Are you looking for the best print-on-demand options in Australia to dropship? Then read on.
Print on demand is one of the most rapidly growing businesses. This is because of less competition and the business model’s low-risk nature. You can easily create unique designs and sell them on your own website without having to keep excess inventory or investing large cash reserves.
That said, you need to research your print-on-demand supplier and test its reliability before launching your business. Experiencing print issues after building your brand with a specific company would affect your product’s carefully-built favoritism (if you change the supplier).
To help you choose the best Australian print-on-demand company, we have tested and compiled the top-ranking sites and additional options.
Let’s begin.
Best Print-on-Demand Sites in Australia
1. Printful
Printful is currently the most trending print-on-demand (POD) platform for launching a POD business. This is primarily because of excellent product quality and reliable shipments.
The only downside is the profit margin because you have limited room for profit margin using this print supplier. However, in the long run, you can build a trustworthy brand. Additionally, they allow CAD payments, so you will have USD currency conversion.
They have two partner facilities, one in Brisbane and the other in Melbourne, allowing you to deliver most products within 5 to 7 business days after production.
You can easily design your product and place a sample order with a 20% discount to test this POD service yourself.
| Printing methods – DTG, embroidery, cut and sew, white-label, sublimation, and custom Top integrations – Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Amazon, and much more Top features – Automated order import, custom branding, and beginner-friendly mockup generator Price – Free |
2. Printify
Unlike the other print-on-demand companies, Printify partners with multiple print providers worldwide, allowing several variations for each product. This gives you a higher profit margin on your products.
For Australian stores, they have primarily partnered with two print companies –
1. Prima Printing – One of the largest manufacturers of consumer imaging products in Australia and New Zealand
2. The Print Bar – A popular printing studio for creatives
On the downside, you only have 35 products to choose from, even though some of their unique items are not available on other print-on-demand catalogs. You can sign up for their paid subscription for $29 per month and get a 20% discount on all products, leaving you with high profitability.
The average shipping time for this Australian print-on-demand supplier is 7 days.
| Printing methods – DTG and sublimation Top integrations – Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay, and Wix Top features – Customer support and high profit margin Price – Free |
3. The Print Bar
The Print Bar is one of the best options for “print on demand Australia” businesses. You can easily create custom T-shirts, caps, bags, and beanies. While the product range is limited, they have a wide range of printing options, including embroidery, digital printing, screen printing, band merch, print on demand, and custom sportswear.
That said, their print-on-demand model focuses principally on DTG (digital printing) and embroidery (EMB).
They use eco-friendly ink and packaging and even offer a 25% discount to wholesale businesses. The Print Bar takes around 7 to 14 days to deliver its print-on-demand products.
You need to sign up for a store account first to use this Australian print-on-demand service. They offer a complete package – store building + print products. But they don’t disclose much about their fulfillment centers.
For deliveries in Australia, they charge a $10 flat-rate fee.
| Printing methods – DTG and embroidery Top integrations – Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, eBay, and Wix Top features – Multiple printing options and wholesale discounts Price – Not disclosed |
4. Contrado
Contrado is a popular print-on-demand supplier and online marketplace for selling products for a fixed commission.
You can use Contrado Australia to launch a print-on-demand business. Contrado has domestic printing, but they haven’t disclosed the exact location.
One of the best things is their range of unique products (450+ items) that you can design and imprint, including clothing, homeware, accessories, fabric printing, and more.
You can use Contrado Australia for print on demand, dropshipping, wholesale orders (up to 40% discounts), cut and sew manufacturing, and custom branding. Design artists can sell their artwork on the Contrado marketplace for a 20% to 25% base commission.
They claim a delivery window of 48 hours on most products. You have a 14-day return time for faulty products.
| Printing methods – DTG and sublimation Top integrations – Shopify Top features – The most unique POD items and eco-friendly products Price – Free |
5. OGO
Next on my list for print on demand Australia is OGO. They offer high-quality branded apparel, custom tote bags, sweatshirts, etc.
While their product range is a bit limited, they offer outstanding products, giving you the best bang for your buck. They also provide astounding product quality and a good profit margin.
They take 8 to 15 days to deliver with a $10 charge for the first product and $2 per additional item.
| Printing methods – DTG Top integrations – Shopify Top features – Branding and custom labeling and high-quality products Price – Free |
6. Redbubble
Redbubble is a print-on-demand marketplace for designing and selling unique items. You earn a fixed commission for your profit margin. They also offer partner programs to connect artists with brands.
You cannot directly integrate Redbubble with Shopify, but you can easily share your art on this platform with your personal website. Overall, it’s an Australian print-on-demand site geared more towards artists and designers.
| Printing methods – DTG and sublimation Top integrations – None Top features – Sustainable products Price – Free |
7. Dropshipping platforms for Australian suppliers
Lastly, you can use a B2B dropshipping platform to find unique suppliers offering personalization options. Some popular platforms are –
- Syncee – Syncee is a dropshipping platform for B2B dropshipping with pre-verified suppliers. You can categorize products as a supplier or as products. Plus multiple independent brands offer personalized products that you can imprint and sell on your online store.
- Spocket -is an EU/US-oriented dropshipping platform, but you can also find companies from Australia.
- Modalyst – Modalyst has tons of personalized Australian print-on-demand suppliers that offer branding options, custom printing, and more.
8. SaleHoo
SaleHoo is an online business directory where you can search for additional print suppliers based in USA, UK, Australia and more.
9. Domestic warehousing
Lastly, if you find a supplier in USA, or anywhere outside Australia, you can use an Australia-based warehouse service to store the products for a minimal fee and deliver it when the order arrives. For instance, Printful warehousing service.
Conclusion
So that was my take on some of your top options for POD Australia dropshipping. You might choose a popular pick like Printful if quality is your main concern or OGO if you don’t require a wide range of items. And if you still haven’t found the right supplier, you can always try printing the products yourself with sublimation printing machines.
Also, read our post about choosing the best label printer options in 2022-23.
Thank you for this comprehensive post. BUT Do any of these process payments in Australia? Are any fully Australian based? I’m not interested in any POD platforms that are actually based offshore- like, say, zazzle- they claim to process in Australia but everything is still done via their US partners. These models are truly exploitative of creative people, they don’t pay tax here & they ultimately black hole your designs unless you ‘earn’ brownie points by using their tools & even then it’s stacked against you with templates and huge franchises like Disney etc- and despite making sales you still get pushed out & black holed… until you make no sales. Really, the only value add is the arrangement of audiences, but once your honeymoon period with a POD platform is over, you’re pushed over the cliff to oblivion again. I was with zazzle from 2009- have just deleted my account & all my ‘stores’. What do you recommend Australian artists do?
Susanna,
Thanks for your valuable input.
You are exactly right on this. Many print on demand sites showcase themselves as domestic, but have it shipped from other countries, or marketplaces that don’t offer the right price to independent artists. It is due to these factors that many suppliers didn’t made through in my post.
There are many great print on demand suppliers like the OGO or Prima Printing that are fully Australian based.
Just to be clear about print on demand marketplaces vs print on demand suppliers –
Pod marketplaces – These are the online marketplaces where multiple sellers compete on a pre-built audience for a limited profit, Zazzle for instance.
Pod suppliers – These are the companies that create and sell the products on the site you choose to list it on. It could be an independent store, or a POD marketplace.
In my opinion the best way to go about this is by creating an independent online store hosted on an eCommerce platform (preferably Shopify). You will not only have complete control over the website, but you can also sell the store whenever you want. Plus you can easily add australian dropshipping suppliers that creates and ships the product domestically under your brand name.
Hope that helps 🙂
Hello! Thanks for your post! I am constantly on the look out for diverse dropshipping/pod websites and have pretty much checked out all those on the list before. I’m not sure if you are aware that in the instance of Contrado, they are extremely expensive and frankly out of reach for most people. I had signed up to them once before but when I saw their drop shipping prices they were going to charge me, I closed the account and didn’t bother. It’s really hard as a creative to find dropship/pod sites that don’t just sell the same things! Anyhow, thanks again.