Amazon and eBay both offer a path to selling printed apparel without holding inventory, and both come up constantly in print on demand research because of the built-in shopper traffic. Neither works the same way as a branded shop. Understanding the tradeoffs before choosing where to list a design saves a vendor from building on the wrong foundation.
Merch by Amazon is an application-based program. A seller applies, waits for acceptance into a tier, and then uploads designs onto a fixed set of Amazon-approved product types. Amazon controls the price band the design can sell within and pays a royalty on top of that band rather than letting the seller keep the full margin above cost. The listing lives on Amazon's marketplace, so Amazon, not the seller, owns the customer relationship and the repeat-purchase data.
eBay is an open marketplace rather than an invite-only program, so listing is easier to start. Sellers pay listing and final value fees on top of whatever fulfillment method they use behind the scenes. eBay shoppers are often price-comparison shoppers first, which tends to compress margin on anything that is not clearly one-of-a-kind or collectible.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.| Merch by Amazon | eBay | Your own branded shop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approval required | Yes, tiered | No | No |
| Who sets the price | Amazon controls the band | Seller, but market-pressured | Seller, fully |
| Who owns the customer | Amazon | eBay | The vendor |
| Existing shopper traffic | High | High | None, vendor brings their own |
| Branding on the storefront | Minimal | Minimal | Full, header, logo, sections |
A marketplace sale ends the relationship at checkout. A branded shop sale gives the vendor a repeat customer they can reach directly on the next drop, without paying a marketplace referral fee or fighting for placement against thousands of other sellers. That compounding advantage is why most vendors who start on a marketplace eventually move their best sellers to a branded shop.
A vendor does not have to choose only one path. Many keep a marketplace listing for cold discovery traffic while running a Bear Grips Pro Shop at shops.beargrips.com for their own audience, where they set retail price directly and keep the full margin above the base cost. The shop carries free US shipping and no case minimum on any of the 63 products in the catalog.
No approval tier, no marketplace fee cut, no case minimum. Set your own price and keep the margin above base cost.
Start FreeNo. There is no application or approval step. Upload a design, pick products, set prices, and the shop is live.
Yes. Many vendors run all three, using marketplace listings for discovery and a branded shop for margin and repeat customers.
No, a branded shop relies on the vendor's own audience, whether that is social media, email, or existing customers. Marketplaces bring shopper traffic the vendor did not have to build.
Bear Grips handles printing and shipping direct to the buyer with free US shipping, in about a week.
Bear Grips Pro Shops