If you want to start your own business, it may be a good idea to start by working with a company that provides product printing services.
POD (Print on demand) companies are going to be your best ally. They take care of the complete service: they store, print, do the packaging and send the final products with your design directly to your client.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CHOOSE A GOOD COMPANY TO PRINT YOUR PRODUCTS?
The quality of the product has to be great, the delivery time has to be excellent and the packaging is also important. It's not worth it to make an incredible design for a t-shirt if the quality of the printing or the fabric is not good. Surely your client won't be happy with the product he will receive, right?
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POD BUSINESSES
POD Marketplaces – with this business model you can customize the products that are already on the Marketplaces. You upload your design and they sell the products on their website.
Marketplace companies take care of almost everything: product storage, printing, packaging, delivery, and even customer service. In the end, you will receive a commission for the sale of your designs.
CONS: you will have to compete with other creators, you cannot choose the price of the final product and commissions are generally low.
PROS: you only have to worry about your designs and it can be a good opportunity to reach new customers.
Examples of these companies: Society6, Threadless, Zazzle, RedBubble.
POD companies – here you have the freedom to manage your online store or website by integrating them with the Print on Demand chosen company. Your responsibilities will be creating, connecting with new customers, and managing sales.
CONS: it will take you more time to manage sales and serve your customers.
PROS: more freedom and higher profitability in each sale.
Selling online is an excellent way to show your products and start a business:
According to Oberlo’s research, the number of online shoppers in the US has been increasing year after year. In 2022, analysts expect there to be 266.7 million digital buyers there.
And the number of people shopping online in the US is set to continue growing. By 2025, a growth of 9% is expected. As you can see, it's always a good time to start building your business.
If you decide to go ahead and start making money online, here we recommend the best Print on demand companies so you can choose one to start working with:
PRINTFUL
This is one of the most popular and well-known options in Print on Demand services. Printful easily integrates with e-commerce platforms and has a wide variety of products at your disposal.
Another advantage is that it has many production centers around the world. This means that the consumer doesn't need to pay international freight in many cases. Free and Pro plans available to choose.
Pros: Easy to use even for beginners, wide variety of products and many production centers.
Con: It usually has a higher cost than the others and the return policy is quite strict.
PRINTIFY
This company stands out because it offers a large network of printing partners in different countries around the world and that leads to faster and more profitable shipping.
In addition, Printify offers good production and shipping times, as long as your client lives in the same country where the product is manufactured.
Pros: Good option for wholesale and good profit margins.
Cons: Since you can choose different suppliers, the quality of the same product can vary.
PRINTED MINT
Their products are top notch and the printing is excellent. It is one of the companies that offer a good variety of packaging. In addition, it allows you to put a sticker with your brand on the products. Great for branding and offering your customers high-value products.
On the other hand, Printed Mint does not have a wide variety of products in the same categories, but great quality, and their prices are reasonable and tend to be on the average of other POD companies. Also, the customer service is great too, very professional and knowledgeable.
Pros: You can choose a variety of packaging to personalize your products.
Cons: Their integration system with Etsy, for example, is not very easy to use.
GOOTEN
An excellent option for artists and small businesses because it offers a very complete package for entrepreneurs and a good variety of products.
Pros: It doesn't charge a monthly fee and allows easy integration with other e-commerce platforms like eBay or Shopify.
Cons: For some people, the interface is not very friendly due to the number of options it offers and the price of the product can be more expensive than in other PODs.
SPOD
It is a company that we recommend for those who are starting out in the world of print on demand because it offers customization, easy handling of the platform and has simplified shipping.
Another difference is that Spod has its own manufacturing infrastructure, something that is not very common in this sector.
Pros: They promise to deliver in 48 hours and the prices are competitive.
Cons: They don't have a wide variety of products and they only have production centers in the United States and Europe.
Now that you know our selection of the best Print on Demand companies, do you recommend any others?