DropShipDTG

DropShipDTG is a direct-to-garment t-shirt printing and blind dropshipping service for artists and small brands. Its home page describes it as "an all-inclusive print-on-demand apparel sourcing, printing, and fulfillment solution built by artists, for artists," and the site title sums up the pitch: blind fulfillment, dropship DTG printing, no minimums. A seller sends a design, the company sources the blank, prints it, packs it under the seller's branding and ships it by USPS to the seller's customer. The footer names the business as DropShipDTG.com/Ex-Boyfriend, LLC and carries a 2017 copyright line. What sets it apart from most print-on-demand services is how openly it prices: every blank, every print tier and the typical postage are written out on its rates page.

What a seller gets

The home page lists the fulfillment services in four points: "Private label branding from A to Z, from packing slips to promo materials," status updates and tracking through a dashboard, "Blind dropshipping directly to your customers," and rates it calls "Extremely competitive." It closes with "All these features, for ZERO up-front cost to you." The same page lists the problems it removes for an artist: up-front printing costs, running out of sizes, dead stock and the work of warehousing, picking, packing and shipping.

The catalog is apparel only, split into men's and unisex, ladies, and toddler and youth items. Men's and unisex styles include tees, tanks, hoodies, a baseball tee, fleece crew neck sweatshirts, USA-made tees and tanks, a triblend and a long sleeve tee. Ladies styles include tees, v-necks, scoops, juniors tanks, USA-made tees, a triblend and a fleece scoop. Kids styles are youth tees, girls tees, toddler tees and heavyweight toddler tees. The product page names the blank makers for each style, among them Tultex, Anvil, Gildan, LAT, Bella, American Apparel, Rabbit Skins and Kiddy Kats. The company says it may add a product type a seller wants "if you'll be ordering that item at moderate to high volume."

The two testimonials on the home page come from artists. Michelle of CrowdedTeeth.com writes about "the stress of being stuck with overstock, and the setup fees of screen printing." Renee of Robo Roku writes that the company uses "our branding when shipping, they don't promote themselves to our customers," and that it lets the band "offer girl-cut tees for our customers without having to keep that stock on hand."

How pricing works

The rates page explains that "Pricing is made up of 3 components: item cost + print cost + shipping cost." It gives a headline figure first: "The total cost for a printed basic t-shirt will typically be between $13 and $18 depending on your order volume," and adds that at a $25 retail price the seller still makes $7 to $12 per shirt.

Blank prices. The rates page lists unprinted garment prices. A selection:

• Men's and ladies t-shirts, X-Small to X-Large $3.00, XXL and XXXL $4.00
• Youth and toddler t-shirts, 2T to X-Large $3.00
• Ladies v-necks $3.50, XXL $4.50
• Unisex tanks $3.75, XXL $4.75
• Juniors tanks $3.50, XXL $5.50
• USA men's and ladies t-shirts $5.50, XXL $6.50
• Vneck ringer $9.50
• Fleece scoop $17, 2X-Large $19
• Pullover hooded sweatshirts $12.00, XXL $14.00

The product page adds prices for styles the rates page does not list: the unisex baseball tee at $5.00 ($6 for 2X and 3X), the men's triblend at $5.00 ($7.00 for 2X), the ladies triblend at $4.25 ($5.50 for 2X), girls tees at $3.50, the long sleeve tee at $7.00 ($8.50 for 2X) and heavyweight toddler tees at $2.50. The two pages disagree on fleece crew neck sweatshirts, which the rates page lists at $12.00 and the product page at $10.00, so that one is worth checking at signup.

Print prices. DTG printing is priced by weekly volume per client: "3 or Less Prints Per Week - $15.00/print," "4 to 11 Prints Per Week - $12.00/print" and "12+ Prints Per Week - $10.00/print." The company notes that very ink-heavy designs cost more because they use more ink and take longer to print, and that the upcharge applies per item only to the heavy design. It offers to have the production team look at a seller's art and say whether it falls within standard pricing.

A worked example. The rates page walks through an order of 2 small ladies t-shirts with average ink: $6.00 for shirts, $30.00 for printing, $3.08 for USPS postage on an 11 oz package and $1.00 handling, for a total of $40.08. If the seller sent 12 print jobs that week, the same order would cost $30.08. Sold at $25.00 each with $5.00 charged for shipping, the order earns the seller $14.92, or $24.92 at the higher weekly volume.

Shipping

All parcels go by the United States Postal Service, first class or priority, at current USPS prices plus "a $1.00 handling fee for each order received." The company does not print the real postage on the parcel. Its guideline figures for a single shirt, including handling:

• Domestic first class $4.00 or less, priority around $8.50
• Canada first class around $10.00, priority around $32
• Other countries first class around $14.50, priority around $42.00

For domestic shipping it suggests charging customers a base rate of $4 plus $2 for each additional item, which it says usually covers first class for shipments under 13 ounces. It notes t-shirts weigh 4 to 8 ounces and sweatshirts 13 to 18 ounces, and that actual charges vary slightly with weight.

Product notes that affect returns

The product page is candid about fit and fabric. Measurements come from the blank makers and can be off by about an inch. The cotton shirts are preshrunk but "all cotton does contract in the wash," and the company says: "We will NOT accept returns/exchanges due to sizing issues or shrinkage in the wash." It strongly recommends ordering samples, and the home page links to ordering "a sample shirt featuring YOUR art."

On triblends and the fleece scoop, it warns that "Blends are NOT made to bond well with DTG inks," recommends using those blanks "ONLY" for distressed designs, and states it makes no warranties about print durability on shirts with cotton content below 75%. Some brand notes matter too: the ladies tees and v-necks are juniors fit and run small, the USA ladies tee "runs very small," and toddler tees come from Rabbit Skins when in stock and Kiddy Kats otherwise.

Who it suits

DropShipDTG suits artists, bands and small apparel brands that sell their own designs, want their name on the parcel, and would rather know every cost up front than work from a dashboard estimate. The weekly print tiers reward steady sellers, since 12 or more prints a week drops the print fee from $15.00 to $10.00. Sellers who ship mostly abroad will find postage outside the U.S. high, and anyone wanting printed products beyond apparel will need to ask.