Is Print on Demand Worth It for a Local Business?
By The Merch Counter team · Updated · 3 min read
For most local businesses, yes. Print on demand is worth it when you want to sell merch without spending money up front, without guessing sizes, and without packing orders. You earn less per item than you would from a large bulk order, but you take no risk: if a design doesn't sell, it cost you nothing. It's less worth it if you already know you'll sell hundreds of one design, or you need stock on hand today.
Here's how to decide.
What you give up
A lower margin per item. Printing one shirt at a time costs more per shirt than printing 72 at once. A bulk order might get a basic tee down to well under $10 each, while a print-on-demand tee might cost around $12 to make † (Printful lists a Bella+Canvas 3001 from $11.92). Printful's own bulk pricing shows the size of the gap: 500 of a Gildan hoodie cost about 38% less each than its starting price. On a $30 shirt, that difference matters.
Production time. Each item is made after it's ordered. On The Merch Counter that's usually 2–5 business days to print, then typically 3–6 days for US delivery. Customers who want a shirt today can't have one, unless you keep a few samples behind the counter.
Direct control over printing. You're not standing beside the press. You rely on the print partner's quality, backed by a reprint-or-refund guarantee if something goes wrong.
What you gain
No money up front. This is the big one. A bulk order means paying for every shirt before you've sold one. With print on demand you pay nothing until a customer has already paid you.
No leftover stock. Ask anyone who's done a bulk order about the box of unsold XLs. With print on demand, every item made has already been sold.
Every size and color. You can offer every size and color the blank comes in without stocking a single one.
Freedom to experiment. Want to test a seasonal design? Add it in minutes and remove it if it flops. That's very hard to do with bulk stock.
No packing, shipping or "where's my order?" emails. The order is printed and shipped for you, and the customer gets tracking by email.
Selling beyond your door. A shop online means people who've moved away, tourists who visited once, and gift-buyers can all order.
A worked example
Say a café sells 20 t-shirts in its first two months at $30 each.
Print on demand (The Merch Counter) †
| Upfront cost | $0 |
| Earned per shirt | $12.00 (after $12 to make and the 20% fee) |
| Earned on 20 shirts | $240 |
| Leftover stock | None |
Bulk order of 48 shirts (illustrative) †
| Upfront cost | 48 × $9 = $432, plus any setup fees |
| Revenue from 20 shirts | $600, minus card processing |
| Profit so far | about $150, with 28 unsold shirts still to sell |
The bulk order only overtakes print on demand once about half the stock sells (around 26 of the 48 shirts here), and only if you guessed the right sizes. If you sell all 48, bulk comes out well ahead. If you sell 20, it doesn't.
So when is print on demand the wrong choice?
- You know the demand is large. A big event with hundreds of attendees, or an established brand that already sells a lot of merch.
- You need stock in hand. Staff uniforms needed by Friday, or a market stall where people buy on the spot.
- You want the lowest price point. If your market only bears a $15 shirt, the margins on print on demand get thin.
Even then, many businesses use both: bulk for staff and events, print on demand for everything else.
A quick checklist
Print on demand is likely right for you if you can tick three or more:
- I'd rather not spend money on stock before I know what sells
- I don't know which sizes and colors my customers want
- I don't have space to store boxes of merch
- I don't want to pack and ship orders
- I'd like people outside my town to be able to buy
- I want to try a few designs and see which one works
Related: Print on Demand vs. Bulk Ordering · Print-on-Demand Merch guide
† Worked examples. They use our real 20% fee and suggested 2.5× price on an illustrative cost to make; real costs vary by product, size and print. Bulk-order figures are illustrative too. Today’s numbers for every product are in the profit calculator and in your dashboard before you list anything.