Top 5 Questions Asked Over and Over Again

Certain questions are asked over and over again. Here are our answers.

This article was updated in January, 2019.

Shop

How does Spreadshop work?

Opening a Spreadshop store for your merch is very easy. You’ll be able to choose the designs and products you want to put up for sale, and you earn money every time a purchase is made!

We store the products for you, and we’ll print the items as soon as a customer orders them via your Shop. For you, this means there is absolutely no risk or obligation involved – it’s 100% free. We take care of payment, shipping and customer service. All you have to do is create products and designs, put them up for sale in your Shop, and promote your Shop and products on social media. Take a look at how this can be accomplished.

To create an online Shop, click here. Enter your registration information, and you can immediately start your online business by uploading designs and creating your products.

How do I create products for my Shop?

The product creation process is particularly easy:

Go to the “Designs” menu in the left column to import a design, choose and edit all wanted products for that design, and enter all the necessary information and tags. Watch this tutorial to see how quickly this task can be completed.

Is Spreadshop really free?

Yes, having your own Spreadshop is completely free. Since we only print products on demand (see more information here), you have no expenses.

How is the product price determined?

The price of a Spreadshop product consists of:

• Product base price (without printing)
• Printing cost
• Your commission (consisting of Design Price, Affiliate Commission and Volume Commission)

How do I integrate the Shop with my website?

Your Spreadshop can easily be integrated with any website. It’s simple to integrate it into WordPress or Joomla. Depending on what you want to do, some knowledge of HTML, CSS or JavaSript may be required. Please use JavaScript to integrate the Shop with your website.

In “Sales Channels” > “Edit” > “Advanced Settings” > “Shop Settings” > “Embed Shop in Website,” you will find all the necessary information. You’ll also find information on less complicated ways of integrating your Spreadshop into your website.

What is the difference between Spreadshop and Marketplace?

Spreadshop offers you the opportunity to have a free merchandising shop (and URL) that can easily be integrated into your website. You are the manager, and you choose the products and designs that you want to offer. It is up to you to advertise and market your Shop so that your products can be found by customers. With each sale, you will receive the design price and Affiliate Commission on generated sales, set at 20% of the cost of printing and products. Depending on the number of products sold, you can even earn more with the Volume Commission.

The Marketplace is part of the Spreadshirt site. It is a great platform on which creative minds can offer their designs. You can simultaneously have a Shop while selling your designs on the Marketplace. As for the Marketplace, you don’t have to worry about marketing, since thousands of visitors browse and buy on the Marketplace every day. In addition to choosing the design, the customer selects the product on which the design will be printed. The design can also be adjusted on the product, and customers can even change the size and (sometimes) the color. With every design you sell, you will receive the design price you set.

To find out which sales channel is most appropriate for your needs, take a look at this article.

Can I customize the Shop layout?

It is entirely possible to adapt the layout of your Shop. You can activate your own start page, import a logo for the header and choose a color theme. It is also possible to determine your own color palette. More advanced users can use the “HTML and CSS” option to customize the Shop. You can also make adjustments to the header and footer in the checkout area.

Do you offer white label shops?

Yes, that’s standard. The Spreadshirt logo will not appear on your Shop. It allows you to add your personal touch the way you see fit. The only mention of Spreadshirt is in the footer (“Powered by Spreadshirt”), which you can eliminate via CSS.

Designs and Products

Can I work on several products at the same time?

Yes, that’s possible.

You need to select the relevant designs (by checking the box at the top right of the design preview), and on the top left you will be able to edit design keywords and Design Price (you can also delete unwanted designs). For the products, you can use our great template functionality, allowing you to save recurring work steps for all your products.

Why was my design rejected?

There are many reasons for rejecting a design. The most common reason is that the lines of the vector graphics are too thin. If the lines are too thin, the design can’t be printed properly, or the print may deteriorate after several washes. It is also possible that designs violate copyrights (e.g. trademarks or word marks). You will find a list of reasons for refusal in our FAQ section for partners.

Commission

How does the commission system work?

Depending on the distribution channel (Marketplace or Spreadshop), you’ll find different types of commission (see the question “What is the difference between Spreadshop and the Spreadshirt Marketplace?”).

Regardless of the chosen distribution channel, you always receive the design price. You’ll also set the amount you want to receive for each sale. The design price can be set up to $15. We advise you, however, to take heed of how some of our more popular designers price their designs.

If you have a Shop and sell a product, there are two additional types of commission:

1. The Affiliate Commission on sales generated. This is 20% on the price of the product and printing (after deduction of tax that the customer pays to Spreadshirt).
2. The Volume Commission on sales. If you sell more than 26 products in a matter of a bonus period (one month), you receive a bonus ranging from 0.5 to 40% of the price of the product and the printing.

You will find all information on commission types in our help center.

Why have my commissions still not been paid, and how do payments work?

The amount of commissions generated by sales can only be paid to partners who have correctly stated their name, address and bank account details (we also accept PayPal). As soon as the minimum balance has been reached, all commissions earned are paid out once a month, regardless of the distribution channels or the commission type. We begin accounting for your fees no later than the 15th day of the following month. It may take up to two weeks for the money to be in your account. Therefore, you’d receive the money earned in e.g. October by the end of November.

Payments are only made if you have reached the minimum balance. The latter depends on the currency you have chosen. If the chosen currency is the dollar, payment will be made when the accumulated credit amounts to $10 (minimum).

Taxation

Do I need to register a business?

Unfortunately, we can’t make any blanket statements here. These factors depend on your personal and professional situation. If in doubt, please refer this matter to a tax consultant. Moreover, we advise you to read this useful article.

Tax Forms for non-U.S. Citizens Selling on the North American Platforms

Please download, complete, sign, and email the form below as an attachment to taxation@spreadshirt.com.

Why? We are required by the IRS to collect and report specific business transactions and provide statements of income to parties involved in those transactions. Failure to provide correct information will result in Spreadshirt withholding up to 30% of your earnings.

For Individuals

Download form W-8BEN-E

Please add your User ID to the form on line 10. You will find your User ID in your Account Settings. Fill out the remaining fields of the form with the same information you have entered above and the information you normally provide the IRS. It is very important that this information is consistent!

For Businesses

Download form W-8BEN

Please add your User ID to the form on line 7. You will find your User ID in your Account Settings. Fill out the remaining fields of the form with the same information you have entered above and the information you normally provide the IRS. It is very important that this information is consistent!

We also accept electronically signed forms created with your Adobe account or the Acrobat Reader package.

Once you have submitted this form to taxation@spreadshirt.com, we will need some time to process and validate it. We will inform you here once this process is complete.

Do you have any other pressing questions? Let us know in the comments below!