---
title: 'How to Upload a Product to Etsy with Printify (Print on Demand) - Complete Tutorial for Beginners'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=tgFsI6wRKSg'
video_id: 'tgFsI6wRKSg'
date: 2026-08-06
duration_sec: 1661
---

# How to Upload a Product to Etsy with Printify (Print on Demand) - Complete Tutorial for Beginners

> Source: [How to Upload a Product to Etsy with Printify (Print on Demand) - Complete Tutorial for Beginners](https://youtube.com/watch?v=tgFsI6wRKSg)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial on how to upload a product to an Etsy store using the print-on-demand provider Printify. The creator, Alison, a digital entrepreneur with over $900,000 in Etsy sales, guides beginners through market research, design creation in Canva, using digital mockups from Placeit, uploading the design to Printify, and finalizing the listing on Etsy with SEO optimization.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Print on Demand** [00:00] — Print on Demand is a business model where you create designs that are printed on products like t-shirts and mugs by a provider (e.g., Printify) who handles production and shipping. Your work is 100% online, and you don't need social media or to show your face. Etsy has over 90 million active buyers.
- **Creator's Credentials** [01:02] — Alison is a digital entrepreneur and owner of an Etsy store that has sold more than $900,000 using the Print on Demand model. She emphasizes that success requires effort and doesn't happen overnight.
- **Video Overview** [01:31] — The video will cover: 1) market research, 2) creating a design in Canva, 3) placing the design in a digital mockup, 4) uploading the design with Printify, and 5) sending it to the Etsy store for publication.
- **Free Market Research Method** [02:45] — To do free market research, enter the most general niche of your product (e.g., 'mug') on Etsy. Look for products labeled 'bestseller' or 'popular now' to identify selling niches. For example, 'future misses mug' indicates a bride/bridal niche.
- **Confirming a Niche** [04:04] — Use Etsy filters to show only bestsellers and popular items. If multiple products in a niche have these labels, it's a potential niche. Also, search for related products like 'bride shirt' to gather design inspiration (fonts, phrases, colors).
- **Checking for Trademarks** [06:02] — Before using a phrase, verify it isn't trademarked or copyrighted using the USPTO website (uspto.gov). Search for the phrase and check for active trademarks. If none, you have the green light to use it.
- **Creating the Design in Canva** [07:15] — Use Canva (free or Pro) to create your design. For most products, use a custom size of 5000x5000 pixels. Add text with a trending font (e.g., 'Beden') and elements like flirty bows. Keep designs simple; they often work best.
- **Using Digital Mockups** [09:43] — Digital mockups allow you to place your design on a product photo without buying the product. Platforms like Etsy and Placeit offer mockups. Placeit is great for mugs, blankets, phone cases, and tote bags. You can use free mockups or get a paid subscription.
- **Uploading to Printify** [12:45] — In Printify, search for your product (e.g., 'mug'). Choose a bestseller product like the 11oz and 15oz white mug. Select a supplier (e.g., District Photo). Upload your design and place it on both sides of the mug (no extra charge).
- **Filling Product Details in Printify** [15:40] — Set a title, description (use a template and change keywords), price (e.g., $13.99), and shipping profile. You can delete the mockups from Printify if you have better ones from Placeit. Click 'Publish' to send to Etsy.
- **Optimizing the Etsy Listing** [17:25] — In Etsy, change the title to include SEO keywords. Research related products (e.g., 'bride mug') and copy relevant keywords. Use up to 140 characters. Replace default photos with your high-quality mockups.
- **Setting Production Partner Details** [20:38] — In 'Core details', indicate you're selling a physical product made by another company. Set 'made to order' and create a production partner (e.g., 'District Photo'). Explain your role as designer and the partner's role in production and shipping.
- **Adding Tags and Shipping Profiles** [23:19] — Fill out all 13 tags with relevant keywords (e.g., 'engagement gift', 'future Mrs. mug'). Set processing time (1-5 days) and shipping options (e.g., USPS 1-5 business days, $5.99). You can create reusable shipping profiles.
- **Finalizing and Publishing** [26:11] — Choose renewal options (manual recommended to avoid automatic 20-cent charge after 4 months). Publish changes and preview your listing. The product is now ready for sale.

### Conclusion

This tutorial provides a complete, beginner-friendly walkthrough of creating and publishing a print-on-demand product on Etsy using Printify, from market research to final listing optimization. By following these steps, you can launch your first product and start your journey in the print-on-demand business.

## Transcript

In this video, I'll share the best way to upload a product, also known as an ad or listing, to your Etsy store with the provider Printify. And in case you're not familiar with Print on Demand, it's one of the best online business models to
start in 2026, as it allows us to create our own designs that can then be sold on products like t-shirts, mugs, blankets, and more. This doesn't mean having to invest in expensive machinery or equipment, because there are providers like Printify,
who will be in charge of producing the design on the selected product and shipping it to the customer's home once we have a sale . In other words, our work is 100% online. We basically take care of creating our own designs,
uploading them to our store, and also providing customer service. And you don't need social media or showing your face to sell your products, as there are more than 90 million active buyers on the Etsy platform. But that doesn't mean it's easy or
that it happens overnight. Like any real business, we must strive to achieve great results. By the way, if you're new here, hello, my name is Alison. I'm a digital entrepreneur and owner of an ETSI store that has sold more than $900,000 thanks to the
Print on Demand business model. So, in this video, I'm going to explain step by step: one, how to do market research before creating your design. Two, how to create a design on one of my
favorite platforms, Can, which is very beginner-friendly. Three, how to place our design in a digital mockup so it really has the potential to be sold. Four, how to upload the design correctly with the Printify provider. And finally, how to send it
to our ETSI store so it can be published and ready to be sold. And remember, in case for some reason you haven't created your ETSI or Printify store yet, I have an updated video
on how to open and connect both your store and your Printify account step by step. So, if you haven't done so yet, I'll be leaving the link to that video in the description. And in Printify, we can find different types of products. In my case, I started with everything
from mugs to T-shirts, to T-shirts, etc. However, if you're just starting out, I recommend choosing a winning product to start selling in your store. And in this case, we're going to use mugs as an example, which is one of the most in-
demand products and also one of my favorite products to sell. So, let's get started. There are different ways we can do market research before
creating our design, which is super important for it to really have selling potential. I currently use paid tools that allow me to do this process faster and easier, as they usually show you
the statistics so you can see which niches are selling, etc. However, in this video, I want to show you the free way we can do market research, which is what I did when I first started, and it also worked very well for me. So, to do this,
what we'll do is enter the most general niche of the product we're going to enter, which in this case, for example, is the cups niche. So, we'll enter something like ma, which means cup in English, and here
we'll find different products that have the label of what's popular now, what's a bestseller, which means they're currently selling. So, what I'm going to do is choose a product and a niche. If you're not familiar with what
that means, it's basically the target audience we'll be addressing, which in this case, for example, if we look at this one, it says future misses m, which means uh, future bride or future wife.
So, this is closely related to the bride or bri niche. So, now, what we'll do to confirm if this really is a potential niche is to enter something like bright M here.
I'm going to enter here and start observing if there are more bestsellers, if there are more popular ones. Now. One way to find this much faster is to do the following. We'll go to filters, go to the best label, click on start seller,
and at the top, we'll change the word start to besta, which will allow us to only show all best-selling and popular now products that are related
to this product. So, here we can confirm that everything related to "future wife," everything related to "bright," this niche is a potential niche because there are several products with these labels. So, this will be the beginning we'll be working on, and to be able to look for
a little more inspiration in terms of design, I'll be looking for what types or styles of designs are also working on other products, such as t-shirts, to be able to analyze fonts, trending phrases, colors, etc. So,
here I'll put something like "bright shirt," and here I'll start seeing phrases. Here I see what's more personalized, but in this case I want to show you something that's not personalized, because our goal is to learn what the process is. So, here I see a fright.
Let's filter again to find a bestseller or a popular now. I'm going to go here, "Start Seller," and at the top, we're going to change the word "star" to "des." Here, let's see, "
The Bright," for example. Here I see "bright," but with some element. Hm. Look, there's a phrase here that says "it's giving misers." It could be a phrase I could place on the product
I want to create, which in this case is "taza." So I'm going to enter it here. So I think I'll be able to use this phrase. But before I can see if I'm going to use it in my design, it's important to verify that our phrase isn't trademarked or copyrighted, meaning it's not protected
by copyright. How do we see that? We can go to the website tuspto.gov, which is the official website of the United States, and here we'll place the phrase we want to use.
So, in this case, it's given me, let's go to expert and here with the magnifying glass, press enter. Now, here it will show us which ones are active and which ones have already expired or have not been accepted.
The ones I'm interested in are the ones that are mainly active, and here we can also choose even by product type, class. For example, everything related to tas, everything related to glasses, etc., is 0.21. I have a video on my channel where I explain everything about
this in case you want to know more details. I'll be leaving the link to the video in the description, but so you can see it here. We put this in, and we definitely don't find this phrase here , something that says it's given misers. with other types of words, so we have the green light to
be able to include it in our design. So now we'll start with our design, and for that we need a platform. Some of my favorites that are very good for beginners are both Canba and Kirol, but for this example, we're going to use Canva. Combat has a
free option as well as a paid Pro option. If you're just starting out, you can use the free option, but I recommend that you upgrade to Pro as soon as you have the opportunity. That was one of my first investments in my
business, and it was definitely worth it because it helps you use many features, including the ability to save designs with a transparent background, which is super important for different products. And if you want to get Canva Pro, I have a link that will give you
a free month of Canva Pro. I'll leave the link in the description if you want to get it. So, once we're in Canva, what we'll do is go to the top where it says "Create" and then choose the custom size. For most products,
when creating the design, I usually use 5,000 by 5,000 pixels. That's the case for most, so in this case, we'll set it to 5,000 by 5,000 pixels. And now, click "
Create a New Design." So once we are here, the first thing I will do is I can add the text. Over here, I looked at the text on the left side and added a text box. Now, over here, I'll be writing the phrase we decided we were going to use, which was "it's giving misers." And
now I'll be changing the font. Over here, I'll use one that I've seen is working in many niches in the market, which is Beden. I'm going to place it something like this. I could even place it here at the top. We can maximize it or here to enlarge
the letter. And now I'm going to add an element. Something I've seen that's working a lot in the market is flirty-style bows. So instead of placing something like a toe here, we're going to place something like flirty, and here we'll find different graphics. We'll
find all of this in the elements section, and over here, I'll perhaps add a black bow that I can place with the same color. I think this one would work very well, so I'll place it here, and a
little more delicate or smaller. And over here, our design is ready. We really don't need to do anything too saturated. Often times, the simplest designs are the ones that work best in the market.
So, once my design is ready, what we'll do is save it. We'll go to share, then we 'll download, and here we'll click on transparent background if possible and then download. And
now, something super important is how we display our design in our store. While in Print on Demand, we don't necessarily have to buy the product to take a photo and upload it to our product. In the market, they sell different types of Mockups, also known
as digital mockups, that allow us to place our designs in a photo of the product. For this, two of my favorite platforms where I can search for different Mockups that truly achieve an emotional connection are both Etsi and Play. And this time, because we're working with
mugs, a very good option is Playsit, which is a platform where we can find different types of products. However, I mainly use it for mugs
, blankets, phone cases, and thought bags. So, to give you an example of how this is typically used, here's the PlayStitups page for different
types of products, but for example, in this case we're going to use the ones for rates. Space has the option of both free Macups, and if you'd like to use unlimited Macups, you can get the PU version, which by the way, if
you use the link I'll be leaving in the description, you can get it for $6 per month and have access to all the Maups for all their products. So, here if you'd like to see, for example, what they have for free, you can also enter with the link I'll be leaving you. You can
enter something like Mac free, for example, and different options will appear here. All the ones that say "free" you can use for free, but in this case we'll only enter MAC,
for example, and here you'll see many more options for Macups for rates, and many of them can achieve a greater emotional connection with people. So let's choose this one
here because we're going to use the 15 and 11 ounce white mugs as an example, which we'll be looking at next. Here you can choose another one, like this one. And here we go to edit. So, all you have to do is go to design
. We're going to upload the design we just created in Canva. And here you'll be able to see how the design would look in the digital mockup. If you want, you can increase the size, for example, here. And now we'll cut it. Once it's exactly how you want it,
simply click download once. Once it's downloaded, click it again to download it to our computer. I'll be doing the same thing here. We go to design, upload the design we just created. Here, for example, we have the
model. We click create here. And once it's ready, it looks exactly how you want it, simply click download. And here, since we have a different background, we also do the same. Here
We increase the size a little, and once it's ready, we download it. So, once we have our Mockups, also known as digital mockups, ready, what we'll do is upload
our design to the provider Princtify. To do this, remember that you must have already connected your ETSI store to Printify. If you haven't done so yet, I recommend watching the previous video where I show you how to create the two accounts and connect them correctly. So, now
what we'll do is go to the top where it says "search for products," and in this case, we'll enter the product I'm currently working on, which is a mug. We'll put "MOC." And here you'll find different types of mugs. I recommend that you mainly use those
with a bestseller label, like for example here. If we scroll down, we'll see that this is a bestseller, which is basically the 11- and 15-ounce white mug. Click here. And at the
top, click "select manually," and here we'll see the different suppliers they have. In this case, they only had one before, but now we have more to choose from. One of
my favorites for rates is District Foto. You can see that the price ranges from 4.99 if you don't have Sprinterfy Premium or 373 if you do. And the shipping price is also here. So, once here, we'll start designing.
Once here, on the right side, we'll find the different variants of the product, which is the mug. So we'll select variants. And here you'll find both the 11- and 15-ounce sizes. I recommend offering both because they're
both in high demand in the market. So, let's click here. And now on the left side where it says Apploud, we can click My Device and upload the design we
just created in Canva. Not in Play, but in Canva. So, once you're here, you'll see that at the top, it'll indicate which part of the mug it's going to go on. In this case, I recommend placing it on both the left and right sides because you won't be charged extra for placing
the same design on both sides of the mug. So, here, we're going to place it on the right. If you like, you can increase the size a little bit here. And at the top, there's a
section that says duplicate. Click here. I'm going to delete this so I can see it. And we'll move it to the other section, which is also more or less in the middle. And if we
click on preview, you'll be able to see how the mug would look. If we click here, we'll be able to see how it would look. Here, you can see on the left side how it would look. Here, on the right side, where it says size, you'll also be able to see the 11-ounce size. So, once
we're sure everything is going well, we simply click on save product. Mm. Once here, we save the selection and now we're going to fill in some fields, such as
the title. Here we have the description. As for the title, we'll modify it once it's in ETSI. Here, as for the description, you can even use this one right now, but the best thing we can do is create our own
description that's more eye-catching. Here I've placed a template I have for rates. If you want to have this same one, I'll leave it in the video description so you can just copy and paste it and only change the keywords here, that is,
words that are related to the niche we're working on right now. So, once here, you can also enter the tags right now, but we'll do all of that in ETSI in a moment. We scroll down here, and here they'll tell us about the
shipping profile. In this case, since we're just starting out, we'll leave it here exactly as it is. Then, here they tell us about the price, which in this case you can change to whatever price you
want. In this case, for example, I'll put 13.99 and here I'll put 17.99. Once ready As for the price, we're going to lower it a little more. I recommend leaving it as is. I've
always left it there. And here, if you like, you can delete the Macups because we'll be using the higher-quality ones from Playsite. Once that's done, we'll click "Publish" so it's directed to our Etsi store and we can make the final changes there.
Finally, we'll head to our ETSI store, where in the Spanish ads list, we'll find the product we just published from Prinentify. So,
we go in here, and the first thing we'll do is change the title because the title is super important, the words we put there because it's what will allow us to be truly visible on Etsi. This part of SEO is very important,
so I'm going to show you one of the ways we can do it. We're going to delete this and what we're going to do is find other mug products that are related to the niche I'm working on . So, to do that, I've entered Bright Mac here and done
the same thing I did before, filtering Stars seller here and then entering best here so that I only get popular and best-selling products. So now I'll start entering different products
related to mugs and brides. I'll enter this one here. I found this one here too. And here, for example, I found Future Misers, MAC, Bright to Be,
Bright to Be, Mac. Why are we going to enter another product where it says bachelor party favor? It could also be related to the product. It's super important that what we enter is truly
related to our product. It also says engagement give here. Remember that you'll be given up to 140 characters to fill out this section. Here it says bridal shower gift, bright mock,
engagement. And now what I'll do is delete the default photo and add the quality photos that we just downloaded from Play, which we added here. And in this case, we must
choose one to be the main one. Remember that here you can upload more photos, even videos, etc., but we'll be using this as an example. And something super important I recommend is that you have a photo where you explain the different sizes or colors you'll be offering. I
had one already saved here that even included the colored cups, but if you like, you can just include the white ones, as we're using for this example. Now we'll scroll down. Here we can even modify the size of the main image. We can zoom
in here so it's clearly visible in the center. There it is. Apply. Here I'll be changing the keywords related to Bridal Shower, for example, Bridal MC,
etc. And then we scroll down here. In this case, there's no customization, so we don't need to add anything. Here are the different variants, both 11 ounces and 15 ounces. You can change the price here whenever you want. And this SQw is basically the
code that will link this product in this color and size so that when we have an order, that exact design in the exact model is transferred to Printy. Also, in this case, it's
a unique code for the 15-ounce model. So, each size with each color will always have a unique code called a skill. Then we go down here, and something super important here is that we go to
the core details, because we must inform that we are working with a supplier. So, in this case, I'll change, and here we have to answer some questions, such as if we sell a physical or digital product. In this case, it's a physical product. Who made it?
Another company or person, because we're not the ones who manufactured it. So, we put it here. It's a finished product or a tool. In this case, it's finished. When it was made,
it's made to order, meaning every time they order a product, it's just been manufactured. And here, they ask us about our production partner, which in this case would be our supplier. In this case I already had it as a distrio, but if I didn't have it, we simply click on change
And here we click on create a new production partner. So, here you can write something. In my case, I put District Photo because I usually work with them for rates. Here, if you'd like,
you can show the name if you don't want to. And here you can simply put something like " partner" instead of putting the exact name. Then, here they tell us, "Let's tell you a little bit
more about our production partner," and it could be something like, "They help us with production and shipping." Here you can put where the product ships from. You can actually put it
generally in any state in the United States. Personally, I always put it from where I live, which is Maryland. So, if you'd like, you can put something like "Maryland, United States." Then, here they tell us, "Why are you working with this supplier?" Here we'll put it because we don't
have the technical or equipment skills to be able to do everything ourselves. And here they ask us what our role is in this process. We design everything, okay? Because it's super important
that we're part of the process so we can really sell without any problem on Esi. And over here, what is the role of your supplier or partner? This is where they do everything
for me. So once we put this in, because they do everything else, basically, we save, and this is the one we just created. We put gift and apply. This way
we'll be reporting and everything is great. Then, over here, we make sure it's in the cups. We don't need to fill this out. If you like, you can put something like "ocation,"
which could help us a little more with the algorithm in ETSI. For example, if it's really related to our product, which in this case, for example, is related to Bachelored Party or also what's related to Bright. So, over here, we click on
this, and then over here we also have the labels, which will also help us understand what our product is about and show it to the right people. So, here we can also continue copying some titles that we see are related
to our product, or we can also write keywords that describe how someone would search for our product. So, here we'll go again to engagement gift, future
Mr. Mog, wedding gift, etc. I recommend you fill out all 14 tags that are allowed. I'm adding a few here, and then once we're done, we'll find
everything related to shipping. In this case, for example, we have the processing profile, which is basically how long it will take on average to produce once we have a sale. In this case, we're going to change the profile, and the one I
usually set is 1 to 5 days, but if you don't have the option here, feel free to create a new one. Here it says made to order, and here you can put something like custom range, and here you can put
1 to 5 days. That's what suppliers normally take: 1 to 5 business days. And once that's done, we click apply. And then we also have the shipping option, which is after it
's processed and sent by courier. How long does it usually take to arrive at your home? So, here we'll edit, and here you can create a shipping profile, which
in this case will be called something like rates. So here, for example, we already have the shipping address. Make sure it's from the United States, wherever you are. I see a zip code here, which is the postal code, and here where it will be shipped to. In my case,
I only sell to the United States, so if it's the same for you, we eliminate any other countries here and just keep the United States. As for shipping, I recommend what most of us
usually use without any problem: SD USPS for 1 to 5 business days. And as for shipping, ETSI currently recommends charging less than $6, so you can put something like $
5.99 here and maybe something like $2.99 ​​here. Once that's done, we click Save and Apply. So we would already have our shipping profiles, which you can then use in all your
Other products that are rates. Then, practically everything would be ready here. If you like, you can activate or deactivate the publication. In this case, I'm going to deactivate it. And here, they give us the option of how we want to renew our product after 4 months. If we set it to
automatic, after 4 months, they will charge us 20 cents for it to automatically renew in our store. But if we don't want it to renew automatically, we can set it to manual,
which is what I recommend. And after 4 months, you can see if you want to reactivate that product or simply want it to remain deactivated in the store. So, once it's ready, we publish changes, and now, our product would be ready. Basically, if we click
here, select "view in etsi," and here we'll be able to see how each of the photos will be displayed. Remember, you can add even more. Our title will be visible here;
this is how the customer will be choosing the different sizes, quantities, etc. So, I hope this video has been helpful, giving you a step-by-step guide on how to create your first products. And now, I recommend watching a video about how to
achieve your first 100 sales. I'll give you various tips and advice to help you achieve this. I'll leave the link in the description, and it's exactly this one. Tell me in the comments what other types of videos you'd like to see, what part of the process you'd like to see, and I'd be happy to oblige.
And if it helped you in any way, I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a like and consider subscribing. It's completely free and would really help me out. See you in the next video. Bye.