This lesson shows how to add a second product (mugs) in Printify, compare suppliers, properly position designs on mugs, and publish the product to Shopify.
** Core Idea
Mugs are a strong secondary product, but require:
- supplier comparison
- correct design placement (not centered like t-shirts)
** Practical Value
- Navigate to mugs in Printify catalog
- Compare similar products from different suppliers
- Evaluate:
- price
- shipping cost
- supplier rating
- Select best value supplier
- Upload design and adjust placement
- Duplicate design for both sides of mug
- Publish product to Shopify
** Supplier Selection Insight
Even identical-looking products:
- come from different suppliers
- have different costs and shipping
Small differences compound over time.
Always compare:
- base cost
- shipping cost
- rating
** Design Placement Insight
Mugs ≠ t-shirts.
Correct approach:
- Do NOT center design
- Place near handle (left side)
- Duplicate to right side for symmetry
Goal:
→ visible when holding the mug
** Warnings
- Centered designs on mugs look unprofessional
- Some products have no Printify Choice option
- Not all suppliers offer express shipping
- Slight price differences can reduce margins
- Poor placement reduces perceived quality
** Key Insight
Product formatting is product-specific.
What works for:
- t-shirts → centered
Does NOT work for:
- mugs → side placement
Each product type has its own “expected layout.”
** My Recommendation
For mugs:
- Use one supplier consistently at first
- Compare at least 2–3 providers before choosing
- Place design on both sides near handle
- Keep design readable at smaller sizes
Treat mugs as:
→ an upsell / expansion product, not primary
** Additional Insight
Mugs are ideal for:
- testing design portability
- increasing average order value
- simple product expansion
If a design works on shirts, it often works on mugs with minimal effort.
* Transcript
00:00
Okay. Let's go ahead and add in another product, mugs.
00:03
Yes, T shirts are definitely the most popular print on
00:06
demand product overall, but mugs are also still a great
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seller. And adding a mug is simple. Come to the
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catalog section in Printify
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and then come under home and living and select mugs
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and you will see a huge variety of mugs to
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choose from. You'll also notice that a lot of these
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mugs look almost identical
00:23
but they still have separate product listings. So for example,
00:26
you can see here that this is a listing for
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a basic white mug that costs 5 dollars and 56
00:31
cents or 4 dollars and 15 cents with Printify Premium.
00:35
And then right next to it, there's another plain white
00:38
mug that costs 5 dollars and 72 cents or 4
00:41
dollars and 27 cents with Printify Premium. Now, technically, they're
00:45
both just white mugs. So what's the difference? Well, in
00:49
reality, they're actually made by different manufacturers and brands, and
00:52
different print providers are using technically different white mugs. Although
00:57
in reality,
00:58
the differences are tiny and most customers would probably not
01:02
notice. But since they are technically different products from different
01:05
suppliers,
01:06
they will get their own separate listings. So when you
01:08
see a lot of similar products like this, it's often
01:11
a good idea to open them up and compare the
01:13
supplier reviews, the product cost, and the shipping. So for
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example, this white mug made by Spoke Custom Products currently
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has a 9.4 supplier rating and a price of 5
01:23
dollars and 56 cents or 4 dollars and 15 cents
01:27
premium with shipping costing 6 dollars and 39 cents. Well,
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let's now compare that to another white mug which happens
01:33
to be coming from a provider called Taylor. They also
01:36
have a pretty solid rating. It is 9.2
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but the mug itself is 5 dollars and 72 cents
01:41
or 4 dollars and 27 cents with Printify Premium
01:44
and shipping is 6 dollars and 99 cents. So per
01:48
mug, Taylor actually ends up costing more money than Spoke
01:52
Custom Products, about a dollar more. So in this situation,
01:56
if I wanted to sell a plain white mug, I
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would personally go with Spoke custom products. You might also
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notice that for some products like these mugs, there is
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no Printify choice option available,
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unlike when we added in the t shirt, and that
02:10
is because for this specific mug that is being offered
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here, there is only 1 provider
02:16
that is selling it. So this supplier is your only
02:19
choice. Either way, once you pick the mug you want
02:21
to sell, you can then come and edit it in
02:23
the product editor and upload the design that you want
02:26
to use and you will quickly notice something important and
02:29
that is that designs usually should not be placed in
02:32
the center
02:33
like you do with a t shirt because if you
02:35
place your design in the middle of the mug and
02:37
then preview it, you will see that it prints in
02:40
the center of it, which is usually not what people
02:43
want. Most customers expect that their mug designs will be
02:47
printed on both sides near the handle so that when
02:50
they're holding the mug, the design faces them or it
02:53
faces outwards. So instead of leaving the design in the
02:56
middle, move it over to the left side of the
02:58
mug. You can use the alignment guides, which are the
03:00
little lines and points in the editor, to position it
03:03
correctly.
03:04
Then you can click preview to see how it looks.
03:06
Now you can see the design is printing on 1
03:09
side near the handle, which is much better. But for
03:12
mugs, it is often ideal to have the design on
03:14
both sides. So to print the design twice, click on
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it and use the duplicate button. Now you'll have a
03:19
second copy of your design that you can move over
03:22
to the right side of the mug. And as you
03:25
drag it, Printify's snapping guides will help you mirror the
03:28
placement so both sides match. And now if we preview
03:31
it again, you'll see that the design is on both
03:34
the left and the right side of the handle.
03:37
Perfect. And here's something that's important to know. You can
03:40
put multiple images or copies of your design into the
03:43
same print area and not pay anything extra. So you
03:47
can combine multiple elements within a single print zone without
03:51
having to pay more. But yes, once you're happy with
03:53
how it looks, click save. And on the confirmation page,
03:57
click publish. And just like when I uploaded the t
04:00
shirt in the previous video, I usually leave most of
04:02
the listing details alone here and make my detailed edits
04:06
later inside of Shopify
04:08
where I have more control. And if you check the
04:10
shipping section for this mug here, you will notice that
04:13
unlike when I filmed the t shirt video,
04:16
this mug provider, Spoke Custom Products, does not offer express
04:19
shipping. So not every supplier within Printify
04:23
offers expedited options.
04:25
So it's worth noticing that as you add in products.
04:28
So when you're ready, click publish to send the mug
04:30
to your Shopify store and again, Printify will just need
