Dropshipping vs Print on Demand: Costs, Margins, and Delivery Compared

Print on demand is a form of dropshipping: you sell your own designs, and the supplier prints each item after your customer orders it. Standard dropshipping sells finished products that are already in stock, so nothing is made after the sale.

The difference shows up in what makes your store different, how long your customer waits, and whether an item can come back. Here are the two side by side, with a worked profit example for each.

Dropshipping vs print on demand at a glance

Print on demand is a type of dropshipping. From here on, “dropshipping” means selling finished products. The print-on-demand figures are Printful’s, checked October 2026; the branded figures are ours.

What is dropshipping?

You list a supplier’s products in your online store. Your customer pays you, you pay the supplier, and the supplier ships the order directly to your customer. You never hold inventory. The full mechanics are in what dropshipping is and how it works.

Branded dropshipping narrows that to products from brands people already search for by name, such as Tommy Hilfiger or Calvin Klein. The demand exists before you open the store. Your work is reaching the people who want the brand, at a price that still leaves you a margin.

What is print on demand?

You upload a design. When a customer orders, the print-on-demand supplier prints it on a blank product, such as a t-shirt, hoodie, mug, poster, or phone case, and ships it to your customer. Nothing is produced until the order exists.

That production step takes time. Printful states that it takes 2–5 business days to create a product and fulfill an order, and its shipping estimates do not include that time (checked October 2026).

So is print on demand dropshipping? Yes. You hold no inventory, and the supplier ships to your customer. The product is simply made after the sale, with your design on it.

What the two models share

Neither model asks you to buy stock or rent a warehouse. You pay for the product after your customer has paid you, so the risk of being left with unsold items is low. If you ever do hold stock, here is how to avoid overstock.

Both usually carry a monthly cost. Printify has a free plan at $0/month and a Premium plan from $39/month (checked October 2026). Dropshipping with BrandsGateway needs a subscription; the Grow, Scale, Enterprise, and REST API/CSV plans are on our plans and prices page.

Profit per sale: a worked example of each

Two numbers get mixed up here. Margin is the share of the selling price left after your costs, so it can never exceed 100%. Markup is what you add on top of the cost.

Print on demand: a t-shirt

Printful lists the Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001) at $11.92 with one print included (checked October 2026). The price changes with print technique, placement, color, and size.

Illustrative example: you sell that t-shirt for $30, and your customer pays shipping on top, so it passes straight through. You keep $18.08. That is a 60% margin and a 152% markup, before payment fees, taxes, and the cost of your designs.

Branded dropshipping: a designer item

Illustrative example: you sell €450. You pay €300 for the product and its delivery. You keep €150. That is a 33% margin and a 50% markup. Actual product and shipping costs vary by item and destination.

What the comparison shows

The t-shirt wins on percentage. The designer item wins on the amount you keep per order: €150 against $18.08. If winning a customer costs you about the same for either sale, the larger amount covers that cost more easily.

What sets the margin differs too. In print on demand, it is how much your customer values the design. In branded dropshipping, it is the brand, and how many other stores sell the same item at what price. There is more on how to calculate your dropshipping margin.

When you import products with the BrandsGateway app, retail prices are set at a 150% markup on the wholesale price by default. Illustrative example: an item with a €100 wholesale price gets a €250 retail price, and the €150 difference is a 60% margin before shipping. You can change the markup at any time, per category too, and add a fixed shipping cost to your prices.

Delivery time: in stock vs made to order

A print-on-demand order waits for production before it ships. With Printful, that is 2–5 business days, and the shipping time to your customer comes on top.

Dropshipping speed depends on where the stock sits. A supplier on another continent can take longer than a print-on-demand supplier close to your customer, so check the dispatch and delivery times before you choose one.

With us, orders are dispatched within 24–48 hours. Economy shipping takes 3–5 business days within Europe and 5–8 outside Europe; Express shipping takes 1–3 business days within Europe and 3–4 outside. We deliver worldwide using UPS, FedEx, DHL, or your own shipping label, and the shipping and returns page gives the cost for each country.

Returns: the difference most comparisons skip

A printed item is made for the order, so the supplier rarely takes it back for a change of mind. Printful’s return policy covers misprinted, damaged, or defective items reported within 30 days. It does not refund buyer’s remorse, except for customers in Brazil, and size exchanges are at your expense: you place a new order for the other size (policy last updated June 3, 2022; checked October 2026).

Selling to consumers in the EU does not change that cost. Article 16(c) of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU lifts the right of withdrawal only for goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalized. A name printed on request fits that. A design any customer can order from your store may not, so budget for returns you pay for yourself.

Finished branded products come back on different terms. With us, dropshipping orders have a 14-day return policy, counted from the day your customer receives the parcel. You request the return, we review it and inspect the item when it arrives, and eligible items are refunded. The full terms are on the shipping and returns page.

Where private label fits

Private label means your brand on products made for you. You buy them in bulk before you sell, usually above a minimum quantity the manufacturer sets; here is what a minimum order quantity means.

It gives you the most control over the product and the label. It also brings back what the other two models avoid: stock paid for up front, storage, and unsold items. Print on demand and dropshipping charge you per order. Private label charges you per batch.

If you want stock without building your own brand, compare dropshipping vs wholesale instead.

Which model fits your store

• Choose print on demand if you have designs and an audience that buys your look. Nobody else sells your design, and that is your difference.
• Choose branded dropshipping if your customers search for brands by name and you want finished products shipped without a production wait. The brand brings the demand; you compete on selection, price, and service. These are dropshipping niches that sell.
• Run both if your store has room for each. Keep printed products and branded products in separate categories, and state each one’s delivery time on the product page.

Whichever you pick, put the numbers from this post into your plan. A guide to writing a dropshipping business plan walks through costs, pricing, and suppliers.

Dropshipping designer brands with BrandsGateway

We supply over 47,000 products from over 800 brands: designer clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories. All products are 100% authentic and come with original tags, sourced from the brands, their licensees, or official distributors.

Connect Shopify or Wix with the BrandsGateway app, WooCommerce or Shift4Shop with the BrandsGateway plugin, or use one of the other store integrations; custom stores can use the REST API or a CSV file. You choose the products and set your retail prices, and we keep product information, prices, and stock synchronized.

When an order comes in, it appears in your BrandsGateway account. You confirm and pay for it, and we ship it directly to your customer, white-label, with your company name as the sender. The tracking number appears in your account for you to pass on. Here is how dropshipping with BrandsGateway works, step by step.