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I've been doing a lot of homework on the topic of which Fulfillment company to start off with.
I've ultimately gone down the path of CafePress for my decision; it ended up being a quick-decision once I saw how much the default price at the other places were.
I want to be able to make a consistent amount of money while still giving my customers a decent price and good quality products.
However, I've read multiple posts and read various comparison threads that CP's quality isn't exactly the best. (I understand Screen Printing is better, however I don't have the money to go with PrintMojo.)
I've heard that the shirts fade very quickly, seen horrible image comparisons, etc.
Are these horror stories true? Or just a mixture of bad luck and the fact that CP is much bigger with more customers, therefore leading to more screw-ups?
The quality issue is so hard to pin down as there is a lot of opinion involved. What I think is great quality printing you might think is crap. I've been selling my "designs" on CP for 4 yrs and I mostly like it. (other than having to pay for a premium shop and some of the forum [issues]) I make more money at CP than I do on any other POD. I have ordered 6 or so tees and hoodies from CP and while I think the print quality is good I don't think it is on par with what I have received from Printfection on the 4 items I have ordered from them. Plus CP has a much smaller print area which bugs me. Other than that I think CP is a great place to set up a money making small business.
See that's the thing, I've been going back and forth between CP and PF, but I can't make up my mind.
Either way I feel like I'm ripping my customers off:
With CP, they lack quality; but with PF the base prices are set way too high and I would never make any profit with $2 markups.
This is unrelated, but about how much do you make monthly from profits? I've seen people's income using CP range from $50 to $1,000. (And has it been a stable amount or did it generally rise as you've had the store?)
Not to mention you've got your PF store advertised; not your CP one. (Not trying to bash, I'm just honestly curious)
Last edited by Ownaholic; March 29th, 2009 at 02:15 PM.
I have my PF shop in my signature because I need to advertise that one more than my CP shop. I have been on CP long enough where I get consistent sales without having to drive customers there. I can't say the same for my PF shop. All sales I get at CP are from the marketplace not from anything I've done.
I don't make much on any of my POD stores. My CP average is around $104 a month, except at Xmas tiem when it shoots up between $275 and $325. It's just something fun I do for a few extra bucks. #1 I have a regular job that takes up way too much time and #2 I have no artistic talent. The folks who really make the money at any POD are the ones who have talent.
Try not to get suckered in the idea that people won't pay good money for tees or hoodies. (go to the CP shopowners forum and do a search on "Barryifing" -- don't ask but you will read some stuff that may chnage your mind on what people are willing to pay AND why they will do so.) I sell stuff on CP & PF with markups between $4.25 to $7.00. People seem to like having unique hard to find shirts. If people will buy my stupid "designs" anybody with talent will do fine with higher markups.
On a side note, I really recommend ordering "test" shirts from CP & PF to see what your customers wil be getting. Doing that really helped me a lot.
I'd consider opening up both shops, but I have a theory that if I set up a good Forum for the buyers to commute on, then they'll keep coming back for more. The reason that's a problem, is because if I were to have two stores, then I'd only be able to advertise for one of them around my area and online.
I could use the PF one and advertise that, but again I don't want to mark things up and have the total cost for a T-Shirt be like $29.
If I only use CP and advertise that, then I'm missing out on the profit from PF.
The only real problem with CP I have is that they have separate items for different colors, whereas PF has them all listed right off and better sizes too.
Is the PF monthly profit even worth the sacrificed time and effort that I could be putting into designs for my main shop? (Because again, I want to make it into a community; which requires daily upkeep and communication)
I've heard that the shirts fade very quickly, seen horrible image comparisons, etc. I have ordered MANY shirts (from CP) for myself, husband and kids and haven't had a problem with them fading. I have made my husband's race team a few shirts- which means they have gottin washed atleast once a week for over a year- no fading. I've made my son's baseball team "practice" t-shirts and again, they get washed often- with no fading. My kids love their "specialized" t-shirts they get for Christmas and birthdays and wear them often- again no fading. And you know how rough kids can be in clothing. My sister in law has ordered several items for her grandkids and hasn't a problem with fading.
about how much do you make monthly from profits?
I won't give you an exact amount but I make enough to make a monthly car payment for a new car. That was the deal my husband made me- "make enough to cover that damn expensive payment and I won't complain"...lol
I always make enough for that payment and then some. Holidays were super good for me.
Yes, as time has gone on (almost 2 years now) my profits are slowly creeping higher and higher. A lot had to do with learning how to promote my shops and writing good SEO. The past 7 months or so things have really picked up. It's like a lot of things- the longer you work at something the better you'll be at it. You'll get out of it what you are willing to put in it.
I put more hours in working on my shops than I ever did at a "regular job". But it's something I enjoy doing and I am a stay at home mom (for a lack of better words) and I have the "time" to sit here all day working on my shops.
I agree with fightingsaints- check out "barrify" on CP forums and you will see how much some hike up their mark ups and still make sales. Most of my shirts have an $8-$10 mark-up. I haven't yet "barrified" my shops yet...lol
I don't have any other accounts with other POD's so I can only speak from experience with CP.
Good luck in your adventures
Many thanks Brenda, your experiences have helped ease some of the worry I was having.
I guess my suspicions were right; because CafePress greatly outnumbers all the other POD's, there's likely to be a lot more errors here and there. But not on a pattern.
As a new-bound college student, a monthly car payment revenue would be a wonderful goal for me to aspire to.
I've got a lot of time to invest (for now), and I hope to make my store a serious community (which requires regular monitoring and tireless advertising). I'm pretty much sold on CafePress now...I just need to come up with a name and I'm ready to get a domain and webspace for the shop. =]
I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have your designs listed on as many POD sites as possible. I have shops set up on cafepress that I pay for monthly, and shops at printfection, zazzle, skreened, and anywhere else I can find, that are free!! Spread your designs around and get noticed! Plus each site offers some different products and color choices!
When I first started I was going through all the sites as well trying to figure out which one to pick, or to pick all of them at once, lol. Eventually I went with CP just for the fact that it was alot easier to use then the other sites. In other words, the language of the site was set in a way where even a dummy like myself could understand. I've ordered a number of shirts from CP and have had only one that I was not happy with.
I agree with skulltshirts (Thomas) as well, I think once you are set up and comfortable working with one site there is no harm throwing some stuff on another, it only gets you more exposure. Sorry to post in an older thread, but I just wanted to throw my opinion out there..for what its worth.
When I first started I was going through all the sites as well trying to figure out which one to pick, or to pick all of them at once, lol. Eventually I went with CP just for the fact that it was alot easier to use then the other sites. In other words, the language of the site was set in a way where even a dummy like myself could understand. I've ordered a number of shirts from CP and have had only one that I was not happy with.
I agree with skulltshirts (Thomas) as well, I think once you are set up and comfortable working with one site there is no harm throwing some stuff on another, it only gets you more exposure. Sorry to post in an older thread, but I just wanted to throw my opinion out there..for what its worth.
Hey the more opinions the better man, thanks for your input.
I'm pretty sure I'll stay with CP; it's either that or use a contractor, but that can get expensive...
But hey like I said more reassurance is always helpful.
Quality at CafePress? 
