Do you want to skip the read and get right to my pick? Between TeeSpring vs Shopify, the better print on demand platform is Shopify.
Introduction to TeeSpring vs Shopify Comparison:
Welcome to our Teespring vs Shopify comparison review!
With print on demand POD services increasing over the past few years, even conventional ecommerce platforms like Shopify are getting into the game. But, that said, how do they compare to platforms specifically developed for creatives who may not have much of a budget or know-how with regard to creating a full-scale online store?
This is what we plan to find out in today’s comparative review of Teespring and Shopify.
TeeSpring vs Shopify Overview:
Teespring:
Teespring is actually this platform’s old name. Today, it goes by Spring for Creators – or, in even simpler terms, just Spring.
It’s a platform that prides itself on a threefold promise to platform users: it is a place online where they can create, share, and earn.
In essence, it is a combination dropshipping and on-demand printing platform and an online marketplace where creators can show off their wares without needing to create a separate account as done with most ecommerce-centric site builders.
Shopify:
At present, Shopify is the ecommerce platform of choice in over 175 countries. Its popularity comes from how it enables online businesses through the provision of tools and a stable platform upon which to establish a strong foothold in the growing online marketplace. For the purpose of this review, we're focusing on the POD side of Shopify.
Quick Comparison Table for TeeSpring vs Shopify
| TeeSpring | Shopify (My Choice!) | |
|---|---|---|
| Product Range | Wide variety of products, from apparel to home decor. | Specializes in apparel, especially t-shirts, but also offers a range of other products. |
| Ease of Use | User-friendly, intuitive platform. | Straightforward interface, easy to navigate. |
| Print Quality | High-quality prints, dependent on design quality. | Good print quality, though slightly dependent on design quality. |
| Shipping | Ships globally, with varying times and costs. | Ships worldwide, with varying times and costs. |
| Pricing and Artist Commission | Artists set their own margins. Competitive pricing. | Artists earn a flat 11% on apparel, 5% on other items. Reasonable pricing. |
| My View | Best for artists who want to sell a variety of products and have control over their profit margin. | Best for artists focusing on apparel, especially if comfortable with a flat commission rate. |
| Try For Free | Try For Free |
Ease of Use:
Teespring:
A creative marketplace bundled with its own set of intuitive product design tools? We’re sold!
It’s essentially as easy as creating a product, building a market for it, fulfilling your clients’ orders (which Teespring / Spring takes care of for you), and finally collecting the profits.
Shopify:
Shopify’s long-standing advantage has always been its intuitive site builder with its virtue of being ready to use from the moment you sign up for the service.
With tools laid out right where you can see them, navigating through the UI is quite simple. Its intuitive nature also means that, over time, the system will learn your work habits and most commonly used tools and help you create more efficiently and effectively.
In terms of its print on demand aspect, Shopify recently added the service to its roster and it essentially sets users up with a third-party printing and delivery service, so there’s little in the way of hassle for them.
Winner – DRAW! This is a match that could go either way, as both Teespring and Shopify are easy enough to use and offer a wide range of easily deployed features for their respective users.
Features and Flexibility:
Product Range
Shopify:
Shopify specializes in apparel, especially t-shirts, but it's not limited to them. It also offers a range of other products like bags, mugs, pillows, etc. While the range isn't as vast as TeeSpring, the focus on apparel means they excel in this department, offering high-quality clothing items that are ideal for artists focused on t-shirt designs.
TeeSpring:
TeeSpring is known for its wide variety of products. From the expected t-shirt and apparel lines, it also caters to a diverse range of items like home decor, phone cases, mugs, and more. This diversity allows artists to put their designs on almost any type of product, providing them with a broader audience and more opportunities to sell.
Out of the box:
Shopify:
Shopify’s builder and e-commerce platform offers numerous features, including multiple staff accounts, POS capabilities, on and offline marketing tools, tools for handling international transactions, and logistics solutions for shipping, freight, and terrestrial delivery.
TeeSpring:
This platform offers features you need to start selling and earning. Same-day printing and two-day shipping options for a shopping experience similar to that of larger platforms like Amazon. The platform also has an analytics dashboard, handles payments for clients, as well as customer service and inquiry.
Teespring vs Shopify Themes & Template Design:
Shopify:
It has a well-stocked catalogue of Themes and Templates. Shopify takes pride in the fact that it currently offers 100 unique templates in a variety of categories, inclusive of both free and premium themes.
TeeSpring:
Unlike Shopify, Teespring doesn't offer a variety of themes and templates. What it offers is a simple way to add design elements to your storefront, such as a header, colours, and logos. However, you can make use of their design resources to really make your branding standout. You can use Canva, PlaceIt, and other platforms to create logos and other design elements and upload it to your storefront.
Print Quality:
Shopify:
Similar to TeeSpring, Shopify also offers good print quality. However, it's slightly dependent on the quality of the original design. The platform has stringent guidelines to ensure that the designs uploaded meet their quality standards, resulting in products that carry designs true to the artist's vision.
TeeSpring:
TeeSpring promises high-quality prints, a vital factor in any print-on-demand service. The final product's quality heavily depends on the submitted design's resolution and quality. High-resolution designs translate well into the final product, ensuring vibrant colors and sharp details that remain true even after multiple washes.
Shipping:
Shopify:
Shopify also ships worldwide, catering to a broad market. Similar to TeeSpring, the times and costs for shipping vary depending on several factors. Shopify, however, offers more control to the sellers over the shipping process. Sellers can choose from several shipping options and even offer free shipping to their customers, which can be a compelling selling point.
TeeSpring:
TeeSpring provides global shipping, a major advantage for artists with an international customer base. However, shipping times and costs can vary. Factors such as product type, destination, and shipping method can all affect the final delivery time. It's recommended that customers check the estimated delivery time at checkout to avoid any surprises.
3rd party apps market:
Shopify:
Shopify App Store offers users more than 6,000 third-party applications ranging from productivity tools to inventory management solutions. Featuring both free and premium programmes, over 90% of Shopify users have found it a great resource for improving the look and functionality of their online stores, and many have downloaded at least one app from the marketplace to enhance their storefronts.
TeeSpring:
Teespring integrates with YouTube, PopUpShop, Twitch, Unitree, OnlyFans, and others.
Security:
Shopify:
Shopify implements two-factor authentication and PCI compliance in all stores to ensure the safety of personal and business data.
TeeSpring:
All Teespring accounts are now protected by two-factor authentication to ensure security.
POS:
Shopify:
Shopify has its built-in POS system and can integrate with third-party plugins as well.
TeeSpring:
No native POS for this platform, but you can integrate it with Shopify or WooCommerce.
Abandoned cart saver:
Shopify:
Shopify has a complete shopping cart solution that includes abandoned cart recovery.
TeeSpring:
It has a new Facebook Cart abandonment tool that reminds customers of products they haven't checked out.
Payment Gateways:
Shopify:
It has its own proprietary payment gateway Shopify Payments, but this platform charges you a 2% fee for all transactions conducted through a third-party gateway like PayPal or Stripe. Payouts, on the other hand, may be scheduled through the admin panel of the Shopify dashboard. You’ll need to set it yourself.
TeeSpring:
PayPal and Payoneer are the accepted payment methods for Teespring.
SEO:
Shopify:
Shopify’s SEO toolkit is built directly into the UI, enabling users to edit their metadata and make their sites easier to find by search engines.
TeeSpring:
You can optimise your listing for more search engine juice by inserting or editing keywords, product listings, and URLs.
Teespring vs Shopify Mobile First:
Shopify:
You can manage your POD store through the Shopify app available on Apple or Android.
TeeSpring:
Users can also manage their stores through the Teepspring app.
Teespring v s Shopify Marketing:
TeeSpring:
Network Boosting
Thanks to its integration with at least seven online marketplaces, Spring users are given multiple sales channels to reach out to their customers. It's the perfect way to build a market, especially if you're just starting out in the business;
Basic and Boosted Retargeting
It's a unique online technique where those who viewed users' designs but don't make a purchase will be shown targeted ads that will remind them of the product. This, in turn, eventually results in a purchase;
Email Marketing
You can actually create and send promotional emails right out of the Spring dashboard to those who have bought from your online store previously. With the Messaging feature, users can send emails to all their customers or create focused marketing groups based on past purchases and popular product categories;
Specialty Items
While Spring offers the usual run of apparel and novelties, custom printing is also offered for these, allowing users to print on sleeves or all over. Likewise, the platform also offers specialised novelties like customizable plushies, bags, and badges.
Shopify:
For POD businesses, Shopify is more complicated. It doesn't have built-in design resources that Teespring offers. However, you can integrate it with several apps to help you design POD products, choose pricing and shipping partners, and do promotions.
Winner – Teespring! We find that Teespring has features more suited to POD businesses in this Teespring or Shopify features comparison.
Teespring vs Shopify Support and Resources:
Teespring:
The nice thing about Teespring / Spring is that it has both creator and premium resources that users can pore over to improve their respective creative and online retail experiences.
The platform’s blog is also a regularly updated fount of knowledge about the latest trends in the field, advising users as to what would be popular within a season.
Shopify:
Shopify offers excellent 24/7 customer support team via multiple channels, and this is further augmented by a regularly maintained and updated knowledge base.
Winner – Shopify! We find that Shopify has a better customer service in this Teespring vs Shopify comparison.
Teespring vs Shopify Pricing :
Teespring:
With Spring, users have autonomy when it comes to setting their selling price as the platform fee is included in the base cost of the product. Look at it this way: a standard T-shirt on the platform has a base price of around $10.00. If you choose to sell the shirt for $24.00, you get the full profit of $14 as Spring collects the base fee.
The platform is above board regarding their product prices and the list is updated based on current market conditions.
Shopify:
Regardless of where you're physically located in the world, Shopify charges a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for all online purchases even at its most basic plan.
Also, keep in mind that any physical purchases will involve a 2.7% fee per transaction, according to their service terms.
Free trial, refund policy, and money-back guarantee:
Spring users can create accounts for free. Meanwhile, Shopify doesn’t offer a free to use platform. However, you can try it for yourself for a three-day trial period – which, if we’re being honest – doesn’t give you much time with which to learn much about it.
Winner – Teespring! We find that Teespring offers better value for money for POD businesses in this Teespring vs Shopify comparison.
Comparison Winner: Teespring or Shopify?
Shopify is my comparison winner in this review! Generally speaking, there is no clear winner. But if we focus solely on POD businesses and their needs, we think that Teespring is the better candidate. However Shopify has a more general scope and works better for straight online stores.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
What is TeeSpring best for?
Teespring is a platform that we recommend for creatives who need a space where they can make a name for themselves, build their respective markets, and express themselves in myriad ways.
What is Shopify best for?
Shopify, on the other hand, has a more general scope and works well for those who want to create a straight-up online store. And we look forward to see more with regard to the capabilities of Shopify’s print on demand service in order to build a more concrete opinion of what it can do along those lines.
Teespring vs Shopify Alternatives:
Other Teespring vs Shopify alternatives you can check out are;
| Ranking | Key Features | Products Available | Shipping | Integration | My View |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Printful | Broad product selection, reliable fulfillment, no upfront costs | Apparel, accessories, home & living | Worldwide | Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Etsy, and more | Best for a wide range of products and easy integration with e-commerce platforms |
| 2. Printify | Wide product range, multiple print providers, no upfront costs | Apparel, accessories, home & living | Worldwide | Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, and more | Best for a wide range of products and a variety of print providers |
| 3. Redbubble | Unique marketplace, artist-focused, no upfront costs | Apparel, accessories, home & living, art | Worldwide | Direct on platform | Best for a large variety of products and a built-in audience |
| 4. Teelaunch | Wide product range, easy integration, no upfront costs | Clothing, accessories, home & living, jewelry | Worldwide | Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce | Best for custom products and high-quality printing |
| 5. Zazzle | Huge product range, design customization, no upfront costs | Almost anything customizable | Worldwide | Direct on platform | Best for custom products and a wide range of design options |
| 6. Society6 | Artist-focused, unique products | Art prints, home decor, clothing, accessories | Worldwide | Not specified | Best for artists and designers looking to sell their work |
| 7. Gooten | Wide product variety, global vendor network | Clothing, accessories, home & living, pet products | Worldwide | Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, and more | Best for a wide range of products and fast shipping |
| 8. Printaura | Custom branding options, no minimum orders | Clothing, accessories, home & living | Worldwide | Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, and more | Best for a wide range of products and fast shipping |
| 9. Teespring | Unique marketplace, promotional tools, no upfront costs | Apparel, accessories, home & living | Worldwide | Direct on platform | Best for social media influencers and content creators who want to leverage built-in integrations with platforms like YouTube and Twitch for selling custom merchandise directly to their audience. |
| 10. Spreadshirt | Broad product selection, design tools, no upfront costs | Apparel, accessories, home & living | Worldwide | Direct on platform | Best for designers seeking a platform with a dedicated marketplace that allows them to focus on creativity, while the platform handles the production and shipping of their designs on apparel and accessories. |
Teespring vs Shopify Final word:
When it comes to comparing two highly thought-of and widely used print on demand platforms, both platforms are levelled. Using both platforms can help you create and sell products. However, we find that the process is easier with Teespring, as it specializes on POD businesses.
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That's all for now:
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