out yet facebook.com/pages/The-MeanStreet-Riders/194413770588?ref=ts. Their debut LP and video will be released later this summer when completed and we would like to offer more motorcycle related items than just generic T Shirts, caps, and and key rings .Creative things like wallets, eyeglasses, gloves, helmets, leathers ect….. things motorcyclists really hone into. You can take a look at how large the merch market is at hotleathers.com
We recently created an account at Zazzle but are looking for a better pricing model they have and the limited products they have for sale zazzle.com/meanstreetriders/
Please let me know if there is any interest
Mary
nice blog, POD is a great work that they are doing because it satisfy the customers demand and fulfill what he wants for him to wear… great..
Judging from my own experience, Zazzle would be a good fit for you based on several criteria. First of all, it’s completely free. Second, in addition to opening a free store hosted by them, you can host your own store on your site with their Store Builder and have it match your website scheme. They have other products your art would look good on such as mugs, mousepads, posters, postage stamps, business cards, stationery, shoes etc. Zazzle handles all the transactions, printing, delivery and returns. They have several regional domains for countries like U.S., Canada, France, Germany, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Brazil and Portugal.
+1
Great information everyone! We are looking for a POD with more motorcycle related items than just generic T Shirts, caps, hoodies and key rings ect and basic things like most all these cos offer. Creative things like wallets, eyeglasses, gloves, helmets, leathers the list is really endless, things motorcyclists really hone into. Take a look at everything hotleathers.com or jafrum.com sell.
Just curious if anyone might know of that type of co out there?
Any information you could send our way would be appreciated.
Some first hand experience.
I’ve been using Zazzle for a couple of years now. Fairly simple to set up a store… some of my stuff shows up on Google searches (so they’re doing whatever needs to be done to have my products reach a larger market). I’m selling shirts, mugs, magnets, etc.
Not making enough to quit the real job, but it seems to be a numbers game. The more (good) designs you get out there, the more money you make. Just remember that YOU always think your designs are great… but it’s what potential customers think that counts.
Another feature on Zazzle is the ability to set up individual stores, but you can combine all the sales to make additional “volume bonuses”.
I started for free… still not paying anybody any money… and getting monthly payments. Just wish I had more time to create designs.
Great info! I’ve been looking for a POD company that does all the work (printing, labeling, shipping, etc.) So far, greatapparelforyou.com is the only one that has everything I need but I was wondering if there are any other companies that offer the same services as they do. I want to be able to compare before I decide on who I want to work with.
When i found out about zazzle i couldn’t believe my eyes. It really makes it easier for people to get up and started.
Hi their All
I have been wanting to create my own clothing store for a while now and have just been trying to look around at the different stores that different PODS are offering but i cannot see or at least i have not spotted one where they allow you to have your own clothing labels inside the tshirts etc.
Just wondered if anybody knew of any PODS that allows the products to be labelled with your own logo and name
upto now through reading i think printfection and zazzle are the best two looking ones.
also does anybody know which has the cheapest base prices but doesnt lack in quality
thanks all hope you can help me
Matt,
Great Apparel For You (www.GreatApparelForYou.com) has a POD shirt fulfillment program that also allows clients to stock items that cannot be created on-demand including private label (re-labeled) items, embroidered & screen printed items, hard pre-fabricated items, etc.
They pick the inventoried items with new labels, print designs on demand, and drop ship to the consumer. I believe they also attach client hang-tags to the garments and branding stickers to the outbound packaging.
They recently released a full website solution to help clients quickly build a web presence and sell stuff.
Good luck with your endeavor.
Hey, I know there are a ton of factors that influence how much profit can be made through using POD companies, but which one would you think has the best potential for someone to maximize profit in terms of how much money is made off of a sold shirt. I know many different materials have different costs and what not, but i think you’ll get my drift as to what I’m after with my question hopefully. Thanks.
Can you please add Inventclothing.com to your list.
We specialise in DTG print on demand order fulfillment and dropshipping.
Regards
George
Sorry, this list is for websites where users can also sell their products.
はじめまして。
日本のPODの紹介です。
アメリカのPODより、規模は小さいのですが、宜しくお願い致します。
Nice to meet you.
It is an introduction of POD of Japan.
My best regards though scales are smaller than United States POD.
Hey Rude,
Just wondering if you know of a POD company that:
1. Prints on back and front of black t-shirts
2. uses vinyl for the prints
3. supports .eps graphic formats
4. that can be integrated into a website without the buyer knowing that they are using a POD company.
Thanks for your time
Bootiful for DrummingMad
I don’t, sorry.
I keep seeing comments concerning GreatApparelForYou.com and a few other websites.
As I read this blog, I feel like your list of websites offer free shop fronts or at least image galleries for designers to showcase their work and establish a web presence. Not to mention, make a little money from their designs and get their work out in the public.
From what I’ve seen from the GreatApparelForYou.com website and a few others in the comments section, they provide a completely different service. They probably do a good job printing stuff on demand, but that isn’t what most of us are looking for on this page.
We want the storefront, payment processing and order fullfillment without the inventory and hassle. I hope some of these other websites take a que from their comepetitors and offer this service to designers.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Great Blog – Great Post
Scott,
It looks like the forum’s moderator agreed with your recent comment about Great Apparel For You all the way back in 2009. (In Rude Retro’s words: “It’s not a POD though as far as I can see and all the PODs listed here allow for users to set up their own shop which I don’t believe this company does.”)
Ironically, it is NOW incorrect.
While I cannot comment about the “other websites” because none are specified, I know that last summer Great Apparel For You (GreatApparelForYou.com) launched Garment Deli which is a stand-alone, complete print-on-demand website/shopping cart solution (with extra pages like About Us, Contact Us, etc.). It is fully integrated with the Great Apparel POD drop-ship fulfillment services. (This link shows the relationship: garmentdeli.com/faq.htm#17)
According to their website and demos, Garment Deli comes “pre-configured” with your designs and apparel (presumably because they know exactly what you’re selling). That’s nice when you compare to sites like BigCartel, DecoNetwork, etc., because configuring them is a little complicated. What I like most in comparison is that it seems fairly customizable and you have an option to deploy your site at a top-level domain.
The “catch” (as I see it) is that you MUST use Great Apparel For You for fulfillment…but they have a pretty solid reputation and they charge less than some of the other “big dogs” that offer similar point-of-sale solutions.
In reading back through this forum, it seems that Great Apparel (or Garment Deli) probably does belong on the list, albeit two years later (LOL).
Just thought I’d throw in my two cents.
TC
BBSwear
Hi
I see you allow other sites listed, if found. Well here is mine 🙂 fyves.com . We are here for resellers who need someone to dropship their t-shirts with designs. We think we have the lowest price in industry and we do offer optional tracking number. We have no handling or monthly fees .And of course , free shipping
Thank you very much
Sorry, your site doesn’t qualify.
Zazzle sucks, there customer service is terrible. Please dont use them.
I have never had any problems with them and have found them more than helpful when setting up my stores. Just sayin’
I wish i could combine zazzle and printperfection into one. The only thing I don’t like about zazzle is that they are not completely private label. I do not want to advertise for my potential competition. My customer base are businesses so why would they come to my site again when they can just go directly to zazzle to fullfill their custom orders? Printperfection has the perfect business model but it seems like perhaps the API isn’t as advanced and I would like more products to offer. But I am leaning towards printperfection because i’m sure they’ll add more products and a good developer can handle the rest.
Take zazzle functionality and product selection and pair it with printperfection’s business model and customer service and there’s the perfect POD.
BTW, printperfection’s functionality and product selection isn’t bad…I just like zazzle’s a little better.
I’d love it if you could put tshirtstudio.com on your list. it’d be a useful resource for your european visitors as we’re a UK based personlised tshirt printer. You can print just one shirt if that’s all you need, using a variety of techniques. We’re also just starting a range of shirts designed by our own staff, which they’re getting really excited about. That’s off-topic I know but could we send you a link for a first new design?
Thanks for reading
Giles
Sorry, this list is just for websites that provide shop fronts for users. If you want to be featured on Rude Retro’s T-Shirt Review please use the contact form.
Hi, can you recommend any good POD tshirt companies in the UK?
Sorry, I haven’t had any experience with UK companies.
Your list will be very helpful. I just opened a Zazzle store and I’m very disappointed in the quality of printing on t-shirts. Very washed out and flat. I’ve seen POD shirts that were vibrant so I know it can be done. A POD could have all the bells and whistles you need, but I can’t sell my customers a bad quality print. Is there anyone you could recommend?
Hi All! Don’t forget anythingonshirts.com, same as the big boys, you can set up your own store, customize it with CSS and set any prices etc… They use Brother garment printers that are vibrant on both light and dark garments, and are a small shop, so you get to speak with the people that actually print your shirts.
I had a site on Comboutique for some time. While my sales on other sites are very good, my sales on Comboutique were terrible. When I decided to close my shop on Comboutique I had a small commission. I asked for my remaining commission and they would not give it to me. First they said they were sending it right away, then they said I didn;t have any, then after several E mails for a few months they said it was a small commission & they were not going to give it to me even though they could have sent it by Paypal. Beware!
Why haven’t you added greatapparelforyou to the list yet? Is there a problem with them?
It’s not clear from the website how to open your own store.
this is great information!! I have been selling my art for years now and have listed on Zazzle, Cafe Press, etc., B
But, I just started a new business centered around a new brand of my designs on tshirts and I have to say so far I am the most pleased with PrintFection, easy to set up, the quality is good, I haven’t had any print problems and have ordered quite a few different designs for myself, friend and family to test the quality. The only thing I don’t like, but I know I will run into with just about any direct to garment printing versus screen printing is the colors, but that is only for my full color original painting images. I’ve decided to go with a local screen printer for full color art images to maintain the vividness of the colors I use. When I use color fills, etc. with Photoshop it turns out just great on printfection shirts!!
I am, however using zazzle for other products, such as the iphone/ipad cases, etc.
Oh, and the customer service has been great!! USPS said a printfection order had been delivered but I never received it, Printfection immediately put in a new rush order, but luckily the package showed up the next day 😀
MAD brings up an important point – which PODs have the highest quality probably depends on what type of product you’re selling.
Could readers of this thread speak up to say which products they find best to have produced by Zazzle? PrintFection? CafePress? Spreadshirt? or? And if the printing technique is important to specify (like, Spreadshirt can print using “digital”, “flock” or “flex” methods), please say which one is best in your experience for that type of product. Thanks!
Thanks, this list is really helpful (and the comments). We’re looking for a POD that will also ship internationally to our customers. Quality is a high concern for us, and printing on American Apparel v-necks at a non-exorbitant price. Any suggestions?
I have my own brand label.
I create designs and would like to upload them onto t shirts to sell using POD technology.
I have my own website with these virtual t shirts that need to be linked up to a POD company.
I do not want any sign of the POD company on my website/ecommerce store.
I need to protect my own brand value and allow the customer to be secure that they are officially buying through me.
I entered a very large niche market that no ones has done before so I will be uploading many designs.
I want to keep t shirt prices as low as possible with a decent profit margin
Low shipping costs
I want to leverage as much API from the POD as I can to make sure there is no sign of POD company
I want to ensure my customers receive the best quality t shirts on time and great customer servics for any issues
I want the POD company to ship international if needed
My first two choices are printfection or spreadshirt
Please help me decide who is the best for my company needs? Can be any POD other than the ones I mentioned
Where can I find a company with more apparel options for women and does relabeling also
We are a small animal rescue wanting to print tshirts/hats/promo stuff as a fundraiser, do any pod’s give special breaks for charities?
I highly recommend Zazzle. I am a ProSeller there.But I must warn people that usually about a month or 3 weeks before Christmas, (which is of course the heaviest selling season) the site slows down drastically. By that I mean that when you create products it may take several days for them to show up and sometimes they will suddenly disappear from the site. This happened to me & others for 2 years in a row. But ll in all my experience has been good with them.
Cafepress is shamefully screwing shop owners by keeping 90% of the commission. Shame on them.
Please come visit and give any feedback on the shop. Thanks!
zazzle.com/bodyenglish
I’m partial to Fibers.com, they have a great design tool and awesome selection of customizable designs.
Fibers.com I considered them, but I don’t like their TOA:
“By uploading any design to the Fibers.com website, modifying any uploaded design using the Fibers.com Design Tool or creating any new design using the Fibers.com Design Tool, the Partner grants to Fibers.com a non-exclusive, world wide, transferrable, sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, publicly display, sell and/or distribute the design in or on products, and in advertising, marketing, samples and promotional materials for the purpose of promoting the Fibers.com site and its products and services. All uploaded, modified or created designs are subject to the Fibers.com Upload Rules.”
Right now I own a website that currently displays some of my digital art work. I have been thinking of setting up with a print on demand service so that I can sell some of those same images on t-shirts, mouse pads, mugs and other things (the more possible items the better) I consider the primary requirements to be that I retain the profits from what I sell, me retaining all of my intelectual property rights in full, and that I can link existing website to my shop page (nothing fancy I just need to be able to place the word “shop” in an html link to the shop page) without altering other content on my website. Do any or all of the websites listed above fit this discription?
I think that they all fit that description but you usually have to give them the right to use your artwork in promotional material. Of course sometimes this is to promote your work but often it is to promote the POD in general.