Ship From Printify?

[XpressYoSelfStudio]

Hi, I'm new to this and I set up everything for a print to ship from Printify. My printing vendor has the order but they are waiting for a payment. My funds are on a holding period. How do I set it up so my printing vendor receives payment automatically?

[audreytherese · Accepted solution]

You need to pay for it from your own funds until your reserve here has been lifted. 

[audreytherese]

I copied this from bradgoodell, another poster here that shares wisdom often:

You are selling POD products.  That is probably the most over-saturated market on Etsy right now.   Here are some things you should know if you plan to succeed:

1. PODs have huge competition, new shops selling POD are opening daily on Etsy
2. PODs have thin profit margins
3. You need to also have a risk/loss plan in place, because you are guaranteed to have losses.  With PODs having thin margins, one "problem" order where you are forced to refund the entire amount, and your profit for the entire month is gone.
4. Off-site ads will take 15% of your profit
5. You will need to be promoting constantly to stay ahead of the competition.  This may mean hours of time creating content for social media, or plenty of money spent buying advertising.  
6. If you have a successful product, your competitors will rip off your design.  Then they will underprice you.
7. With the huge amount of competition, some shops will choose to sell at a loss in order to get sales, thinking they will raise their prices later.  Unfortunately, this means the next new shop will go lower still, causing a race-to-the-bottom philosophy.
8. With the amount of competition out there, will need to be coming up with new artwork weekly to stay ahead of the competition.
9. If your shop takes off, you can expect Etsy to put your funds on Reserve, which means they hold 75% of your sales for up to 90 days.
10. POD on Etsy is not "passive income" nor "get-rich-quick" as sometimes promoted by people on Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube.  
11. Most POD shops opening today will be gone in 6-12 months.  Many won't make a dime in profit after adding in time, and some will actually leave Etsy owing more than they made.

In order to succeed you will need:

1. Cash on hand or a line of credit to cover your expenses and float you until you are profitable.  Plan for 6 months or more.
2. Time to create and release new products weekly
3. Time to promote, daily or weekly
4. A Risk/Loss plan in place.  Don't count on a "No refunds" policy to cover anything, because Etsy will happily refund buyers out of your funds if anything goes wrong.  Package delivered but buyer says they don't have it?  Etsy refunds.  The buyer says something is "not as described"?  Etsy refunds. 

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@XpressYoSelfStudio 

"How do I set it up so my printing vendor receives payment automatically"

You add a credit card to your Printify account. Then they will charge your card for the order. They won't print and ship your order until they are paid. 

Your Etsy funds do not somehow transfer to Printify to pay for the order on Printify just in case you were thinking that's how it worked. Many new POD sellers seem to think that's how it works. Basically your customer purchased on Etsy & those funds go to your Etsy shop payment account which will then eventually be transferred to your bank account. Your printer (Printify) still needs to be paid to print and ship the order to your customer thus the credit card on file with them. 

[cmBecreative2]

Is that really the way it works?

[HouseofWhisperingFir]

Yes.

[NanaLetha]

@cmBecreative2  Why would you think otherwise?

[UppNorthEh]

Don't the YouTubers touting POD give all the details how it works? 

Oh poo.  Zombie post.  Sorry.

Looks like the OP never got past that first sale.   Not as easy as it looks.