Bear Grips Pro Shops and Gelato solve the same underlying problem, custom apparel without holding inventory, from two different angles. Gelato is a production network built to print locally across a wide list of countries and plug into an existing storefront. Bear Grips Pro Shops is a full storefront with fulfillment built in. Neither approach is universally better; the right fit depends on where a seller's customers actually live and how much control they want over pricing and branding. Here is the comparison broken down by what changes a seller's monthly numbers.
Gelato does not sell a storefront. A seller connects it to Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, or Wix and Gelato handles printing and shipping behind that site, choosing the nearest of its production partners to the buyer. Bear Grips Pro Shops ships with the storefront already built: a branded URL, product pages, and checkout, with nothing else to connect. For a seller starting from zero, that removes an entire platform decision and its monthly cost.
| Item | Gelato | Bear Grips Pro Shops |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton tee | Billed per order, varies by region and print area | $19.88 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Pullover hoodie | Billed per order, varies by region and fabric options | $36.88 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Snapback hat | Billed per order, varies by print vs embroidery and region | $25.86-$29.86 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Storefront cost | Separate Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, or Wix subscription | Included on every plan |
Gelato's pitch is geography: it prints an order at the facility closest to the buyer across 30+ countries, which shortens delivery windows for a genuinely international audience. Bear Grips Pro Shops takes a narrower approach, printing in the US and folding free US shipping into the VIP base price, so the retail number a vendor sets is the full price the buyer sees, delivered in about a week.
Gelato's catalog extends beyond apparel into wall art, phone cases, and home goods, useful for a seller who wants one platform for everything. Bear Grips Pro Shops keeps a tighter 63-product catalog built specifically around athleisure and team apparel: tees, hoodies, joggers, leggings, and headwear from brands like Bella+Canvas, Champion, Gildan, and Sport-Tek. A seller who needs both apparel and non-apparel merch may end up running a mixed setup either way.
A seller shipping regularly to buyers across many countries, and who already runs a Shopify or Etsy store, likely keeps Gelato in the mix for the shorter local delivery times. A seller who wants one branded shop, a flat all-in price, and no separate site to manage is closer to what Bear Grips Pro Shops is built for. See a deeper look at the fee structure in the Gelato pricing breakdown.
Branded storefront included, free US shipping built into the base price, no minimum order. Free plan to start.
Start FreeYes. Both allow single-piece test orders with no minimum, so a side-by-side sample comparison is realistic before switching anything.
No. The storefront is included and hosted on a branded URL from the start.
Both use standard direct-to-garment and direct-to-film processes common across the industry. Because Gelato routes orders to whichever regional partner is closest, quality can vary slightly by print facility; a US-only network keeps the same partner and spec on every order.
On Bear Grips Pro Shops, the vendor sets the retail price and keeps the margin above the VIP base, including the default $10 per item most vendors start with.
Bear Grips Pro Shops