If you’d like to sell merchandise for your pet brand online, a great option to consider is Print-on-Demand. This is a technology that allows you to have products created as orders are placed. Print on demand allows you to sell products without investing in a bulk order, having to store inventory or manage shipping. Let’s explore some of the best Print-on-Demand products for pet lovers!

The print on demand approach to e-commerce saves so much time, making it a great option for busy entrepreneurs in the pet industry like dog walkers, pet sitters, groomers, bloggers and treat makers.

Print on-demand companies like Prtinful, Gooten, TeeSpring and Redbubble have hundreds of products to choose from. In this post, I give my review on 4 print on demand products that are best sellers in my online shop for pet lovers. These are all items I’ve ordered samples of and gone on to sell to many customers. They varies from t-shirts and sweatshirts to a dress and coffee mug.

What Print-on-Demand Company has Pet Products?

In my online shop for dog moms I’ve experimented with many different products from two print-on-demand companies, Printful and Gooten. Both easily integrate with Shopify, Etsy and many other platforms. I have not use TeeSpring or RedBubble because I already had my own online storefront where I sell other items in addition to print-on-demand products. TeeSpring and RedBubble might be better for pet influencers who don’t have their own websites.

Over the years Gooten has carried different pet items such as a ceramic water bowl or dog bed. But in my experience they are often out of stock. But this could change! Currently, Gooten has a pet selection that includes a dog bandana, retractable leash, dog collar, ceramic bowl, pet placemats and a dog bed.

While Printful doesn’t have many pet specific items (they’re only item in the pet category right now is an engraved Pet ID Tag), they have a ton of Print-on-Demand products for pet lovers!

It’s important to think outside the box when creating print on demand products or merch for your pet business. You don’t need to have pet items in order to create things your pet obsessed customers can enjoy!

In this blog post, I review some of my favorite print-on-demand products for pet lovers including:

• Unisex T-shirt
• All-Over Print Apparel
• Women’s Cropped Sweatshirt
• Coffee Mugs

You can get more detailed specs and technical file requirements in the product catalogs on Printful and Gooten. But in this post I’ll give you my personal review that you won’t find in the product descriptions on their sites!

>> I go into detail on exactly how to set up your own print-on-demand online shop in my Masterclass: Create an On-Demand Online Store for Pet Lovers. This is a self-paced course that you can start today and get your new revenue stream up and running in no time! Dog trainers, bloggers, pet non-profits and many more have gone through the course and set up their own successful stores!

Please note, I am a Printful affiliate because I love their products and the service they provide. If you purchase or sign up through my links I may earn a small commission.

What Designs Work Best on Print-On-Demand Shirts for Pet Lovers

There are tons of popular graphic design styles that work really well with print-on-demand. You can do as many colors as you’d like at no extra charge. The only limitation I’ve found is that you can’t have any kind of transparency. When I was making my Neon Dogs cropped sweatshirt I had to make a few versions of the graphic until I got one that Printful accepted. That’s because the blur effect that gives the letters the neon look had transparency when I made it in Photoshop.

As long as your graphic features solid, full saturation colors it should work well! If you have a logo or saying that is associated with you or your pet business, that would be perfect to get started with!

In addition to printing on the front and back of a t-shirt or sweatshirt, Printful also allows you to print on the sleeve, down a pant leg and in other placements to give your products a distinctive look. You’ll read later in this post how a unique design may allow you to charge a higher price for your products and make more income in your pet business.

Review: The Best Print-on-Demand T-Shirt from Printful

When I first started using Printful I ordered samples of several different T-shirts. I experimented with inexpensive options like the $9 Gildan Basic T. Ultimately, I found my favorite to be this Unisex Tri-Blend T-Shirt by Bella + Canvas. This shirt’s base cost is $16.95. That is at the medium to high end of prices for t-shirts at Printful, but I think it’s worth it. Here’s why…

What I like most about this T-shirt is that it’s a lightweight, super-soft material. You might refer to it as a vintage shirt feel. I also like the fitted, unisex fit. The problem with a lot of shirts for women is that they run very small. Most women don’t want tiny, tight shirts! This shirt runs very true to size and I recommend my customers order their usual size.

I also love that this Unisex Tri-Blend Bella + Canvas shirt comes in a ton of colors, 19 as of right now. That means it will work for a variety of graphics, or you can release special colors for seasons or holidays. In my opinion, it’s one of the best Print-on-Demand products for pet lovers and a top seller in my shop!

Now, what about the print quality? I’ve been using this exact t-shirt for print on demand for years and the graphics still look good. I’ve worn and washed them without any problems. Although the graphic might feel a little like it’s sitting on top of the fabric, I’ve never seen it peel or crack. It does seem to soften with washing and normal wear.

Review of Printful’s All-Over Print Skater Dress and Shorts

One of the cool things you can make with Printful is order all-over printed items. For these, your graphic design is printed on fabric pattern pieces, cut out, then sewn together. So it’s really custom made! This is one of the reasons all over printed items can be more expensive than other print-on-demand items. The dress that I stock has a base price of $32.95.

When I introduced the All-Over Print Skater Dress (check it out here) to my online shop I priced it at $75, which is higher than my usual price point. I was pleasantly surprised to sell 5 in the first week! It’s such a unique item that my customers were happy to pay for it!  A higher price point is worth a try if your designs are unique and appeal to pet lovers.

All-over print products generally have a white base material that your design is printed onto. That means that anything that is tight and stretches on the body, such as leggings, might have a little white cast to them when the fibers stretch apart.

That’s why I prefer other all-over design products like the Skater Dress and Athletic Short Shorts. The shorts have some stretch to them, but they’re a board-short type material. The dress is a similar material to a thick legging, almost like a thin and flowy neoprene. Since the skater silhouette skirt is full, it doesn’t stretch on the bottom and the white cast doesn’t show.

The base price for theAll-Over Print Women’s Athletic Short Shorts is $24.95 . So, it’s a higher price point than a T-shirt but the shorts are high quality and a unique item to carry. I think both of these all-over print items appeal to dog moms from a practical and fashion perspective! Would you add them to your online shop?

Another thing to consider with all over print items like the shorts, dress or leggings is how your pattern lines up. If you watched the LulaRich documentary on Amazon Prime than you probably saw how designs can go so wrong on leggings! Use this as a learning experience for your own products and make sure the design looks good from all angles.

For all-over printed items, you definitely want to use the Printful product mockup generator to drag and reposition your pattern until you get it how you want it. I’ve found the mockups in Printful to be very accurate! So definitely take advantage of this tool when you work on a print on demand all over print product.

What is the Best Printful Sweatshirt?

In my dog mom shop I carry a hoodie, regular crewneck sweatshirt and a cropped sweatshirt. Out of those styles, the Bella + Canvas cropped sweatshirt is my best seller.

In my online shop I carry this sweatshirt in a few designs and offer it in the minty blue/green color as well as solid black. Both colors are printed very well and have stood up to repeated wearing and washing. The base price on this cropped sweatshirt is $27.95.

This cropped sweatshirt appeals to customers because of the modern styling. The cropped length goes really well with leggings and makes for a cute dog walking outfit (which appeals to my dog mom audience!). This sweatshirt is also super soft on the inside, which is something I look for in sweatshirts. Nobody wants something stiff and scratchy.

Curious about the sizing on this cropped sweatshirt? We know that a lot of clothes “made for women” runs small, and although this Bella + Canvas cropped sweatshirt runs true to size I usually  recommend that my customers order 1 size to get the boxy, loose fit that works best with cropped tops.

Print on Demand Coffee Mugs: Printful or Gooten?

While 90% of the print on demand items in my shop are from Printful, I chose to get my mugs made with Gooten. At the time I set up my shop they offered styles that Printful didn’t carry such as this white mug with colorful handles and insides. The light pink and bright yellow perfectly coordinate with my Jungle Dog designs. Recently, Printful has added this same ceramic mug to their catalog so I might switch so I can have everything made at one place.

I have the dog graphic printed on one side of these print-on-demand mugs. If you prefer, you could have it printed on both sides at no additional cost. The base price on these mugs is just $7.40 at Gooten and $8.95 at Printful, making them one of the most affordable print on demand products to get started with. Despite that low cost, I think they have a high perceived value and sell well.

Many pet lovers drink coffee and tea, so it’s a great on-demand product to create for your pet loving customers or to add as merch for your pet influencer account!

Downsides of Print-on-Demand Products for your Pet Business

Nothing is perfect, right? While I love the convenience of print on demand there are also downsides to consider. This first thing to consider is the profit margin. If you’re paying $14-$18 for a T-Shirt from Printful you need to think about how much you can charge your customers while covering your costs and still making a profit.

In addition to the expense of the blank product, printing and processing (all covered in the Printful base cost), you should consider other expenses such as:

• Paying an artist to design your graphic
• Hosting for your website
• Shopify fees
• Listing fees on Etsy
• Marketing and advertising to promote your shop
• Shipping costs

All of those expenses are considered overhead costs for your products. And that’s why I always try to price my products at double what Printful charges me. All the t-shirtsin my shop are $32, giving me a 40-50% profit margin.

>> I cover pricing and a lot more in my Masterclass: Create and On-Demand Online Store for Pet Lovers. This is a self-paced online course that you can enroll in right now to get your shop and products set up as quickly as possible. Check out the Masterclass and see what past students have to say about it!

Another issue with print on demand for small business is that you don’t pack the orders yourself. While this is a huge timesaving perk, it can also be a downside because you can’t add in stickers, dog treats or any other goodies to make unboxing an exciting experience. Printful does offer a pack-in service for a small fee, but it is limited to flat items like flyers or stickers.

The final downside to print on demand with Printful, Gooten, or any other service is that fulfillment can sometimes take a little longer than you’d like. When you’re setting up your shop, you can be mindful of picking items that are printed and fulfilled close to your customers if you want to speed up this process. Certain products like this XYZ are only made in Europe, so if your customers are all in California, you may want to warn them of the production and processing times or choose a product that is printed and shipped closer to them.

Should you Do Print-on-Demand or Carry Inventory for your Pet Business

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably already sold on the idea of creating print-on-demand products for pet lovers to add a revenue stream to your business! But just in case you’re still exploring your options, I want to tell you about my own online store experience.

When I set up my online shop I carried mostly physically products that I stored at my home office. But managing inventory, storing it, then packing up orders and shipping them was very time consuming. When I discovered print on demand and added products to my shop, I realized how much time it could save me.

However, there came some times when I wanted to do an in-person pop up shop at a local market or event. For those events I ordered various sizes of my best selling print-on-demand dog mom shirts. I guessed at the sizes and ordered only what I thought I could sell at the events. But I was always left with a lot of extras and inevitably, someone wanted a size I didn’t have.

In my experience running a shop with a mix of inventory and print-on-demand, I think the print-on-demand products are the easier choice! My online store is just one of many revenue streams for my online pet business. So for me, it’s worth the time I save to pay a little bit more for the convenience of using Printful. 

If you have a brick and mortar pet business, you might prefer to carry inventory so your customers can buy from you in person. If that’s the case, you can work with a local printer and have a much lower base price.

Learn How To Set Up Your Own On-Demand Online Store for Pet Lovers

In addition to my favorite best-selling print on demand products featured in this blog post, there are hundreds of other print-on-demand products for pet lovers! I recommend blankets, water bottles, tote bags and art prints (I’ve sold all of those and they’re fun to design and create!).

Print on demand technology gives you a great way to boost your income and brand awareness with a zero-inventory online store full of high-quality products.

Save a ton of time by learning how I set up my own on-demand products. In my Masterclass, I’ll let you in on the mistakes I made, so you don’t make them! And I’ll explain the strategies I use to sell hundreds of on-demand products.

You can learn all of this and get your online shop up and running when you enroll in my Masterclass: Create an On-Demand Online Store for Pet Lovers! This course is designed specifically for pet industry businesses such as bloggers and pet influencers, pet sitters and dog walkers, pet photographers, dog trainers and so much more!

Learn more about the online course here and enroll today so you can start bringing in extra income from print-on-demand products!

Did you enjoy this post? Learn more about creating print-on-demand products for pet lovers:
How to Create Merch for Your Pet Brand
Update on My Shopify Store for Dog Moms
Finding Joy with E-Commerce Dog Boutique Sir Dogwood
Creating Print-On-Demand Products for a Good Dog Cause