Print on demand on Amazon: Merch on Demand or your own Seller Central account?
There are two separate ways to sell POD t-shirts on Amazon: Amazon's own Merch on Demand program, or selling through your own Seller Central account. The difference starts with who controls what.
One dashboard
TikTok ShopsoonAmazon is one of the marketplaces with the largest buyer traffic in the world. That is exactly what makes it attractive to POD t-shirt sellers: you don't have to bring the buyer, because shoppers are already there searching. But “selling POD on Amazon” can mean two very different things. The first is Amazon's own print on demand program, Merch on Demand. The second is opening your own Seller Central account and selling under your own brand, with products printed by a partner POD producer.
In this post we compare the two paths using the rules on Amazon's own pages as of September 2026, explain when each one makes sense, and cover what to watch out for on the Seller Central path.
How does Merch on Demand work?
With Merch on Demand, you upload your design to Amazon and choose the product type and price. When an order comes in, Amazon produces, packs and ships the product, and Amazon also handles customer service. You earn a royalty on every product sold. You don't deal with inventory, production, shipping or returns.
The price of that convenience is limited control. The product range, listing fields, price range and upload limits are set by the program's rules. The customer data is not yours; you can't move the listing to another channel, and you can't use these sales to grow your brand outside Amazon. Check the eligibility requirements and current royalty rates at merch.amazon.com.
POD with your own Seller Central account
The second path is to open an account on Amazon like any regular seller. You create the listing, you set the price, and when an order comes in the product is printed by a partner producer and shipped to the buyer. In this model Amazon uses the structure where the seller handles shipping (Merchant Fulfilled Network, MFN); delivery performance and the returns process are your responsibility.
The upside of this path is control: you choose the product range, the blank model (such as Gildan 64000, Bella+Canvas 3001 or Comfort Colors 1717), the price and the listing copy. You can sell the same products on Etsy, eBay and Shopify and manage every channel from one place. The downside is that the responsibility is yours too: product information, delivery times and customer satisfaction directly affect your account health.
The two paths side by side
| Topic | Merch on Demand | Your own Seller Central account |
|---|---|---|
| Production and shipping | Amazon handles it | A partner POD producer prints and ships |
| Revenue model | Royalty per sale | Sale price minus Amazon fees and product cost |
| Fixed fee | Per program terms | Individual: $0.99 per item sold; Professional: $39.99 per month |
| Product and blank choice | Products offered by the program | Everything in the producer's catalog |
| Listing control | Limited fields | Title, bullet points, backend keywords, variants |
| Other channels | Listing stays tied to Amazon | The same product can also sell on Etsy, eBay, Shopify |
| Account responsibility | Largely on Amazon | Delivery and returns performance is on you |
The drop shipping rule for POD on Seller Central
In Amazon's eyes, the POD model is a drop shipping arrangement: the product ships from the producer directly to the buyer, not from your warehouse. Amazon allows this, but with a clear condition: you must be the only seller of record.
- Packing slips, invoices and outer packaging must show only your name or brand.
- The package must not contain documents, logos or contact details that identify another seller or supplier.
- Accepting and processing returns is your responsibility.
- Failing to follow this rule hurts your account health and puts your ability to fulfill seller-fulfilled (MFN) orders at risk.
That is why it matters that your POD producer does not put its own logo or invoice in the package and ships white label. With Custombull, orders are printed and packed in our partner production network in the US; the buyer follows the order on a tracking page that opens with your store name, logo and color.
Factor in the fees from the start
Seller Central has two selling plans. On the Individual plan you pay $0.99 for each item sold; on the Professional plan you pay $39.99 per month. If you aim to sell more than 40 items a month, the Professional plan works out cheaper per unit. On top of that, a referral fee is deducted from every sale; in Clothing and Accessories the rate is tiered by total sales price: 5% at $15 and under, 10% between $15 and $20, and 17% above $20. The minimum referral fee per item is $0.30.
Amazon's definition of total sales price includes shipping and gift wrap charges. So if you add $4.99 shipping to a $17.99 t-shirt, the total becomes $22.98 and the rate jumps from 10% to 17%. We walk through the fee math with examples in a separate post.
Brands and intellectual property
On Amazon, intellectual property complaints put your account at risk, just as they do on Etsy. Movie characters, sports teams, brand names and famous quotes are the riskiest areas. If you want to protect your own brand, look into Amazon Brand Registry: to enroll, you need a trademark that is registered or pending with the official trademark office of the relevant country, and the brand name must appear permanently on the product or its packaging.
Custombull's copyright check compares your design and title against known brands and characters and tells you why something is risky. 1 credit per product. More than 5,000 designs have gone through this check so far.
POD on Amazon from Turkey
If the buyer is in the US, producing in the US directly determines delivery time and shipping cost. When you sell from Turkey, leaving production to a US production network is the most practical way to meet Amazon's delivery expectations. The documents required for seller registration vary by country; check the current list in Amazon's seller registration guide (sell.amazon.com).
On Custombull, the Gildan 64000 Softstyle t-shirt starts at $6.50 with printing included, the Bella+Canvas 3001 at $10.50 and the Gildan 18500 hoodie at $15.00. Custombull checks and guarantees the quality of every product: if a defective item reaches your customer, just report it with a photo from the order screen, and you get a no-questions-asked refund or a free reprint. Over the last 60 days, half of all orders shipped in under 2.8 days (median, from order to shipment).
Manage Amazon together with your other channels
When you choose the Seller Central path, Amazon becomes one of your channels. On Custombull, your Amazon store connects to the same dashboard as your other stores: sales and order data appear together and can be compared year over year. Products move between Amazon and Etsy, eBay and Shopify: draft first, published on your approval, SKUs preserved, variants adjusted to each channel's rules.
You don't have to handle ideas and design on your own either. Manage every step yourself if you like, or let Custombull produce it: Automated Production scans trend sources to find ideas, creates the design, prepares the mockups and listing copy, and runs a copyright scan. A block of 100 products costs $25 (or 63 credits).
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay for the product on Merch on Demand?
On Merch on Demand, Amazon handles production and you earn a royalty on each sale. Check the current rates and program terms at merch.amazon.com.
Which plan should I start with on Seller Central?
If you will sell fewer than 40 items a month, the Individual plan ($0.99 per item) is cheaper. Once you sell regularly, the Professional plan ($39.99 per month) both lowers your per-unit cost and gives you access to more selling tools.
Can I use my own brand on my POD products?
Yes. You can sell under your own brand and apply to Brand Registry to strengthen brand protection. Applying requires a registered or pending trademark.
