Alternatives to CafePress?

[aww]

Are there any alternatives to CafePress out there that are reliable and have better rates/profit margin?

Thanks for any suggestions...

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Gotta love the cafe'!

Absolutely great shop, and of course you can make the margins almost as big as is reasonable, but of course the prices get expensive...

Anyhow, if you sell enough, use a local screenprinter or the like.

-Allan

 

[dgridley]

IMO, Cafepress is best used for CD's and Print On Demand books as you can generally mark these up fairly high to expand your profit...

Fot tees, etc, check out some of the lot printers doing ebay.. lots of good prices there, including small runs.

Gotta love the cafe'!

Absolutely great shop, and of course you can make the margins almost as big as is reasonable, but of course the prices get expensive...

Anyhow, if you sell enough, use a local screenprinter or the like.

-Allan

 

[aww]

The thing I am worried about is the volume of packing, shipping and dealing with returns for t-shirts if I do volume. I have the potential to be selling half a dozen to a dozen a day and that can add up fast to alot of work.

Thanks for the above feedback. Any suggestions/experiences on specific ebay vendors?

 

[se]

i dont know if this is better...

but it looks damm good!!

i have an account there (new)

www.zazzle.com

 

[dgridley]

Nice link! Thanks!

i dont know if this is better...

but it looks damm good!!

i have an account there (new)

www.zazzle.com

 

[se]

No Problem!

glad to help..

 

[IAmAllanShore]

zazzle looks pretty good, but just a word of caution that the ROI will be a little smaller since "In the meantime, you earn a 10% royalty on anything you sell at Zazzle". My margin on items at CafePress is as high as 50% I think (Trying to remember and calculate off the top of my head, but the point is you can set the prices to whatever people are willing to pay).

-Allan

 

[dgridley]

Just signed up for Zazzle too.. willing to give them a try...

 

[superprogrammer]

Do they pay via paypal?

 

[matrics]

I know this German site www.spreadshirt.de
But it's mostly for Germany/Europe

 

[se]

Ok Guys..found 3 more links...

i don't know if they are any good....

i just found them...not involved with them at all:

http://designashirt.com/

http://customink.com/

http://www.pixeltees.com/ << This one looks the best bet...

 

[Raf]

Does anyone know if any of those links accept PayPal, I would love to buy some of my own designed things if any of the links provided provided PayPal as a payment method.

 

[se]

sorry..i donno

 

[inflames]

i agree the prices can get high on some of the things but if you sell alot it would be cheaper to go to a printing place in your area . cafepress is good for small amounts of products ..IMO .. as far as other places i have yet to come across any

 

[msobotka]

I sell tshirts, no other custom products except Tshirts. I wouldnt say they are as high quality, but I still sell great products. I run a tshirt operation out of my house and I sell shirts at a ladder price range, starting from $5 plus shipping, you charge what you want. I can get items out in 3 days guranteed. No price will ever be more than $12 (unlimited use of colors). As of now, I only use white shirts as colors are not advantageous for me to sell.

Email me at [email protected]

 

[rb]

This is a topic I know something about

To be honest, I wouldn't say there is currently anybody in CafePress's league when it comes to the Print on Demand game.

There are some up and coming companies, and other companies that do it pretty darn well though. I do pretty well with CafePress and have tried quite a few others.

Zazzle has been mentioned, but you don't get to set your own markups. You only get a 10% (I think) commission, and you don't really get the same type of "store" as you get with CafePress, you just get a spot in their "marketplace". Zazzle uses dye sublimation on their t-shirts and sweatshirts, which has a different feel than the digital heat press that cafepress uses. Some people don't like the "feel" of the t-shirts that zazzle uses, but others don't mind it at all.

SpreadShirt is a newer company that is offering a similar service. They do print on demand using both digital press (dye sub or heat press), and they also do what is called "flock printing", which is a very cool process, where they cut out the design on this velvety feeling material. This allows them to print on dark garments (only one or 2 colors though). You set your own markups, get a store, but the "base prices" are on the higher side. Spreadshirt has operations in Germany(.de), EU (.net), and the US (.com)

Not Print on Demand (meaning you have to prepay for the shirts):

CoShops.com offers a similar service using screen printing and embroidery. They just have a one time setup fee, and varying prices for the screen printed and embroidered products they offer based upon which package you choose. They also have a fully "brand free" shop that lets to work with them to pick out your products and make your store unique.

PrintMojo.comIf you don't mind paying for the stock up front with small minimums (25 t-shirts per design), you can get high quality screen printed (or embroidered) t-shirts and an ecommerce setup. PrintMojo handles the ecommerce, order taking, shipping, warehousing, customer service. You design the t-shirts and market the store. By buying beforehand, you get to set higher markups. For example, if you're buying the shirts at $6 each for a run of 25 shirts, then you can mark them up to $15-$20 each. PrintMojo charges a $3.50 per order fulfillment fee, no monthly fees, no setup, no commitment.

MerchDirect offers a nice fulfillment service for a lot of bands. They also use screen printing, which requires a minimum order to be prepaid, but larger profit margins. They do all the printing in house, and have quite a few ways to customize the stores. They can offer tagging, folding, bagging, as well as custom artwork services.

 

[zaros64]

http://www.runevillage.com has a cafepress thing..wait a sec... http://www.cafepress.com/8484 ...
I don't like Cafe Press though

 

[johnny6]

Is the cafe press program two tier?

 

[zaros64]

what does two tier mean...
if you mean you split the cash with them something like 20/80 then yes

 

[equity78]

RB thanks for the Info I have signed up with Printmojo but have done nothing is MerchDirect better? Thank you

 

[TLDnetworks]

99Dogs
:wave:

 

[msobotka]

I do not have this on my site, so you must email me for details. I can sell white shirts only, with up to 4 colors on one location for $3.00/shirt. The only catch is that you must buy 700 or more. I also need a deposit down of atleast $1.00/shirt I can ship the rest through COD. I will also use an escrow account if you prefer that to guratee that you will not be ripped off. Turn around time is under 3 weeks.

 

[WebForging]

Thanks

This is a topic I know something about ....

Great post! Thanks for the info!

Reputation given.

Regards,
Keith