If you’re looking to create custom t-shirts, print-on-demand services like Printify can be a great option. Printify allows you to design and sell your shirts without the need for inventory or equipment.
But, before diving into the world of print-on-demand, it’s important to understand the costs associated with using these services. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how much Printify charges per shirt and what factors affect the pricing. We’ll also explore some Printify alternatives to help you make an informed decision for your shirt printing needs.
What Is Printify?
Printify is a print-on-demand service that allows you to create custom merchandise, such as t-shirts, hoodies, and bags, without the need for inventory or equipment. With Printify, you can design and sell your own products through an online store or e-commerce platform. When a customer places an order, Printify handles the printing, packaging, and shipping of the product directly to the customer. This allows you to focus on the creative side of your business while leaving the logistics to Printify.
Printify Pricing
How the Printify pricing model works
Printify charges a base price for each product, which varies depending on the type of product and the supplier. This base price includes the cost of the blank product, printing, and packaging. On top of this base price, you can set your own profit margin, which determines how much you earn per sale. The profit margin is the difference between the base price and the price at which you sell the product to the customer.
For example, if the base price for a t-shirt is $10 and you set a profit margin of $5, the total price for the customer would be $15. When the customer places an order, Printify charges your account the base price plus your profit margin and then handles the printing, packaging, and shipping of the product directly to the customer.
It’s important to note that the final price of the product also depends on other factors such as shipping costs and taxes. These costs may vary depending on the location of the supplier and the customer, so it’s a good idea to factor these into your pricing strategy.
Examples of pricing on Printify
There are a few variants to consider when looking at the pricing of Printify. As Printify is a bit like a middle man they don’t print the items themselves. They connect you with print providers from all over the world which is great if you want to market your items globally.
Because of this, you can get different prices for the same item. For example, if we look at the Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt you will have a choice of about 20 print providers to choose from. The cheapest provider for the cost of the printed t-shirt may be more expensive than the next for shipping. You need to take into account the combined price of the garment and shipping to get a total cost to you.
So print provider one is $9.38 for the t-shirt and $4.29 for the shipping making a total of $13.67
Print provider two is $10.14 for the t-shirt and $3.10 for the shipping making a total of $13.24
Printify Premium
As you grow your sales with Printify you have the option to upgrade to a Prinify Premium account. This is a fixed fee of $24.99 a month and gives you up to 20% discount on orders.
This is a great idea once your sales reach $150 a month regularly as the discount you get will pay for the monthly subscription.
We look deeper into Printify Premium here.
Factors Affecting Printify Pricing
Several factors change the price you pay for a shirt on Printify. The shirt you choose to have printed, the number of print locations you have on the shirt, which print provider you choose to use, and where the shirt will be shipped to.
The example we used earlier was based on a Bella+Canveas 3001 shirt. This is a very popular shirt across America and the world so is a good choice to go with. However, it is not the cheapest to use for Print On Demand. Without a Printify Premium account, this shirt will cost you at least $9.38 to have printed. The Gildan 64000 is another popular shirt and you can have this printed for as low as $6.78.
Adding a back or neck label print as well as the typical front print can increase the desirability of the shirt but will add to the price. You may pay $9.38 for the shirt with a front print but $13.38 with the front and back printed.
The Print providers on Printify can differ hugely in price. The current cheapest Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt is $9.38 and the most expensive is $12.99. This is for the same t-shirt with a front print
The last factor to consider when looking at how much you will pay for a shirt is the shipping. Like the product cost, this varies from one print provider to the next. Also, they will charge different foreign shipping rates so if you are looking to ship across the globe check these prices before choosing a print provider.
When Does Printify Charge You
Printify will charge you when an order is placed. For example, if you have an Etsy integration set up and an order is placed by a customer, the order will be sent to Printify automatically or manually. Once Printify has this order they will charge you first before producing the item. This is something to keep in mind as Etsy does not pay you straight away so you will have to pay the bill before you have received the money from the customer. The customer pays Etsy and they hold the funds until the day they transfer to you. This is set to either once a week, fortnight, or month.
Printify Alternatives
The Print On Demand industry is huge and so there are a lot of other providers out there to choose from than Printify. The most popular alternative is Printful. Printful has some advantages over Printify in that you can do things like have personalized packaging and integrate it with more websites than Printify.
With Printful you do not choose a print provider like you do with Printify. Printful owns its own print houses all over the world. Because of this if you wish to sell globally you don’t have to worry so much about foreign postage costs as Printful will send the order to the closest warehouse to where the order is going.
The big downside with Printful though is the cost per product. They are more expensive than Printify. If we use the Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt as a comparison, the Printify price starts at $9.38 and the Printfuls price starts at $13.58. This is a large amount of profit to give away.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Printify is a popular print-on-demand service that allows individuals to design and sell their merchandise without the need for inventory or equipment. The pricing model of Printify includes a base price for each product plus a profit margin set by the individual. Factors affecting the price of the product include the shirt chosen, the number of print locations, the print provider used, and the shipping location.
Printify alternatives like Printful offer advantages such as personalized packaging and integration with more websites but at a higher cost.
Before using print-on-demand services, individuals should understand the costs associated with the service and the factors that affect pricing to make informed decisions for their printing needs. Read this article on How to sell POD on Etsy for our advice on where to start