Fuel Print on Demand Review: An Insight into Fuel POD

Everything You Need to Know about Fuel POD

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In this Fuel Print on Demand review, we’re taking a closer look at one of the simple applications business users can access when developing a POD business.

Fuel benefits from being extremely easy to use, particularly for companies and business owners who already have a Shopify store.

Rather than having to produce all of the items you sell from scratch, and add your designs with expensive printing techniques, you can use a POD strategy to bypass all the stress. Your third-party printer and manufacturer does all the work of production and shipping on your behalf, so you can focus on other aspects of growing your business.

Of course, before you can start leveraging the benefits of POD selling, you first need to select the right tools to help you find printing and logistics partners, create mock-ups, and sell designs.

That’s where Fuel comes in.

What is Fuel?

fuel print on demand homepage

Fuel is essentially a POD solution provider focused on helping Shopify store owners build their own brand and business. The company has a dedicated app, found within the Shopify marketplace, which plugs into your online store, and gives you complete access to print-on-demand services.

Fuel uses state-of-the-art printers to add designs to products in-house, maintaining the highest quality possible for all designs. Once solutions are printed, according to your requirements, Fuel will ship each product to your customers, using partnerships with US-based shipping companies. In general, the shipping times are relatively quick throughout the US, but your international customers may need to wait a little longer for their purchases to arrive.

First, you need to do is install the Fuel app within your store, and start picking products you want to customize from the list of inventory options. You’ll be able to choose color options and add custom designs within the app, and upload your mockups directly to your store.

Once you’ve added everything to your website, Fuel will automatically import order requests to its shipping and printing facilities, whenever a customer makes a purchase. Items will be produced “on demand”, according to your requirements, and shipped directly to clients, so you can avoid the hassles of the logistic process. You can even track the fulfilment process on the Fuel app.

Fuel POD Printing Options

There are a few factors which may help to separate Fuel POD from numerous other print on demand applications on the market today. One significant benefit the company offers is the ability for customers to access a range of cutting-edge solutions for printing, in one environment.

Rather than just offering a single printing solution, like many other print on demand suppliers, Fuel allows customers to choose from:

  • DTG (Direct to Garment): DTG printing for more than 40 products, using Brother GTX printers, and eco-friendly ink. This printing method offers a typical turnaround of around 2-5 business days, depending on your chosen product and design complexity.
  • Sublimation: Sublimation printing may be a better option for non-garment products, such as phone cases and home accessories, as it can deliver a fantastic all-over design in no time. There are more than 25 products offered with this printing method on the Fuel app, and they have a turnaround time of around 1-2 days.
  • Embroidery: For a more premium design experience, customers can also choose to have their designs embroidered onto various products. There are fewer item options available for embroidery at this time, however, and the printing process can take a little longer. Most items will have a turnaround time of around 2-5 days.

No matter which printing method you choose, Fuel promises speedy production thanks to its in-house technology. This basically means Fuel doesn’t have to outsource the design process to any third parties, cutting out some of the middle men involved in other POD strategies.

Additionally, because Fuel has access to all of its own tech, it can provide a relatively consistent level of quality. You should find most of the prints and designs created for your company look the same across all products, with very few inconsistencies.

Fuel Print on Demand Product Options

fuel print on demand product options
Fuel POD Best Selling Products

Like most print on demand companies, Fuel aims to offer business leaders a variety of options to choose from when it comes to building out a brand portfolio. However, while there’s a relatively broad selection of items available, you may find the collection is a little limited compared to some other print on demand companies like Printful and Printify.

There are also a few limitations to think about in terms of where you can place designs on each item. While many other companies provide all-over designs, as well as pocket and sleeve printing, Fuel takes a slightly more basic approach to placement. However, that’s not to say your designs won’t still look fantastic on the items offered.

Here are some of the products you can purchase and customize on Fuel:

  • Classic unisex t-shirts
  • Premium fit ladies and men’s t-shirts
  • Long-sleeve tees
  • Unisex tanks
  • V neck t-shirts
  • Youth t-shirts
  • Sweatshirts
  • Mugs
  • Posters
  • Hats
  • Phone cases (iPhone and Samsung)
  • Bags
  • Tumblers
  • Face masks
  • Door mats
  • Canvas (prints)
  • Ornaments
  • Yoga mats

The portfolio is constantly expanding, so you might find going forward you can choose from a wider range of items. Additionally, it’s worth remembering there are some additional customizations you can make outside of adding your own designs. For instance, you can select the ideal color for each item you want to produce, as well as sizing options.

What’s more, Fuel is one of the few print on demand providers in the landscape that also offers access to high quality branded products, from leading companies. You can still add your own customizations to these designs, but you generally get access to better quality materials.

Fuel Print on Demand Pros and Cons

Ultimately, for companies in search of a convenient way to launch their own POD strategy within a Shopify store, Fuel could be a great choice. It’s a relatively affordable and straightforward application, which syncs naturally with the features of Shopify.

Additionally, because Fuel maintains its own printing technology, and has a network of printing facilities across the United States, the company can produce items relatively quickly, without huge price tags. You should be able to deliver items to customers fast, which means you can preserve a positive reputation with your customers. Of course, there are some downsides too.

For instance, Fuel’s customer service isn’t always reliable, and the app isn’t ideal for companies who want to invest in building an international presence.

Pros 👍

  • Relatively low prices across a range of products
  • Fast shipping throughout the US due to a local fulfilment network
  • In-house printing with state-of-the-art technology
  • Various printing and production options to choose from
  • Simple app, made specifically for Shopify
  • Top brand name products available
  • Workflow automation to save you time and effort
  • Convenient mock-up generation tools
  • Relatively straightforward back end
  • Product templates to help you save variants for future use
  • CSV order import for syncing multiple platforms
  • Quality checking

Fuel Pricing

One of the most important things you’ll need to consider whenever you’re choosing a new application or business development tool, is how much your service is going to cost. Fuel works similarly to many other leading print on demand apps. In other words, it doesn’t charge a specific monthly subscription fee for users to access the service.

You can get the fuel app for free, add it to your Shopify store at no extra cost and start using everything immediately. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any fees to think about.

First of all, Fuel is an app specially designed for Shopify stores. This means you’re going to need a Shopify plan if you’re going to use it. Shopify plans can start relatively affordable, but they can become more expensive over time depending on the extra functionality you need.

Secondly, like most print on demand solutions, Fuel will charge you for the production and shipping costs of selling your items. This means you’ll need to think carefully about the “base” price of each product when you’re setting your own prices on your store.

The pricing of each item will vary depending on what kind of product you want, and your customization options. However, a basic t-shirt will cost around $11.19 on average if you want ringspun cotton, or you can opt for a cheaper Gildan cotton option at $6.40.

To make things a little easier, Fuel does maintain flat pricing across all color versions of their items. Every price also includes the cost of adding one custom print to your product. However, you can add extra artworks to the mix for $5 on all DTG products.

Additionally, Fuel POD allows companies to leverage special “intro” prices for the first 30 days they’re using the system, or the first 50 orders (whatever comes soonest). While some of these intro prices don’t provide a huge discount, others are quite worthwhile. For instance, you can save $3.40 per shirt on a Unisex Jersey short sleeve t-shirt.

Verdict

Ultimately, Fuel POD might not be the most advanced print-on-demand solution available for today’s business leaders, but that doesn’t make it any less of a compelling choice. Though the company doesn’t have the broadest selection of products to offer, many of the items created in-house are high-quality, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your brand.

Fuel’s customer service isn’t always reliable, but the chances are you won’t need to rely on them too often, as the solution is easy-to-use and quite straightforward. Plus, you get the added benefit of relatively quick production and shipping times if you’re located in the United States.

With a direct integration for Shopify available, you can even synchronize various parts of your day-to-day workflows, to save more time when it comes to serving customers and tracking orders. Plus, Fuel, unlike many other POD brands can even give you access to brand-name products you can enhance with your own custom designs.

For the most part, Fuel offers a straightforward and convenient way for business leaders to expand their product portfolio and impress their customers.

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When she’s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

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