What if there’s a way to start your own business without the financial risk and hassle of inventory and shipping? Introducing Printful, the print-on-demand dropshipping company that allows you to create and sell custom products without many upfront costs. This Printful Review gives you the lowdown on this popular business model for work-from-anywhere start-ups…
What Is Printful?
Printful is a print-on-demand dropshipping company that allows you to create and sell custom products without having to invest in any inventory or shipping costs.
You simply design your product, create your online store, and Printful prints and ships.
It’s your job to create your online store and do the sales and marketing. Printful has a wide variety of business resources, like videos and articles to teach you how to create your own brand. And grow a successful business. I mean it’s to your advantage (and Printfuls) if you make it work!
How Does Printful Work?
Printful works by connecting you with the design tools, and product options to create your own unique products.
Products: You can choose from clothing, accessories, home & living items, face and body care products, engravable jewelry, engravable camper mugs plus lots more.
The Process
The process of signing up, creating a profile, and uploading your designs is simple and can be done in minutes.
- Sign up for a free account at Printful.
- Upload your designs or choose from their library of pre-made designs.
- Select the products you want to sell.
- Set your prices and shipping rates.
- Promote your products on your website or social media.
Obviously, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns when you start a business! The easiest part is finding the products to sell, and the hardest part is selling them.
In the beginning, the majority of your work is marketing and promotion.
- For example, Instagram reels. On your social media run contests and giveaways to generate excitement.
- As you start selling, collect your customers’ e-mail addresses and send out regular email newsletters with news of sales, free shipping, and deals.
- Run a Refer-a-Friend promotion.
Watch 9 Steps To Start a Print-On-Demand Business With Printful
Design
First, you use the Design Maker to add your own designs to Printful’s products. Next, you can see what your products look like in the Mockup Generator.
You can use these mockup images in your online store. This tool is easy to use and it checks if there are any issues with the layout of your design.
The Design Maker offers sample graphics, symbols, emojis, clipart, illustrations, texts, and fonts. You can use these to create your own unique designs or just as backgrounds or starting points.
AI image generators are another place to make your own art! Here’s some art I created recently with the Bing Image Creator…
Production, Selling, and Shipping
Printful has a wide variety of blank products for you to choose from and brand. They also keep up with trends so you don’t have to!
Their main production techniques are direct-to-garment printing with vegan inks. But they also offer UV printing, embroidery, and all-over printing.
Printful offers integrations with lots of eCommerce platforms and marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, Weebly, Shopify, and Amazon. See my Weebly Review here.
When the customer orders a product, this is shipped directly from Printful to your customer. You don’t handle the products.
Is Printful Legit?
Printful is a legitimate company that has been in business for over 8 years. Printful has a Trustpilot rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and The New York Times.
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How Much Does Printful Cost?
The cost of printing a product varies depending on the type of product, the type of printing, engraving, or embroidery, and the quantity you order.
Printful has a pricing calculator that you can use to estimate the cost of printing a product.
You don’t have to order bulk products with print-on-demand. If your customer orders one t-shirt then you only order this t-shirt from Printful, which then prints and ships to your customer.
So you don’t have a lot of money tied up in inventory. You also won’t spend hours and hours packaging products and getting them shipped.
Is Printful Worth It?
Printful is a great option if you want to sell custom products without having to invest in any inventory or shipping costs. You create your own unique brand within the dropshipping model. Printful is also a good option if you want to sell products internationally.
It’s important you choose a specifically targeted niche of customers. If you don’t you’ll compete against major brands who have deep pockets.
The common complaints center around customer service. Online Chat is only available during weekday business hours. Depending on where you are in the world this may be different hours for you. You can also e-mail customer support and check out the Help Centre. This has lots of information and answers to common questions.
Does Printful Have a Refund Policy?
Yes, Printful has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your product, you can return it for a full refund.
What Do You Get With Printful?
You get access to a wide variety of products. They offer a discount price for you to order sample products so you can check out the quality yourself.
They also offer special features so you can add a personal touch to your products and packaging:
- You can add your own custom label to the inside and/or outside of garments. These replace the manufacturer’s tags. The outside labels are great for brand awareness.
- You can use your own custom-branded packaging which is a fun unboxing experience for your customers.
- You can also include flyers, postcards, hand-written thank you notes, branded stickers, and coupons (to name a few!) inside the packaging. Great for marketing and to make your customer feel special.
Who Is Printful For?
For businesses of all sizes who want to try dropshipping. It frees you to focus on designing fun products and marketing and growing your business.
- Entrepreneurs who want to start an online business selling custom products
- Creatives who want to sell their art or designs on products
- Small businesses that want to expand their product line without having to invest in new equipment or inventory
- Anyone who wants to sell custom products online, with a specific niche in mind
Pros and Cons – Printful Review
Pros
- No upfront investment
- No inventory to manage
- Printful takes care of shipping
- Competitive prices
- Wide variety of products
- User-friendly platform
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
Cons
- You have less control over the customer experience and shipping times
- You’re reliant on Printful to maintain the quality of the products
- Lower profit margins
Overall Printful has tried to cover those cons by offering more personalized packaging and branding options. To check the quality of the products is maintained you can regularly order sample products. Tip: take photos of these for your social media marketing.
Like any other dropshipping business you need to work out your profit markup and margins and what your customer is comfortable paying. So you run a profitable business with happy customers.
Printful Review: The Low-Risk Way to Start an Online Business
Print-on-demand is a great way to start an online business without spending too much money. The downside is that Printful is a large company that is at the mercy of suppliers who may discontinue lines or change fabrics.
Every business has its ups and downs but with Printful’s user-friendly platform and eCommerce integrations, you can create and sell custom products fairly easily. They also work hard to stay on trend and offer helpful marketing resources.
Your job is to harness your creativity, and marketing skills, build your brand and target your chosen customer niche. Printful is a web work-from-anywhere opportunity that’s worth a try!
Photo by: Florian Rathcke
