CafePress Review 2025: A Simple Print on Demand Solution

CafePress is a veteran in the print-on-demand (POD) space, offering creators the ability to sell custom designs on a wide variety of products.

From t-shirts and mugs to tote bags and bumper stickers, CafePress handles the printing, fulfillment, and shipping—allowing sellers to focus solely on uploading designs and collecting royalties.

But how does CafePress actually perform in 2025, especially compared to more modern POD platforms like Printify, Redbubble, and Printful?

In this review, I’ll take you through CafePress’ pricing, features, storefront setup, and selling experience so you can decide if it’s the right platform for your ecommerce journey.

Why You Can Trust This Review

I’ve spent the last five years testing ecommerce tools, including print-on-demand platforms, to help creators and sellers understand what’s worth investing time (and sometimes money) into.

I’ve built several storefronts on CafePress and have reviewed competitor platforms in real-world selling environments.

This isn’t just surface-level information—it’s based on practical, hands-on experience.

CafePress at a Glance

Best for: Beginner designers and casual sellers

Not ideal for: Entrepreneurs building a long-term ecommerce brand

Price to use: Free

Average product profit margin: $1 to $4

Fulfillment and shipping: Done by CafePress

Trustpilot score: 3.0 / 5

Product variety: 250+ items

CafePress Pros and Cons

What I Like About CafePress

✔️ You can launch a store in under an hour with no web design or ecommerce experience
✔️ Great for testing novelty or meme-based product ideas quickly
✔️ Wide variety of products to choose from, including niche items like dog clothes or car license plate frames
✔️ No upfront cost means low risk for new users

What I Don’t Like About CafePress

❌ The storefront is heavily restricted in terms of customization
❌ Poor product mockups and no mobile optimization
❌ Many users report long shipping times and inconsistent print quality
❌ Low traffic compared to modern marketplaces like Etsy
❌ Not scalable—you’ll eventually need to migrate elsewhere to grow

My Experience Setting Up a CafePress Store

Creating a store on CafePress is simple. All I had to do was sign up with an email address, choose a store name, and upload a design. From there, I could select the products I wanted the design applied to.

However, the user interface felt dated, and the customization options were limited.

I couldn’t edit the layout of the storefront, and there was no drag-and-drop builder like you’d find on Etsy, Wix, or Shopify.

Here’s what the setup process looked like:

Step	Details
Account creation	Free and easy—no credit card required
Store name selection	Basic text field, no URL preview or domain integration
Design upload	Supports PNG and JPG with transparent backgrounds
Product selection	Choose from 250+ items, previewed with your uploaded artwork
Pricing setup	Set a markup over CafePress’ base price to define your royalty per sale

Once live, your store is listed on CafePress’ internal marketplace. But don't expect high volumes of traffic unless you drive it yourself.

CafePress Pricing and Profit Margins

There are no monthly fees to sell on CafePress, which makes it accessible for new creators. That said, the trade-off comes in the form of limited profit margins.

CafePress sets the base price of each product, and you apply a markup on top. That markup becomes your royalty. But the base prices are high, which limits how competitive you can be with pricing.

Example Pricing Breakdown:

Product	Base Price	My Markup	Retail Price	My Profit
T-Shirt	$17.99	$3.00	$20.99	$3.00
Coffee Mug	$13.49	$2.50	$15.99	$2.50
Tote Bag	$18.99	$4.00	$22.99	$4.00
Baseball Cap	$19.99	$3.50	$23.49	$3.50

If you want to offer competitive pricing to customers, you’ll need to accept smaller royalties.

Even with high markup, your max profit per item rarely exceeds $5. It’s difficult to scale unless you’re moving large volumes, which most users won’t without external traffic sources.

Product Quality and Fulfillment

Product quality was one of the most disappointing aspects of the platform.

While CafePress prints and ships your items, quality control is not consistent. During my testing, several sample orders had print alignment issues and fading after a few washes.

This matches what other users have reported on Trustpilot and SiteJabber.

Shipping Performance

Shipping Type	Estimated Delivery Time (US)	International Delivery Time
Standard	5–12 business days	Up to 21 business days
Expedited (if available)	3–5 business days	7–14 business days

Tracking is provided, but updates can be delayed. Some users have experienced delivery windows exceeding 3 weeks.

Branding and Customization

This is where CafePress really falls short.

You’re essentially renting shelf space in their ecosystem. You can choose a store name and upload a logo, but your storefront layout, design, and customer experience are locked into their template.

You can’t:

• Customize the layout of your storefront
• Add custom domains
• Build an email list
• Set up upsells or cross-sells
• Collect customer data or retarget with ads

As a result, you’re missing the key features most modern ecommerce sellers rely on to build a brand and retain customers.

Your store ends up looking almost identical to everyone else’s, with no real personality, trust elements, or flexibility.

This lack of branding control also hurts long-term growth. You can’t build brand equity, increase customer lifetime value, or create a unique shopping experience.

For anyone planning to create a memorable brand or loyal following, this platform will feel incredibly limiting. You're basically stuck selling under CafePress’ name, not your own.

Marketing Limitations

CafePress does very little to support marketing or promotion. You won’t find built-in SEO tools, integrations for ads, or email marketing capabilities.

You also can’t install pixels for Facebook, Google Ads, or any other third-party tracking tools. All of this makes marketing difficult unless you direct customers to your store from external sources (social media, paid ads, blog traffic, etc.).

If you’re hoping for CafePress to generate organic traffic and do the heavy lifting, you’ll be disappointed.

Another key limitation is the lack of promotional tools—there’s no option for built-in discount codes, free shipping promotions, or product bundling. These are small but important tactics used by most ecommerce stores to drive conversions.

Without them, you're left to rely on pricing alone, which isn’t enough in competitive product categories. Platforms like Etsy, Shopify, and even Redbubble offer these as standard.

CafePress Compared to Other POD Platforms

Here’s how CafePress stacks up against other popular POD platforms in 2025:

Platform	Best For	Store Customization	Profit Margins	SEO Tools	Fulfillment Quality
CafePress	Beginners, hobbyists	Poor	Low	None	Inconsistent
Printful	Professional sellers	Excellent	Medium	Strong	High
Printify	Bulk sellers, scale	Excellent	High	Strong	Medium–High
Redbubble	Artists and illustrators	Moderate	Low–Medium	Basic	Decent
Zazzle	Designers	Limited	Low	Basic	Medium

If you’re starting a serious ecommerce business, Printful or Printify will give you more control, scalability, and professionalism.

CafePress, by comparison, is an entry-level tool with a low ceiling.

It’s also worth noting that some platforms offer far more flexibility in where and how you sell. For example, Printful integrates directly with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, and Amazon.

That gives you the freedom to grow your business on your own terms. With CafePress, you’re locked into their ecosystem, with no integrations or options to expand beyond their marketplace.

Is CafePress Good Value?

Yes—for the right person.

If you’re just experimenting with design ideas, memes, or novelty items and you want a free and simple way to test your concepts, CafePress is fine. It offers no-risk entry into ecommerce, which can be valuable for hobbyists or those still validating product-market fit.

But for anyone serious about branding, conversions, or building a long-term ecommerce business, the value proposition quickly falls apart due to limited tools, poor product previews, and profit limitations.

It’s a good platform to test whether your ideas are even worth pursuing. But once you get a few sales or find what works, you’ll need to move to a more scalable platform. CafePress isn’t something you can grow with—it's just a starting line, not a full race track.

Final Verdict: Should You Use CafePress?

CafePress is best for:

• Beginners with no ecommerce experience
• Creators testing a few fun designs
• People who don’t want to manage shipping or customer service

Not recommended for:

• Brands trying to scale
• Sellers who care about margins and customer experience
• Anyone who wants to build repeat customer relationships

For people looking to build a sustainable ecommerce brand, CafePress simply doesn’t offer the structure or control needed to scale.

You can’t grow your email list, you can’t optimize your SEO, and you can’t build a unique shopping experience.

If you’re in this to build a real business, CafePress will become a bottleneck before long.

Alternatives to CafePress

Platform	Free Plan	Strengths	Best For
Printful	Yes	High-quality products, Shopify/Etsy sync	Long-term ecommerce businesses
Printify	Yes	Lower base costs, global fulfillment	High-volume product sellers
Redbubble	Yes	Built-in traffic, artist-focused	Art and illustration
Teespring	Yes	Integrated YouTube merch shelf	Creators with large audiences

You’ll get far more flexibility and modern tools with platforms like Printful and Printify.

If you already have an audience—or want to build one—these platforms offer the backend power and integration options to help you grow.

For designers looking to focus only on creativity while still reaching customers, Redbubble and Teespring are also good options.

My Recommendation

Start with CafePress only if you’re testing ideas or want to dip your toe in without spending money.

If you discover a design that sells well, migrate it to Shopify or Etsy using Printful or Printify for better control, higher profits, and more ways to scale your business.

There’s no harm in experimenting, but be clear on what the platform is and isn’t designed for.