
Printify and Qikink are two leading Print On Demand service providers.
They cater to designers and small entrepreneurs looking to start their dropshipping business and sell custom apparel, home decor, and other accessories.
Both are excellent choices specifically for Indian-based store owners. They offer user-friendly platforms, a seamless dropshipping process, and side services.
In this article, I have compared Prinify and Qikink’s POD services to highlight their differences. Explore the reviews to discover the best option for your dropshipping business.
What is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is an order fulfillment method where the products are shipped directly from the main manufacturer to your customer.
Here, the seller doesn’t keep stock for sale. You act as a middleman, accepting orders from customers and forwarding them to third-party suppliers for order fulfillment.
It’s a comparatively safe business model for small online businesses with little investment. Since there’s no inventory involved, it carries low overhead and risks.
It also gives you the freedom to expand your business globally. You can connect with overseas suppliers and offer a variety of products to customers.
Benefits of a DropShipping Business
- Low Cost and Risks: You can start your business with a small investment.
- Hassle-free Logistics: The supplier manages the production and shipment, allowing you to focus on growing your business.
- Product Variety: You can try out different products and build a network of suppliers to create a diverse product line.
- Global Reach: You can run your retail store online and sell products to domestic and international customers remotely.
To summarize, dropshipping is an attractive business model for emerging entrepreneurs wanting to kickstart their e-commerce business without taking financial risks. With Printify and Qikink, they can start a small setup and gradually grow their sales.
What Does Printify and Qikink Offer?
Printify and Qikink provide a type of dropshipping service called Print On Demand (POD).
Instead of delivering ready-to-ship products, Printify and Qikink allow you to print your custom designs on retail items and ship them to your customers.
What’s the difference between Printify and Qikink?
How do they work?
Below, I have made a detailed comparison between Printify and Qikink to see which platform might be well-suited for your business.
What is Printify?
Printify provides an online platform to merchants, where they can connect with printing houses and create and ship personalized items online. Not only that, but it also offers marketing and outsourcing services to help sellers start their business with ease.
You can integrate it with major e-commerce stores and utilize its free design tools to apply custom designs to products for printing.
Over 8 million sellers use Printify to run their drop-shipping business.
Core Features Of Printify:
- Print on demand.
- A large catalog for customization.
- Outsourcing services.
- Global reach.
How Does Printify Work?
Printify is well-known for its ease of use and simple navigation. You can create a free account and start selecting products for sale.
The free plan allows up to 5 user accounts and an unlimited selection of products. You’ll get a catalog for item selection and a mockup generator to see your design results before putting them up for sale.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up your supply chain process on Printify.
- Sign up for free here. You can use your Google account or any email address for registering.
- Next, pick a product for customization. Each item shows product and supplier information, including the location of order fulfillment.
- Choose the best price for your product, connect your store, and publish items for sale.
- Once your site visitor places an order, it’s automatically fulfilled and shipped by Printify.
You can discuss returns and refunds with the sales representatives. Or, you can check out this guide to get quick details.
What is Qikink?
Qikink is an Indian-based print-on-demand supplier. It was founded in 2016 for online store owners and YouTubers and has since grown its presence in the local market, attracting over 50,000 entrepreneurs nationwide.
The platform offers a wide selection of base products and several custom printing options. It also has an in-house production facility to accept bulk printing for corporate events.
Core Features of Qikink:
- Print on demand.
- Order fulfillment.
- Custom T-shirts.
- Bulk Printing.
- Domestic and international shipping.
How Does Qikink Work?
Setting up your account on Qikink is easy. You can sign up for free using your Google or personal ID and access all features.
Here’s the step-by-step account opening guide:
- Sign up via its main website.
- Install the shop plugins and sync your Shopify or WooCommerce store.
- Select your base product and upload your design.
- Preview your product in the mockup generator.
- Publish your product.
- You can automatically send orders to the dashboard or create new orders manually. Qikink takes care of the fulfillment of orders and shipping.
Policies are in place for returns and refunds. Here’s a small guide on how to deal with returns.
Printify Vs. Qikink-Feature Comparison
Printify and Qikink share a lot of features.
Both deliver large product catalogs and well-established order fulfillment systems, allowing you to sell retail items online without setting up an extensive supply chain.
For comparison, I have summarized their core functions here. You’ll find a summary of their POD service, unique selling points, integrations, and prices.
1. Print On Demand
Print on Demand involves printing custom designs on different materials using various techniques, such as All-over-prints, Direct-to-film, digital printing, UV printing, and more.
Some of the best examples of Print on Demand are personalized bags, printed mugs, home accessories, and artwork on T-shirts.
Here’s a summary of Printify and Qikink POD services.
Printify POD
Printify’s POD service includes a product catalog, order fulfillment, global shipping, and a mockup tool for customization.
You’ll get access to 900+ base products and over 130 printing house services in the USA, Canada, EU, Australia, and China.
You’ll have the flexibility to choose All-over-printing or partial designing. You can also set your own prices and pick the supplier.
Samples can also be ordered to check the final result.
Qikink POD
Qikink offers similar services but on a smaller scale. You can choose DTG (direct-to-garment), sublimation, vinyl printing, or DTF (direct-to-film).
The platform supports around 13 types of printing techniques, providing diverse options for personalization.
You can also opt for all-over or partial printing.
Verdict
Printify and Qikink are both good options for custom printing, but Printify’s POD service is comparatively better.
The platform offers more coverage, product options, and shipping choices, making it ideal for growing businesses.
Qikink, however, has a quality advantage. Based on user reviews, it’s an excellent platform for apparel custom printing.
2. Unique Selling Points
Every platform has its own unique selling points that set it apart from the competitors. It could be its interface, core feature, or side services.
Printify and Qikink also have their best-selling features, making them perfect for their target audience.
Here’s a summary of the perks and benefits Printify and Qikink offer to its users.
Printify USP
Global coverage is Printify’s unique selling point. The platform has built a global network of printing houses and shipping companies, allowing e-commerce store owners to deliver retail products worldwide.
Printify also provides other side services to optimize the order fulfillment process.
For example, if you are just exploring the dropshipping business, you can create a temporary pop-up store on Printify to test it out or outsource the setup to Printify Experts.
Separate packages are available for outsourcing, covering branding, storefronts, and integration.
One more thing. Printify provides free migrating assistance to new users. Once you start scaling your business, you can avail other benefits, such as a dedicated account manager.
Qikink USP
Qikink’s unique selling point is its apparel quality.
Back before Qikink was officially launched, its founders manufactured and exported premium quality T-shirts to recognized labels. It set the standard for their base products.
Qikink also provides custom embroidery and branding options. Printify has recently introduced its embroidery services as well, but Qikink has established practice, giving it an edge over its competitors.
Bulk printing and COD services are some of its other notable features.
Verdict
In terms of customization, Printify and Qikink are on equal footing. Both deliver labeling, branding services, and multiple printing options.
Printify, however, offers more premium services to its users, such as discounts on high volume and global shipping choices.
While Qikink also has international shipping options, its coverage is comparatively limited.
3. Integration
Printify and Qikink integrate with several popular e-commerce platforms.
With third-party integration, you can easily streamline your order fulfillment process.
Here’s a summary of their integration options.
Printify Integration
Printify integrates seamlessly with nine major platforms. You can sync it with Shopify, eBay, Amazon, BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, and Squarespace.
If you are a designer and run shops on Etsy, TikTok, or Presta, you can integrate them with Prinitify as well. The platform shares basic setup guides to help you get started, and if you need help, you can hire experts to set up your shop.
For store owners with custom shops, Printify offers API solutions. Sample guides are available on the website for developers.
Qikink Integration
Qikink currently supports Shopify and WooCommerce. The options may sound limited, but around 2.3 Million Shopify and 4.6 Million WooCommerce stores are active around the World.
By adding both options, Qikink targets over 200,000 entrepreneurs.
Qikink also provides an open API for customization. You’ll find step-by-step guides and documentation on the website.
Verdict
Printify works on an international level. As such, its integration options are comparatively diverse.
Qikink supports major platforms local entrepreneurs typically use. Its integration options are more than sufficient for its target audience.
From an integration point of view, both are good choices.
Pricing
The pricing structure of Printify and Qikink varies a little.
Both let you use their order fulfillment software for free and only charge for the merchandise and POD services at the time of order placement.
However, Printify also sells subscription packages to growing and established businesses, offering more functionality and premium services.
Below is the summary of Printify and Qikink’s pricing;
Printify Prices
Free Plan: You can run five stores on the free plan. Access to all its product catalogs is also free. The plan is designed for startup online stores.
Premium Plan: Premium package is ideal for stores ready to scale up. For $29 a month, you’ll be able to run up to 10 stores and get 20% discounts on the products. You can revert to the free plan anytime.
Enterprise Plan: This package is best for high-volume sales. The enterprise plan unlocks the limit on store numbers, allowing you to run as many stores as you want. In addition, you’ll get extra discounts on the merchandise and custom integration.
Qikink Prices
Qikink doesn’t offer any subscription. You can use Qikink without any upfront fee or monthly membership.
All printing and premium service charges are available on your order fulfillment dashboard, providing transparency to help you price your item accurately.
For example, if you want to add brand labels to your shirt, you can purchase the services with the order. Similarly, you’ll find manufacturer rates to adjust your profit margin.
Verdict
Printify and Qikink both are free platforms. You don’t need to purchase their premium features to access their core product.
From a pricing point of view, both are outstanding options for POD services.
Pros and Cons of Printify and Qikink
Printify and Qikink are the best POD suppliers for online store owners and creative entrepreneurs.
You can automate your production process with these platforms and focus on generating more business.
Before you try out any of them, check out their pros and cons. As POD suppliers, Printify and Qikink rely on third-party vendors for production and shipment.
When there are multiple partners involved in order fulfillment, there are bound to be some challenges for the entrepreneurs.
By understanding their perks and limitations, you can make an informed decision.
Here are some pros and cons of Printify and Qikink.
Printify
Pros
- The digital platform is easy to navigate.
- You get access to the global market and can make credit card payments in multiple currencies.
Cons
- As Printify hosts multiple printing houses, the product quality may vary. It might be a significant disadvantage for store owners selling diverse products.
- Some have found Printify’s customer service slow. It might not be a dealbreaker, but entrepreneurs should consider it before availing of its services.
Qikink
Pros
- Qikink’s network is small, allowing it to maintain the product quality standard.
- The platform is built for the local market and offers better domestic shipping options comparatively.
Cons
- Qikink’s international transaction feature may need improvement.
- The system has a slight learning curve. While the platform is user-friendly, some may need time to navigate the dashboard.
Conclusion
Printify and Qikink are ideal platforms to get POD service.
Printify’s audience is comparatively large, and its services are designed to target a wide audience.
Qikink, on the other hand, aims at the local market, and its POD charges have been set to attract emerging and small entrepreneurs.
Based on their target audience, both are appealing platforms.
If you are looking to build an international client base, Printify is an ideal choice. For local entrepreneurs, Qikink is better and budget-friendly.
I recommend opening a free account to explore their service. Good luck!