Cafe Press Print-on-Demand Review

I signed up with Cafe Press a few days ago. I had heard about them and I knew the company had been around a while, but I hadn't bothered with it until recently when I started to work more on my art and travel websites. Many people are interested in working with a Print-on-Demand, or POD service to sell online for spending money. Cafe Press is probably the most well known of them.

Many Products are available

Cafe Press offers a wide variety of products that can use images that you upload from your computer from T-Shirts to mugs, mousepads, calendars, magnets, coasters, tote-bags, etc. They also offer prints. After looking online extensively and checking forums. I kept on seeing the same complaint. Most sites said their products are low quality especially the framed print. One person commented that the framed print was no better than your common wall poster!

 You have to pay a monthly fee to customize your shop or have multiple designs for one product type.

I saw those comments after signing up. Cafe Press offers basic free stores and store that charge about $5/month each. I had signed up with a free store to see how it worked. Honestly I'd say that the free store was frustrating. It you only have a single design then there is no problem, but as soon as you have a second design you either have to open another free store or change an existing product from the old design to the new one. Why? Because you can only have one product of each type displayed in the free store. That means only one men's t-shirt, and only one mousepad.

It kinda makes you wonder...

The Cafe Press website mentions the benefit of a paid store by telling you that you'll make 10 time more money on average. I do have to wonder. If someone makes so much more by having the paid store, then wouldn't it be in Cafe Press's interests to make those features and make 10 time more money off of the base sale price?

Obviously something isn't right with that. I think that most stores sell very little and therefore the store fee is profit for CP that it wouldn't be getting otherwise.

Not exactly easy to use, but not too difficult either

Their system was a bit awkward to use. I was able to divide my images into folders and make products into designs for different stores however it was a slow process. First I'd have to add the image, then select the products for the store and then go in to each one individually to add the description!

Sorry Free stores are limited

The free stores can't be customized at all. You can't change colors, layout, etc. You can't even add categories. Everything in a free store just ends up as a big table of products the visitor has to scroll through.

I thought, "There must be a better system available!"

To see my free stores using Cafe Press: 1, 2, 3

Conclusion

I was disappointed and I started testing other PODs.