Print-to-order businesses are becoming increasingly popular. As a creative seller, you get to design and bring your creations to life. As a buyer, you get to order customized products that will allow you to express your unique style.
If you’ve been contemplating getting in on the print-on-demand game, Teespring is one of the platforms you can use to bring your merch to life.
If you’re in the process of reviewing different print-to-order platforms, this guide will give you all the information you need to make a call on Teespring.
Teespring Review: Is It Legit?
When it comes to selling custom merchandise online, Teespring is one of the first platforms that will pop up in your online search results. Teespring was founded in 2012, by Evan Stites-Clayon and Walker Williams in Providence, Rhode Island. The two Brown University seniors came up with the idea after they wanted to sell t-shirts to commemorate the closing of a local bar.
However, instead of purchasing t-shirts in bulk, they decided to create their own website where interested parties could submit their orders and make payments in advance. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, the platform is used by entrepreneurs who are interested in selling merchandise online. Custom t-shirts are the primary offering but there is other merchandise available too. Phone covers, leggings, and caps are just some of the other products you will find on the platform.
The platform gained popularity due to its simple user interface and its ability to provide users with a safe and efficient way to sell custom merch online at no cost.
What makes Teespring unique is that it handles the production, distribution, and customer service associated with orders placed on the site. This allows users to concentrate on product design and campaigns alone.
If you’re interested in considering a Teespring alternative, read more about Merch by Amazon here.
How Teespring Works
So, how does Teespring work, and who creates the designs? Products on Teespring can be designed by anyone who wishes to sell customized products online. This is an excellent platform for users who want to showcase their creativity and get into merch design.
Furthermore, there are no restrictions on who can use the platform. There are also no fees involved with designing and selling products on the Teespring site. In short, the platform is a great choice for those who are just getting started in the eCommerce space and do not want to deal with overhead costs.
Once the product creation process is complete and a sufficient number of orders have been placed via your storefront, Teespring takes over and fulfills orders using the shipping addresses provided. Teespring’s production facility is located in Kentucky, but has numerous other printing partners spread across the United States. For international orders, Teespring has print partners based in the EU to streamline order fulfillment.
Once you’ve finalized your design, all you have to do is set up your storefront, set prices and select your sales goals. If you manage to hit your minimum goal, the platform will not only handle the manufacturing process according to your design specifications but will distribute the products to customers too. The Teespring platform is designed to encourage users to increase their sales potential. To achieve this, the platform shares the earnings of each of its users once they hit their respective sales goals.
Since users are required to design and market their products, they’re able to create their own customized marketing campaigns based on their sales goals. In addition to marketing their own products, users can help raise funds for non-profit establishments. This can be done by selling products that display the non-profit organization’s motto and by building custom campaigns to give these organizations a boost.
Here’s a brief video guide that explains how to get started with Teespring:
The Art of Creating Teespring Campaigns
Once your products have been added to your custom storefront, you will need to start promoting and selling them.
Here are some of the main factors to consider if you want to create a successful Teespring campaign for your product designs:
- Consider who your target audience is and do some research into what they would find most appealing. Trends are a great place to start.
- Leverage social media to get your Teespring campaign off the ground. By promoting on social media platforms, you stand a better chance of reaching a wider audience who will be interested in purchasing your merchandise.
- Email marketing is also an effective tool for promoting your Teespring merch if you have a list available.
- For an extra boost, utilize Teespring tools such as promotional codes and marketing and buyer messaging to increase sales.
Here is some additional guidance on how to use Teespring’s tools to generate more sales:
If you’re interested in other forms of selling online such as dropshipping, read this guide to dropshipping using AliExpress.
Teespring Reviews: What Others Are Saying?
Teespring has a good number of success stories. For instance, Milk (tee) Funk, which is a community of home beer brewers, were able to raise $5,000 by commercializing their brand. Noah’s Bandage Project offers “kid cool” bandages and was able to raise $15,000 for children with cancer and other illnesses. These are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many users who are running successful Teespring campaigns and are using the platform to earn with the help of their creative side.
But, even with the many positive reviews left by creators and consumers, it’s not possible to make everybody happy. Teespring recently received a negative review on TrustPilot which called out the eCommerce site for charging extra to get premium processing and shipping, which they claim they did not receive.
A negative review was also left on SiteJabber by a disgruntled Teespring user who claims to have received a t-shirt of sub-par quality. The negative Teespring reviews are few and far between. There are countless others who have left positive reviews after using the platform.
Overall, Teespring continues to be a highly-recommended platform for those who want to make some money in the print-on-demand space.
It’s also worth mentioning that a year or so ago you were able to use Teespring and Shopify to great effect. Back then you could use Teespring as a print on demand partner for your shopify store.
But since then Teespring pulled the plug on this integration, you can no longer use the two together. If you have a shopify store don’t worry, you can always use one of the teespring alternatives i discuss later in this article.
Teespring Pros and Cons
Pros
- Users can benefit from an easy-to-use user interface
- No upfront fees are required to sign up or start designing products
- A wide selection of built-in customization tools are available
- Users can easily utilize social media and Teespring’s built-in tools to boost sales
- Teespring handles the manufacturing and shipping of your products
- The platform is known for its excellent customer support
Cons
- Once you create a design, you have 6 days to make a sale or the campaign gets taken down. Unfortunately, trying to meet your minimum goal in such a short space of time can be difficult for beginners
- Teespring does not offer many payment options. Payments are either made via PayPal or by check through the mail.
Teespring Alternatives
The Teespring model of minimum order requirements before fulfillment isn’t for everyone. Luckily, there are a number of alternatives that you can consider, including:
Redbubble
Redbubble is a print-on-demand eCommerce platform that brings designs from independent artists to the public. Whenever a product is purchased, Redbubble goes ahead with the printing and ships the product to the customer’s mailing address. One of the key differences between Teespring and Redbubble is the percentage you earn with Teespring is much higher. The range of products sold on Redbubble is also a lot wider. Some of the product categories include wall art, clothing, stickers, and stationery.
Zazzle
Zazzle is another marketplace where designers get to create and sell personalized products. Like Teespring, it’s free to sign up and start designing products to sell online. Once the design is complete and orders are placed, Zazzle takes care of the manufacturing and printing of your creation. Zazzle is, however, considered to be more complex and not as easy to use as Teespring. Zazzle also has a wider selection of products than Teespring has.
Printful
Printful works in pretty much the same way. It helps users print their custom t-shirts and ships the products out to customers after receiving an order. You will need to integrate the platform’s app with your own eCommerce store to automate this process though. Both Printful and Teespring allows users to see how much profit they can make from each of their designs, which is helpful in deciding whether a campaign is worth the effort.
Bottom Line
Teespring is a reliable and easy-to-use platform that can be taken advantage of by just about anyone who is a little creative and looking for a great side hustle. Since the platform takes care of everything from the manufacturing to the shipping, you don’t have to deal with any overhead costs – one of the biggest appeals.
The freedom to promote and market your own products means you can earn more money with each sale. Not only do you get to be creative but with enough experience, you can earn as much money as you need to every month, all without finding money for overhead costs.
Tags: ecommerce, online product creation, teespring
