There are some inherent financial risks for beginners who try to make money with Teespring. One of the biggest is in order for a campaign to go through (Teespring calls it “tipping a campaign”) so the T-shirts are actually sold, you have to meet the T-shirt quantity goal you set. For example, if I set my goal at 50 T-shirts, but only 25 are purchased, the campaign fails to “tip,” and the T-shirts are never made. While I don’t lose any money on the actual cost of the T-shirts, any money I spent on advertising and artwork is lost. The logical reaction to this is to set up quantity goals which require only a few T-shirts to be sold so the campaign “tips” and the T-shirts are produced.
While this sounds good, it comes at an earnings price. The fewer T-shirts I initially set as a goal, the less amount I’ll profit on each T-shirt sold. For example, if I were to set a goal of selling 10 T-shirts (3 color design) at $20 each, and I tipped that campaign, I would receive $6 for each shirt sold. If, however, I set a goal of 50 T-shirts, I would receive a profit of $10.85 for each sold if the campaign succeeded. A small initial goal means less profit for me. If I set a 10 T-shirt goal, but actually sold 50 T-shirts, I would earn $300 ($6 profit x 50 T-shirts). If I had set my initial goal at 50 T-shirts, and I sold 50, I would earn $542.50 ($10.85 profit x 50 T-shirts). That’s a $242.50 difference in earnings determined solely on making a good estimate of how many T-shirts will be sold.
The problem, of course, is if I set the initial goal at 50 T-shirts, but only sold 25 (or even 49), I would get $0 because the campaign wouldn’t tip, and the T-shirts wouldn’t get produced. In this case, I would lose money due to the artwork I paid for and the advertising I did to try and reach the goal.
As you can see above, it’s a sort of strategy game of picking the highest number of T-shirts you think you can sell without going over that number. For those who have a lot of experience, and who have done lot of campaigns, making this estimates is a bit easier. For someone completely new to this as I am, I have no idea, and my ignorance could end up costing me a lot of money as I try to learn better. The solution to this major Teespring issue for beginners has been solved with Teechip.
(Note: Basically for both websites, the goal number you set has little meaning when it comes to your shirts being printed, and it’s simply a tool for you to see how much you will earn if you meet it.)
While there are a number of small differences between the two sites, one is Teechip doesn’t require you to meet a goal in order to print the T-shirts. Teespring also doesn’t require you to meet your stated goal, but will only print shirts if enough are sold to be profitable. This is usually three, but can be as many as five depending on the product. With Teechip, even if only a single person buys a T-shirt, it will be printed, sent and you will earn some money.
Both websites also will credit volume discounts if you go beyond the goal number you set. Teespring initally only offered 75% of the volume discount if you underestimated the number of T-shirts you’d sell, but changed that to 100% at the end of last year. The company says this 100% bonus is “likely permanent.” This means with both sites, the more T-shirts you sell, the bigger profit you get from each one sold.
What this basically means for a beginner like me is I can reduce my financial risk a bit as I test whether or not I can make money from this. I don’t eliminate the risk completely, but there is less financial risk with Teechip than Teespring for beginners, since it begins paying as soon as the first T-shirt is sold.
Another difference is that Teechip pays higher margins per T-shirt than Teespring. This means when selling a T-shirt for the same amount, I will keep more money from Teechip than I will from Teespring. When beginning with a limited budget, getting paid from the first sale and the higher margins can mean I can launch more test T-shirt designs, therefore giving me a better chance to succeed since I have more opportunities to test with the same amount of money.
Below is a comparison of what I will earn from a 3 color design from both Teechip and Teespring:
| # of T-shirts Sold | Teespring Profit | Teechip Profit |
| 1 | $0.00 | $7.10 |
| 2 | $0.00 | $14.19 |
| 3 | $0.00 – $5.25 | $27.02 |
| 5 | $26.25 | $45.02 |
| 10 | $60.00 | $99.81 |
| 25 | $240.00 | $299.05 |
| 50 | $542.50 | $667.39 |
As you can see from the above table, for someone just starting out who may have a large number of campaigns which only sell a few T-shirts, Teechip makes a whole lot more sense from a financial perspective. With them, even if a campaign “fails” and I only get a few T-shirt sales, I will still end up breaking even (or even making a small amount) rather than getting nothing to a little as I would from Teespring. For example, if I have twenty of my planned fifty campaigns sell 3 T-shirts, and I pay $10 for artwork and $15 for advertising, the difference becomes clear. For those twenty campaigns I would have made a modest $40.40 with Teechip on those campaigns. With Teespring, those same twenty campaigns would leave me at -$395.00, and that’s assuming all the campaigns paid $5.25.
Also, if I do launch a campaign which does far better than I could anticipate and sells a lot of T-shirts, I get volume margins with Teechip whereas I would be making a much smaller set amount per T-shirt with Teespring. From a financial perspective with a limited budget and while I’m still learning, it makes financial sense to begin with Teechip where I will likely have a large number of campaigns where only 1 to 3 shirts are sold.
The major risk with Teechip is it’s a much newer and less established company than Teespring. While Teespring has established itself as company which will be around, there’s a larger risk of Teechip not being able to survive the competition in the long run. Still, this added risk seems to be worth it for the benefit of extending my budget so I can test more campaigns in these early stages so that I can hopefully reach my $10,000 goal in 100 days. Once I feel more comfortable in my understanding of how these campaigns work, I’ll reevaluate which of the two is a better choice.
Update: This article has been significantly changed with updated information emailed to me by Teespring which I misunderstood. Like I have said from the beginning, I’m going into this challenge with no head start on how this entire process works, and I’m learning along the way. While this will mean that I stumble through the learning process and make these types of mistakes, I hope it also shows what you would expect to have to go through if you, too, decide to attempt to make money as in this challenge. When I do make mistakes like I originally did in this article, I’ll do my best to correct the information as soon as I realize it’s wrong.
Can you show the math for your example showing the difference between working with Teechip vs. working with Teespring please?
All I did to come up with those numbers was upload a 3 color image to both sites and used the tool each site provides to tell me what my profit would be for the numbers of shirts listed at $20. Since both sites pay more profit to you for the greater number of shirts sold, there isn’t a set price. You can do it on both sites and compare any number of shirts and what selling site you’d like. The big difference is Teechip pays for the first 2 T-shirts sold (Teespring doesn’t) and Teechip pays more per T-shirt than Teespring.
So why would you choose teespring over teechip if the prices are better? Besides the fact that teechip is newer? What has changed since you wrote the article regarding this. Thanks, great article.
I haven’t. I think that Teechip is better for beginners and what I’m using. There are some advantages to Teespring. They have a larger variety of clothing options, you can print on both front and back and they pay quicker. While these are important, I don’t think they are enough to opt for Teespring for beginners at this point.
Are they the same mother company?
No, they are two completely different companies.
and what’s the difference with these two versus Represent? I’ve heard of people getting like 15% conversion rates there even though it’s more expensive.
TeeChip misrepresents their apparel. I just bought an adult XL shirt off of their website and it fits a lady who wears MEDIUM shirts/XL YOUTH shirts. The website says it fits a 40-42″ chest yet it only measures 18″ across the chest and my friend who wears MEDIUMS (that it fit…barely) – has a 32″ chest. When I contacted them they did not care at all that they lied about their product. Do NOT use this company because your buyers will not be happy and you will be RIGHT in the middle of their disputes. TeeChip refuses to refund the full amount and knowingly continues selling inferior products.
TeeSpring on the other hand is a wonderful company whose shirts are true to size. Just wanted to let you all know before you got mixed up in this company. They are also NOT BBB accredited and have countless complaints on there and on their own websites of things not being even close to the right size.
Exactly my experience, it’s a scam!
Teechip has block me from commenting on their page. Click the link to see my negative experience. ooShirts is officiated with TeeChip https://www.facebook.com/joshua.anderson.71653/posts/10204282600808018
Exactly the experience I just went through… DeeDee must be their only customer service rep! Haahaa! What a rip-off! I also left a facebook comment, I’m sure it will be deleted as well and blocked!
Please do not use this company! Sizing is waaaay off and they do not honor their product. I was told they have no control over quality because they are massed produced. I think a difference of 8-10 in bust size is a bit more of a problem than quality. Also, I would think twice about using them for fundraising purposes…if they won’t honor the product, why would they honor a monetary agreement? Check around, you will find many many who agree with me –
Worst customer service ever, cheap product, I will never order from them again. Ordered a shirt for a gift and it was 3 sizes smaller than advertised on their website. They will not take returns or exchanges and will only offer half of your money back for a product that is cheap and you can’t use, if you don’t accept the half refund they bully you into taking, you will get nothing and they will “close your claim”. It’s a scam!
You are so totally wrong about TeeChip. I have a tee shirt bought from them that is about 6 sizes smaller than I ordered. Their Facebook page is filled with complaints as well as the Internet. They will not refund all of my money and have blocked me from their website because of my complaints. Customer service is non existent, and DeeDee, who apparently runs their customer service alone, is computer generated, I feel sure.
Terrible. Misprinted garment, okayed a refund yet refused to send it. FIVE MONTHS I’ve been waiting, and their customer service people are ignorant and downright rude. DO NOT CHANCE IT! I’m not the only one, as you can see. TERRIBLE!
Tee spring T shirts can be incorrectly sized. I ordered a LARGE and it came for a 24″ chest….. with a label saying it was Large. When I asked for an exchange for a correct size they told me that was the Correct size for a Large. Buyer beware – and keep away from TEE SPRING… Their policy is Not to refund or exchange, and further more I am sure they do not read your responses to them. AS I responded with comments and they responded to me asking for my response again.
I sold some of teespring shirt to some of my customer. They said that the quality of the t shirts are very good.
Ann Jordan
Why do you lie? Teespring gives you full refund in case you are not satisfied. Teespring has the best customer service and is definitely one of the best tee platforms on the market. This Teechip looks like copy-paste scam and people use it only because of cheaper cost per T-shirt.
It’s nearly impossible to find experienced people about this topic, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
Teechip is the worst customer service. No matter how good the deal is, do not use them. If you do, please come back here an apologize for not listening to me after they infuriate you.
Yeah, if you don’t make the numbers they won’t make your product and then the people who already paid for the product never receive it. This company should be investigated by the state government for fraud and theft.
Teechip is TERRIBLE BBB Report: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/shirts-custom-made/ooshirts-in-fremont-ca-439080
Teechip aka ooshirts http://www.bbb.org/search/?type=name&input=teechip&location=&tobid=&filter=business&source=bbbse&default-source=bbbad&radius=&country=USA%2CCAN&language=en&codeType=
Excellent web site and thank you for the write-up on Teechip and Teespring. This is something I want to try and see if I can create a successful business. Wish me luck!
Hi,
Can you create a storefront in Teechip? I know that can be done in Teespring. It helps you showcase all your products in the same view. Is there an alternative to this in Teechip. Please do let me know if you have any idea around this.
Thanks,
Raj
Do you have to create a front website for TeeSpring/TeeChip? Or can I use my shopify store and then order from them? Thats the biggest thing holding me back.
Both of these companies are NOTORIOUS for selling artists’ work without their permission and terribly slow about complying to DMCA takedown notices. They’re basically infamous in the online art community as repeat offenders. I do not recommend anyone use their services.
I really wonder why artists claim that people are stealing their artwork. Artists only put their low resolution pictures when they are selling items containing the pics. No one can have access to their high resolution pics unless they have sold the rights on a stock image website.