Discuss the PrintMojo service and features. Please note: this is not an "official" PrintMojo sponsored forum, it is a peer to peer community for current and future PrintMojo members. Visit PrintMojo.
I've been using Printmojo since just before the start of this year, and thought I would share my experience so far. First of all, I should say that without Printmojo, I can't imagine how I would be able to start a t-shirt business. Without enough start-up money to give up my day job, I would never be able to process and fill orders on my own. It will probably be a long time before I am making enough money to do that, and honestly, filling orders is not a part of the business that I ever want to be directly involved with. I want to focus on making the designs, running my site and marketing. OK, so here's a brief breakdown:
Screenprinting- This is why I didn't want a Spreadshirt, Zazzle, or Cafepress site. I did not want digital transfers. PM does an amazing job with the screenprinting, I couldn't be happier with the quality. And the per shirt cost is competitive with any other printers out there. Their selection of garments is also amazing. I may never have come across bamboo shirts anywhere else. One drawback is that they are unable to print across seams, or even within a half inch of one. I'm not sure if this is a common limitation, but I know Uneetee and Threadless can do it, so it must be possible to print across seams.
Turnaround time- This has been my only complaint so far. My first order took 6 weeks to print, and each one since has been between 3-4. They used to advertise that it would take only 2, but I think they're now telling people 3. Once you understand the process, however, it isn't so hard to plan around a long turn-around time. I just put in my first re-orders, so we'll see if 2nd runs are any faster. It is likely that the turn around time is slow simply because they are growing so fast that it's hard to keep up. This actually speaks well for the company.
Website- Their website definitely has some issues. It's a bit difficult to give an example without going into too much detail, but placing inventory orders can be awkward. Once you figure out how it works, though, you can get through it. And if you contact them, they can clear up any questions you have.
Customer Service- Everyone at PM goes above and beyond the call of duty to help you in any way they can. I can't say enough about them. As with any business, things will go wrong. But the PM folks are really invested in their merchants' success and will do what they can to help. Special shout-outs to Jasmine, Jamie and Rodney, who have put in hours of their time to keep me up and running.
It is true, that there are compromises you make in not doing everything yourself. You may have a few customers who will be put off when they are transfered from your site to a 3rd party during checkout. Maybe you lose an element of branding when your shirts are shipped in PM packages without the presence of your logo. But I think there are enough people who just want to buy a shirt that they like, and they don't worry too much about that sort of thing. With the PM php script, you really can make your store your own, anyway. I build my site from scratch (with Rodney's help on the php script!), and if I didn't mention PM in my "about" section, you wouldn't know until you actually reached the checkout. Of course, I recommend being upfront with your customers about the 3rd party so they know what to expect when they are transfered. Overall, I'd say that Printmojo is a good option for people who want to get started in the T-shirt biz, and only want to focus on the creative end of things. It provides a way to keep the risk factor relatively low while you are growing, and if you understand the limitations, you can really make it work for you.
Hi Ryan, I'm considering Printmojo as well, for the same reason you did: screen printing. I want the best quality I can get. I'm looking at Redbubble for photographic prints and posters, again, because of quality. I'm also planning to try some eBay and direct selling.
Some questions for you...
It looks like Printmojo helped you set up a website - is that correct? Any charge for that?
Does Printmojo care if you're also selling on eBay?
I assume that you can order some shirts to sell yourself and some to sell through them? Any difference in cost between the two?
Your site was linked to Facebook - can you link to MySpace as well?
Can you link from your Printmojo website to a website that you have set up yourself?
Can you have your email address posted on your website?
Is it a very well-known site? Do a lot of people buy there?
Are you tired of my stupid questions?
Hey, Thanks for any help that you can give me.
I just found PM when I was researching fullfilment services. I definitely wanted my shirts to be screenprinted, so I knew Zazzle, Spreadshirt or Cafepress weren't going to work for me. The disadvantage with screenprinting, of course, is that you have to put up the initial costs for the shirts. I did print one shirt at a time over the period of 4 or 5 months with the intension of not launching my site until I had three designs ready to go. I ended up waiting until I had 4 and not really putting any money into marketing until I had 5. I am glad I waited, as I've heard from people (and experienced myself) that you just won't really get sales with only 3 or 4 designs. Actually, they say less than 12 is even tough, and I still only have 6, with 2 more in production. With PM, unless you have a lot of start-up money, your inventory will grow slowly, partially because it can take up to a month to print a design, and for you to get a sample shirt. For me, the process of releasing one design takes even longer because I do those paintings of models wearing the shirts, and that adds 2 or 3 weeks. But once I started getting sales, I got the confidence to put more money into inventory, and when you start printing a new design every couple of weeks, it doesn't feel like it is taking so long.
You mentioned marketing: Did your Printmojo website help get you business? Does it cost you anything?
I just wanted to point out quickly that marketing is something that the business owner (t-shirt designer) does. In general, it's not a good idea to rely on a fulfillment company for marketing. Their job is to print orders/warehouse/fulfill orders.
You, as the business owner should take full charge of all of your marketing efforts
Thanks Again , Rodney! I'm definitely checking into Facebook, MySpace, eBay, direct contact, etc (I'd have to work into the idea of my own website slowly...). Do you think the websites that places like RedBubble and Printmojo allow you to set up through their sites are at all successful? I appreciate this forum and your advice!
Do you think the websites that places like RedBubble and Printmojo allow you to set up through their sites are at all successful?
My view is that any fulfillment place is just a "tool". Whether it's spreadshirt, redbubble, printmojo or whatever, they don't "make you successful" or "stop you from being successful".
It's how you use that "tool" that makes or breaks you.
So yes, you can be successful using redbubble, cafepres, printmojo, spreadshirt or whatever. You can also be unsuccessful using all of those sites.
Whether your use them or not isn't the issue. It's how you use them
If you treat it like a business, where you have to find every way you can to drive customers to your business, then you can be successful.
If you just put a store out there and just hope people will find it or if you don't have a real clear way of how you will advertise and market your products, then you will severely decrease your chances for success.
The biggest tip I could give would be to really focus on marketing and advertising. Look beyond facebook/myspace, as that won't really give you targeted buyers that are looking to shop. Really delve into what marketing and advertising is and what methods have worked. Do LOTS of research.
Marketing and advertising will make or break any business. There's lots of pieces that go into that marketing and advertising pie. That's why there's a whole section of the forum dedicated to that topic with lots of helpful tips posted T-Shirt Marketing - T-Shirt Forums
Actually, I built my site myself from scratch. I implimented PM's php script to link to a customized shopping cart. Rodney helped me a lot with the script, but it is overall really easy to do. If you don't want to build a site, there are other options. PM does provide a pretty generic store, but I definitely wanted my own design. You can also find some middle ground, too, where you have your site be the storefront that links to the PM site. You can basically have your website any way you want it, it can be completely your own. It's only at the check-out where you really need to go to a PM page. I do all my own marketing, although PM does help you set up with the affiliate program Share-a-sale if you want. So far it has been good. It's true that once you place one order for screenprinting with them, you can send them shirts (or pretty much anything else you'd want to sell within reason) and they'll warehouse them and ship them for you. I'm thinking of selling greeting cards, too, although the cards cost less than the fulfilment charge, so I might have to sell them in packs. PM does an excellent job with the screenprinting of the shirts overall. I don't remember off the top of my head how big they can print things, but there is some limits. They can't print over seems. If I ever want something they aren't able to do, I'll just print it somewhere else and have it sent to them. So far this hasn't come up, though.
Ryan, I'm glad to hear that you're happy with the quality of Printmojo's work; that's the bottom line for me... I''m sure that I'll be bothering you with more questions in the future...
Rodney, I definitely appreciate the advice about marketing, it's just what I needed to hear. I have to get out there and hustle. The good news is that marketing is actually the one area of this whole venture that I feel comfortable with; I'm in a niche market and am really looking forward to communicating with the people who are into the same thing that I am. But it would be good to always keep in mind that they're not going to find me by accident...
As far as the rest of the business goes... hmmmm.... Taxes? IRS forms? Paperwork? Shipments lost in the mail? Setting up my own website...? AAAAAAAAAAARG!!!
Thks so much for the info as I have been struggling with who to use for my printer/fulfiller. Sounds like overall,with some exceptions that I hope will improve, especially turn around times, it would be a good start for me. I'm just finalizing 4 designs and hope to have ready to ship to Rodney next week.
I had a moment recently where I was REALLY grateful that I have Printmojo to do the credit card processing, etc. Someone tried to place a fraudulent order for my shirts using what is likely a stolen credit card. PM is taking care of everything so that I don't have to worry about it.
My Printmojo Experience 
Re: My Printmojo Experience 
