The UGLY Truth About Print On Demand That No Guru Will Tell You

[@mywifequitherjob]

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[@LennyTim]

Thank you Steve! I do a bit of POD and since there is very low barrier to entry, it is hard to succeed. I guess the low profit margins are more acceptable because it is mostly automated. Also, I would say a couple of ways to try to break out is to target holidays and add POD products as a supplement to other things you're already selling. It also seems like a good way to test out designs, etc. and if you do score a winner, you can convert to making it yourself and making more profit. Cheers.

[@aimaturebeauty]

Everything that you say is absolutely true. The problem is that the purpose of POD is that you do not have to carry inventory, do shipping, deal with customer support. It is supposed to be passive. Now you are running a full business. Most people do not have the time to do this let alone the ability to finance a printer, inventory, deal with shipping, having inventory and work space. Importing goods from overseas is a whole set of problems. I think that this is better as a possible second stage. I would try POD first and make sure that you can actually generate a customer base, not a necessarily a profit. Then make this jump.

[@EponaDreams-AmbientDreamscapes]

POD is only passive as far as making the product and shipping it, unless you upload yo the likes of Redbubble. If you use Printful etc you have to market your business and deal with customers. You can sell on Amazon, Ebay or Etsy but they aren't hands off.

[@pseudonym21]

Yeah I don't know what I expected when I clicked on this video, but "you have more control when you produce inventory yourself" was not it. Of course printing yourself is better! but people use print on demand companies BECAUSE they can't afford a printer and to store stock themselves, not because they just never thought of it lol

[@dusitnwright4443]

Plus time is money. So redbubble and alike drive built in traffic as well. Tons in fact. I can maintain 5 other passive income businesses or do this his way wasting my entire day on one business for little more profit with far less volume. I'll pass thanks

[@alexway303]

It's not passive - it's a business. You have to dedicate time permanently to achieve results in both cases. But time is dedicated to different activities.

[@markcollier4216]

Great content, but realistically very few people are going to purchase a printer of that nature and do their own printing, shipping, etc. Also, many people will not have the space to store the printer as well as inventory.

[@kabodick]

Definitely not for a beginner. I know I do not have that kind of capital or space. Still, very good info and something to consider for future potential.

[@getwinink]

There are many small printers now, such as A3 size printers that do not take up a lot of space and are enough for a small studio. In addition, now that the Internet is so developed, online sales are also the choice of many people. You only need to get the order, confirm the design, print the finished product directly, and ship it. It is actually very simple, and most online retailers follow this production model.

[@stevenreid_youtube]

You did a great job highlighting the pros and cons of print on demand dropshipping. It's crucial for aspiring entrepreneurs to understand the challenges, especially regarding pricing.

[@danahukee5776]

You can sell good quality tshirts for 26.95 I do it all the time. I pay 9.00 for my shirts my profit is between $9 to $12 after all fees. So it is possible. If you sell hoodies posters framed posters , other wall art profit it even higher. It is not easy but it can be done if you have the right procedures in place.

[@salahadj4964]

You're doing well, i wish you good luck, i just have a question, do you sell on marketplaces or you have your own store ? like having your own website store and driving your own traffic and making sales ??

[@danahukee5776]

@@salahadj4964 I sell on Etsy and eBay. I don't have my own website. 👍

[@danahukee5776]

@@salahadj4964 I sell on Etsy and Ebay. I do not have a website.

[@carmencita079]

I have some print on demand stores, but I only made my first sale last week. 😅

[@MimiVIP]

Congrats

[@venticore]

The problem in your logic is POD is almost free if not counting your own time so there is no way to lose and any extra $$ you are making is EXTRA so most are using POD as a side hustle.

[@donatello4456]

M sure he's talking for those who sees pod business as full time.... And he isn't wrong

[@DVRKCINEMA]

I started POD on May 14, and have seen 5k in sales so far. Niche down in a world of saturation.

[@flickwtchr]

Congrats!

[@sa35915]

yeah right

[@DVRKCINEMA]

@@sa35915 you're right, i'm at 60k for this year so far

[@IamRitzo]

What about your time, packaging and shipping costs. Also the power and rental for the space even if you are running it from home. Also the cost of maintenance of the printer. And if you decide to go on holiday you need to pay someone.

[@Leeviathon]

Probably the most truthful video on POD I've watched on KZbin. Thanks for the great advice

[@WegwerfadresseWegwerfadresse]

The advantage of the print of demand via spreadshirt or redbubble is that you can concentrate on making designs, and you can make designs whenever it suits you. This is more attractive to creative people who are often a bit less organised and not so good at deadlines. If you print yourself, you have do the printing, packaging and sending within a few days. This less compatible with having a day job and a family. And also this work is quite boring, which again is not so attractive to creative people.

[@mywifequitherjob]

Most creative people I've encountered are not so good at business. Business is often a grind. Depends what your goals are. Are you trying to make money or be creative?

[@WegwerfadresseWegwerfadresse]

@@mywifequitherjob Exactly, Redbubble & Co, take care of the grind part which allows creative people to do their creative thing. Better to make less money, but it works, than to potentially make more money, but screwing it up.

[@GeralCross]

​@@mywifequitherjob You can make money and be creative at the same time. Printing is a job and business on its own and designing can be another one. I would rather pay someone to do the printing and delivery. The prices of some print on demand websites are very high but some people would be willing to pay a premium for a product made in the USA or Europe instead of China (I know lots of people who would). There are good Chinese products but also lots of bad quality products are made in China and people cannot try the quality or touch the product when buying online. I buy lots of Chinese products in person but if I had to buy cosmetics or serums online, I would not buy the unbranded Chinese ones. Some brands make products on great quality in China, but when the seller is small and buys from a third party in China, that can make some people unwilling to buy. With clothes it happens less than with cosmetics but still happens. It is even more so if the American product has very detailed information in English while the Chinese product does not (unless the customer can read Chinese, of course)

[@sa35915]

Scams

[@wparke1]

The ugly truth is this guy is really good at sneaky affiliations. That said, his content is well done and full of value.

[@drachenmarke]

Those that can't teach.... grifting is how they all do it now.

[@carlellis9647]

He makes some good points about the margins for print on demand versus doing it yourself. However, the example he gave for tee-shirts was a bit over the top. You can get tee shirts from Printify with printing on both sides for about $12 to $13 and that includes shipping. Coffee mugs are another example where it is much cheaper to do yourself with a sublimation printer than using a POD supplier. However, there are some items like shower curtains, termpered glass cutting boards, and other items where it's hard to do yourself.

[@traderz4788]

Some valuable info here, hard to find content like this on you tube.

[@pocahontasseguinart7099]

True

[@gerardoromero8836]

Many thanks for the solid advice.

[@thebikeracer]

All good…but getting a lot of converting traffic is the really hard part.

[@guymulry6168]

I used to repair large format ink jet printers for a living. To go down this route you should own at least two of these printers. If one goes down for a few days until it repaired, or even longer if the part isn't avalible for the fix, then you're still in business. Also, you failed to mention the cost of fulfillment. Staff and premises etc. What about the extra cost of international shipping?

[@DetourShirts]

I think most of the "Gurus" tell you that POD takes time and that margins are low. It's not a secret. What you are saying may help you save money in the long run but your way has a $10,000 investment up front and is not scalable and you may have to deal with inventory and shipping it yourself. I wouldn't want to print 55 shirts a day by myself or print them ahead of time and keep a warehouse for of shirts. Then print out labels and run to the post office everyday. Sorry. Print on Demand is not just about the money, it's about time and convenience.

[@mywifequitherjob]

@@DetourShirts I can make 1000 per hour printing. At that rate, I can easily hire someone for 25 an hour. It is very scalable

[@yazminhab1945]

Great info - thank you! Recently subscribed (and signed up for your newsletter). Can you do a video on how we can combat the price undercutting by all the major Chinese companies that are flooding all the ecommerce hosting platforms, like Etsy? Thanks for sharing your printer, as well. Going to be tough to buy such an expensive equipment when just starting, but at least it's an option to be aware of down the line.

[@yazminhab1945]

@@absolutefreedom8035 I know we can't combat the price itself , but the price-undercutting, is what I meant. Innovation can break free chains of scarcity-mindsets.

[@josephsonnier3594]

Your sales pitch went well , the dtf printer you invested in for your store is a business right off , you forgot to mention dtf print are somewhat stiff ( non breathable ) and knowing a foreign language helps when doing business overseas . You got your views , great job .

[@magyarvandor977]

Thank you!! I hate all these scammers popping up on my feed, praising POD and how much they make with it (without ever showing their own actual selling account), and people believe in them...

[@kevinsjournal]

This was insightful, thanks so much for making this!

[@mt72137]

Don't forget despite the vendors being more expensive, you pay for convenience. They will also pick, print, pack and ship the finished product; thereby saving a ton of time for a sole proprietor. They can possibly store your returns (Printful). They can give you a refund for quality issues and save you from having to store the items if you don't want. You can also view ratings for the vendors and leave ratings. Doing those things on your own, you're out of luck if something goes wrong or you don't know what you're doing.

[@Cuttingedgefitness101]

Temu quality is terrible and sizing is not accurate

[@alexway303]

Most arguments make sense. Just don't tell customers that you make printing in your garage :)

[@onefromnone7]

You negleced to include your labor costs.... Which likely eats up that margin your boasting about. Also, your inventory cost. The point of POD is to avoid inventory risk.

[@nakiafreda494]

Thank you so much for taking the time to make. This video was very helpful.❤

[@plouifasol]

Thank you for your transparency. It was very helpful.

[@ikcaruswingz]

What's better between Printful and Printify? or another suggession?

[@sunnyinyourarea]

Each have their own strong. But if you care about the quality, I suggest you can refer to Merchize. They are from Vietnam, their products are unique and good quality

[@renaef.2916]

Just what I needed to hear because I was about to start a printful account today. Thank You I think I can learn at lot from your channel.

[@DavidPuddy2024]

You make great points, BUT, printing and fulfilling on your own doesn't scale, at least not initially.

[@GeralCross]

Using the printer sounds incredibly complicated... My family had a regular paper printer and we broke it. Thatvbeing said, printing clothes can be a good business for a specialist

[@SolutionsWithin]

So, just curious, if you don't really recommend POD, if you print the items yourself, doesn't that mean you have to wrap, package/box, seal, shipping label and then ship the item yourself?

[@LeagueProReplays]

Yep, but your profit margin is going to be much better. The POD companies are just buying the blank shirts from china and making a big profit off you.

[@tashalee4294]

Obviously! The fantasy of POD leaves people thinking you can have a passive business while sitting on the beach. The only way to make decent profit is to make it yourself which does involve work. PODis saturated - and you have to sell a ton to make any money. When you see scammy videos saying they sold 10,000 in a month don’t believe it. Even if true, after taking out the printers cost, your profit is much much less.

[@pocahontasseguinart7099]

That’s only if you can afford them but lots of hard work . 10:49

[@rachaelcaruso7096]

People who are still renting a place and have signed in their lease that they won’t use the space for a business cannot do this… and plenty of these people are the ones attracted to POD because of this reason.

[@damonherring136]

You're right they make it seem easy and straight forwards but I started up and haven't quite got the ball rolling yet I have held off. But I already noticed this a shirt can be expensive just without the print then by the time you put your design on it will cost over £20 like you said common sense tells you no one will buy but I will give it an attempt look into it all but not sell expensive shirts

[@bitcoinski]

I can't compete with TEMU using POD platform...so that's why I'm here watching' you...

[@swearworks]

But if you want to print shirts yourself, and print on numerous color shirt, and in many sized shirts, then you have to pre-purchase not only a ton of shirts and sizes, but the very expensive printer in advance too

[@nelsonalgo758]

Thank you it’s been very helpful tips.

[@marketingbusiness9987]

Excellent Expose, Information on POD! Thx Steve!

[@barbra429]

I really would like to use POD to sell t-shirts, but the problem I have with doing so is the long amount of time for the item to arrive to the customer, and the fact that I can't use my logos, packaging, care cards, freebies etc. that makes it so pretty and personal. Now, I am new to this, so maybe I got it wrong. I would appreciate any input anyone has.

[@mywifequitherjob]

You can with printful but it's kind of pricey

[@anelovefeelings-dc7tp]

Can someone please tell me do i really need a credit card for print on demand if i dont have any money in the bank i just have the money to start the etsy shop

[@KingdomCome07]

how do you ship for a fair price

[@fairestofthemallbeauty5541]

I am doing dtf transfers and its working well but.... what would you recommend for larger mugs? The mug pressed out there go up to 15 oz, and I like big mugs and I cannot lie. I can't be the only one who wants a coffe mug that holds at least twenty ounces.

[@GigglinHamster]

What NAICS code can we use for our print on demand (Shopify) business?

[@straitjacketstudios]

Pretty sure I could even build my own printer for less than $6-$10k 🤦‍♂ Not the video I expected. UGH!! Really?

[@Fedgery007]

Good luck making money from print on demand.

[@PammyRock]

Great info!!! Thank you.

[@andeglenderson5240]

Now with the numerous AI tools and generators Niches are quickly becoming saturated. It feels like becoming an influencer within a niche space where followers become devoted fans and purchase your merch seems a better and more sustainable strategy than marketplaces and brand stores.

[@kitbeck]

These kinds of videos are starting to get to me. In reality it's all about selling courses and printers not so much about the ugly truth. He even seems to have affiliate links to the POD services he says don't work and made him buy the printer. Go figure.

[@deelo_renzo]

Thank you ❤

[@soundsbantu8307]

Thanks for sharing

[@Tawny593]

Why are you adding in shipping costs? You mean for free shipping? My customers pay for shipping unless it's free.

[@Quickdraw1111]

You kept talking about T-shirts, as if they are the only print on demand product. BUT, what about cups / mugs? Do print on demand mugs have big issues that would make it hard to sell, like the problems T-shirts have?

[@tashalee4294]

You make nothing on mugs. They charge so much to print and ship it for you that your profit is very small. You can only charge so much before people won’t purchase.

[@coachmike4983]

Great advice!

[@MrBothandNether]

40 dollars for a concert tee shirt? _not on this planet_

[@drachenmarke]

And let's be honest, if they were making hand-over-fist money, why are people with these "all ya gotta do" channels constantly grifting?

[@lathjr1517]

I watched a few pod videos and tried out Gelato. I uploaded the artwork and ordered a sample. If you wish to distribute a quality product silkscreen is still the way to go. Clothing printers are poor quality. The tshirt quality is great but printing thumbs down. I will spend my money on a silkscreen kit and deliver a quality product. Angry customers = bad reviews and sales.

[@learnDigitalMarketing1]

Sell something other than tshirts or other low hanging (fruit) product

[@claudiasizemore447]

That printer looks expensive

[@thejoywriterstudio]

There are numerous POD companies that offer a wide variety of products. I bet if you were to count your time of printing yourself, then you would see it's easier to just pay the cost and offer a wide variety of products. They do offer custom branding.

[@mywifequitherjob]

The math is not even close

[@knowledgebeyondstars5650]

So how do ship more then 50 shirts 👕 per day, you need an employee which is extra coast and how about shipping to another country. That’s going to coast way more and time

[@jonathancotter7429]

you doing 3x the work dude. 😂

[@vid4ia583]

You gotta be kidding...

[@briangoolab8433]

are you giving out that script for sending the job to printer ? lol

[@johndefalque5061]

I'm 56, autistic, daibetic, serious criminal record. I'm sick of doing max work for min wage. I hate the 3 hr commute, smoking co-workers, the instability, poor work/life balance.

[@ashokseebaruth]

✅️

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