Special Feature (T-Shirt Printing Roundup)

Whether you just want to make a custom t-shirt for yourself, your friends, or for a gift -- or you want to start your own t-shirt shop, there are many internet-based on demand t-shirt printing services out there. Sometimes called t-shirt fulfillment services, they can take care of payment, printing, shipping, returns, etc. so you just have to worry about the designing. Today's special feature @ t-shirt connoisseur rounds up and reviews all the major t-shirt fulfillment services around the web. Try a few out, and see which suits you best:


Cafepress

One of the earliest (1999) and most recognized on demand t-shirt printing services. Some people have concerns with their quality, while others stand firmly behind it. One of the annoying things about a cafe press shop is that you have limited options with a free account -- if you want to sell the same product type (i.e. dark mens t-shirt) with more than one design, you'll need to pay for a premium account.


Zazzle

Zazzle focuses on community much more than other t-shirt fulfillment services. Shops come with commenting, favorite marking, etc by default, and users are encouraged to be a part of the web 2.0 with other designers. Simple & straight forward interface make this a good choice a designer who is looking for fun more than profit. Integrates with Squidoo (sort of an online community & directory), so if you are already into that scene, it will be a good fit.


Printfection

The best t Printfection is it's ease of use for adding designs, tagging them, and adding the design to multiple products. It's easy for a shop owner to manage designs & products quickly and easily. For a shop with many products or product variations, Printfection might be a godsend.


Shirtcity

I had a lot of trouble uploading my designs and making them look good on products with Shirtcity. Images looked blocky, or the background color and transparency didn't work correctly, showing some of my designs as a big black square. All my attempts to fix this were fruitless. Also, their website randomly includes German sometimes.... Maybe if you speak German and your designs work on their system, Shirtcity will work out great for you.


Spreadshirt

Great quality printing, and a lot of flexibility, Spreadshirt is a solid choice. It has some great integration options, and some big shops integrate their own websites with the service (Amorphia Apparel & The Tee Party, not to mention Fark.com's any headline as a shirt feature) Free accounts are somewhat limited, but all the paid premium services are justifiably so.


T-Shirt Monster

A Canadian based site (great for cheaper shipping to Canada, if that's where you or your target audience is.) T-Shirt Monster's system may make your design look a little off, but if it works well for your designs, go for it. They also have pretty good margins (low cost for blank shirts and printing). *Note, not exclusively Canadian.


Print Mojo

Print Mojo really involves you and with shop, and upon signing up, you are asked what your sales goals are, what your marketing plans are, etc. Daunting to say the least if you just want to make a shirt or two for yourself, or are completely new to online business. Like Spreadshirt, you see a few big shirt shops online integrating with it.


Red Bubble

A venue for artists to share, promote, and sell their work. T-shirts are one one of many avenues of artistic expression on the site (albeit one of the more popular ones.) Red Bubble focuses on community, and if you are more of the artistic persuasion, this print service may be the one for you.

My Soti

Best thing about My Soti: huge shirt real estate to work with! You can place large designs on the full front or back of the shirts, where other print services are more restrictive. They also do artwork, but it's mostly shirts.

There you have it, a quick run down on all the major t-shirt printing services on the interwebs. After you launch your shop, don't forget to submit your designs to t-shirt connoisseur for review & posting! (mail me with a link and a hello -> ph0enix1211 [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com)