5 Things You Should Know BEFORE Using Printify
Having a multiple six figure Etsy store has really given me some solid experiences on how it is working with a print on demand partner like Printify. So in this article I'll go over the five things that I think anyone should know before they use Printify. Let's get into it.
5 Things you NEED to know before selling on Printify
Double Check Your Orders (Check Automatic Approval Setting)
The first and most important thing that I think anyone should know when it comes to Printify is that if one or more variations in an order has been pushed through from Etsy to Printify, it won't be synced.
Let's say for instance that you have a sweatshirt in an "XL" and a sweatshirt in an "L" and that both have been purchased by a customer. If the "XL" is only synced to Printify, then only the "XL" will actually be pushed on to Printify.
At least that's how it is now in 2024. If one of the variations is missing from the order within Printify, it will still either get pushed through if you have automatic orders on or if you have manual submissions like I do, then it will not show up within the order itself.
So what I do is that I always double check my orders before I push them through. I have an automatic approval setting so that they all go out after a certain time. This is also really beneficial if you live abroad from the us which I do, as they will all just be one transaction on your bank account instead of multiple small ones.
But one of the biggest benefits when it comes to that we can actually just check the orders before they go through to make sure that none of the orders are actually missing a variation tidbit to that.
I've talked a lot about custom listings on my Blog. A lot of my orders are coming up in the "Other Orders" tab. If you do custom listings as well, then I really recommend using a manual approval setting or automatic approval at a certain time. I always at least have to go through all my orders and lots of orders are coming up in the "Other Orders" tab.
So it's just important to know that if one more variations are in synced from Printify to Etsy and that just means that the skew on Printify is put on the listing on Etsy. If those are two aren't connected, then only the connected ones will actually show up in the order and it can actually even be pushed through one that's not synced.
Stock Issues
The other thing that I think everybody should know when it comes to using a Print on demand partner like Printify is that a Q4 is really wild. That also means that stock issues happen. That means That I always have my like hierarchy of print on demand providers that I always tend to use.
So when it comes to my sweatshirts for instance I always tend to use either Swift Pod, Monster Digital or Awkward Styles. And every print provider that's on Printify is a separate company that's just attached to the site on Printify.
And that also means that there are different companies that all do the production of our apparel like our sweatshirts. All of them work differently and have different quality standards.
So those three all different my go tos and I always tend to use them if something goes out of stock. But mainly Swift Pod and Monster Digital and Awkward Styles as a third.
Saved Replies
Another thing that's also really important to know having like saved replies on Etsy to just know that let people customer choose another color if it's not a color that's out of stock is usually a great way to fast track communication on Etsy when out of stock issues happen on Printify.
Printful Has more International Supplier Options
Another thing that's really important to know is that Printify doesn't have that many international suppliers. So I definitely think the Printful is better here.
When I've ordered samples for myself here in Sweden, I've always used Printful as the print provide providers with Printful is using the same routines it's another the same brand.
I've always felt that Printful is definitely a better choice when it comes to international orders. Though I haven't really done many international orders except for my own home country of Sweden. But I definitely would tend to use Printful if I do that.
Apart from that, I also feel that there's a lot of trust to be built when it comes to print provider. But the quality works that if something goes wrong we can fix that. And I just know that Printful always have the same routines whereas different companies that work with Printify have different routines.
So I always tend to use Printful when it comes to international orders, when it comes to Swedish orders basically because I don't sell internationally except for samples that I have bought for myself in Sweden.
Price Increase
Another thing that's really important is that price increases might seem small when those happen. But it's really important to just count these in percentages as like $2 for instance can be a super high price increase because if something for instance goes up $2 on a sweatshirt and we don't change our prices, that means that we will lose $2 on every order that are made for that specific product category.
I always count these in percentages and whenever a price changes happens I just make sure that I'm within the 30 to 40% gross margin so that everything works good for me and if I'm not I just raise it so I'm within the 30 to 40% gross margin.
It's just important to count these in percentages and not by the number itself. It might seem small when we look see like one or two dollar increase in price but in percentage wise that can be super huge.
So, let's say that we sell a break even shirt Sweatshirt using Swift Pod then that cost $21.86, I've already counted this out so what the cost is if we use break even pricing for instance and now that means that we can cover our break even cost which means that we will most likely go into the red.
I just be really mindful of price increases and whenever we need to up it, I always at least count this in percentages. When it comes to profit pricing, at least a 30 to 40% margin or a breakeven pricing. When it comes to breakeven pricing, two to four dollar margin not a percentage on the break even pricing. And to do this in bulk I usually use a software called Vela.
Always Have A Back Up Provider
The last thing that I really recommend that anyone have when it comes to before we go using Print on Demand basically, is that I think anyone should have a backup. And especially during Q4, things have always kind of run out at least once or twice during every Q4 that I've been a part of.
I've always turned to Printful as my backup provider. So whenever like a color has gone out of stock, I've gone to those first. Then once I can't really fulfill anything, I always ask the customer for a like a color change or something like that. But Printful has been my solid backup when it comes to a backup print provider.
The most important thing is that having it all set up with you like for instance, I live in Sweden, so I have my account set up with my VAT certificate set up just ready good to go to fulfill orders when times are tight. So during Q4, things have to go out fast to just make sure that we hit some deadlines. And just having that all set up before like Q4 Hits has really served me very well.
However, it's just important to know that Printful is more expensive, but it's still a solid option when it comes to backup. And I've always felt that it's better to just push something through on Printful rather than losing the sale, as the sale still grows the shop. And if we just lose some margin, then it's not that big of a deal compared to just canceling an order.
Conclusion:
Alright, so we just covered five things that I think anyone should know before they start using Printify. If there's anything that you'd like me to cover next, just drop a comment down below and I'll do my best to help out.
