How to start a print-on-demand business, one design at a time.
Print on demand means a print partner makes each item only after someone buys it. It's the lowest-risk way to sell your own designs or merch. Here's how to start.
How print on demand works
You upload a design and choose products, such as tees, mugs and totes. A customer orders from your store; the order goes to the print partner with your print file; they print it and ship it. You pay the printing cost from the sale and keep the rest.
Seven steps
- 1
Choose who it's for
A club, a band, a café's regulars, a community or a niche you belong to. Designs sell when people see themselves in them.
- 2
Pick a print partner
Compare product range, print quality, delivery times and where they ship. Order samples before you sell.
- 3
Make the designs
Simple designs print best and read from a distance. Make print files at the size and resolution your partner asks for.
- 4
Pick a few products
Start with three to five: a tee, a mug, a tote. Add more once you see what sells.
- 5
Price for margin
Your price minus printing, shipping, card fees and platform fees is your margin. Check it for every product and size.
- 6
Build the store
Product pages with mockups, size guides, shipping times and returns. A print-on-demand store builder can make the designs, mockups and pages for you.
- 7
Launch to the people it's for
Your members, followers or customers first. Then posts with photos of real people wearing it.
Questions
It can be, with margins checked per product and designs made for a clear audience. Each item costs more to print than in bulk, so prices need room.
No. Simple, clear designs sell well, and on Steward, Sam can design merch from your name, logo and colours.
Printful. Every approved order goes to Printful with the print file.
Keep reading
- Print on demandYour merch, printed only when it sellsSell t-shirts, mugs and totes with your name or designs. Steward's agents make the designs, show them on products with a margin for each, and send every order to Printful.
- GuideHow to start an online store, step by stepTen steps to start an online store: choose what to sell, price it, name the store, set up payments, policies and shipping, launch and get your first customers.
- For makersSell what you make, in a store of your ownSell what you make in your own online store, built by AI agents from a paragraph: product pages, photos, policies and checkout. Your name, your customers.
- AI store builderAn AI store builder that keeps working after launchDescribe what you sell in a paragraph. Steward's AI agents build the store: products, pages, brand, policies and a tested Stripe checkout. You approve every change.
