The REAL Reason To NEVER Use Shopify For Print On Demand In 2023..

My understanding from research and experience is that Etsy will not show your products in search on the first several (or more!) pages until you make some sales, which means you still have to drive your own traffic to Etsy. For that reason, I decided to build my own site. However, if I could do it over again, I probably would have started out driving traffic to Etsy until Etsy started to show my listings organically. And I could have done this while building my own website.

You called me out! Ahah I am definitely the second type of person.. afraid to do anything wrong 😅

The fourth is that stripe is restricted in ny country, sigh.

I just buy a tee domain and then i found your video 😭

Oooooooh. I like what you did here. Glad I stuck around LOL. Also subscribed. This is one of the best instructional videos I have seen.

I'm literally so confused... You just posted why not to sell on Etsy and in that video you suggested Shopify... Which is it?

Sorry dude. But are you a paid shill? Shopify is not right for everyone. And not paying expenses up front you do not have to until you have some bank to invest vs get sucked dry is a viable strategy getting into something as low-margin as POD or dropshipping. And POD is a long game. High up front costs and doing most of the work when you likely have lots of other things to work on, like your designs, is not good business. Shopify CAN be digital sharecropping if your niche doesn’t scale high to cover all those expenses. Its all about the right about of tool for the right amount of value to capture.

Bro u said in another vid use shopify to sell tshirts

Thank you! I was leaning on Shopify and this has convinced me. I wanted to be sure I was going in the right direction lol

A very good reason would be that you can't actually integrate things like Printify like everyone makes it seem so easy to do UNLESS you pay for a Shopify plan that costs $1000 a year. The Printify shipping calculator won't work -in other words you can't just let the POD site take care of your orders and ship them with a $30 a month Basic plan. I was on a chat with Shopify for three hours today. Ugh!

Im kind of reluctant to start my Shopify business even tho I have a few good designs. The thing is I haven’t trademarked my name with USPTO. Is that a legitimate reason to wait?

I was a bit confused by the title of the video. In another video you talked about strategy and there you said that it is better to have your own e-shop. I have the same opinion. Later in the video I understood everything :-) I have been doing online marketing for 10 years. I am now starting my first POD e-shop. I am doing quality preparation and so I am watching your videos. It's important for me to choose the right platforms and apps to start with. I don't like marketplaces. I hope I never need them.

you’re a genius 😂

Hello. Does anyone here know if I can have multiple POD suppliers connected to my Shopify store? For example Printify and Printful together? When processing an order, does the system know which supplier it should give information to in order to ship the order? Or I can only have one POD supplier connected to one e-shop.

Your camera skills need refining Mr Joe . You move too much with your hands and your head and you come across as confrontational pedantic and a little patronizing too . In previous videos like a year ago you arent like that .Just to bring that to your attention . No hate.

watched it but , you saying dont use shopify then what can i use?

Love your content, Joe! You tricked me! I'm curious. What did you do in your former life before POD?

I have lots of ideas for POD and yes I'm one of those people who is scared to start and make mistakes.

Well said, Joe. 💯

You also have a video about the $100,000 Shopify store and how to set up. Which is it? Yes or no to Shopify? Thanks!

i don't get this man .In one video he said etsy is not good option and in one video he is in favour of etsy

So sir what to use?

I don't mind the cost and I have money to invest, but I've read so much about Shopify's apps costly more and more and more. I'm just wondering about the functionality of a basic Shopify store with no added apps. I'm sure there are some good apps out there that I might want to invest in, but I also don't want to keep getting nickel and dimed to death just to keep the thing going or up-to-date. Is a no-frills Shopify store adequate for POD?

I started a pod with Shopify but for some reason my images would show up looking faded or just didn’t look right. I always ordered my own stuff 1st just to see what my customers would be getting. They always looked good on Shopify but the actual product didn’t come out good from Printful so I just stopped using it all together

...so basically, clickbait...

this is the worst video foe anyone getting started lol building a store on shopify is not hard, and rn they have a 1 dollar for 3 months deal..i stared an etsy and it got shut down in 3 days..damn as i keep watching this video gets worse

I'm starting. And struggling with Shopify design, and I saw the tittle :v came scared.
I think Shopify is good for me because I try to build a brand... skaperanimal

I'm still setting up my inventory of products, and I hadn't up to this point figured out which way I would launch, but thanks to you "Robert Joe" I thought about where I want this to be in a few years and I gotta go with my own site.

You have a very good channel, you don't need to clickbait

I am one of the ones that is scared to do anything wrong so I haven't done anything😢

It seems that big online marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon are becoming oversaturated, making it difficult for your listings to be seen without spending on ads. However, using ads can eat away at your profits. With Shopify, you have more control over your online store, but you need to find your own traffic which is also challenging. If you have a significant social media following, you may be able to direct buyers to your own store. However, it's hard to tell which approach is easier. If you have a large social media following, opening your own store may be a viable option. Otherwise, it may not be the best choice.

Talk about paralysis of analysis!
The more I learn, the more options there are to choose from. I'm learning how to digitize embroidery designs. It would be great if the hobby would at least pay for itself. So I watch videos on selling online and learn about POD. Yikes! There are millions of them and all promising huge profits. Realistically, we're lucky to make enough to buy a coffee. It's a gold rush. The money is in selling supplies and guides to the prospectors.

Whart are conversion rates exactly?

Trickster! I was waiting for all the reasons to shut my Shopify store down 🤣then you go and flip the script! Great video.

New. Started on Etsy in Oct 2023, perm banned 1 month later. No clue why. Moved to Shopify as I have webpage & graphic art background... not afraid to create my own store. However, I'm struggling with Shipping costs up here in Canada and how to make those not be the straw that ends me. I'm not afraid of marketing... but want to solve this conundrum before I have too many shoppers as I'd go broke paying all their shipping fees. Do you have a video on how to deal with such high shipping fees? Shipping in Canada is HUGE... and, I had someone yesterday order just 5 items from Printify and while I charged them $24.99 for shipping through Shopify, Printify charged me $60+. Unless I limit all my shoppers to 1 item per order... how can I overcome this? I cannot seem to find a video on this subject and the math is terrible! I'm finally getting some sales and I'm losing money while I figure this out. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn... but I ain't learning anything atm except how to wave good by to my profit and the money out of my wallet. If you don't have a video on this, would you kindly point me in the right direction??

Desperate shopkeeper in Canada!

I'm a bit confused, on another video you say avoid Etsy because of the number of searches coming up with a title, and to use Shopify.. Maybe just do both and test out. I know niches are important, be unique.

Me started store but not my pod yet

The reason a monthly fee is unafordable. You need to know how to drive customers to your site first. No one will do it for you.. out of 1k views u get 100leads ans maby 10 sales. You must get return for your investment, not in money but in invested time. Three years of monthly fees with no sales! ******

I watched this video because I'm afraid of doing something wrong... again. I tried affiliate marketing selling digital books but that was back in 2002 and I could not get any traffic to my site. I work a full time job and taking the free POD for Dummies course now. So far everything I have learned I agree with. But I also think I found my nich after watching this video. Thanks!

I have a Shopify and a seperste Etsy (not the same store name) should I link my shopify items to my Etsy that has great ratings and sales? Im just concerned with it not being professional.

In 2019 I built a store with Shopify and was doing POD through it. I started advertising on Facebook which I have a business page. Everything was going along fine until Facebook took $250 out of my checking account. That was all I had at the time and it completely destroyed my hopes of getting the business started. I was still ignorant of the game and I just had to shut down my store and I really tabled it until now. I am facing hard times again and I need to get busy with something I can do to make some cash. Yeah, I am a little afraid to do it. Once bitten twice shy, baby.

So the title says NEVER use Shopify yet you have a course about Shopify. Why use this title I wonder?

Wow can’t wait I just started last month lol… printify / Shopify … of course no sale .. Converted my passion of creating gorgeous images with AI and print them. One thing I am pissed at Google were I am in content banned for wtf what after fixing stuff… this is so annoying

Clickbaity title 😔

please do a video on Shopify vs WooCommerce

One thing i couldnt get my head around is with shopify even though you've paid for subscription, they still charge for transaction fee, i think its really greedy and really turns my stomach.

How about Woocommerce Joe? The bad thing about Shopify is that you don't own the store and might close it at any time.

I'm the second of the two. I've mentioned POD to family and friends and yet haven't dived into it. I need to for sure. I think I'm just scared to make it happen. I've come up with several designs, but while a lot of people think they are cool, I tend to get down when one or two people I show tell me it is a bad design. I then get discouraged. I need to just make it happen and give it a shot. All I have to lose is my time.