Take A Hike review for Printful: Print on Demand

July 13, 2015

I've been using Printful for a few weeks now. I really love the concept because it allows me to attempt to start a T-Shirt (brand) company at a low investment. The 2 stars are for 1) their awesome customer service and 2) for the print quality. Some people complained about print quality but so far I have been happy, despite the placement of my logos not matching the product mockup. The customer service is by far their best attribute, while it is impossible to receive real-time customer service, the responses are generally quick and extremely helpful. All the replies from different team members and genuinely helpful. I would like to offer more of their products to my customers, but the costs are just so high that it's impossible to offer them at a reasonable rate. Example 1: their cheapest mug is $10 and shipping it is $11, so I am charged $21 for a mug: JOKES! I wouldn't want to charge over $12 in the first place for a cheap white mug so charging $25+ to my customers is out of the question. Example 2: their 12x16 canvas is $45 and shipping it is $36, meaning we're already at an unreasonable cost to me of $81: forget about it. My customers don't want to pay $100 for a tiny Cavas of my photography. PROS: - Customer Service - Print Quality - No overhead - Little to no risk CONS: - Extremely high costs of goods - High Shipping rates - Product printing can differ from your mockup - Extremely slow shipping Overall I am happy with the service because it enables me to test out a market for a brand I wish to create at very little cost to myself. Because I am trying to create a brand rather than make money, I can use Printful. If you are looking to make money, look elsewhere, unless you already have a client base. If you price your products reasonably, your profit margin will be extremely low. I am using Printful in hopes of building a brand within the next 8-14 months. If I don't succeed, no big deal as the cost is nominal. If I do succeed, I can drop Printful, print local and start making money! Either way: Printful did its job. *If not for terribly slow shipping and most products being too expensive, I would rate 4-5 stars* July 13 EDIT: Fulfilment and Shipping are beyond irritating. I haven't marketed my new store yet so it's Family and Friends only... which makes it even more embarrassing. Point in case: my friend put an order in June. It was shipped June 26. 20 days later, she has yet to receive the product. It's ridiculous. I'll never have repeat customers with this kind of bogus shipping service. And I'm in Toronto! I can't imagine if it were an order outside of North America. I have another order that was placed July 5..... 8 days later and the only update is "Sorting Completed" so it has yet to be fulfilled, let alone shipped. JOKES Changing my Final Verdict Rating to 1 STAR. Unless Printful helps me out and fixes some serious issue then I can lift the rating to 3-5 stars depending on service provided.