Where to Sell Print-on-Demand Products 

The global Print on Demand industry is enormous and was valued at 4.91 billion in 2021 and is expected to continue growing. 

If you’ve ever come up with a funny catchphrase or thought of inspiring words, you may have thought about starting a Print On Demand business, and you may be wondering where you will sell your products. 

In this article, we will look at what exactly is Print on Demand and the seven places you can sell your products. This includes a mix of marketplaces and sites. 

What is Print on Demand?

Print-on-demand is a business model where products are only manufactured after an order is placed. This eliminates a lot of costs for the seller and, when appropriately implemented, can lead to high-profit margins. 

Sellers looking to utilize can sell everything from mugs to fine art prints, t-shirts, apparel, and phone covers. 

There are various marketplaces where users can find a wide range of products. Here are a couple of sites where sellers can sell their POD products. 

Etsy 

You may know Etsy as a marketplace for finding rare and cute handmade products. However, Etsy also gives sellers a chance to sell their POD products, however, with one catch. 

Sellers will need to find a third-party company that will handle all the products’ logistics, i.e., printing and shipping. 

In this instance, Etsy acts as a host giving sellers direct access to its user base of millions of buyers. 

Pros Of Using Etsy

Let’s start with the fact that in 2022 alone Etsy had almost 90 million unique buyers on the platform, meaning they have a ton of built-in traffic and eyeballs. 

Of all of the different places where you can sell print-on-demand products, getting products set up and listed on Etsy is one of the easiest and most painless experiences for print-or-demand sellers.

Unlike most other marketplaces, it’s he allows you a huge amount of flexibility in your payment schedule, allowing you to be paid as soon as the next day, once you are an established seller.

Additionally, they’ve dedicated themselves to growing a loyal customer base and turning those customers into repeat buyers from the brands that they love.

Lastly, there’s a large amount of seller education and support available for just about any issue that you could run into on the platform. 

Cons of using Etsy 

Although the image of the platform is changing dramatically, thanks in part to Etsy’s dedication to helping brands establish themselves on the platform, most people still think of Etsy as a place to go to find handmade or craft-type things.

Additionally, the tools that Etsy gives its sellers to improve listings and sell more products are extremely limited when compared to other options, such as Amazon and Red Bubble .

Although this does make it easier for sellers to see the information, etsy allows them to see, It Also massively limits seller’s ability to test and tweak things in order to grow their brands.

Red Bubble 

Red Bubble is another great marketplace(similar to Etsy) that sits at the top regarding Print on demand sites.

They offer independent artists the chance to sell their unique designs. All you gotta do is sign up, upload your designs to the various products, and wait for buyers to start rolling in.

Pros Of Selling On Red Bubble

Despite the fact that it’s not the first sight that comes to most people’s minds when they think about selling print-on-demand products, Red Bubble has a fairly large customer base (8.3 million) and a good amount of organic traffic coming from search engines

They carry a large number of products in different categories including phones, stickers, stationary, home decor, and a good selection of clothing products.

Once you get into the system, all you have to do is upload your designs onto one of Red Bubble’s approved products and they handle the rest including printing, shipping, and customer service.

The site has one of the friendliest user interfaces and is great for technophobes or people who just don’t like to have a bunch of buttons or levers to tweak to make things work. 

They also allow you full control over your pricing and have worldwide shipping capabilities which can’t be said for many of the other platforms.

Cons Of Selling On Red Bubble

Since they control so much of the process, unfortunately, sellers are unable to create their own custom storefronts.

Additionally, because it is so easy to upload products to Red Bubble, most product categories have a large number of sellers with very little opportunity to differentiate yourself other than hoping you get noticed by prospective buyers.

Lastly, the platform is one of the slowest to pay out and occasionally has product quality issues depending on the printing partner which they are currently using.

Zazzle 

The next site on the list is Zazzle; while it’s not entirely as well known as Red Bubble or Etsy, Zazzle still has impressive stats. Founded in 2005, Zazzle has a large enough customer base, an incredible product lineup, and steady ratings from sellers and buyers. 

One thing that makes Zazzle unique is that artists can take custom orders when they opt to be LIVE sellers. This allows customers to request custom orders /designs. 

Pros of Using Zazzle 

Unlike many of the other platforms, Zazzle allows sellers to sell virtually anything they can put their design on, from beer, pong, tables, and baby bibs to posters and clothing.

They’re also flexible with pricing, allowing you essentially unlimited control over your ability to set your own pricing while Zazzle handles all of the logistics.

The account setup process is fairly simple and Zazzle has a built-in base of raving fans ready to buy your product if it catches their eye.

Cons Of Using Zazzle

Although there is a fairly large customer base on Zazzle (not quite as big as Etsy or Amazon), there’s also a large number of sellers and very few marketing tools.

Unfortunately, this means that getting people to find your listings on Zazzle can be a bit of a challenging process.

Additionally, the process of uploading your designs to the platform is rather clunky, but once you’ve done it a few times, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of.

Tee Public 

Tee Public is another great marketplace with high levels of organic traffic, making it perfect for selling POD products, whether on apparel or otherwise. 

Pros of Selling On Tee Public

Although tee public is not quite as well known or popular as red bubble, they are well known marketplace with high levels of organic traffic. 

Additionally, because the upload process is so quick and easy, if you are a design focus business, you can spend more time at creating and launching more products with the public, then you can with many other platforms.

Lastly, because the site is designed for and inspired by artists, they have a built-in feature that allows potential customers to hire you for custom design gigs if they like your designs.

Cons of Selling On Tee Public

Unlike most other platforms and marketplaces, you are unable to set or change your own prices.

By default, your product will be listed either at the standard retail price or the sales price (very common during the first 72 hours after a product launch).

Although this can be extremely frustrating to sellers trying to increase their profit margins, the goal of this is to help discourage copycats and make the platform as fair for all artists as possible.

Society 6

Society 6 is kind of like Redbbuble. However, they mainly focus on selling high-quality art prints. Despite having half the organic traffic of marketplaces and sites such as Red Bubble and Tee Public, Society 6 has a substantial social media following.

Society 6 is best for: Designers looking for a more niche space that deals with floral, watercolors, abstract art, and patterns may find that Society 6 is perfect.

Pros of Society 6 

Similar to Tee Public, Soceity 6 markets themselves as an artist-first platform and can be a great place for small or indie artists. Looking to sell things in a specific aesthetic.

Society 6 also has excellent customer service for both buyers and sellers making it an extremely friendly platform for both groups.

Lastly, they encourage artists to become what they call curators (essentially their version of an affiliate program) to help drive additional traffic and earn a percentage of any sale generated, whether someone buys their work or another artist.

Cons of Society 6 

Unfortunately, similar again to Tee Public You have no ability to set your own prices and typically earn a smaller percentage of revenue (as low as 10%) almost products with the exception of larger art pieces like canvas prints, framed prints, and printed art.

Additionally, because it is newer and less trafficked marketplace, there are not as many customers here as on other options.

Lastly, the user interface for sellers is not very user friendly and the upload process can be tedious and complex, especially compared to other marketplaces.

Amazon Merch 

This list wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t add Merch by Amazon. A POD service by Amazon. On Amazon, merch sellers can sell various products ranging from mugs, throw pillows, tote bags, hoodies, and other apparel. 

One of the most significant benefits of selling your POD products through Amazon merch is tapping into the enormous pre-existing customer base. No other marketplace comes close to the reach and size that Amazon has.

Pros Of Amazon Merch

This one is fairly obvious, right?

It’s Amazon and you get to take advantage of all of the benefits of a platform of Amazon’s size, including extremely fast shipping and a huge built-in customer base.

Additionally unlike many of the other options we have discussed, because you have the ability to set your own pricing, The only limit to what you can earn with the platform comes down to your design choices and whether or not customers like them.

Cons of Amazon Merch 

Unlike selling in other areas of Amazon, such as FBA, Even in 2023, you still need an invite to be able to sell on the platform.

Although the process of getting approved has become much faster, you can’t simply list products on Amazon merch, without filling out the application and being approved.

Additionally, because there are so many customers in such a big opportunity inside of the Amazon marketplace, You are likely to face stiff competition and a large number of copycats if you have a well-selling design.

Lastly, Amazon is the least friendly platform in terms of building a long-term brand and does everything it can to keep customers within the Amazon platform.

If you’re looking for something to use as a launch pad to build a long-term and sustainable business, you’ll need to do some substantial marketing outside of Amazon merch in order to do that.

The bottom line 

Deciding where to sell your POD products can be daunting and feel like a mountain. However, with the right tools in hand, you’ll soon be on your way to creating beautiful designs that will hopefully land you in the POD Hall of Fame.