What is print on demand (POD), and how do you start from Turkey?

Print on demand (POD) is an e-commerce model where a product isn't made and stocked in advance, but printed and shipped only when a customer places an order. T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tote bags, aprons, baby bodysuits and banners are all sold this way. The seller lists the product; when an order comes in, the producer prints, packs and ships it to the customer.

The biggest advantage of the model is that inventory risk disappears. You are never stuck with 200 unsold shirts; you only pay the production cost of what sells. That is why POD is one of the lowest-cost ways to enter the US and European markets from Turkey.

How does print on demand work?

1. The product is prepared: the design, the product model (e.g. Gildan 64000) and color and size options are set.
2. The listing goes live: the product is published with mockups on a sales channel such as Etsy, Shopify, eBay or Amazon.
3. An order comes in: the customer pays for the color and size they chose.
4. The order is sent to the producer: the design file and product details for that order go to the print shop.
5. It is printed and packed: t-shirts are usually printed with DTG (direct to garment) or DTF (direct to film transfer).
6. It ships: the tracking number is posted to the sales channel, and the customer can follow the order.

As the seller, your role is to prepare the product well, sell it on the right channel at the right price, and handle customer communication. Production and shipping happen on the producer's side. With the right tools, much of the idea, design and listing work can be automated too; more on that below.

What POD costs

POD has two kinds of costs: variable costs paid for each item sold, and fixed monthly costs. For a t-shirt, the typical items are:

Your profit is your sale price minus the total of these costs. A few dollars in product cost adds up to a big difference in profit over hundreds of orders. We walk through what you keep from an Etsy sale, with a worked example, in a separate article.

POD from Turkey: why produce in the US?

Printing a t-shirt in Turkey and shipping it to an American customer one order at a time isn't competitive, because of both international shipping costs and delivery times. American buyers are used to domestic shipping speeds. So for a POD seller selling to US buyers, producing at print shops in the US makes sense.

Custombull is not a manufacturer; it is a platform. Your orders are printed, packed and shipped by our partner producer network in the US, at the producer best suited to each order. Over the last 60 days, half of all orders shipped in under 2.8 days (median, from order to shipment). Since February 2026, more than 11,000 orders have been printed and shipped through this network.

Getting started from Turkey, step by step

1. Choose a sales channel

Etsy is a common first channel: the buyers are already there and it explicitly allows POD. Etsy accepts working with a production partner, provided the design is yours and the production partner is disclosed on your listings. Shopify is a good option for building your own brand, and eBay for reaching a different audience.

2. Set up how you get paid

Etsy can pay out to bank accounts in Turkey through Etsy Payments. As of September 2026, the payment processing fee for a bank account in Turkey is 6.5% + 14 TL; on top of that, sellers in Turkey pay a 1.67% regulatory operating fee. If your shop currency differs from your payment account currency, a 2.5% currency conversion fee also applies.

3. Define your product catalog

Don't try to sell everything at once. Starting with t-shirts makes sense; later you can add higher-ticket items like sweatshirts and hoodies. Starting prices in the Custombull catalog, print included: Gildan 64000 $6.50, Bella+Canvas 3001 $10.50, Comfort Colors 1717 $11.00, Gildan 18000 sweatshirt $12.00, Gildan 18500 hoodie $15.00.

4. Prepare ideas and designs

The most time-consuming part of POD is finding an idea that sells and turning it into a design. You can do this yourself or automate it. Custombull's Automated Production scans sources such as Etsy trend reports, Google Trends, news, Reddit and the seasonal calendar for ideas, creates the design with AI, prepares the mockup, title, tags and description, runs a copyright scan, and uploads to Etsy with your approval or with auto-publish turned on. The same topic isn't produced over and over for the same shop. Pricing is $25 per block of 100 products (or 63 credits).

5. Run a copyright check

Designs that include a brand, movie character, sports team or celebrity are among the biggest risks in POD. Etsy and eBay remove listings when they receive an intellectual property report, and repeat infringements can lead to account closure. Checking every design before it goes live is the cheapest way to protect your shop.

6. Listings and SEO

A good design with a weak title and missing tags won't show up in search. On Etsy, titles can be up to 140 characters, you get up to 13 tags, and each tag can be up to 20 characters. Describe the product clearly in the title and fill all 13 tags with different search intents.

7. Orders and customer tracking

Once sales start, orders need to be printed with the right file, tracking numbers need to be posted to the channel, and customer questions need quick answers. In Custombull, orders come in automatically from your connected channels, and every order gets a tracking page with your shop name, logo and colors, opening in the customer's language.

Common beginner mistakes in POD

• Setting prices without doing the math: a price set without adding up marketplace fees, shipping and product cost can lose you money.
• Skipping samples: selling without seeing your own product makes it hard to describe print and fabric quality accurately.
• Not disclosing the production partner: if you use POD on Etsy, disclosing the production partner on the relevant listings is required.
• Staying on one channel: tying all your sales to one marketplace puts the whole business at risk when that channel changes a policy.
• Skipping the copyright check: a single infringement report can wipe out the work behind dozens of listings.

Running POD from one dashboard

As a POD business grows, the work gets spread across tools: you research ideas in one place, design in another, check SEO in another tool and track orders in yet another dashboard. Custombull brings these steps into one dashboard: idea discovery, design creation, the product creation wizard, listing SEO optimization, copyright check, product transfer between your platforms, order collection, printing at partner producers in the US, shipping and a customer-specific tracking page.

Frequently asked questions

Is POD the same as dropshipping?

Similar, but not the same. With dropshipping, you ship a ready-made product from a supplier to the customer. With POD, the product is made with your design at the moment of the order. Etsy draws this line too: POD counts as a production partner, while reselling ready-made products falls under Etsy's reselling rules.

How much money do I need to start?

Because you don't buy inventory, startup costs are low: marketplace shop and listing fees, samples if you want them, and the software you use. Custombull's Free plan is $0 and requires no credit card.

Can I start without a company in Turkey?

Yes. Marketplaces like Etsy accept individual sellers. Once you have steady income, talk to an accountant about your tax obligations.

Can I upload my own designs, or does Custombull create them?

Both. You can upload your own designs with the product creation wizard and set up color and size options. If you prefer, Automated Production also handles finding ideas, the design, the mockup and the listing copy. It can be set to ask for your approval before publishing or to publish automatically.

Which product should I start with?

Most sellers start with t-shirts because they are affordable and sell well as gifts. The Gildan 64000 stands out on price, the Bella+Canvas 3001 on feel and fit. After your first sales, you can raise your average order value with sweatshirts and hoodies.