Is Printful Really Worth It In 2021?

WELCOMEE to The Online Genius, your one-stop-shop for everything relating to the online business community. Every week we publish articles on tips, tricks, and tools that will help you take your business to incredible heights! In this article, we will be talking about a major player in the print-on-demand industry. 

Are you looking for a unique way to dropship your custom t-shirts or mugs? 

Are you having trouble looking for a printing company that is reliable and produces a good quality product each and every time?

If you answered YES to any of these two questions then this article could be for you. I will be reviewing Printful, one of the industry leaders when it comes to on-demand printing that also gives you the platform to fulfill and service your customers all from one location.

Building a print on demand business can be incredibly hard if you don’t have the right steps in place or tools to help you get there. With the right tool and platform, you can take your business to the next level in no time! 

So without further ado let’s dive straight into this Printful Review.

What is Printful? 

printful

Now if you look at the word carefully you can actually see exactly what the company does in a nutshell. They PRINT on a wide range of products and they handle all of the FULfillment! It’s as simple as that. All you have to do is upload your designs and Printful handles the rest, from printing the graphics on the products to integrating with your online selling platform to delivering to your customer base. Cool right? 

Now, before I talk a little bit more about Printful, I’m going to let the numbers do the talking. Over the last few years, they have invested $27 million in printing equipment, they have fulfilled over 10.35 million orders worldwide and customers have sold over $381 million through Printful. Needless to say, they ship over 3 million orders every year!

These numbers alone show that Printful is not here to play but they are dedicated to providing tons of value to their customers. The company first came to life in 2004 and today has an 800 – person team spread out across 5 different locations. 

Printful is an all-round incredible business that aims to provide not only the best in printing and servicing but tools that allow you to run your online store seamlessly and easily. 

How Does Printful Work? 

So how do your customers really get your product in their hands without you even seeing or touching it? 

Sell online with print-on-demand Drop Shipping

  1. Start by connecting your online store to Printful! Next place all the products you would like with your designs on the online store. Next, you do your brilliant marketing and a customer places an order. 
  2. That order is then automatically sent to Printful where it is printed, packaged and shipped directly to your customer! 
  3. Finally, your customer receives their order with your branding on it! Making it look like you were the one that did the shipping. 

It is also key to note that it takes 2-7 business days to create apparel products and 2-5 business days for non-apparel products. The average shipping time is 4 business days but this depends on the order’s destination. 

What are Printfuls’ best features?

Mockup Generator printful

The custom Mockup Generator allows you to create print files and mockup photos all from one platform.

Printful App

The Printful app allows you to manage your entire print on demand store directly from your store. This app allows you to create orders, confirm incoming orders, talk to support, order holds, track your orders and report problems. 

Printful Integrations 

I don’t have to tell you that being able to integrate with the print on demand platforms that you use to sell your products online is a crucial part of your print on demand journey. You can integrate with almost every online selling platform from Amazon to Etsy! 

Of course, they integrate with Shopify allowing you to seamlessly deliver a quality product and service to your customers each and every time. 

Printful also integrates with: 

  • eBay 
  • Storenvy
  • Wish 
  • Bonanza 
  • WooCommerce
  • Wix
  • Squarespace 
  • Ecwid 
  • BigCommerce
  • Prestashop 
  • Weebly
  • Big Cartel 
  • Magento 
  • Gumroad 
  • ShipStation
  • 3dcart
  • Launch Cart 
  • Printful API 

RELATED: The Best Print On Demand Platform Of 2020

What other Services does Printful offer?

Printful doesn’t just print and fulfill your orders they also offer tons of other cool services and features. Of course, Order Fulfillment is the heart of Printful and this service alone makes the platform worth the extra buck. Order Fulfillment includes: 

  • Print-on-demand
  • Drop-shipping services
  • Warehousing & Fulfillment
  • Branding for white label
  • Bulk order discounts 
  • Custom t-shirt printing 

Now, what is an online store without having some amazing visuals? Printful thought of this and decided to implement a variety of creative services. So if you’re struggling with ideas or resources you can utilize the in house team at Printful. These Creative Services include: 

  • Graphic Design – You will have a team right at your fingertips to help you with your print files or even develop a new design. 
  • Ecommerce Photography – They utilize their models, props and equipment to create photos ready for your website. 
  • Video Production – You will have a team at your disposal dedicated to producing quality videos! 

You can even outsource all the technical details so you don’t have to do it yourself even if you’re a complete beginner. There is an entire team at Printful dedicated to Technical Support who have years of experience running and setting up tons of eCommerce stores. This team can literally build your store from scratch helping you with everything from payment set up to the tax settings! This is literally a business in a box. 

All of these services were developed so you can provide the right quality for your business and get it done right the first time! 

Printful Pricing

When it comes to pricing it all depends on which products you order! Remember you only pay when an order is made. So if you place a Bella+Canvas T-shirt on your store for $12.95 you will only pay $12.95 when someone places an order for that t-shirt. 

This has to be one of the biggest benefits of Printful, there are no hidden monthly fees or upfront costs. In other words, you can sign up for a free account, design your products, upload them to your website and pay NOTHING. 

Needless to say, you will see exactly how much a product will cost before you even upload it to your online store, this means you can adjust your profit margin to suit without incurring any costs.

Customer Support At Printful 

It’s no secret that Printful is committed to providing a one of a kind product and service. With an international team of over 800 people, Printful has become consistent at delivering quality support. This support includes: 

  • 24/7 support – The team is committed 24 hours a day,  7 days a week, 365 days a year to providing amazing support!
  • Email Support
  • Live Chat
  • FAQ library

This is the extent to which Printful offers customer support. 

Printful’s Pros and Cons 

So what are the major pros and cons of having Printful as your print-on-demand platform? 

Pros: 

  • Pay No Upfront Costs –There are no hidden fees and you only pay when someone places an order for a t-shirt on your website 
  • User-Friendly – The platform is incredibly user-friendly and has a very simple dashboard! 
  • Easy Setup – Set up is easy as 1,2,3 and can be done in a couple of minutes depending on the platform you’re trying to integrate with. 

Cons: 

  • Shipping – Now this isn’t a con if you are in the United States. In fact, shipping to the U.S is actually quick and could be done in a couple of days. However, if you are outside of the U.S it can take up to 10 days to ship.

Is Printful actually worth it and who is it for? 

Printful is an amazing platform but is it really worth it? Well, the short answer is YES. They have tons of cool features that make them stand out from their competitors such as: 

  • No outsourcing – This means everything from the printing to fulfillment is done in-house to ensure a quality product is produced and delivered every time. 
  • Easy Integration – Integrating with your favorite apps and platforms like Shopify and Amazon is as easy as 1,2,3. 
  • Multiple Locations – This means that regardless of where your customer base is you are significantly closer to them. 
  • Custom Branding – You can not only add your logo to your packaging but you can create a custom packing slip! That has to be one of their coolest features. 
  • Pay When You Order – You will never have to worry about having a lot of inventory ever again, you pay only when you submit an order! Oh yeah, there’s no monthly fees attached.

If you are in the print on demand space then Printful is definitely a good option. Still, looking around for a good print of demand platform? Give our article  “The Ultimate Print On Demand Platform Of 2020 a read”.