Best T-shirt Design Websites to Sell Your Work

What is the best website to design and sell t-shirts? There are pros and cons to every t-shirt design website. We’re comparing 8 popular platforms to help you decide!

Print-on-demand (POD) websites are a popular way to make some passive income.

•  create designs;
• register on these t-shirt design websites;
• get paid every time someone purchases your design.

Every t-shirt designing website will handle the printing and shipping (and some offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount). So, you really have very little to do!

Still, with different commissions, payment processing fees and terms, it can be difficult to decide what is the best website to sell t-shirt designs. To help you decide, we’re comparing 8 popular platforms, along with their main pros and cons. 

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1. Teespring

Teespring is an excellent choice for newbies since the base costs are fairly affordable. If you don’t know how to use a professional design software,  you can also customize templates from their library with the online design tool. 

Another great feature of this platform is the Teespring Boosted Network. This is a collection of marketplaces (like eBay and Amazon) and automated promotional tools that help you sell more (e.g. social media integration).

The main downside is that you have a limited time to sell a design (campaign). You can set the campaign to last 3 - 21 days. But, if you don’t sell anything in the selected timeframe, your designs are taken down.

2. Zazzle

If you’re worried about traffic, know that on Zazzle, you’re in pretty good company. Huge players like DC Comics and Disney use it to sell their merch. The platform automatically adapts the size and format, so that when shirts are printed they look as intended.

‍Customers can change designs to their liking, like fonts and shirt colors, which can raise the price and your earnings.

3. Cafepress

With Cafepress, you can sell via their online marketplace or create your online t-shirt store. The differences are that in a marketplace you get 10% commission from the pre-set selling price. 

In a shop you’re in charge of setting the price of your custom products. A marketplace can be a good solution if you know a little bit about SEO (choosing the right keywords is essential when you’re competing in a crowded space). 

4. Redbubble

Redbubble operates globally, so their website is available in several languages. There is a vast range of custom products you can sell, including things like stationery and home decor.

However, this also means one drawback. The product base price depends on the delivery address (things like cost of local production, material cost, taxes, etc.). So, if you hope to sell world- or nationwide, calculating the cost and your earnings upfront can be difficult.

5. Merch by Amazon

Unlike the rest of these print on demand services, Merch by Amazon is more exclusive. Rather than just signing up, you need to submit an application and be accepted. 

At first, you will be limited to 25 designs, but once you sell 25 items, you’ll be upgraded to 100. IIf you’re entirely new to the platform consider selling more products at lower prices.

Another great feature of this t-shirt design website is the Amazon Best Seller Rank, which can help you determine what designs and styles are popular (e.g., retro or nerd prints). 

6. Society6

Society6 is primarily focused on art prints (it’s the only item you can set your own price for). All other products have a default markup of 10%. So, this can mean that the prices are higher compared to some of the other t-shirt selling websites. 

However, as an established platform Society6 does have lots of traffic and is quite easy to use. They also have a solid quality control system, so this is a good website to sell t-shirt designs that are a bit more complex or expensive to produce

7. Spreadshirt

Like Zazzle, Spreadshirt is another option that offers the choice between selling over a virtual marketplace and setting up an online shop. However, setting up an online shop with Spreadshirt allows you to customize your layout with colors and fonts to match your brand.

8. Threadless

The biggest difference with Threadless is that you can’t automatically start selling t-shirts online.

Once you submit a design, you need to be upvoted by the community to join this marketplace. 

This is also the best website to sell t-shirt designs if you don’t have much experience managing online stores. Simply activate the setting ‘Let Threadless manage my shop’s pricing and promotions’, and the platform will help you manage your store to ensure more sales.

9. CustomCat

CustomCat may not be the best t-shirt design selling website if you only want occasional extra income. With somewhat higher prices, profit margins might be lower. However, if you’re hoping to make it into a real thriving t-shirt business, this website has one awesome feature.

By paying a monthly subscription, you’ll get 20-40% on your products, which means higher profit margins. 

10. Printify

Printify is one of the biggest t-shirt design websites, with perks, such as a high-quality mockup generator and consultation from marketing experts.

The biggest downside is the higher cost of products. You can sign up for a monthly Premium Plan subscription to get discounted prices. This also gives you access to Printify Connect, which means their customer service team can take over any order-related issues on your behalf.

11. Printful

Looking for a simple and reliable t-shirt design selling website? Printful might be the right choice. Although it has a limited offer compared to some of the other platforms, Printful is super easy to use.

You can either create your own store on Printful or connect an existing one.

12. SPOD

What is the best website to sell custom t-shirts? In case you have a Shopify store, the answer might be SPOD. This POD platform is powered by Shopify and, naturally, the integration between the two is seamless.

SPOD has a strong focus on sustainability and supporting local printers, so some of the production costs might be higher. Then again, this could be a good way to attract a specific clientele!

Conclusion

As you can see, these t-shirt design selling websites are all quite similar, and there are no guarantees which one will work out best for you. In the end, it’s a combination of strategy, promo efforts, timing, and talent.

Haven’t got the basics of the graphic design process down yet? Don’t worry! You can still make online t-shirt design a great business, but you’ll need some help.

Get started today with our unlimited graphic design service and request as many designs you want for as little as $549 per month! A small investment that will help you sell top-quality custom tees (all the creative rights are yours) to knock your competition out of the park!

Get started today or book a free consultation to discuss how we can help.