Live Ink

Live Ink (The Live Ink Co Ltd) is a print-on-demand and custom print company that prints and embroiders organic and sustainable apparel, bags, headwear and mugs in its own facility in Bristol, United Kingdom, and ships orders worldwide. Its FAQ says: "Everything is printed and embroidered in our own facility in Bristol, United Kingdom." It connects to Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace, WooCommerce and Not On The High Street, charges no subscription and takes 0% commission, and it also runs bulk screen printing, bulk embroidery and live event printing from the same site. The homepage says it is "Trusted by over 4000 UK brands for Print on Demand."

Products and materials

The catalog is built around organic and sustainable garments. The homepage FAQ says: "We use Stanley/Stella organic and recycled garments as our core range," and the podcast page calls Live Ink "an official Stanley/Stella supplier" that also supplies garments from Native Spirit, Earth Positive, AS Colour, Beechfield and Westford Mill. The eco page describes the policy behind this: "Everything in our catalogue is sustainably sourced and chosen to last because we won't stock anything that isn't." The podcast page adds that the catalog has "no virgin polyester or non organic cotton."

Named products include the Stanley/Stella Creator 2.0 organic t-shirt, the Changer 2.0 organic sweatshirt, the Cruiser 2.0 organic hoodie ("350gsm 100% Cotton"), the Muser women's organic t-shirt, a long-sleeve tee, an organic rib beanie, a 5-panel organic cap, a woven tote bag and a two-tone 11oz mug. The site menus also show tea towels and polos. A kids range covers Stanley/Stella Mini shorts, sweatshirts, t-shirts, hoodies, zip hoodies, jogger pants and a kids polo, plus AWDis kids hoodies and recycled tees; the Mini Bolter kids shorts are listed at £11.65, and the Mini Creator 2.0 kids t-shirt comes in 30 colors.

Decoration methods

For print on demand, a seller picks direct-to-garment (DTG) printing or embroidery when building each product. The homepage says DTG "is excellent for reproducing photos, illustrations, intricate and full colour designs onto a variety of garments with no minimum order." For embroidery, the design "is digitised into stitches then sewn onto the garment using specialised embroidery machines." The podcast page describes embroidery as "ideal for caps, beanies, hoodies and polos."

The facility does more than that. The eco page lists "DTG, DTF, Embroidery, Screen Printing & Live Event printing all under one roof." Screen printing is the bulk option, with "the minimum is 20 garments per design." Live event printing lets an audience pick a design and garment and print their own merchandise, and the homepage says the live print team "has over 13 years experience across festivals, exhibitions, brand activations and events."

How an order flows

The eco page lays out four steps. A seller opens a free account, uploads artwork and builds products, with free mockups to download. The store is connected through "direct integrations for Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace, WooCommerce or Not On The High Street," or through the API "for a custom setup if you are developing your own store." After that, "your products and orders sync automatically."

When a customer buys, the order arrives in the Live Ink account tagged "created." The fulfillment and shipping cost is deducted from the seller's account credits, the order is tagged "paid" and goes into production, then it is printed or embroidered, shipped "using fully recyclable paper mailer bags" and tagged "shipped," and the end customer receives a tracking number. The help menu lists setup guides for each platform, from Shopify shipping rates and USA export duties to Etsy brand profiles, WooCommerce product linking and DTG printed inside neck labels.

The payment model is worth understanding. The FAQ says: "When a customer orders from your store, 100% of what they pay goes directly to you. Our fixed cost for the garment, print or embroidery, and postage is then deducted from the credits in your Live Ink account." The seller keeps the checkout and the customer data; the eco page says the company believes "your brand is yours, and that includes your customers and your data."

Branding

Orders ship "under plain cover or with your branded packing slip." The FAQ adds that sellers "can add branded packing slips, swing tags and custom garment relabelling, so orders arrive fully white-labelled as your brand rather than ours." The homepage describes three relabeling options: "an inside neck screen print, a woven neck label sewn into the neck hem or a waterbased screen print or dtf transfer." Swing tags are "made from FSC certified recycled paper material," and sellers can add their own logo to dispatch notes.

Pricing

Live Ink publishes its prices, which is less common than it should be. The account is free, and the eco page says "Live Ink takes 0% commission on your sales and charges no subscription or signup fees. You pay only the fixed price for the garment, print or embroidery, and postage."

The podcast page gives print-on-demand base prices ("You pay from," including one-sided print and VAT) next to example retail prices: the Stanley/Stella Crafter organic t-shirt at £10.78 (example retail £25.00), the Roller organic sweatshirt at £19.81 (£38.00), the Drummer organic hoodie at £24.72 (£45.00), the Beechfield organic 6-panel cap at £10.24 (£20.00), the Beechfield organic beanie at £11.34 (£22.00), the Light organic tote at £8.60 (£18.00) and the ceramic ORCA mug at £4.49 (£12.00). The page notes that "Retail prices are examples" and that sellers set their own.

Bulk screen printing starts at 20 garments per design, priced per garment including VAT for a one-color front print. The organic t-shirt runs from £11.22 at 20 units to £8.48 at 50, £7.48 at 100, £7.01 at 250 and £6.59 at 500; the same table covers the organic sweatshirt, hoodie and tote. The page adds: "No screen or setup charges, ever. Pantone colour matching included. Mix garment types and sizes in one order."

Bulk embroidery is priced per garment for a standard logo. Under 50 units, the organic cap is £11.21, the beanie £12.65, the t-shirt £10.79, the sweatshirt £19.81 and the hoodie £24.72, with lower prices at 50–100, 100–200 and 200+ units (the cap falls to £10.31 at 200+). There is "a one-off £15 digitising fee per design," and the digitized file is reused on future orders at no extra cost.

Shipping

Shipping is worldwide: "We produce your orders in the UK and dispatch to your customers anywhere in the world, so you can sell internationally from day one." The site banner and homepage offer free delivery on UK orders over £150 + VAT, while the kids clothing page states free delivery on orders over £100. Turnaround times are kept on a separate "Current turnaround times" page, and delivery costs on a shipping costs page, so neither is given as a fixed figure on the main pages.

Sustainability, in the company's words

The homepage FAQ says: "Our inks are water-based, formaldehyde-free and certified to GOTS and OEKO-TEX® standards," and that "our studio runs on renewable energy, and we use FSC certified recycled materials for packaging and swing tags." The eco page states the company holds "OEKO-TEX ECO PASSPORT, CPSIA and AATCC compliance" and that every order goes out in plastic-free paper mailers. These are Live Ink's own statements of its credentials.

Support and samples

Live Ink lists a Bristol address (postcode BS3 4AY), the telephone number +44 (0) 1179 556 117 and the email hello@live.ink. The podcast page suggests visiting the showroom or ordering samples with your branding before launching a range.

Who it suits

Live Ink suits UK-based sellers on Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace, WooCommerce or Not On The High Street who want organic garments, published base prices and branded, plastic-free dispatch. The eco page names run clubs, streetwear brands, charities, illustrators and bands; the podcast page adds podcasters who run print on demand for their webstore and a bulk order ahead of live shows. Being able to switch from single on-demand orders to screen-printed runs from 20 garments, with the same supplier and artwork, is a real advantage for creators whose sales come in spikes.

The main caveat is price: with a fully organic catalog and no cheap blanks by design, sellers chasing the lowest possible base cost will find cheaper blanks elsewhere. Sellers who need a sales channel beyond the listed platforms would have to build against the API.