Popular social media personalities make print-on-demand sound like the perfect business for working from home. Is it as easy or profitable as they say? This guide walks you through starting a print-on-demand business on Shopify step by step. Discover if a POD store is right for you.
How To Start a Print-on-Demand Business: What To Expect
Print-on-demand businesses don’t require special training or prior experience. You don’t need to track inventory, hire employees, or rent storage space.
There are a few basics to take care of:
- Register a business name
- Create a website
- Select a print-on-demand supplier
- Design your products
- Choose payment processing options
- Set up shipping
Platforms like Shopify simplify everything, from product pages to payment processors. You can start a successful POD business with nothing more than a laptop and a desk/table.
What Are the Benefits of Print-on-Demand Vs. Dropshipping?
Dropshipping and print-on-demand are both third-party delivery models. You run your site, make sales, and bill clients; the supplier packages orders and ships the goods.
With POD, you can personalize the items you sell, like adding custom graphics to t-shirts. This lets you create unique goods and charge more per item. POD businesses typically have higher profit margins.
1. Doing Your Homework
Every state has different rules for registering your business and collecting sales tax. You can find the information you need on your local Secretary of State’s website.
Where Do You Register a Print-on-Demand Business?
You always have to register your store and get a sales tax ID where you live. It’s also necessary to register in states where you have a presence (warehouse, employees, etc.).
Do You Need an LLC for Print-on-Demand?
You can run an e-commerce business as a sole proprietor, but you need to register a “doing business as” name for your store. Many store owners prefer to create a limited liability company instead. LLCs can protect your personal finances better than DBAs. That said, in some states, it costs more to register an LLC.
How Much Does It Cost To Start a Print-on-Demand Business?
POD stores don’t require much money to start, but they have some costs you need to be aware of. Here’s what you can expect when starting a business in Michigan, for example:
- Business registration costs: $10 for DBA or $50 for LLC
- Name reservation cost: $10 to $25
- Annual report: $25
Other costs to plan for include an annual fee for your web domain, a web developer subscription (e.g., Shopify or Wix plan), and advertising.
2. Choosing Your Niche
The next step is to decide what your business is going to be about:
- What makes your business special?
- What products will you sell?
- What style and personality will your brand have?
Established e-commerce stores can afford to have a broader market. When you’re starting a print-on-demand business, you usually need a smaller niche to get noticed.
Why Is a Niche Important for Print-on-Demand?
Without a niche, your new store would have to compete with over 2 million individual e-commerce businesses. Just in the fashion market, there are 110,000 retail stores in the United States.
Niches get around this problem by focusing on offering premium items to a select group of customers. Instead of trying to be The Beatles or Taylor Swift, you’re the Stone Temple Pilots or Pink Floyd.
How Do You Choose a Print-on-Demand Niche?
There’s no secret formula for choosing the perfect audience, but the best niches for print-on-demand are:
- Narrow: A niche could be humorous tees for pet lovers instead of general “pet products,” or customizable stainless steel water bottles.
- Profitable: It’s better to sell 20 items worth $100 than 200 items that cost $5 or $10.
- Sustainable: Trends are good, but your brand needs some pillar products that keep people coming back year after year.
- Popular: Your niche should be popular enough to generate plenty of sales for your business.
- Exciting: Finding something you’re passionate about can make it easier to create an attractive store that people love.
Need inspiration for profitable niches? Check out our Shopify guides for trending product categories.
3. Defining Your Print-on-Demand Model
There are three main ways to approach print-on-demand:
- White-label products: Adding your brand name to third-party manufactured goods, from bath bombs and shampoos to electronics and pet products
- Custom items: Creating unique designs and printing them on clothing, mugs, bedding, decor, and more
- Personalization: Letting your customers upload personalized messages, images, or designs for printing and engraving
You can also combine curated products and personalized gifts in the same store.
4. Choosing Your Print-on-Demand Partner
Selecting a supplier is one of the most important decisions you make when starting a print-on-demand business. The right partner can boost your reputation, increase your sales, and make life much easier for you as a store owner. The wrong choice — well, that does pretty much the opposite.
Quality
Quality is everything in print-on-demand. Clothing should use durable materials and good stitching. Solid items should be free of cracks and other damage.
Don’t forget to check the quality of the printing process. Misalignment, ink splotches, or printing mistakes are major red flags.
Product Categories
Make sure your supplier offers a wide range of product categories. It’s easy to find print-on-demand partners for hats, t-shirts, mugs, and popular items, but finding white-label foods and beauty products is trickier. It’s OK to have more than one supplier if you need specialized items.
New Items
Like dropshipping, print-on-demand relies on trends to keep things fresh. In addition to offering a large catalog of products (preferably 500,000 to 1 million plus), the best suppliers regularly add new items.
Item Pricing
Compare prices between different suppliers. Look at the base cost of items you’re going to use for your brand. Check the pricing for each printing or customization method.
Shipping Costs and Fees
Carefully check for additional fees, such as handling or minimum order penalties. Every print-on-demand business charges you shipping, but some calculate it after tax, and others before. Flat-rate shipping fees simplify store management by charging the same amount for similar items instead of weighing every package.
Customer Service
The way print-on-demand partners talk to you gives you an idea of how much they will respect your customers. Look for suppliers that are friendly, happy to answer questions, and honest about costs.
Dependability
Your clients must receive their items in excellent condition, on time, every time. Choose a supplier that has a great reputation with other store owners.
5. Selecting Your Products
To charge premium prices, you need your products to last. Whether you sell colorful tees or scented candles, look for high-quality items with four- and five-star ratings from other business owners. Customers who feel proud of their purchases are more likely to come back and recommend your store to friends.
Resist the temptation to add too many product categories to your store, especially at the beginning. Focus on building a collection that makes your store stand out. Every product should make sense for your brand identity, like flannel shirts and beard care products for cowboys.
6. Creating Designs
Now you’re ready to start putting together your portfolio of products. Start with your brand identity, such as your logo, colors, overall style (fun, humorous, friendly, chic, gritty, etc.), and fonts.
Next, design your product artwork. Memes, inspirational quotes, funny sayings, photos, drawings, and jokes are some possibilities.
Is Ink or Embroidery Better for Print-on-Design Products?
Ink and direct-to-garment printing both produce high-quality, colorful, and good-looking print-on-design products. Embroidery adds luxury, lasts ages, and stands up better to washing, but you have fewer design options. Ink silk screens save you money, but sometimes you need to order a minimum quantity.
7. Building the Online Store
Getting ready to launch your online store is one of the most exciting phases of starting a print-on-demand business. It’s when you see your idea start to come to life.
First, you need a website builder. Shopify is one of the most popular options, but you can also choose WooCommerce, Wix, Magento, and Squarespace.
On Shopify, the next step is to select a theme. This determines the layout of web pages, what they look like, and how they work. Some themes have countdown timers and image carousels.
Shopify’s editing tools let you change page elements by dragging and dropping. Add text, images, videos, charts, and more.
You also need to connect your POD supplier’s order fulfillment system with Shopify. That way, you can process orders as they come in. Shopify apps like ZenDrop do this automatically.
Which Is Best for Print-on-Demand: Shopify, Magento, or Etsy?
Shopify is the largest e-commerce platform in the United States (and our personal favorite). It’s easy for small business owners to use, and it has powerful tools and apps for larger retailers.
Magento offers greater customization, but you need experience with coding to launch a fully functional store. Etsy doesn’t give you a website, so you have to compete against other merchants on the site and pay platform fees.
8. Designing Product Pages and Collections
To create a product page on Shopify, visit your central hub, go to the Products tab, and click “Add product.” Give the new product a name and description, upload images, and set pricing.
Spend some time optimizing the content. This means:
- Talking about what makes your custom product amazing
- Including a few bullet points with features
- Adding one or two keywords to the description (e.g., “women’s long-sleeve tee”)
- Including at least three images of the item
Try to include an image of people using or wearing your product. That way, shoppers imagine themselves enjoying the item.
Shopify collections group together similar products, like “T-Shirts,” “Skirts,” “Running Shoes,” or “Men’s Clothing.” “Trending Now,” “New Items,” and “Gifts” are also popular categories. Creating collections on Shopify is as easy as dragging and dropping products.
9. Setting Prices
You have to do your homework when setting prices for print-on-demand. Add up all your expenses, including product costs, printing costs, service fees, taxes, and shipping costs. Then, add your desired profit margin to this break-even point.
The profit margin varies by niche when you’re starting a print-on-demand business, but 20% to 40% is a good range. When in doubt, compare competitor prices for a rough idea of how much customers will pay.
Should You Offer Discounts on Print-on-Demand Products?
As long as you know your break-even point, you can use BOGOs and store sales to attract new customers. Bundles and tiered discounts are better for protecting your profit margins.
10. Setting Up Payments
Shopify’s new user tutorial can help you set up Shopify Payments or third-party payment providers easily. The process involves applying for a merchant account to accept credit cards and mobile payments.
11. Going Live
At this point, you’re nearly ready to go live. Run through a checklist first to make sure the user experience is as smooth as butter:
- Browse through each collection
- Interact with videos and image carousels
- Add a few products to your cart
- Test your checkout and payment processing
- Order a few test items to check the order fulfillment process
- Check the site on a mobile device
This run-through can help you catch pricing mistakes, bugs, slow loading times, and other issues that you don’t want visitors to see.
12. Marketing Your Print-on-Demand Brand
How can you attract traffic to your new store? It depends on your budget and your target audience.
Many Shopify store owners use Google Ads at the beginning to get the ball rolling. Social media ads, posts, and influencer channels are another option if you have a decent following.
In a pinch? Over time, you can improve your site’s search rankings for free with keywords, blogs, buying guides, and schema.
The Secret to Starting a Print-on-Demand Business: Provide the Best Customer Experience
The most important ingredient for a successful online store is making your customers happy. When you offer an excellent user experience, visitors are more likely to browse your products, make purchases, come back again, and recommend you to family members.
At StayTuned Digital, we’re experts in starting print-on-demand businesses on Shopify. Our essential apps can improve your product pages, bundles, store promotions, and checkout options. Contact us to learn more.