Bear Grips Pro ShopsBear Grips Pro Shops vs Printful: Which Fits Your Custom Apparel Business
- Bear Grips Pro Shops bundles a branded storefront with production; Printful is fulfillment that plugs into a separate storefront.
- Free shipping is built into the Bear Grips per-piece base price rather than added at checkout.
- Both platforms print one piece at a time with no minimum order requirement.
- Printful carries a wider non-apparel catalog; Bear Grips Pro Shops focuses on 63 apparel products for gyms, teams, and creators.
Bear Grips Pro Shops and Printful solve the same underlying problem, custom apparel without holding inventory, from two different angles. Printful is a fulfillment layer built to 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 whether a seller already has a website and how much control they want over pricing and branding. Here is the comparison broken down by the things that actually change a seller's monthly numbers.
The core difference: storefront included vs storefront required
Printful does not sell a storefront. A seller connects it to Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, or Wix and Printful handles printing and shipping behind that site. 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.
Base pricing and where the number comes from
| Item | Printful | Bear Grips Pro Shops |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton tee | Billed per order, price varies by print area and options | $19.88 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Pullover hoodie | Billed per order, varies by fabric and options | $36.88 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Snapback hat | Billed per order, varies by embroidery vs print | $25.86-$29.86 VIP base, free shipping included |
| Storefront cost | Separate Shopify, Etsy, or WooCommerce subscription | Included on every plan |
Shipping: who pays and when the buyer sees it
Printful calculates shipping at checkout based on destination and product, and the seller decides whether to absorb that into the retail price or pass it to the buyer directly. Bear Grips Pro Shops folds free US shipping into the VIP base price, so the number a vendor sets as retail is the full price the customer sees, with delivery in about a week.
Product range: apparel focus vs the wider catalog
Printful's catalog extends well beyond apparel into phone cases, mugs, wall art, and home goods. 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 need a mixed setup either way.
Which seller fits which platform
A seller who already runs a Shopify or Etsy store and needs mugs and posters alongside shirts likely keeps Printful in the mix. 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 Printful pricing breakdown.
Compare Bear Grips Pro Shops Against Printful
Branded storefront included, free US shipping built into the base price, no minimum order. Free plan to start.
Start FreeFrequently Asked Questions
Can I compare the two without fully committing to either?
Yes. Both allow single-piece test orders with no minimum, so a side-by-side sample comparison is realistic before switching anything.
Does Bear Grips Pro Shops require a separate website?
No. The storefront is included and hosted on a branded URL from the start.
Is the print quality noticeably different between the two?
Both use standard direct-to-garment and direct-to-film processes common across the industry. Quality differences are more about the specific blank than the printing method.
Who keeps the profit margin on each sale?
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.
