Pic The Gift Blog

If you’re running an online store or thinking about starting one, you’ve probably heard the term “print on demand.” You may have seen it abbreviated as POD. Maybe you’re curious if it’s the right model for your business. Let’s break down exactly what print on demand is, how it works, and what it means for you as a business owner.

The Straightforward Answer

Print on demand is a fulfillment model where custom products are manufactured only after a customer places an order. Instead of buying inventory upfront, storing products in a warehouse, and hoping they sell, you partner with a print on demand manufacturer like Pic The Gift who produces each item for you as orders come in.

Here’s an example of how it works, of course pretending Pic The Gift does your manufacturing: Your customer orders a custom blanket from your online store. That order is sent to Pic The Gift. We print the design, package the product, and ship it directly to your customer (sometimes known as “dropshipping.” You never carry inventory or touch the final product.

It’s manufacturing and fulfillment wrapped into one service, designed specifically for businesses that want to sell customized products without the traditional headaches of inventory management. Additionally, you can test many designs to see what sells.

How Print on Demand Actually Works

The POD process involves several players working together:

You (The Brand Owner): You create your designs, set up your online store (typically on platforms like Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, or Amazon), market your products, and manage customer relationships. You’re focused on what you enjoy: your designs, your brand, your customer experience.

The Manufacturing Partner (That’s Us): A print on demand manufacturer handles production and fulfillment. When orders come in, we manufacture the products using a process called sublimation printing. We package everything and blind ship it directly to your customers. Your name is on the shipping label, not ours.

Your Customer: They browse your store, place an order, and receive a professionally manufactured product, all without knowing there’s a fulfillment partner involved. The packaging, the quality, and the shipping experience all reflects on your brand.

What Products Can You Sell With Print on Demand?

The product range has expanded dramatically over the years. Today’s POD businesses sell:

Accessories like bags, hats, scarves, phone stands, keychains, and more.

Home Goods like blankets, swaddles, pillows, shower curtains, towels, wall art, metal photo prints, and canvas prints.

Drinkware and Hard Goods like mugs, tumblers, water bottles, coasters, mousepads and door mats.

Gifts and Specialty Items like ornaments, photo tiles, custom signs, license plates, promotional products, and baby onesies.

The key limitation? Most POD products work best with specific materials. For instance, Pic The Gift produces products via sublimation printing, which requires polyester fabrics or polymer-coated surfaces and produces incredibly durable, vibrant, photorealistic results. Different printing methods have different material requirements, which is why choosing an experienced manufacturing partner matters. They know which printing method works best for which product.

Why Businesses Choose Print on Demand

Zero Inventory Investment: You don’t need thousands of dollars sitting in unsold inventory. You don’t need warehouse space. You don’t need to guess which sizes or colors will sell. You pay for products only after your customer has already paid you.

Low Financial Risk: Traditional retail requires buying inventory in bulk and hoping it sells. With POD, if a design doesn’t resonate with customers, you haven’t lost money on unsold stock. You can test new designs, pivot quickly, and experiment without financial consequences.

Scalability: Whether you get one order or one hundred orders in a day, your manufacturing partner handles it. You’re not limited by how much inventory you can afford to carry or how much space you have to store products. We take on those challenges.

Product Variety Without Complexity: Want to offer 50 different designs across 10 different products? That’s 500 unique SKUs in traditional retail, requiring massive inventory investment. With POD, it’s just designs in a digital catalog. Your customers get choice, and you’re able to offer this without complexity.

Focus on What You Do Best: You’re a designer, a marketer, and a brand builder. That’s what gets you up in the morning (that, and coffee). We don’t want you to have to become an expert in manufacturing, quality control, inventory management, and shipping logistics. That’s what we’re here for. POD lets you focus on your strengths and do what you enjoy. 

Global Reach, Local Fulfillment: Many POD manufacturers have multiple facilities or partnerships that allow them to produce and ship products closer to your customers. Pic The Gift has two facilities in St. Louis, MO, in the middle of the United States. This means faster delivery times and lower shipping costs, and you don’t have to manage multiple vendors.

The Real Talk: Challenges of Print on Demand

POD has trade-offs, and understanding them upfront helps you make better decisions.

You’re Dependent on Your Manufacturing Partner: When you choose POD, your brand’s reputation depends on someone else’s production quality, shipping speed, and customer service. If Pic The Gift ships late, makes quality mistakes, or drops the ball in any way, your customers blame you.

That’s why choosing the right partner is everything. Look for manufacturers with proven track records, transparent communication, quality control systems, and the capacity to scale with you.

Longer Fulfillment Times Than Amazon: Your customers might be used to Amazon Prime’s two-day shipping – even same-day shipping! POD products take longer because they’re made to order. Production time (the time to actually manufacture the item) plus shipping time means your customers are typically waiting 5-10 business days, sometimes longer for international orders.

The solution? Set clear expectations. Be upfront about production times on your product pages, and choose a manufacturing partner who is fast and reliable. Your thorough and accurate communication can prevent disappointed customers. Your business (with the help of Pic The Gift) is providing a 1-of-1 custom product that your customer won’t be able to get anywhere else. That is worth the wait.

Lower Profit Margins Than Bulk Manufacturing: When you buy 1,000 coffee mugs at once, your per-unit cost is lower than producing one mug at a time. POD manufacturing costs more per item, which means your profit margins are tighter.

You make up for this with zero inventory risk and the ability to offer more variety and infinite customization. It’s a trade-off: lower per-unit profits but no capital tied up in unsold stock and  you’re selling your customer a product they can’t get anywhere else.

Quality Control Happens at a Distance: You’re not inspecting products before they ship, because with dropshipping, you never see the final product. Your manufacturing partner needs to do that quality inspection. This means you need a partner with rigorous quality control processes, the transparency to tell you when something goes wrong, and the ability to quickly replace any mismade items.

Limited Customization Control: You’re working within the product catalog and capabilities your manufacturer offers. Want a specific fabric blend or a unique product they don’t carry? That’s more difficult to accommodate in the POD model.

Print on Demand vs. Other Business Models

POD vs. Traditional Wholesale: With traditional retail, you buy 500 units for $10 each ($5,000 investment), hope they sell, and are forced to deal with storage and fulfillment. With POD, you pay $15 per unit only after your customer buys. Zero upfront investment, zero inventory risk, but higher per-unit costs.

POD vs. DIY Production: With DIY, you buy equipment, materials, and handle production yourself. This offers you maximum control, but requires significant time and capital investment. With POD, your manufacturer handles production. You have less control, but you’re running a business instead of running a print shop.

POD vs. Standard Dropshipping: With standard dropshipping, you sell existing products from a supplier’s catalog. You’re competing with everyone else selling the same products, and there’s little opportunity to customize the products for your customer. With POD, you sell 1-of-1 customized products with your unique designs. Your products are differentiated because they’re yours, and really, once the customer puts their child’s name on a blanket or baby swaddle, the product is now theirs.

What Makes a Good POD Manufacturing Partner?

If you’re considering POD for your business, your manufacturing partner will make or break your success. Here’s what matters:

Production Quality and Consistency: Vibrant colors, durable prints, and products that look as good in real life as they do on your website are the non-negotiables. Ask for samples. Read reviews from other business owners, or ask to speak with the manufacturer’s current customers. Don’t assume all manufacturers are equal (we are not!).

On-Time Fulfillment Rate: Late shipments kill customer satisfaction. You don’t want to receive angry emails from customers and not be sure what to tell them. Look for manufacturers who publish their on-time metrics and hold themselves accountable.

Communication and Transparency: When issues arise, you need a manufacturing partner who tells you immediately and works with you to solve problems. Radio silence is not an option.

Real Human Support: Automated systems are fine, but when you need help with a complex order or have a question about capabilities, talking to an actual human being who understands manufacturing and cares about your business makes all the difference.

Capacity to Scale: Can your manufacturer handle your growth? If you go from 100 orders a month to 1,000, will they keep up? Will quality stay consistent?

U.S.-Based vs. Overseas Manufacturing: This matters more than many businesses realize. U.S.-based manufacturers typically offer faster shipping to U.S. customers, easier communication (same time zones, no language barriers), and more consistent quality control. Overseas manufacturing can maybe save money per unit but often comes with longer shipping times, potential customs delays, suboptimal customer service, and more complex logistics.

Is Print on Demand Right for Your Business?

POD works exceptionally well for:

• Online sellers on Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, and other platforms who want to offer customized products. Keep in mind: 81% of consumers prefer to work with a company that offers a personalized experience.
• Designers and artists who want to monetize their work without managing inventory
• Entrepreneurs testing business ideas without major upfront investment
• Established brands expanding into custom merchandise without new infrastructure
• Businesses that value variety over rock-bottom per-unit costs
• Nighttime entrepreneurs who are starting a business while maintaining a day job

POD might not be the best fit if:

• You’re selling commodity products without customization (standard dropshipping might be better)
• You need the absolute highest profit margins and can afford bulk inventory investment
• Your products require extremely fast fulfillment (next-day shipping)
• You need complete control over every aspect of production and shipping

The Bottom Line

In our opinion, print on demand is not a passive business and not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a legitimate business model that trades slightly higher per-unit costs for customized products, zero inventory risk, and operational simplicity.

The success of your POD business comes down to three things: great designs that resonate with customers, effective marketing that drives traffic to your store, and a manufacturing partner you can actually trust to deliver quality products on time, every time.

Choosing a manufacturing partner is where a lot of POD businesses struggle. Maybe you’re just starting out in this business, so how do you know who’s a good manufacturer and who isn’t? It’s not an easy choice.

The best POD partnerships are the ones where the manufacturing is so reliable, consistent, and thoroughly handled that you can focus entirely on growing your business instead of worrying about fulfillment.

POD can be your competitive advantage, and Pic The Gift is here to help. As your manufacturer, we’ll consistently maintain on-time fulfillment and order accuracy rates over 99%. With 14 years of print on demand experience, we’re here to help you take your business to the next level. Please feel free to reach out and learn more about how we partner with businesses just like yours.