One of the most common side hustle apparel setups pairs an Etsy shop, for the audience and search discovery Etsy already has, with Printify, for the actual printing and shipping. It works, and plenty of side hustlers run profitable shops this way. It also means running two systems with two separate fee structures: Etsy's per-listing and transaction fees on one side, and Printify's per-item pricing and shipping on the other. For a side hustler weighing hours against dollars, that is real overhead. Here is what the stack actually involves, and what a single-shop alternative looks like instead.
Running apparel through Etsy with Printify fulfillment means managing two separate accounts and two separate cost structures. Etsy charges a small fee to list each product and a transaction fee on every sale, on top of standard payment processing. Printify then charges its own per-item base price for the blank and the print, plus shipping that is typically calculated and passed to the buyer at checkout. A side hustler has to track both sides to know their real margin on any given sale.
Etsy's biggest advantage is built-in shopper traffic. A new shop can get discovered through Etsy search without any outside marketing. The tradeoff is that the customer relationship belongs to Etsy, not the seller: Etsy owns the checkout, the account, and much of the repeat-purchase behavior. A side hustler building toward a long term brand, rather than a one-off marketplace listing, eventually wants a shop the customer associates with them directly.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.| Etsy + Printify stack | Bear Grips Pro Shops | |
|---|---|---|
| Systems to manage | Two (Etsy account, Printify account) | One |
| Marketplace fees | Etsy listing plus transaction fees | None, vendor keeps the margin they set |
| Shipping | Calculated at checkout, typically passed to buyer | Free, included in the price |
| Order minimum | 1 piece | 1 piece |
| Monthly cost floor | $0 Etsy listing-based, plus Printify's free tier | $0/mo Free plan, 3 live products |
A side hustler with no existing audience who wants search-driven discovery from day one may still be better served starting on Etsy, since a brand new Bear Grips Pro Shops URL has no built-in marketplace traffic of its own. The tradeoff is worth naming honestly: Etsy brings shoppers, a branded shop brings ownership of the customer relationship and the margin. Many side hustlers run both in parallel, using Etsy for discovery and a branded shop link in their own social bios for repeat buyers.
Setup takes under an hour at shops.beargrips.com. Upload a design, pick starter products from the 63-item catalog, set a retail price (default profit is $10/item, most side hustlers charge more on hoodies), and share the shop link. The Free plan costs nothing to test with 3 live products before deciding whether to upgrade to Self-Service VIP for the full 200-product catalog at the lowest base prices.
No listing fees, no transaction fee stack, free shipping included. Free plan to start testing the model.
Start FreeNo. Running a branded shop alongside an existing Etsy shop is common while comparing margin and repeat-buyer behavior.
No marketplace-style transaction fee is layered onto the vendor's retail price the way Etsy's transaction fee is. The vendor sets the price and keeps the margin.
Most side hustlers start with their existing social following, referral links, and word of mouth. The built-in affiliate program also lets other vendors refer buyers for a commission.
No. Every product prints one piece at a time at the same per-piece price.
Bear Grips Pro Shops