What selling without inventory means
With print-on-demand, a product exists as a design and a set of options (garment, colour, print placement, sizes) until somebody buys it. The order then goes to a production partner, which prints that one item and ships it to the customer. You never pay for unsold stock, and you can test a new design simply by publishing it.
The trade-off is margin. Each item costs more to make than a shirt from a bulk screen-printing run, so print-on-demand suits testing ideas, small collections and creators who would rather spend time on design than on boxes and shipping labels.
Step by step: from design to first sale
- Prepare your artwork. Work at high resolution and keep the background transparent if the print is not a rectangle. Simple, bold shapes usually print and read better on fabric than fine detail.
- Choose how you will reach customers. If you have no audience yet, start on a marketplace. If you already have followers or a website, a fulfilment service connected to your own store gives you more control. See marketplace or fulfilment service.
- Pick the garment and colour. Match the blank to the design: a heavyweight tee for a premium streetwear look, a softer everyday tee for a lower price.
- Set your price. Decide what you want to earn per item and check what the customer will pay. A lower customer price usually sells more units.
- Publish. Most platforms review new products before they go live, for print quality and rights issues.
- Share it. Post the product link where your future customers already are, and ask people for feedback on the design.
- Get paid. Earnings are normally released after the order is delivered, then withdrawn to your bank account.
How it works on Dezajn
Dezajn is a clothing marketplace built for exactly this. Creating and publishing is free: there is no subscription, no listing fee and no stock to buy. In the studio you place your artwork on a T-shirt or hoodie, choose the garment, colour and print placement, and set the amount you earn per sale. You see the customer price before you publish.
- Your product appears in the marketplace, on your creator profile and can take part in Drop Arena, where the community votes between designs.
- Dezajn is the seller to the buyer: it handles checkout, production coordination, delivery support, refunds and complaints.
- Earnings normally become withdrawable seven days after recorded delivery, and are paid out through Stripe Connect.
- You keep ownership of your designs and can sell them elsewhere. Dezajn receives a non-exclusive licence to produce, promote and sell your Dezajn products (designer terms).
Here is what the customer pays for a Budget Cotton T-shirt at different earnings levels, calculated with the same pricing code the studio uses:
| Selling to | Your earnings per item | Customer price |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $0 | $19 |
| $5 | $27 | |
| $10 | $34 | |
| Europe | €0 | €21 |
| €5 | €29 | |
| €10 | €37 | |
| United Kingdom | £0 | £21 |
| £5 | £29 | |
| £10 | £37 | |
| Australia | A$0 | A$19 |
| A$5 | A$27 | |
| A$10 | A$34 |
Marketplace or your own store?
| Marketplace | Own store + fulfilment service | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Dezajn, Redbubble, Spreadshirt Marketplace | Shopify or Etsy with Printful or Printify; Fourthwall; Teemill |
| Who brings shoppers | The marketplace, alongside your own promotion | You do, through social media, ads or search |
| Cost to start | Usually free | Often free to start; store plans, marketplace fees and add-ons can cost money |
| Branding control | Your profile inside the marketplace | Your own domain, design and customer list |
| Best for | Testing designs with no audience yet | Creators who already have an audience |
You do not have to choose forever. Dezajn is non-exclusive, so you can publish on a marketplace first and add your own store once you know which designs sell.
How to get your first sales
- Publish a small, coherent collection rather than one design. Three to ten designs around one idea give visitors a reason to browse and a reason to follow you.
- Design for a specific group of people: a hobby, a city, a scene, an in-joke. Specific designs are easier to share than generic ones.
- Write a clear product name and description. Say what the design shows and who it is for; this is also what search engines read.
- Share your product links in the communities you already belong to, and say plainly that you made the design.
- Use feedback. Design ratings and Drop Arena votes show which ideas people respond to before you invest more time in them.
Publishing does not guarantee sales on any platform. Treat the first weeks as an experiment: keep what works and replace what does not.
Rights, taxes and other basics
Only sell designs you created or have permission to use. Logos, characters, song lyrics and brand names usually belong to someone else, and AI-generated artwork is not automatically safe to sell. Before you choose a brand name, search the trade mark registers (TMview for Europe, the USPTO for the United States).
Creator earnings are income. You are responsible for any tax registration and reporting in your country; the rules differ by country and by how much you earn.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need money to start selling T-shirt designs?
No. On a print-on-demand marketplace such as Dezajn you can create and publish for free, and production is paid for out of each sale. You only need artwork and an account.
Do I need my own website?
No. On a marketplace your products have their own pages and checkout. A website becomes useful later, when you have an audience and want full control of branding.
How much can I earn per T-shirt?
On Dezajn you choose your earnings per item and see the resulting customer price before publishing. Higher earnings mean a higher price for the customer, which can mean fewer sales.
Can I sell the same design on several platforms?
On Dezajn, yes: the licence is non-exclusive and you keep ownership of your design. Check the terms of every other platform you use.
Who handles returns and customer service?
On Dezajn, Dezajn is the seller to the buyer and handles checkout, delivery support, refunds and complaints. On your own store, you are usually the seller and handle them yourself, even if a fulfilment service ships the orders.
Related guides
Sources
Statements about other providers are based on their official pages, listed here. Their fees and features can change, so check them before deciding.