How To Start Your Own T-shirt Business

In this blog post, we’re going to dive deep into what Printful is and explore how to sell t-shirts with the power of print-on-demand.

In today’s world, e-commerce is on the rise and brands are looking for innovative ways to differentiate themselves from the competition and make money while doing it.

Artists, musicians, social media influencers, small businesses and more, have turned to print-on-demand to sell their merchandise including T-shirts to their fans and loyal customers.

Printful has emerged as a game-changer in the print-on-demand industry. With Printful, brands can focus on what they do best – designing and marketing their products – while leaving the manufacturing, printing, and shipping to the experts.

What is Printful?

Printful is an online print-on-demand dropshipping and fulfillment service that allows brands to create and sell custom-designed products without having to hold inventory or manage shipping.

Printful offers a wide range of customizable products, including clothing, accessories, home decor, and more. The company also integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Etsy, making it easy for brands to add their products to their online stores.

Brief history of Printful

Printful was founded in 2013 by two young entrepreneurs – Lauris Liberts and Davis Siksnans. They started the company with a simple idea: to make it easy for anyone to create and sell custom-designed products without having to invest in inventory or deal with the complexities of manufacturing, printing, and shipping.

The company started small, with just a handful of employees working out of a small office in Riga, Latvia. But with its innovative approach to print-on-demand, Printful quickly gained popularity among businesses looking for a flexible and cost-effective way to sell their products online.

In 2015, Printful opened its first fulfillment center in the United States, in Charlotte, North Carolina. This allowed the company to expand its reach and offer faster shipping times to customers in the United States. Since then, Printful has opened additional fulfillment centers in Los Angeles, California; Tijuana, Mexico; and Riga, Latvia.

Today, Printful has grown into a leading print-on-demand service provider with over 1000 employees and more than 800,000 customers worldwide. Despite its rapid growth, Printful remains committed to its original mission of making print-on-demand accessible and easy for everyone.

How Printful works

For anyone starting out with Printful, these are the simple steps of how the process works.

Choose a product: Printful offers a wide range of customizable products, including clothing (t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, etc.), accessories (mugs, phone cases, tote bags, etc.), home decor (canvas prints, posters, etc.), and more.
Customize the product: Use Printful’s online design tools to create your own custom design or upload your own artwork. Printful offers a variety of printing techniques, including direct-to-garment, embroidery, and sublimation, depending on the product.
Add the product to your store: Printful integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Etsy. Once you’ve created your design, you can easily add the product to your online store and start selling.
Print and ship the product: When a customer places an order, Printful automatically receives the order and begins the printing and shipping process. Printful handles all aspects of production, from printing to quality control, to packaging and shipping, and provides tracking information to both the business and the customer.

How to Sell T-shirts with Printful

Printful by itself, is only a platform to design, custom-print and ship products

That’s why, Printful integrates with a variety of popular e-commerce platforms, including Shopify and Etsy.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to sign up and integrate Printful with an e-commerce platform:

Sign up for a Printful account: Go to Printful’s website and click “Sign Up” in the top right corner. Follow the prompts to create an account.
Choose your e-commerce platform: Once you’ve signed up for a Printful account, choose the e-commerce platform you want to integrate with. Printful integrates with popular platforms like Shopify and Etsy. There are also several other platforms as well but we’ve chosen the most used.
Connect your e-commerce platform: Follow the instructions on the Printful website to connect your e-commerce platform to your Printful account. This typically involves installing a Printful app or plugin on your platform and linking it to your Printful account.
Create your products: Use Printful’s online design tools to create your custom-designed products. Choose the product you want to sell, upload your design, and customize the product to your liking.
Add your products to your e-commerce platform: Once you’ve created your products, add them to your online store using your e-commerce platform’s dashboard. This typically involves creating a product listing and linking it to your Printful account.
Start selling: With your products added to your online store, you’re ready to start selling. When a customer places an order, Printful will automatically receive the order and begin the printing and shipping process.

Overall, integrating Printful with an e-commerce platform is a straightforward process that can be completed in just a few steps. Once you’ve integrated Printful with your platform and created your products, you can focus on what you do best – designing and marketing your products – while leaving the manufacturing, printing, and shipping to Printful.

Here are some of the benefits of using Printful with these platforms:

Easy setup: Printful’s integration with these platforms makes it easy for businesses to set up their online stores and add Printful products to their inventory.
Automatic order fulfillment: When a customer places an order on Shopify or Etsy, Printful automatically receives the order and begins the printing and shipping process. This means that businesses don’t have to worry about managing inventory or shipping.
Seamless product management: Printful’s integration with these platforms allows businesses to easily manage their product inventory, prices, and descriptions from a single dashboard.
Custom branding: Printful’s integration allows businesses to customize their branding and packaging, including adding their own logos and messaging to shipping labels and packing slips.
Product sync: Printful’s integration syncs product information and inventory with the e-commerce platform, which means that businesses always have up-to-date information on their products.

Printful’s integration with popular e-commerce platforms allows brands to easily add customizable products to their online stores, automate their order fulfillment process, and focus on what they do best – designing and marketing their products.

The advantages of print-on-demand for brands

Print-on-demand offers a number of advantages for brands looking to sell custom-designed products. Here are some of the key benefits:

Cost-effective: With print-on-demand, brands don’t have to invest in inventory or equipment. This means that they can save money on overhead costs and reduce their financial risk.
Low risk: Since brands don’t have to hold inventory, they don’t have to worry about the risk of unsold products. This allows them to experiment with new product designs and ideas without the fear of losing money.
Scalability: Print-on-demand allows brands to easily scale their operations as they grow, without having to worry about the logistics of managing inventory and shipping.
Customization: Print-on-demand allows businesses to create custom-designed products that reflect their brand and resonate with their customers. This can help businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors and build brand loyalty.
Flexibility: With print-on-demand, brands can easily add or remove products from their inventory as needed, without having to worry about managing inventory levels or storage space.

Print-on-demand provides brands with a cost-effective, low-risk way to create and sell custom-designed products. It allows brands to experiment with new product ideas, scale their operations as they grow, and differentiate themselves from their competitors with unique and customizable products.

Printful’s Key Features and Services

Printful offers a variety of features and services that can help brands create and sell custom-designed products. Here are some of the key features and services that Printful offers:

Custom branding: Printful offers brands the ability to add their own branding and messaging to shipping labels, packing slips, and more. This can help brands create a cohesive brand experience for their customers.
Sample orders: Printful allows brands to order sample products at a discounted price. This can be helpful for brands that want to test the quality of a product before offering it to customers.
Warehousing and fulfillment: In addition to print-on-demand, Printful offers warehousing and fulfillment services for brands that want to hold inventory and manage their own shipping. This can be helpful for brands that want to offer faster shipping times or have products that are not well-suited for print-on-demand.
Mockup generator: Printful offers an online mockup generator that allows brands to create realistic product mockups without having to order a sample product.
Product design services: Printful offers design services to brands that need help creating custom designs for their products. This can be helpful for brands that don’t have their own design team or need help with a specific project.

In short, Printful’s features and services are designed to help brands create and sell custom-designed products with ease. Whether you need help with branding, product design, or warehousing and fulfillment, Printful offers a variety of tools and services to help them succeed.

Printful’s quality control measures and customer support

Printful takes quality control very seriously and has implemented several measures to ensure that its products meet high standards. Here are some of the quality control measures that Printful has in place:

Automated quality checks: Printful uses automated quality checks to catch any errors or issues with a product before it is shipped. This includes checks for things like print quality, color accuracy, and stitching.
Manual inspections: In addition to automated checks, Printful also has a team of quality control experts who manually inspect each product before it is shipped. This ensures that every product meets Printful’s high standards.
Return policy: Printful offers a 30-day return policy for any products that are defective or damaged. This gives customers peace of mind knowing that they can return a product if it doesn’t meet their expectations.

In addition to quality control measures, Printful also offers excellent customer support. Here are some of the customer support services that Printful offers:

Dedicated support team: Printful has a dedicated support team that is available to answer questions and provide assistance to businesses and customers.
Knowledge base: Printful offers a comprehensive knowledge base that includes articles, tutorials, and videos on a variety of topics related to print-on-demand and e-commerce.
Live chat and email support: Printful offers live chat and email support to help businesses and customers with any questions or issues they may have.

Conclusion

In conclusion, print-on-demand is a cost-effective, low-risk way for businesses and brands to create and sell custom-designed products.

By using Printful, you can focus on what you do best – designing and marketing products – while leaving the manufacturing, printing, and shipping to the experts. If you’re looking for a cost-effective and flexible way to create and sell custom-designed products, we encourage you to try out Printful.