Gearbubble or Printful: Which option is better for print on demand sellers?
Printful is usually the platform I recommend first to all vendors. It gives you tons of high-quality products to customize, endless integration options, and a fantastic set of design tools.
However, Gearbubble has some unique benefits too. It was one of the first companies to offer POD sellers access to hand-crafted fine jewelry.
It also has its own marketplace, so you can sell online without creating an ecommerce store, plus it can even handle customer service on your behalf.
So, how do you make the right choice?
In this comparison, I’ll put both platforms head-to-head, to help you understand the pros and cons of each.
The Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons
Overall, Printful is still one of my top choices for print on demand. It’s an incredible platform, dedicated to giving companies high-quality customizable products, excellent tools for omnichannel selling, and valuable design tools.
It also has some of the best premium plans around (more on that later).
However, Gearbubble stands out too.
If you’re looking for a way to sell high-quality jewelry, Gearbubble is practically unmatched in this area. It also makes it easy to ship products to customers fast through Amazon FBA.
Plus, the platform has it’s own marketplace for those without an existing storefront.
Printful Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Excellent range of high-quality products
- Dozens of integrations with sales channels
- Great global fulfillment options
- Convenient quick store creator for beginners
- Lots of printing and customization options
- Fantastic design tools
Cons:
- Not the best customer support
- Not a lot of unique product options
Gearbubble Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Excellent range of unique products
- Easy-to-use platform with an existing marketplace
- Integrations with Shopify and marketplaces
- Dedicated customer service support
- Fast shipping throughout the US
- Custom branding options
Cons:
- Fewer integration options
- Slightly limited product collection
- Basic design tools
Gearbubble vs Printful: The Core Features
While Printful and Gearbubble do have some overlapping capabilities, there are a handful of major differences between them.
For instance, Printful offers companies a wide range of popular products to choose from, particularly in the apparel, home décor, and accessories spaces.
Gearbubble focuses on high-quality jewelry, with a handful of home décor and apparel products to choose from.
Additionally, the main way to sell through Gearbubble is to use the platform’s existing online marketplace, although you can integrate with a few other platforms.
Alternatively, Printful offers a huge range of integration options, and the ability to create a “quick store” for US sellers.
Product Options and Customization
If you’re looking for exceptional variety (particularly in the apparel space), Printful is an excellent choice.
There are nearly 400 products to choose from, ranging from t-shirts and custom shoes to accessories and home décor products.
You can also experiment with various printing options, including embroidery and all-over print.
Gearbubble has fewer products, including a handful of apparel items, a few drinkware options, and a selection of home décor products.
Where it really shines though, is in it’s ability to offer companies a broad range of high-quality jewelry products, in materials like sterling silver and gold.
Customization options for things like shirts and mugs on Gearbubble are a little limited – there’s no embroidery option, for instance.
Additionally, the editing tools you’ll use to create your products are straightforward, but not particularly advanced.
Printful’s editing tools are a lot more robust, with hundreds of free assets to explore, and a powerful AI “upscaler”.
Ultimately, though, which platform you choose here will depend on which products appeal most to you- Printful has more variety, but Gearbubble has more unique options.
Product Quality and Profitability
Gearbubble and Printful both have decent reputations for product quality. Based on the reviews I read online, Gearbubble excels at delivering fantastic jewelry products, which is no surprise, considering the company is backed by Bergio International.
However, some other products, like t-shirts and sweaters can vary in quality.
Printful constantly delivers exceptional quality for all of its products. It even has a higher rating on Trustpilot (4.7 out of 5 compared to 4.1 out of 5 for Gearbubble).
So, if you’re looking for reliability, Printful is an excellent choice.
In terms of profitability, both companies are excellent.
Printful used to have a reputation as one of the more “expensive” POD platforms, but it recently reduced the cost of its products platform-wide, so you can still access the same amazing quality, and potentially achieve higher profit margins.
Gearbubble’s products can be a little expensive, depending on what you want to order. However, they are decent value for money based on the quality.
Since both companies offer exceptional quality for decent prices, I think most vendors won’t have a problem making a profit regardless of which option they choose.
Global Fulfillment, Integrations and Sales Tools
Fulfillment is where comparing Gearbubble and Printful starts to get a little tricky.
Printful promises global fulfillment, but delivery times can definitely vary depending on where your customers are.
Gearbubble also works with companies worldwide, but it’s shipping speeds are best in the US.
One thing that does give Gearbubble an edge here is that it supports Amazon FBA fulfillment, which means you can take advantage of Amazon’s fulfillment teams to ship products a lot faster.
From a sales channel perspective, both companies give organizations a way to sell online without an ecommerce platform or marketplace storefront.
With Gearbubble, you can sell directly through their existing marketplace – although you will be competing for attention with other brands.
Printful, on the other hand, has it’s “Quick Stores” solution for building a simple storefront – but it’s only available to US merchants.
In terms of integrations, however, Printful definitely gives you more options. It supports 24 integrations with sales channels like Amazon, Etsy, TikTok Shop, Shopify, and more. In fact, I think Printful has the best range of integration options of any platform I’ve tried.
Alternatively, Gearbubble supports direct integrations with Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, and Shopify – but that’s it. While you can sell through Walmart, you’ll need to manage all of your orders manually, which is a bit of a headache.
Gearbubble vs Printful: Ease of Use and Customer Support
If you’re looking for a straightforward way to start selling online, Gearbubble and Printful are both excellent.
You can sign up for an account and start selling in no time. Gearbubble might be slightly more straightforward for some sellers, simply because you can create an account and start listing products on the marketplace instantly.
With Printful, you’ll need to either create a quick store, or set up an integration with an existing platform before you can start selling anything.
I do think Printful’s actual design tools are a little easier to use, however. Additionally, the interface you get is a lot more straightforward, with plenty of tooltips and guidance to walk you through initial stages.
Speaking of guidance, Printful has a lot more self-help resources than Gearbubble. Although Gearbubble has a blog, FAQ page, and help center, Printful’s solutions are a lot more in-depth and educational.
Plus, you get 24/7 customer service with Printful via chat and email on any plan.
Gearbubble only supports chat from 8am to 5pm PDT, although you can send an email at any time. However, it is worth noting that Gearbubble can handle issues your customers have for you, whereas Printful doesn’t offer this service.
Gearbubble vs Printful: Plans and Pricing
Finally, we come to your pricing options. Like with most print on demand solutions, creators can sign up for an account on Printful or Gearbubble for free and start selling immediately.
If you choose that option, all you need to pay for is the base cost of your products. Plus, there may be additional costs to account for if you want to invest in marketing and ecommerce platforms.
If you need more support or features, Gearbubble offers a “Platinum” plan for $197 per month.
That’s pretty expensive, but it does give you access to training guides, marketplace integrations, an Etsy Spyr tool (to find trending products), and priority access to new products.
You’ll also be able to take part in exclusive giveaways and access unique deals.
Printful’s premium plan is one of the best-value options I’ve seen in the market. The Growth plan, starting at $24.99 per month gives you discounts on virtually all the products on the platform, unique design tools, and more branding options.
You even get free digitalization for embroidery products. Plus, the great thing about this plan is it’s free to access when you’re earning more than $12k per year.
Gearbubble vs Printful: The Verdict
So, which platform for you choose? It all really depends on your priorities.
If you’re looking for dozens of integrations, great design tools, and a wide range of product options, Printful is the better choice.
I think it’s the more versatile and scalable solution for most sellers, and the company’s focus on product quality is excellent.
However, if you’d like the option to sell through an existing online marketplace, or you want to sell custom jewelry online, Gearbubble is an excellent pick.
It definitely gives you more unique product options, and some great fulfillment and customer service features.
Ultimately though, there’s nothing stopping you from signing up for an account and testing out both platforms – if you want to see how they work for yourself.
