Extensive Instructions For Selling Amazon On Demand Printing

The comprehensive instructions in this article will take you step-by-step through setting up your print business on Amazon, from the initial signup process to optimizing listings for sales.

Key Takeaways

• Setting up Printful and Amazon follows a standardized process of account creation, design, connection, optimization, and automated order routing for easy POD sales.
• While Amazon’s Merch by Amazon platform offers the benefit of selling through a significant marketplace,  third-party POD companies may provide more flexibility than Merch.

How to sell POD products on the Amazon platform?

Setting up print-on-demand (POD) products for sale on Amazon is a fairly straightforward process. There are just a few essential requirements, such as selecting a POD service provider and creating a seller account on the Amazon marketplace. 

However, once those initial setup tasks are complete, much of the ongoing work of managing your POD products on Amazon tends to proceed smoothly.

There are two main types of seller accounts you can create on Amazon: the individual plan and the professional plan. It’s essential to understand their differences before deciding which one to use for your print-on-demand business:

• The Individual account is the most basic type of Amazon account available. It’s free to set up and perfect for those just starting or experimenting with low-volume product sales.
• The Professional account does require paying monthly fees, but it provides more advantageous features and capabilities that enable higher sales volumes. This service allows seamless integration between your Amazon seller account and other tools in your business ecosystem.

Implement Merch by Amazon for POD selling

After preparing the Amazon account, you will need a POD supplier. Depending on your preferences, you can choose either internal or external POD suppliers. You may want to consider utilizing Amazon’s proprietary print-on-demand solution, Merch by Amazon, which was launched in 2015.

How to get involved in Amazon Merch

The first step to get involved with Merch by Amazon’s print-on-demand service is to ensure you are approved. You must apply to Amazon to be accepted as a seller on their Merch platform. The application process involves filling out a form with personal details like your bank account, routing number, contact number, and tax identification number. 

Once submitted, it can take 3 weeks to an entire year for Amazon to review your application and grant approval.

After being approved, you can upload your own original artwork and design files to offer on a wide variety of product types. Merch by Amazon allows sellers to create custom designs for clothing items like t-shirts, hoodies, leggings, and more. They handle all storage, printing, shipping, and customer service so sellers can focus on design creation.

Who is getting support with Amazon Merch 

Amazon is very selective about which companies they are willing to support and offer assistance to. As a large, profitable business, Amazon’s primary goal is to make money. Therefore, the companies that Amazon prioritizes helping are those they believe will also help Amazon’s own profit.

After an Amazon Merch seller achieves their first 10 sales, they will enter a tiered system to advance to higher levels that allow for more design uploads as their sales performance improves.

Getting involved with and succeeding on the Merch by Amazon platform can be quite intricate, as there are numerous guidelines and stipulations that sellers must follow, such as:

• Copyright and Trademark Check: Before uploading any artwork or design files, sellers should check the copyright and trademark databases to ensure their work does not infringe on anyone else’s intellectual property.
• Follow Sizing Guidelines: Amazon has specific design sizing requirements to ensure graphics transfer properly onto different product types during printing.
• Prove Sales Ability: Merch sellers start at the lowest tier and must meet monthly sales quotas to demonstrate sales performance before being upgraded to a higher tier.

5 Alternative POD selling suppliers besides Merch by Amazon

Teespring

Teespring is the excellent POD solution that offers integration with Amazon, making it very easy to get your products on Amazon.

Main features

• Wide range of product options: Teespring offers over 30 products, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, phone cases, wall art, pillows, bags, and more. There are also products for home goods like wall art, pillows, blankets, clocks, and mugs. 
• Customizable designs: The mockup generator is one of Teespring’s most potent tools. It allows sellers to customize their designs by choosing from thousands of layouts. Designs can be dragged and dropped onto mockups quickly.
• Automatic Fulfillment: Teespring’s automatic fulfillment system takes over after launching a campaign. They directly print, pack, and ship products to customers from their warehouses worldwide.
• Built-in Analytics: Teespring provides insightful analytics and reports within the platform. Sellers can track key metrics like total sales, individual product sales, referrals, average order value, and moreover, different periods.

One minor current limitation is that sellers cannot set competitive prices when selling products through Teespring on Amazon. Instead, they have to rely on the default pricing provided by the platform integration.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent Range of Products: Teespring partners with multiple vendors to provide a vast catalog of product options for sellers. This includes over 30 types of apparel, accessories, home goods, and more.
• Very Informative Mockup Generator: The mockup generator is a powerful and user-friendly tool. It provides highly detailed and realistic previews of how designs will look on different products.
• Convenient Connection with Amazon: Teespring seamlessly syncs product listings to Amazon with just a few clicks.
• Lots of Design Choices: Through the mockup generator, sellers have unlimited control over the design creation process. They can leverage thousands of layouts, photographs, fonts, and more for their Merch.

Cons

• Complicated to Set Up: While Teespring strives to provide user-friendly tools, setting up the entire selling operation through the platform can still be intricate for newcomers.
• Limited control over margins: Sellers cannot set their own prices and must work within Teespring’s pricing schema.
• High minimum order quantities (MOQ): Campaigns typically need 25-50 units sold to reach the MOQ, which can be difficult without a large audience/following.
• Fulfillment delays: Meeting the MOQ takes time, so it may be 2-4 weeks before orders are printed and shipped to buyers.
• Teespring fees: They take 15-25% of each sale price as their fee. Margins can be thin after production costs.

Who is it for?

Since Teespring does not charge the creator additional fees, it can provide a reasonable platform for many businesses. It provides an easy way for those skilled in design but new to business/e-commerce to sell their creations without upfront costs or overhead.

Moreover, Teespring is also suitable for those wanting to supplement other income through a side gig or testing a new venture can get started simply through Teespring, those with targeted niches or seasonal products in mind find a good fit creating customized merch for specific audiences.

And finally, it is well-suited for those wanting to sell POD products via Amazon without warehousing or shipping products.

Printful

Main features

• Wide Product Selection: Printful offers a large selection of products that can be customized, including apparel, accessories, home goods, phone cases, posters, and more.
• Customization Options: Printful allows sellers to customize their products with different designs, images, colors, text, and more using their mockup generator.
• Automatic Fulfillment: When an order comes in from a sales channel like Amazon, Printful will automatically receive the order details and fulfill it themselves.
• Integrations: Printful integrates easily with platforms like Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, and more. Sellers can set up their Printful account once and list products on multiple channels without duplicating work.
• Mockups: Printful’s mockup generator lets sellers see exactly how their design will look on a product before listing it.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent range of great products: Printful offers a wide variety of products that can be customized, including apparel, accessories, home goods, and more.
• Easy to use: Printful integrates directly with Amazon through a simple connection process. Sellers can automatically sync their Printful product listings, and orders will be sent to Printful for fulfillment.
• Convenient mockup generator: The mockup generator allows sellers to easily design their products virtually by uploading and previewing designs.

Cons

• Require Amazon Professional Seller account: While Printful integration is straightforward, to list and sell Printful products through Amazon, sellers need to have an Amazon Professional Seller account.
• Pricing: While competitive, Printful product and shipping costs can increase, especially for lower-priced items. Sellers need to factor this into their pricing.
• Production Time: It can take 1-3 weeks between order placement and customer delivery. Sellers need to manage customer expectations.
• Limited Customization Options: Not as customizable as DIY print solutions. Designs are restricted to Printful’s template options.

Who is it for?

Printful would be best suited for sellers who want to sell customized print-on-demand products across multiple sales channels like Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, etc. Also, businesses are looking to offer a wide variety of high-quality customized products without needing to manufacture anything.

Moreover, Printful is appropriate with companies that plan to seriously focus on Amazon sales as one of their primary sales channels. They want to devote their time to design, marketing, and sales rather than fulfillment logistics and value vital customer service. 

Shopify / Amazon integration with Teelaunch

Main features

• Versatility: Shopify allows you to build your own online store on your own domain, giving you more flexibility and control over your brand compared to just selling on marketplaces.
• App integration: Shopify has an extensive app marketplace that allows you to link directly to POD solutions like Teelaunch through apps. It also has apps to connect to other sales channels like Amazon.
• Customization: By having your own Shopify store, you have more control over designing your brand identity and customizing things like themes, product pages, checkout processes, etc, compared to just listing on marketplaces.
• Multi-channel sales: In addition to your own Shopify store, you can use the Shopify/Amazon integration app to simultaneously sell your products on Amazon, reaching more customers across channels.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent for building a marketable brand: Building a Shopify store allows you to fully control your brand identity, logo, colors, messaging, etc.
• Good connectivity with other apps: Shopify has a large app marketplace that integrates with many other platforms and services.
• Extend your sales opportunities: Besides an online store, the integrations allow selling on other channels like Amazon marketplaces.
• Decent range of product options: POD services connected through apps like Teelaunch provide a good selection of product types that can be customized and sold.

Cons

• Expensive to get started: Setting up a Shopify store requires monthly subscription fees starting from $29. Integrated apps have additional costs.
• No Prime eligibility: Products sold through Shopify on Amazon will not qualify for Prime labels and faster shipping timelines.
• Shipping Costs: As the merchant, you are responsible for shipping costs to customers rather than having the marketplace cover it.
• Payment Fees: Shopify charges a percentage per transaction as payment processing and gateway fees.

Who is it for?

Shopify is well-suited for businesses that want to craft a unique brand image and message, as the platform offers robust tools and customization options that allow entrepreneurs to build and promote their brand identity strategically.

Specifically, Shopify appeals to entrepreneurial startups and owners who value having autonomy over critical aspects of their online venture, such as website design, marketing messaging, product offerings, and strategic direction, rather than ceding control by solely relying on marketplace platforms. 

Entrepreneurs who prioritize autonomy in managing their company’s visual presentation, communications, product inventory, and overall direction may prefer Shopify over marketplace-centric models. 

Also, Shopify provides a viable option for startup businesses specializing in niche product categories or custom audiences.

Printify

Main features

• Wide range of products: Printify offers a wide range of garments and products to choose from for custom designs, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, dresses, accessories, etc.
• Printing options: It provides various printing options like sublimation, cut-and-sew, embroidery, etc.
• Global shipping: Printify allows shipping products to locations around the world, giving it a broad reach.
• Premium plan: It offers a premium plan for scaling businesses, allowing a 20% discount on order prices.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Various app collections: Shopify’s app store contains thousands of extensions that help enhance store features and functionality.
• Versatile app connections: Shopify allows for strong linking between apps through its extensive integrations directory. 
• Well-structured tiered plans: Shopify caters to businesses of varying scales through a tiered subscription model, providing basic features for small startups and expanded tools tailored for large enterprises seeking to optimize complex operations.

Cons

• Monthly subscription fees: Even the basic Shopify plan has monthly fees, and costs increase with premium plans. This creates recurring costs.
• Reliance on third-party apps: Functionality depends on third-party apps that can change pricing or go out of business.
• Inflexible contracts: Plans lock sellers into long-term contracts versus one-time hosting fees of self-hosted sites.
• Apple restrictions: iOS apps and in-person payments have extra limits compared to self-hosted e-commerce sites.

Who is it for?

The low monthly fees, easy setup, and wide range of features make Shopify ideal for new entrepreneurs and small businesses to get online quickly. Also, its flexibility supports general stores and dropshippers selling many different products across categories and many powerful capabilities like order syncing, POS systems, and multi-store management aid merchants selling through their own site plus marketplaces. 

Finally, Shopify will be a wise option for growing businesses since scalable plans and tools help support more complex workflows and inventory as a store expands sales and staff over time.

RedBubble

Main features

• Multi-channel marketplace integration: It takes a slightly different approach to print on demand compared to other solutions.
• Large product selection options: Artists can design a huge selection of products that RedBubble will produce on demand. There are more than 70 products that designers can choose from.
• Existing audience access: The integration with Amazon Extended Product Business (EBS) allows sellers to list their RedBubble products directly on Amazon. It provides access to RedBubble’s existing marketplace and audience in addition to being able to sell on Amazon. 
• Customization flexibility: It offers features like money-back guarantees, free returns and exchanges for customers.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Wide product selection: Artists have access to a fantastic range of over 70 products for their designs.
• Generous customer policies: Money-back guarantees and free returns/exchanges provide strong customer protection.
• Existing audience reach: Artists can easily find customers browsing Redbubble and through the integration with Amazon.
• Design flexibility: A fantastic range of customization options is available to make products unique.

Cons

• Complex integrations: Figuring out how to master the integration between Amazon and Redbubble can be tricky for some users.
• Delivery delays: Shipping products through Redbubble sometimes takes longer than competitive alternatives.
• Copyright issues: Artists must ensure they have rights to any designs listed. Otherwise, their work could be removed.
• Limited control: As designs are printed on demand, artists have less control over printing quality than print-it-yourself options.

Who is it for?

Redbubble offers a wide range of products that allow for creativity and customization. This appeals to those with artistic skills and designs to sell. The ability to easily list designs across multiple marketplaces lowers the barrier to entry, making Redbubble suitable for those selling as a hobby or secondary income rather than full-time professionals.

Moreover, the range of product options on Redbubble allows sellers to test different items spanning various categories like apparel, home goods, and accessories. This platform works well for those experimenting with diverse products to find the best-selling variations.

Finally, while Redbubble may experience some periodic technical or customer service problems, buyers are still willing to overlook these issues due to the platform’s marketing benefits. Therefore, Redbubble appeals more to sellers with a relaxed, flexible approach and are not overly dependent on immediate response times, as they can better handle potential intermittent issues.

5 Steps to begin selling on Amazon using a 3rd-party POD Company

1. Sign up a POD account

To utilize a print-on-demand service, you must first sign up for an account with your chosen POD provider. While Printful is a popular option, it’s essential to consider other quality alternatives, such as Creaspace and Gearbubble, to ensure low startup fees and high product standards.

2. Form up your products

Once your Printful account is set up, you can design your product artwork. Their mockup generator allows easy drag-and-drop placement of designs onto items. You can customize printing details like location, material, etc. too. 

While you can design independently using tools like Canva, Gimp or Photoshop, hiring freelancers via Upwork or Fiverr is recommended if you lack design skills. Be sure to upload your artwork and thoroughly visualize the product mockups you’ll feature in your online listings. Printful’s generator makes this process straightforward.

3. Make a list of products on Amazon

Once designs are created, the next step is connecting your POD account, such as Printful, to Amazon. For Printful, this linkage is effortless via a button click, automatically syncing products to your Amazon store. 

However, an Amazon GTIN exemption is required first, which waives mandatory barcode purchasing – these exemptions typically process quickly. Alternately, linking to Amazon involves visiting that solution’s app store and following the provided setup instructions if using another integrated POD service.

4. Optimize the Amazon listing

It is essential to optimize your Amazon product listing for better search engine visibility and customer engagement. Improve your product page by including relevant keywords throughout the name and description. 

Highlight must-know details through quality bullet points featuring important terms and attributes. Leverage the description area to provide additional context about your products and business. Feedback mechanisms like reviews, questions, and answers boost listing quality over time, so actively engage with customers whenever possible.

5. Manage and fulfill the product orders

As soon as the listing is live, sales may begin over time with some supporting marketing efforts. Initially, order fulfillment requires manually submitting customer details through the POD provider’s website. 

However, Printful’s integration streamlines this process by sending order notifications directly to their team. They then prepare the order and automatically send tracking updates to marketplaces. This simplified workflow allows sellers to provide a smoother purchase experience for customers.

Bottom line

While Print on Demand selling through Amazon has potential, achieving success requires thoughtful planning. Consider the types of products you will offer customers and which POD service best facilitates design access. 

Once partnered with a solution, focus on listing optimization tactics like SEO to reach buyers. Additionally, invest in building a cohesive business brand across your own website to cultivate multi-channel sales growth over time. Strategic preparation is key to smoothly integrating Print on Demand sales on Amazon.