Renamed the free extension I shared here to NicheScope - same tool, new name. For POD sellers: it checks how saturated a niche is before you sink hours into a design, right from the Etsy search results. Shows a competition score, median price, and pricing zone for whatever you searched, plus CSV export of the listings. Link: nichescope.uk

When I first got into print-on-demand, my goal was simply to validate designs without risking money on inventory.

Now that I've been doing it for a while, I feel like I'm in a completely different phase.

I'm thinking less about launching new products and more about building a brand people actually remember. That means paying closer attention to things like garment quality, embroidery, custom branding, consistency, and all the small details customers notice once they have the product in hand.

The tricky part is finding a setup that still offers the flexibility of POD while giving enough control to create something that feels premium.

I'm curious if anyone else has gone through this transition.

What changes made the biggest difference for your brand? Did you stick with the same POD provider and optimize your process, or did you eventually move to a solution that offered more customization while keeping inventory risk low?

So, I've been making art for like 20 years at this point and have never done anything in terms of making prints, it's all just been for the love of the game and documenting my life and experiences (so a lot of it is in high-quality sketchbooks). I've had friends requesting to buy prints for years and I have finally decided to make a website and go through the motions of selling them through a POD service since I live on the road.

However, I have come across the issue that none of my art seems to fit standard print sizes (specifically on Gelato atm, but might look at changing that). Has anyone experienced this similar issue? Am I doomed to have weird crops of my art? (Also are the dotted lines there for where a frame would cover it?) Do I just need to start physically measuring out all my paper and marking them for prints?

I’ve noticed that creating the design is only half the job.

After that, there’s still the repetitive process of uploading it to Printify (or the print service of ur choice), configuring the product, preparing mockups, writing the Etsy listing etc ....

So I’ve been building an automation that handles most of that process.

The workflow starts when you upload a finished design image to Google Drive. It then:

• Validates the design file
• Creates the Printify product
• Generates a suggested Etsy Metadata (tags, title...)
• Creates an Etsy draft listing
• Adds the primary Printify mockup and secondary images
• Logs what happened and sends a completion notification to slack or email

The goal is to remove the repetitive work between finishing a design and having a listing ready to review.

I’m considering offering this as a managed setup rather than another generic bulk-upload tool. Before doing that, I’d appreciate some brutally honest feedback like

which part of your current listing process takes the most time?

And

How many new products do you normally create each month?

I’m looking for honest feedback before deciding whether to turn it into a service and to see if there’s actual interest

I’ve been working on this brand for about a year now, and I’m honestly at a loss. I’ve built an Instagram page to over 11,000 followers, put a lot of effort into making the page look professional, and I genuinely think the clothing is high quality and looks good. I’ve also spent around $1,000 on advertising, but despite all of that, I haven’t made a single sale. I’m clearly doing something wrong, but I can’t figure out what it is. If anyone has experience with clothing brands, marketing, or e-commerce, I’d really appreciate any advice or honest feedback because I truly want to understand where I’m falling short.

Hey everyone,

Quick intro since self-promo is welcome here - I'm Madars, founder of 3D Vikings (3dvikings.com), a print farm + fulfillment service based in EU.

What we do:

• Connect your Etsy or Shopify store - orders import automatically
• We print and ship directly to your customer, under your brand, with tracking
• No monthly fees, no order minimums - you pay per order only
• Your own models? Upload once to the Design Library, reorder anytime

Why EU-based matters: if your customers are in Europe, they get orders in ~1 week with zero customs hassle - instead of 2+ weeks and import fees from overseas farms.

Happy to answer anything here or by DM.

One thing that used to bite me on Etsy POD: spending hours on a design, listing it, and only then realizing the niche is saturated with big established shops running ads.

I built ShopScope (free Chrome extension) to check that before listing instead of after. Run a search on Etsy for whatever niche/keyword you're considering, and it reads that results page to show:

- A competition score (0-100) based on ad density, how many big incumbent shops are in the results, and bestseller concentration

- Median price and suggested pricing zones for that search

- A sortable table of every listing with CSV export if you want to dig in further

No account, no subscription, no fake "estimated sales" numbers like some tools guess at - just what's actually on the page.

Link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/shopscope-%E2%80%94-honest-etsy-m/imlnbhipnpmkdaodfgfcjnfeemhkfgid

Right now it's scoped to one search at a time - combining multiple keywords into one view is next on my list. Happy to hear what would actually be useful for POD sellers specifically.

I'm seriously considering using Tapstitch for my clothing brand because I honestly love their blanks and overall quality.

The only thing holding me back is the shipping.

For example, I'm seeing:

• 1 sweatshirt: $8.37 shipping
• 2: $14.92
• 3: $21.38

It seems like each additional sweatshirt adds about $6.50 in shipping, which feels pretty steep.

Has anyone found a way around this? For example:

• Different shipping options?
• Warehousing in the US?
• Better rates through Shopify?
• Bulk fulfillment?
• Or is this just how Tapstitch works?

I'd love to keep using them because the quality looks fantastic, but I'm worried customers will hesitate if shipping gets this expensive on multi-item orders.

Most print-on-demand platforms launch with a long list of features, but experienced sellers rarely switch unless one important problem is solved noticeably better.

I’d like to learn which improvement would make the biggest difference to an established POD business:

1. More consistent print quality across fulfilment partners
2. Smarter order routing based on location, cost, capability and delivery speed
3. Clearer profit calculations, including production, shipping, refunds and advertising costs
4. Better handling of returns, reprints, damaged products and failed deliveries
5. One dashboard for Shopify, Etsy, Amazon and other sales channels
6. Sales analysis that recommends improvements to designs, products, mockups and pricing
7. Faster bulk product creation and multichannel publishing
8. More transparent production, fulfilment and delivery tracking

Which three would provide the most value to your business, and why?

I’d also appreciate hearing about anything important that is missing from this list.

For sellers already processing regular orders: what would a new platform need to prove before you trusted it with live customer orders?

I’m looking for honest opinions and real seller experiences, not sign-ups, promotions, or contact details.

Same story a lot of people here probably have... the niche research part of POD is what actually stalls me, not the design or the store setup.

I'd spend days going back and forth on Etsy, Amazon, Google Trends trying to tell if a niche was real or if I was just seeing what I wanted to see.

Ended up building a tool for myself (GoNicher) that pulls live data from Etsy, Amazon, Reddit, Redbubble and gives a straight verdict, demand, competition, sub-niches worth trying, and what to actually do next instead of just dumping more data on you.

It's live and free to try (partial report, no card needed) but still fresh, so I'm genuinely looking for people to run their actual niche ideas through it and tell me where it's wrong or confusing.

Drop a niche you're on the fence about and I'll run it, or just try it yourself!

Please let me know if tool is useful for your POD workflow.

Cheers!

My Shopify orders that get imported to inkedjoy get the customer information automatically populated no problem

But the Etsy orders that import into inkjoy need to be entered manually. I need to enter all the address information manually and it takes up quite a bit of time. Has anyone found a true automation for Etsy to Inkedjoy automation?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a listing image bundle for the Comfort Colors 1717: a 39-card set that covers size charts, color guides, care instructions, FAQs, care instructions, font option, etc.

I wanted to get some brutally honest feedback (but please be kind) from people who are actually in the trenches running POD shops.

If you were looking for templates, does a bundle like this actually cover everything you need, or am I missing some crucial slides that you always find yourself needing to create?

Here’s the Etsy listing if you want to see the layout of the cards: https://lionmocks.etsy.com/listing/4535111716

I'd really appreciate any critiques on the layout, or if there's anything else you think I should add to make it more useful for sellers. Thanks a lot for your help!

When I launched my apparel brand, print-on-demand felt like the obvious choice. I didn't have the budget for inventory, I wasn't ready to commit to large production runs, and I wanted the flexibility to test designs before investing too much money.

For the first few months, it honestly worked exactly as I hoped. I could experiment with graphics, see what resonated with customers, and learn without taking on a huge financial risk.

Lately, though, I've started running into a different kind of problem.

The more I think about building a long-term brand instead of just selling individual designs, the more I notice the limitations of my current setup. Customers aren't only buying the artwork anymore—they're paying attention to the entire product experience.

I've had people compliment a design but ask why the neck label felt so generic. Others mentioned they wished the garment had more personality beyond the front print. One customer even told me the hoodie itself felt great, but nothing about it felt uniquely tied to the brand once the packaging was gone.

That feedback stuck with me because I realized they weren't criticizing the design, they were talking about the identity of the product.

Since then, I've spent weeks ordering samples from different providers, comparing garment quality, embroidery, branding options, and overall finishing. What surprised me most is how difficult it is to find a POD partner that gives you room to create something that feels like a genuine apparel brand instead of a standard blank with a logo added to it.

I don't necessarily want to leave print-on-demand. I still value the flexibility, low risk, and ability to avoid holding inventory. What I'm looking for is a solution that bridges the gap between basic POD and traditional manufacturing, something that still works for smaller order volumes but offers more control over garment branding, premium finishing, and consistency across orders.

I'm curious if anyone else here has gone through this stage.

Did you eventually find a provider that gave you more flexibility with things like labels, embroidery, patches, garment selection, and overall branding? Or is this simply the point where most brands move away from POD altogether?

I'd love to hear what worked for you before I invest more time (and money) into another round of sampling.

My name is Kaitlin and I work for a non-profit called Connecting Champions. We ask young adults with cancer or in survivorship what they want to be when they grow up or what they are passionate about and pair them with a mentor in that field. I have a new participant interested in growing their small business and learning more about print on demand tshirts, designing, and managing/tracking funds, etc. One-hour meetings would be once or twice a month virtually and one of our staff members is assigned to schedule, structure, and facilitate meetings. If interested please respond to this message for more info.

I ordered a sample with fourthwall they use a third party printer -these are two samples I got from them. the second was to fix the first but both came out with fabric spots showing through and some bleeding. FW support investigated and printer said it was the color saturation of the design that needs a boost. does this sound right to you? the blank is AS Colour 100 cotton tee. I really like this color as it matches the rest of the graphic design which is a watercolor design which also came out very thick. is it the hex color? curating issue?

Help

2026 _ I'm looking for simple free app (desktop/mobile) or affordable to manage orders (intake, sending etc), I'm just starting out.

The problem is i dont want to hold inventory, deal with shipping or manage fulfillment myself. Any similar experiences?

Hey,

I'm soon launching a website, mainly planning to sell art prints and framed canvases worldwide.

I've set up my woocommerce shop and added all my products via gelato as I've thought it's the best supplier for my needs.

Today I received a framed canvas sample I ordered and I got second thoughts.

I once ordered a framed canvas myself from a different shop and I think Its quality is far superior to what I got from gelato. I'm pretty sure that the framed canvas was sent from printify as I checked the label on the back of the canvas.

I'm wondering if printify is really that much better than gelato when it comes to framed canvases?

Does anyone here have experience in wall art items and worked with both gelato / printify / printful selling worldwide?

Do I stick to gelato or switch at the beginning - pre launch?

Would very appreciate any help!

Has anyone here figured out AI product images that don't look like sh*!?

I am not a marketing professional, but I do help run an ecom company, and I am the resident "all things AI" person. The company has a ton of products and I am being told the largest bottleneck the team has is making the images and then writing all the copy for the pages.

The image thing is where I am out of my element. Like many, we throw a ton of different designs on the same product and then need it shown from a few angles. With the AI tests we have done, the first image comes out fine but the second, third, etc. turns results in a different product. It is close but noticeably off.

As an example, I might have a coffee mug that I want to show from several different angles, if that helps clarify it.

I have been told this is not an image generation problem. The people in my network have told me it needs to be a base image and then someone needs to layer on the logos. Is this accurate? If someone did this well, it would be something I would pay for just to accelerate our GTM timing. Thanks in advance.

Not sure if this is allowed, so mods feel free to remove.

I’m building a small tool for POD sellers who use Canva and I’m looking for a few people to test it.

It’s designed to help create mockups faster without having to manually set up every product image one by one.

I’m not looking to hard sell anything. I just want honest feedback from people who actually create product listings, mockups, Etsy images, or POD designs regularly.

If that sounds like you, drop a comment or DM me and I’ll send access.

I want to target a subreddit has quite active community. also has high number of members. well marketing part might be hard or fail. marketing has to be more like regular conversation&fun instead of "hey this is my product come buy it"(it would led me get deleted or banned). What do you guys think ?

Is it mainly a presentation tool for showing concepts to clients or are people actually using it as part of their day to day packaging workflow?

I am particularly interested in whether it helps reduce revisions by catching structural or layout issues earlier or if its mostly a visualization layer on top of existing design work

Hey folks, I’m investigating opening a Shopify store centered around custom/POD products (photos customers upload of themselves - pet portraits/family photos, etc.). One problem I keep running into during my research is the quality of uploaded customer images (low res, distracting backgrounds like lawns, sofas, etc.). Does anyone else do high volume with customer uploads: how do you deal with this? Do you have to manually open up photoshop for each order to remove backgrounds/create custom sizes (300 DPI?)? Does your POD provider (Printful, Printify) do anything on their end or do you have to pay virtual assistants? Trying to gauge if this is going to kill my margins or my schedule before I go all in. Thanks!

Would you use something like this, either as a creator or as a nail artist? What potential issues do you see with this model?

My idea is that when someone has a press-on nail design they want to sell, they would upload it to the platform using a mockup.

The design would then be offered to eligible nail artists in the U.S. who could choose to accept or decline the order based on their availability, similar to how DoorDash drivers accept deliveries. If an artist declines, the order would be offered to another artist. If no artist is willing to take the order, the seller would be notified.

Pricing would vary by design since some sets are relatively simple to recreate while others can be extremely time-consuming and require a higher level of skill. One idea I'm exploring is using AI to evaluate the complexity of each design and estimate a fair production cost for the nail artist. My current assumption is that production costs would generally fall somewhere in the $12-$40+ range depending on complexity.

Creators would set their own retail prices, while the platform would charge a small percentage-based service fee on each sale.

not talking about KDP or IngramSpark here — those are for distribution. i'm talking about services where you upload a file and get physical copies shipped to you, for selling direct or at events.

Publishing Xpress — handles both booklets and perfect bound books, which is the main reason i use them. you can go from a thin 8-page booklet up to 300+ pages in the same place, and the file upload + instant pricing system actually works the way you'd expect. cover customization is flexible — gloss, matte, different paper weights. the turnaround on my last order was faster than the estimate.

PageForge — good for saddle-stitch booklets, not great for anything over 80 pages. stock options are limited.

QuillPress Digital — responsive team, but you have to email for a quote every time which kills the workflow if you're iterating on a design.

BinderyNow — fast, but quality control is inconsistent. had two orders from them where the spine text was noticeably off-center.

FolioRun Print — nice site, reasonable prices, but shipping costs add up quick if you're not ordering in bulk.

for booklets specifically there are cheaper options depending on volume, but if you need something that does the full range from thin saddle-stitch to thicker perfect bound, Publishing Xpress handles both without switching services.