People are asking for merch
The moment someone asks « where do I buy it? », the answer should be an address, not a spreadsheet.
Comparison
Print on demand or an official store.
One is a way to make things, the other a way to sell them. They travel together — including here — which is why they get confused. Here is where the line runs.
The real difference
One makes, the other sells
On-demand production is a method: the piece is printed or embroidered when someone orders it, not before. It solves stock, and nothing else. A print-on-demand site sells printed pieces to you: you order, you receive, that is the end of it. An official store sells those same pieces to your community, under your name, at a price you set. We do both: the catalogue serves you directly, the store serves your members. Two needs, not two grades of quality.
Point by point
Two different needs
| A print-on-demand site | An official store | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Printed pieces, one at a time or by the box. | An address in your name that sells those pieces for you. |
| Who pays | You do. You front it, you receive it, you hand it out. | Each member buys their own piece and has it delivered. |
| Stock | None — that is the point. But the boxes end up at your place. | None either, and nothing arrives at your place. |
| The brand | Your artwork on a garment. The purchase happens at the maker's. | Yours, from the product page to the payment. |
| After the order | Nothing. The next run starts from scratch. | The store stays open. Latecomers can still order. |
| The margin | None: it is a purchase, not a sale. | The gap between your cost and your price, on every piece sold. |
Let's be honest
When you don't need a store
If you want thirty t-shirts for Saturday and nobody else will buy any, a store is no use to you. Order them from the catalogue: same production, same quality, delivered to you, nothing to open. A store only starts to matter the day other people want to buy — members, supporters, students, customers. Until then it is one more page to look after.
The other case
When the store changes everything
You don't want to front anything
A group order needs someone to pay first. A store lets everyone pay for their own.
There are always latecomers
An order closes; a store does not. New members are still ordering in March.
You want it to earn
Buying merch costs money. Selling it earns: you set the price and keep the gap.
FAQ
What people ask us
- Is tknp.io print on demand?
- It is how we produce, not what we sell. We sell an organisation's official store; on-demand production is what makes it possible with no stock and nothing upfront.
- Can I order without opening a store?
- Yes. The catalogue is open: pick a piece, customise it, order from one. The store is a choice, not a toll gate.
- Is the quality the same as a bulk run?
- The pieces come from the same workshops and the same brands as bulk runs. What changes is when we print them — not what we print, or what we print it on.
- What if I really do need a lot of pieces?
- Past a certain volume, a run produced in one go costs less per piece. Write to us and we will tell you straight where that line sits.
Let's start
Production is solved. Selling is the question
Nothing fronted, nothing stocked, and every piece ships to whoever ordered it. The only question left: does anyone besides you want to buy one?