What print on demand is
In print on demand you upload a design and a supplier prints, packs and ships each order when it comes in. You buy no stock, store nothing and risk no money on products that might not sell. In exchange, the cost per unit is higher than in bulk production, and delivery times depend on the supplier.
Its real advantage is not the margin, it is being able to test fifty ideas without risking capital. Its limit is that the margin per unit rarely goes above about 45% once you take off the blank and Etsy's fees. More on the model in the glossary.
What Etsy requires from print on demand sellers
The design has to be yours. Etsy accepts print on demand when the seller designs the product and a production partner makes it. Reselling other people's designs, or generic products, is not that.
You have to declare who makes it. Create the partner once in Shop Manager, under Settings and Production partners, and select it on every listing it makes. In the listing, answer "Who made it?" with I did: with a production partner selected, Etsy shows the listing as designed by you. Answering that another company made it is the pattern Etsy treats as reselling, and listings with missing or wrong disclosures can be removed.
Connecting Printify to Etsy, step by step
- Create a Printify account. The free plan has no monthly fee; you pay for each order when it is made.
- Connect your shop. In Printify, open Manage my stores, click Connect and choose Etsy. Sign in to Etsy and grant access. Printify's own Etsy integration page has the current screens.
- Pick a product and a print provider. Compare the provider's price, shipping cost, location and reviews, not just the blank.
- Upload your design at the right size. Each product has its own print area: a t-shirt prints vertically at about 4494×5097 px, an 11 oz mug horizontally at 2700×1120. The product research pages list them.
- Create the mockups and the listing. Title, description and 13 tags, written for the phrase buyers search for.
- Publish to Etsy. Printify sends the listing to your shop.
- Finish the listing in Etsy. Select Printify as production partner and check "Who made it?".
- Order a sample before you put money or time into promoting a product.
The numbers: a $25 t-shirt
A print on demand tee at $25 with free shipping, where the blank and fulfilment cost $11:
| Line | Organic sale | Offsite Ads sale |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| Listing fee | -$0.20 | -$0.20 |
| Transaction fee (6.5%) | -$1.63 | -$1.63 |
| Payment processing (3% + $0.25) | -$1.00 | -$1.00 |
| Offsite Ads (15%) | — | -$3.75 |
| Product and shipping | -$11.00 | -$11.00 |
| Net profit | $11.17 | $7.42 |
Same product, same price: a third of the profit depends on how the buyer arrived. Price for the mix, and check yours in the fee calculator.
Which products to start with
Apparel is where most print on demand shops start, but a design rarely transfers as it is. A mug prints horizontally, a blanket is several times larger than a chest print, a sticker has to read at 5 cm. The product research pages have the measured print area, method and entry cost of each one, and what to sell on Etsy explains how to choose.
Common mistakes
- Reusing the t-shirt file everywhere. Each product has its own shape and scale.
- Forgetting shipping in the price. Etsy's 6.5% applies to shipping too.
- Skipping the production partner. It is mandatory, and it is what makes Etsy show the listing as designed by you.
- Launching seasonal designs late. For Christmas, mid-October is already the deadline.
- Never ordering a sample. Colours on screen and on fabric are not the same.