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What is the difference between POD services and POD marketplaces?

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Print on Demand services are those that provide the back-end operation of receiving, printing, packing and shipping orders to customers. Whereas, Print on Demand marketplaces are those that also provide the front-end platform or storefront to sellers where all the categories, products and designs are hosted on the POD platform itself.

In the POD marketplace, you would only be responsible for uploading your artwork on the platform and the marketplace will then take care of all the printing, marketing and selling of those items.

Below are a few key differences:

POD Service Only

POD Service + Marketplace

  1. Processes orders received, prints, packs and ships them to your customer.
  2. Allows you to manage your own storefront, sales channels and communication with your customers.
  3. You receive all the money from your customers directly
  1. Provides a platform for you to upload your designs and/or create your products for sale. Your customers will visit this platform to buy your products and you will get a margin or payout from the marketplace platform
  2. You have limited control of your storefront depending on how much customization the platform offers. You rely on the platform for all sales, service and after-sales support
  3. The platform receives all the money from your customers directly and then pays you your cut



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