Author: Bogdan Rancea

Bogdan Rancea

Bogdan Rancea is the co-founder of Ecommerce-Platforms.com and lead curator of ecomm.design, a showcase of the best ecommerce websites. With over 12 years in the digital commerce space he has a wealth of knowledge and a keen eye for great online retail experiences. As an ecommerce tech explorer Bogdan tests and reviews various platforms and design tools like Shopify, Figma and Canva and provides practical advice for store owners and designers. His hands on experience with these tools and his knowledge of ecommerce design trends makes him a valuable resource for businesses looking to improve their online presence. On ecomm.design Bogdan writes about online stores, ecommerce design and tips for entrepreneurs and designers.

Articles Bogdan has written:

Best POD Sites to Sell Merch in 2026

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Print on Demand

With hundreds of print-on-demand (POD) services available, choosing the right one for your merch business can be difficult. I’ve spent months testing and researching the top platforms for creators, entrepreneurs, and ecommerce sellers. Whether you want to launch your own branded store or tap into an existing marketplace with built-in traffic, this guide breaks down the top options in 2026.

From pricing and product catalogs to global shipping and profit margins, here are the best POD sites to sell merch right now, separated into two categories:

Fulfillment partners: You build your store, they handle production and shipping. Marketplaces: They bring the customers, you upload the designs.

I've reviewed 12 top providers, tested each one hands-on, and ranked them based on ease of use, product quality, customer control, branding options, and how profitable they really are.

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Gelato Direct-to-Film (DTF) Printing: Everything POD Sellers Need to Know

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Print on Demand

Personally, I’ve been a big fan of Gelato as a print on demand vendor for a while now. They’ve always seemed like a company with their “finger on the pulse”, going eco-friendly before most of their competitors, building a worldwide network, and giving sellers tools other platforms can only dream of (like AI-powered pricing support). Lately though, this company is pulling out all the stops.

You may know Gelato upgraded its (already amazing) premium plan this year, with new extras like free personalization studio, discounts of up to 35%, and specialist tools like Instant Collections (launch entire catalogs instantly with AI), Magic Mockups, and the Velocity Switch migration tool.

What you might not know, though, is that they also added a new printing option: Direct to Film (DTF), and that’s honestly a bigger deal than you might think.

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The Best Gelato Products to Sell on Etsy in 2026

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Print on Demand

Everyone says that launching an Etsy store is easy, and for the most part it is. You don’t need to worry about website design, and you’re launching products on a marketplace that already has millions of buyers, so that takes the pressure off. But there are tough parts too, like figuring out what to sell.

Taking the print on demand route can make things a bit easier. You’re not producing your own products, or dealing with shipping yourself. But you’re still competing with a lot of companies selling similar things, and you’ve got to be pretty careful with Etsy’s rules. For instance, you can’t sell anything if you’re not the “original designer”, so stock image shirts are out.

Still, a little research, and the right print on demand partner can make a world of difference. So here, I’m going to walk you through some of my top picks if you’re selling Gelato products on Etsy next year, and how you can make them stand out.

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Design.com Review: The Branding Tool for Founders Who Don’t Want to Be Designers

Bogdan Rancea
Articles

A lot of branding platforms are pretty much the same at this point. They all give you more than just logos, brand kit controls, and AI features. Still, when you review as many of these systems as I do, you do start to notice a few differences between the top contenders.

Design.com is one of those platforms that grabs the attention of people looking for something fast, simple, and affordable. It pulls you in with the logo maker, then keeps you around with a never-ending collection of templates for everything else you might need to “brand”. Social posts, business cards, email signatures, landing pages, everything.

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Shopify x Lovable: What the Integration Actually Does – The Good and the Bad

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Ecommerce Shopify

Lovable's Shopify integration lets you build an entire online store by having a chat with an AI – products, collections, the whole shebang, including cart and checkout setup – while Shopify handles the commerce side of things: taking payments, keeping track of stock levels and shipping.

Sounds like a great way to cut through all the theme customization hassle, especially for solo founders and small teams. But there are some trade-offs lurking beneath the surface that you should know about before taking the plunge.

Continue reading “Shopify x Lovable: What the Integration Actually Does – The Good and the Bad”

Best Platforms for Content Creators in 2026

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Creator Economy Ecommerce

Whether you’re selling digital downloads, offering memberships, launching courses, or building a full ecommerce brand, picking the right platform is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make as a content creator.

The creator economy has evolved far beyond tips and support buttons. Today, creators are building real businesses, with scalable product models, automated sales funnels, and recurring revenue. But with dozens of tools to choose from, each with its own strengths, pricing models, and limitations, finding the right fit can be time-consuming.

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Tidio Pricing 2026: Which Plan Offers the Best Value for Ecommerce?

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Ecommerce Live Chat

After testing Tidio across multiple ecommerce stores, we found it to be one of the most user-friendly live chat platforms on the market. In fact, we’ve awarded it our Best Live Chat Tool for Ease of Use badge two years running.

Tidio’s pricing is refreshingly simple compared to many other live chat tools, but as with any subscription-based platform, there are a few things to watch out for, especially as your store grows.

Below, we break down each plan in detail, including which one we think offers the best value, what you actually get, and when you might need to upgrade.

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BrandCrowd Review: Is This the Full Branding Kit You Need?

Bogdan Rancea
Articles Design Ecommerce Design

Like most people, I have a love-hate relationship with branding toolkits.

Because the gap between “I’m launching a thing” and “my store looks like it belongs on the internet” can either be incredibly big, or pretty short, depending on the solutions you use. There are a lot of platforms that arguably speed things like logo and website design up, but you still end up with a generic asset just about any other company could use.

That’s why reviewing these systems is so tricky, because I’m not just looking at how many templates you get or how easy the editor is, I’m looking at whether you can design something that hits home.

Continue reading “BrandCrowd Review: Is This the Full Branding Kit You Need?”

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