Print on demand is an evolved method of making money online because it enabled "small fish" to compete with big players in selling customized goods.
By "small fish", I was referring to individuals like myself who don't have the bankroll to compete with large corporations that can front to money to pre-make goods such as graphic tee shirts to be sold on online marketplaces. What makes print on demand special is that it removes the necessity of paying for goods up front, as they are created post-sale.
This means that we have already charged the customers credit card before proceeding to create & fulfill their order!
Unfortunately, the system doesn't come without risk though, some of which I'll try to highlight for you in this article.
Customer Returns
The first pitfall of print on demand should be expected with any ecommmerce business, and commerce business in general: customer returns.
Depending on the marketplace that the order came from, you may handle returns in different ways.
- Amazon: Amazon tends to automatically authorize customer returns via the A to Z guarantee, so the customer will return the item back to you (you're automatically billed for the shipping labels)
- eBay: With eBay, I recommend just refunding customers their money if they're not happy with the order, since if they open a dispute they will likely always win and it will in turn negatively impact your seller rating (if it gets too low, eBay will increase their order fees).
- Etsy: Etsy is different from eBay because you can offer partial refunds. If the customer is completely dissatisfied, I would recommend fully refunding them in order to keep your account in good standing.
If you notice a trend here, it's that "the customer is always right" (to borrow a phrase from retail). You should think long term and try to keep your account in good standing to increase your conversion rate for future sales.
Where's My Stuff?
When you list products on Amazon, there's a "Handling Time" field on the offer tab where you can set your lead time, meaning after a sale, how much of a buffer you need before the product is shipped out. It's displayed to customers on the product listings as they shop, above the "Add to Cart" option.
You can find it on the Offer tab if you manage the listing in Seller Central and scroll down towards the bottom - look for "Handling Time" - enter the # of days of lead time you require.
If an Amazon customer doesn't receive their item within the allotted time frame, they will likely send you a "Where's my stuff" email, requesting an update.
You'll then need to log into whatever platform you used to fulfill the order and track down the order ID, find the tracking number, and check the status... which is a huge pain & waste of your time.
I've gone as far as calling DHL, waiting in a queue to talk to an operator that reads me what I already knew and then provides me with the customers local USPS phone number. If you've ever stepped foot in a USPS, no matter where it's located, you know that there isn't a person dedicated to answering the phones - they've terribly understaffed - and no one will pick up the phone.
If the tracking says "FORWARDED", they likely moved to a new address and the package is being held at their local USPS - you can try telling them to contact their local USPS branch, but if they bitch to Amazon about it, Amazon will likely just refund them.
At the end of the day just remember that your customer feedback is what's important. Think long term and try to protect yourself from negative ratings.
Unauthorized Use of Buyer Account
I have only seen this issue on eBay and Etsy, but on occasion you will receive notification that a sale was confirmed, but not paid.
Ebay will notify you by sending you an email that looks like this:
Pay attention and make sure that every "SOLD" email is accompanied by a "Notification of payment received" email (buy it now listings should require this), and if you see an Unauthorized use of buyer account notification, cancel the order IMMEDIATELY.
On Etsy, you'll receive a "Product sold" email notification that explicitly states do not ship yet because the buyer hasn't paid. In my experience thus far, orders that come through like this will not be downloaded to Printful until payment is received.
Out of Stock / Discontinued Item
When you sell a print on demand item that is out of stock, you'll need to wait for your fulfillment company to restock it.
This can be absolutely brutal because you likely will not know when that time will be. You have a few options in this case:
- Contact the customer asking them if it's ok that their shipment is delayed. Maybe offer them free shipping if you charge shipping (Etsy/Amazon would let you refund them shipping costs)
- Try reaching out to the fulfillment partner's support and getting an estimate on how long it will take to get the product back in stock
- Send your customer a similar product and hope they don't notice that you switched it (I've tried this in the past and wouldn't recommend it)
I recommend just keeping it real with the customer - Let them know there's an inventory issue and if they don't get back to you within a few days (and the item is still out of stock), cancel & refund the order.
Cancellations need to be kept to a minimum on all ecommerce platforms, so make sure to monitor what products you're selling and delete/update listings to match if the fulfillment center is out of stock or discontinues items.
