Cafepress is hailed as one of the best on demand sites, but is also criticised for its high base prices. Here are a few alternatives to Cafepress.
Probably the greatest competitor to Cafepress, Printfection offers a lot of the same things as Cafepress as well as some bonuses. Unlike Cafepress which makes you pay for a premium store, Printfection gives you a premium online store for free. They also offer a much larger range of colours for their clothing with over 150 different colours. As well as the huge colour range for clothing, Printfection also offer a huge range of products to sell, a list of which can be found here. They also allow wholesale purchasing of your products, allowing you to buy in bulk for conventions or anything else where you would need to sell massive numbers in person.
For publishing books, there is no better option than Lulu. Offering a huge range of choice and customisation for your books, Lulu is a dedicated store for self-publishers. From novels and comics to encyclopaedias, Lulu caters to everything and also works to ship your book out to book stores across America for added income!
The better alternative for European shops, Spreadshirt does suffer a few drawbacks. First and foremost is the lack of marketing. With Printfection and Cafepress, the two companies purchase Google AdWords to help sell your designs. Self marketing is very important for Spreadshirt store owners. Their online design interface is quirky, and you can’t print with unlimited colors on dark garments like you can with Printfection and CafePress.
While not a true alternative to Cafepress, I still think Etsy is a good enough online store to warrant a mention. If you have a talent with handicrafts, then Etsy allows you to sell your homemade wares on their website to thousands of other people. If you happen to enjoy painting as a hobby, or basket weaving, then etsy is a good place to sell what you make.
