Print on Demand UK vs Bulk Orders: Which Makes More Money?
By The Velocity Wear Team
Print on demand gets over three and a half thousand searches a month in the UK, and it's easy to see why. You upload a design, connect a shop, and every time someone buys a shirt, it's printed and posted for you. No stock, no risk. But there's a cost to that convenience, and it shows up in your margin on every single sale.
How print on demand works
When an order comes in, the POD company prints one shirt, usually with DTG or DTF, packs it and posts it. You pay a base price per shirt that includes the garment, printing and fulfilment. Your profit is the gap between that and your selling price.
Where POD shines
- Testing lots of designs without buying stock.
- Selling to a small or unpredictable audience.
- Offering every size and colour without holding inventory.
- Side projects and creators who don't want to handle parcels.
Where POD hurts
- Per-shirt costs are high, because you pay for single-unit production every time.
- You're limited to the blanks the platform offers.
- Custom neck labels and branded packaging are limited or expensive.
- Print quality can vary, and you don't see the shirt before your customer does.
- Delivery times can stretch at busy periods.
How bulk orders change the maths
With a bulk order, you pay once for a batch. Per-shirt cost drops, often a lot. With us, tees start at 20 per design with sizes mixed, and the price steps down at 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000. You choose the shirt weight and fit, add your own neck labels and packaging, and inspect everything before it ships.
The trade-off is that you hold stock, pack orders and take the risk on sizes that don't sell.
A sensible path for most brands
- 1Test designs with POD or pre-orders.
- 2When a design sells consistently, move it to bulk.
- 3Keep experimental or niche designs on POD.
- 4Use the extra margin from bulk to invest in better photos and marketing.
Pre-orders: the middle route
Pre-orders give you bulk pricing without guessing. Open orders for a design for a week or two, then order exactly what's sold plus a few extras. Be clear about delivery time, because production takes 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, plus shipping to you and then to customers. And remember UK buyers online generally have cancellation rights.
Fulfilment when you go bulk
You can pack orders yourself, which is fine for dozens of orders a week, or use a fulfilment company once volume grows. Either way, have a simple system: stock by size on labelled shelves, a packing station, and postage printed from your shop platform.
Customer experience differences
Bulk orders let you inspect every item, add a handwritten note and ship quickly from stock. Print on demand is hands-off, but you can't control packaging or catch a faulty print before the customer does.
Returns
Factor returns into both models. Bulk stock can be resold; POD returns are usually written off.
Do the numbers for your shirt
Take your POD base price for a design, then compare it with your per-shirt cost at 50 or 100 on our price calculator, plus postage and packaging. The difference, multiplied by how many you sell in a few months, tells you whether switching is worth it. Browse custom t-shirts or order a sample to compare quality side by side.
