On-Demand Swag.
How print-on-demand works — the partner roster, customized-item QC, file requirements, and cost build-up.
Print-on-demand partners
On-demand (POD) swag is printed per order with no held inventory. Orders route through Shopify Fulfillment Locations to the right partner:
| Partner | Role |
|---|---|
| Printful | Primary POD — apparel, mugs, drinkware (US/UK/EU) |
| Printrove | India POD + stocking/kitting |
| Topshelf | Bulk + decoration POD (US) |
| Dimona | Brazil POD (limited) |
| Digital On Demand (DoD) onboarding | US + EU POD — hard-good UV wraps, EU facility in Venlo (NL) |
| Rupt / Duplium | One-off POD (via OrderDesk) |
| Gooten / Printify | Additional POD locations |
For India, Printrove handles stocking and kitting for imports while Swaglogic (contact Chirag) handles shipments outside India to avoid customs issues.
Digital On Demand (DoD) — new EU/US partner
Digital On Demand is a no-MOQ POD supplier (1 piece through thousands) with scaled US and EU operations, brought on for two things PerkUp couldn’t do well before: full UV wraps on hard goods at 1-unit drop-ship, and an EU facility in Venlo, Netherlands so European recipients are finally served from an in-region location. DoD also fulfills for brands including Canva, Lush, and HydraPeak.
Order flow: PerkUp → Shopify → Order Desk → DoD → shipped to recipient. DoD’s Shopify app installs on the store; routing goes through Order Desk to separate DoD US and EU endpoints.
- Shipping: domestic ships on DoD’s own account; international ships on PerkUp’s Global Post Plus account (DDP) so PerkUp covers duties.
- Payment: Net-15 invoicing or a Brex/Ramp card on file charged as-you-go (the same charge-on-ship model as Printful).
- Rollout: walk-before-run — one test SKU (a HydroPeak / blank drinkware item) proven end-to-end first, then expand; first inventory ship-in follows the current bulk run.
- Contacts: Jacob Adner (relationship), plus Aaron, Ryan, Santiago on the DoD side; Cameron owns product setup and Raphne watches day-to-day orders. Channel:
#perkup-digital-ondemand.
Customized POD via OrderDesk
Customized items (where the recipient personalizes artwork) flow through OrderDesk. A Shopify customItem product (no variant id, all custom attributes) routes to the OrderDesk fulfillment location, which submits to Printful (most), Rupt, Duplium, or Fulfill Engine.
- Process OrderDesk orders manually and QC the artwork (e.g. text not fitting the printfile).
- QC issues go to Slack
#design-customizable-swag. - Custom creators: Img.ly custom creator (new) and CustomersCanvas (legacy, mainly Wise).
POD print-file (PSD) requirements
Print files for Printful, Printrove, Topshelf, and Dimona must meet these specs:
- 300 DPI minimum.
- sRGB or CMYK per the supplier’s requirement.
- 0.125″ bleed where applicable.
- Cleanly named, unflattened layers (Design, Background, Color, Texture).
- Smart Objects for the user-uploadable design area, sized to match the supplier’s print area exactly.
POD cost build-up
POD list prices are built from base + decoration + shipping + setup + tax. Example (drinkware, Q2 2026):
| Product | Base | Decoration | Shipping | Total | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YETI 24oz Mug w/ Magslider | $34.50 | $4.00 | $10.00 | $53.35 | $53.99 |
| YETI 26oz Bottle w/ Chug Cap | $38.50 | $4.00 | $10.00 | $57.75 | $57.99 |
| YETI 20oz Travel Mug | $37.00 | $4.00 | $10.00 | $56.10 | $56.99 |
| Stanley 40oz Quencher H2.0 | $81.83 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $103.76 | $103.99 |
| Stanley 30oz Quencher H2.0 | $61.52 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $81.42 | $81.99 |
Decoration is a flat $4.00 on YETI drinkware; Stanley items ship undecorated. Margin is thin — list price tracks total cost closely.
Sources: “OrderDesk customized POD swag”, “On Demand PSD File Guide”, “Suppliers” (Notion); “POD Pricing Q2 2026” (Drive); #operations, #perkup-digital-ondemand (Slack).