Order minimums decide whether a small seller can test a design before committing money to it. Printify and Printful both support ordering a single piece through their fulfillment networks, since the print-on-demand model only produces items after a sale happens. Custom Ink works differently: because it is built around a group order that closes and prints as one batch, many of its styles carry a minimum order size that a seller needs to hit before the group price applies. Here is how the three actually compare on this specific question.
Custom Ink's model bundles a whole group's order into one print run at one closing date, and that batch economics is where a minimum order size comes from on many styles. Printify and Printful never batch orders that way. Each order triggers its own individual print job, so there is no batch size to hit.
| Platform | Minimum order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Printify | 1 piece | Each order prints individually through the provider network |
| Printful | 1 piece | Each order prints individually at time of sale |
| Custom Ink | Minimum order size on many styles | Group orders batch into a single print run |
| Bear Grips Pro Shops | 1 piece | Same as Printify/Printful, prints per order |
Three workflows only work without a minimum: testing multiple designs in parallel to see which one a real audience buys, running a limited drop tied to a single moment without committing to inventory, and letting each buyer customize their own size, color, or name without needing to hit a batch size first.
Even with the same "1 piece" minimum, Printify and Printful still route a buyer through whatever storefront a seller has built (Shopify, Etsy, or otherwise), and shipping is typically charged on top of the item price. Bear Grips Pro Shops keeps the same no-minimum structure but includes the storefront itself and folds shipping into the fixed catalog price (tees from $19.88 VIP base, hoodies from $36.88), so a single-piece order looks the same on the pricing side as a hundred-piece order.
No minimum order across the full 63-product catalog. Free shipping included, no setup fee.
Start FreeYes. Both support single-piece orders since each order prints individually rather than as part of a batch.
Its model is built around a group order that closes and prints as a single batch, which is where the minimum order size on many styles comes from.
Digital print methods used by print-on-demand backends generally do not charge a per-color setup fee. Bear Grips Pro Shops charges no setup fee and supports unlimited colors per design.
On Bear Grips Pro Shops, no. The per-piece price is the same whether one piece or one hundred pieces are ordered.
Bear Grips Pro Shops