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Print-on-demand success takes more than low startup costs. A reliable partner such as Printful, and paid advertising help POD stores compete.
For many aspiring ecommerce entrepreneurs, print-on-demand products seem like an easy, low-cost way to start selling online, but without advertising and a good printing partner, it is still hard to compete.
Put simply, print-on-demand (POD) is an ecommerce business model where custom products, such as T-shirts or mugs, are printed or manufactured only after a customer places an order. POD removes the two things that used to keep small online sellers out of the physical-goods business, specifically upfront inventory and manufacturing overhead.
What the POD business model does not remove is the much older problem of getting a stranger to find your store and trust it enough to buy. That problem has gotten harder, not easier, in the last two years even as the market opportunity underneath it has kept growing.
