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Dropshipping FAQs
Everything you need to know about our dropshipping print-on-demand services from GoCustom Clothing
As standard shipping is to the UK. International shipping is available to hundreds of locations, you must ensure that you set up the required shipping matrix in your eCommerce platform to make the relevant options available to your customers.
International packages will include a customs declaration label. GoCustom Clothing is not responsible for any customs fees, your customers will be required to pay directly any customs charges that their order may incur upon its arrival at the destination country.
No, this service is only available for garments that we source on your behalf.
Our Shopify integration is built for full e-commerce websites on the Shopify platform. For the integration to work correctly, you will need a minimum of the Shopify Basic Plan.
At this time we do not support the Shopify Starter Plan.
Watch this video to learn how to integrate GoCustom Clothing's print-on-demand platform with your TikTok shop. You could be selling your products directly from your TikTok videos in no time!
This integration requires you to have an approved shop account with TikTok UK, if you don't already have a TikTok Shop account please register here. Once you have an approved shop with TikTok you can progress to the next stage by watching the video below.
Aug 2023: TikTok has made changes that allow your customers to cancel an order within 1 hour without the need for you to authorise the refund. We have updated our system so that orders cannot begin to be processed until the 1 hour has lapsed. You therefore may not see your TikTok orders on our platform until the 'on hold' status is released from TikTok.
TikTok installation video
Setting up a TikTok shipping template for weight-based shipping
TikTok currently allows only one shipping method with this integration. Therefore all items sold through the TikTok integration will be delivered with our Royal Mail Standard 48 service. You can charge whatever you like for shipping (even give it for free), but we will charge you the shipping rate relevant to the weight of your orders.
TikTok requires you to set up one weight based shipping template
Assuming everything is set up correctly, all your customer's orders should be automatically transferred from your e-commerce store to our platform.
Whether an order immediately enters processing or not depends on how you pay for your orders. We will not process any orders until they are shown as 'paid' in your account. This could be via one of several methods:
- You pay for each order with a card or Paypal payment on our platform as each order arrives
- You purchased credits which can be used to automatically pay for your orders as they arrive
- We agree on terms to provide payment based on invoice (this is only available on request, credit checks apply)
We expect to dispatch orders within 3 to 6 business days of receiving them (business days are Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays). The final delivery time will then depend on the shipping service chosen and the customer's location.
Yes, we do, items will be shipped in plain bags/boxes without any GoCustom branding.
Most orders are shipped in high-quality paper packaging - the most sustainable way to delight your customers.
Yes, the delivery note will contain your brand information including your logo and your returns address. You must make sure that these are set up in the brand section of your account. There are several designs for you to choose from.
Go here to set up your packing slips
We offer several different shipping methods for both domestic and international delivery including Standard, Tracked and Courier.
Services include:
- Royal Mail 24® (Standard)
- Royal Mail 48® (Standard)
- Royal Mail Tracked 24®
- Royal Mail Tracked 48®
- DPD Courier
- Royal Mail International Standard
- Royal Mail International Tracked
Ultimately it is up to you which shipping methods you offer to your customers in your store. You choose what to charge your customers for shipping, but we will always charge you based on the weight and the selected shipping service for each order.
You must ensure that your shipping is set up as per our instructions so that the correct information is passed to us as part of your orders. These differ depending on your eCommerce platform - see the detailed guides for reference.
Compared to printing on white paper there are many challenges related to printing on garments, and whilst the basic principle of CMYK inkjet applies, that is where the similarities end.
Garments come in many colours, a variety of natural and synthetic fibres and have been died and treated in a variety of ways. There is no 'standard' substrate that we print onto like there is with paper, therefore designs can often look different when printed on different colours and products. On non-white garments, we print a white layer before adding the colour.
Why is artwork required in RGB?
Our printers print in CMYKRG+White, this allows the range of printable colours to be much wider than standard CMYK. The software which interprets the design file for printing in the CMYKRG+White format, therefore, requires the file to be in the RGB format, as a CMYK formatted image will limit the colour range. Artwork for Dropship DTG printing with GoCustom must always be submitted in RGB.
Colour profiles
Currently, there are no standard colour profiles for Direct To Garment printing.
What you see is not necessarily what you get!
A common mistake with printing is to expect that what you see on your screen is what you will get when it's printed. With the challenges highlighted above, you are unlikely to get an exact match. This image is an example of what you may expect vs what the print process can actually produce.
Can you match my colours exactly?
It's important to be aware that there will always be variations in the colours due to the issues mentioned above. If you are looking to print an exact Pantone reference, it's likely that the DTG printer will not match it exactly.
If you are looking to find the right colours to use in your design, it's worth having a sample printed of the colour swatch you wish to work with, along with lots of variations of each colour. When you receive that test garment you can decide which of the colours to actually use in your design, though note the colours can still vary between different products.
Digital printers cannot print certain colours, for example, neon colours, gold, silver etc. If you include these colours in your design, the printer will produce the closest match, but it will not represent your design very well. This is why we also always recommend you print a test of all new designs that you create.
If you are looking to produce very specific Spot colours or 100% guarantee your design is printed exactly the same every time on all products, it's likely that screen printing will be better for you. We cannot offer screen printing for dropshipping, though we do offer screen printing as a bulk ordering service.
Despite some unavoidable colour variation, the pros of direct-to-garment printing for dropshipping remain immense compared with other printing methods.
You can track the status of your order within your dropshipping account, this section is automatically updated.
How about tracking a shipment?
It will depend on the service chosen as to whether or not you can track the shipping. When an order is shipped we will send you an email with any available tracking information.
Note that Royal Mail is not a fully tracked service for UK deliveries, it simply provides a collection and delivery confirmation. For a fully tracked service in the UK, we advise offering our courier service. All international tracked services offer full tracking.
In the unlikely event that a parcel does not arrive with your customer, we advise the following:
For Royal Mail services your customer should wait up to 7 business days before contacting them to check the whereabouts of their package. If Royal Mail confirms that the item is declared lost, you can then contact us and we will start a claim. We will replace any items that are confirmed as lost.
For fully tracked services we will require a confirmation from the courier that the item is lost before we can offer a replacement.
We will not replace items until 10 business days* have passed (UK) or 30 days* (International).
*This may be extended during a period of Royal Mail strikes.
Replacement items that you request without the service provider confirming as lost will be charged.
GoCustom Clothing Dropshipping is a print on demand service, this means the products are unique and produced only once ordered. Because these are custom products, we cannot accept returns or exchanges if your customer ordered the wrong size, colour, or doesn’t like the product. We will only accept returns for faulty goods.
We recommend that you adopt the same or similar returns policy for your store.
Do not ask your customers to return goods to GoCustom Clothing, they should be returned to you first. When we set up your account you will need to specify a return address which we then print on the delivery note. You then need to contact us for a returns authorisation which you will need to print and ship back to us with the item being returned. Upon inspection of the returned item, and if we agree to the fault identified, we will credit your account.
Note that if the customer complaint is related to the printing and we find the artwork to be at fault (for example low DPI) we will not accept liability for the fault. For this reason, it is important that you ensure your artwork is set up correctly.
What if the product is damaged during shipping?
Please contact us with full details of the order and the damage that has occurred. We may also require you to return the damaged item. In most cases, we will be able to offer a replacement item.
To report a problem with an order please email us including the order number and as much detail as possible. Alternatively call 0330 0533 631
You can also contact us directly from your account on the Contact Us page
We are pleased to offer our customers a choice in the products they choose to sell through their stores. Several of our products are organic and carry responsible manufacturing accreditations. Additionally, GoCustom Clothing operates a carbon-negative status through the purchase of carbon credits.
DTG (Direct to garment) printing by its very nature is eco-friendly as we only produce products that customers have ordered, rather than holding lots of stock, some of which invariably goes unsold.
The inks which are used are water-based,100% non-hazardous and 100% toxin-free, contain no animal by-products and are safe for infants and babies.
GoCustom Clothing is ISO 14001 Environmental Management certified by BSI under certificate number EMS 548983.
No, the beauty of print-on-demand is that nothing is produced until it’s ordered. For this reason, we don’t have a minimum quantity requirement.
However, this assumes that the set-up uses the standard apps and tools that we provide access to. If integration with your eCommerce platform is complex or you require extra assistance from GoCustom to implement our service, we reserve the right to quote you for those services provided.
For many eCommerce platforms, we offer a standard out-of-the-box integration that wouldn’t normally require a developer.
The creating and connecting of products is quite straightforward.
The most complex part of the setup is ensuring that your shipping matrix matches ours. This means that when a customer places an order on your website, the correct shipping method will be transferred to our platform along with the order.
Dropshipping - How is artwork scaled on smaller garments when automated scaling is switched off?
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By default, we now apply automated scaling to artwork: More
The following applies when automated scaling is switched off!
When you design a product, the artwork you create will be saved at the maximum print size we can produce based on your selected product and print area. In general, we will print artwork on all garments at the size you originally created it. However, when printing artwork onto smaller garments, the artwork may be scaled down in size to fit the product's dimensions while preserving the design's aspect ratio. Scaling down the artwork ensures that the design remains proportional and doesn't get distorted. Our expert printing team will always aim to print a garment that closely matches the mockup of your product. As all products across our range have different physical dimensions, because of this we do not set a standard scaling percentage and scale artwork on a case-by-case basis. This generally only affects garments sized S and XS.
It's essential to note that perfect scaling depends on the artwork's original resolution and quality. If the image's resolution is low, such as a pixelated or blurry image, scaling it down would not make it look better, and it might result in a blurry or distorted design. Therefore, it's vital to use high-quality artwork/designs to ensure that the scaled-down version looks great on any garment size.
Depending on how you are ordering and any terms we have agreed on, you will have several options for how to pay for your orders.
Payment methods can include:
- Credits
- Debit / Credit Card
- PayPal
- Trade Terms
Orders are not processed in our factory until the system shows them as paid.
If you are placing manual orders on our website, or your integrated site is automatically sending us orders, they will need to be paid before we can continue.
We don't want to hold your orders up, so the best way to avoid this is for you to purchase 'pre paid' credits. This would mean that your customer's orders are automatically set to 'paid', so long as there are enough credits in your account.
Credits
You can purchase and monitor your credits here on your sales page
If you have credits in your account, any order sent via an integrated website will automatically deduct from the credits and set the order to 'paid'. If there are insufficient credits, orders will not process until you either add credits or make a one-off payment via the card/PayPal method.
Debit/Credit Card & Paypal
If you choose not to purchase credits, any orders you receive will wait in the 'unpaid orders' section of your account until you pay them.
If you have more than one order waiting for payment, you will have the choice to pay for only certain orders or all at once.
Our payment service allows for all common Debit and Credit cards
Trade Terms
Trade terms are only offered to retailers with who we establish a written agreement. For more information about having a trade account please contact us.
When 'Trade Account' is enabled, orders your store receive are automatically marked as 'paid'. Trade invoices must be paid within 14 days unless otherwise agreed.
Direct To Garment Printing
Our standard out-of-the-box service provides DTG (Direct-to-garment) printing. This uses the latest technology to print your designs onto the chosen garments. This technology is designed for one-off and short print runs and helps to keep prices lower than conventional long print runs.
DTG print designs can be any mixture of colours from 1 to hundreds. The vibrant printing technology is a sustainable method of producing your customised garments.
Sublimation Printing
For mugs and other homeware products we use sublimation printing which creates a hard wearing and dishwasher safe vibrant print.
Embroidery
For the ultimate in deluxe design options, you can add elegant embroidery to your products.
Our drop shipping fulfilment is based on automating the process from the point where the customer orders on your platform right through to the point where we dispatch the order. This is how we keep the cost to you as low as possible.
You can manually place individual orders on our platform on behalf of your customers. You will need to pay for those orders before they enter processing.
Whilst manually placing bulk orders is possible, we would need to agree on some parameters prior to agreeing to accept orders this way. We offer a CSV method for importing orders to our platform. If we agree to offer you this service, you will need to upload a minimum of 10 orders at a time.
How to Design for Embroidery
Embroidery allows for a high-quality and long-lasting finish, but you will need to put some thought into your designs before creating a range of garments to sell. Each new or altered embroidery design will incur a set-up fee, so it's good to prepare your designs with the following points in mind.
Embroidery is a maximum of 6 colours
To ensure that your designs look their best on our products, we limit the number of colours that can be used in embroidery to a maximum of 6. This allows us to achieve optimal stitch quality and maintain clarity in your design. Our embroidery team has worked diligently to ensure that this limit does not significantly impact the overall appearance of your design. We believe that this will allow you to create stunning and high-quality designs for your customers.
You can choose these colours from a selection of 16 vibrant threads. This selection has been curated to allow for the most common mix of colours normally found in embroidery.
You may find that colours do not exactly match your original design, the tool will try to match the thread closest to the colour you require.
Thin lines and tiny text
Designs with very small text or extremely thin lines may not translate well when embroidered onto fabric. To ensure the best results, it's recommended to use designs with larger text and bolder lines that can be easily replicated through embroidery. For text, we would recommend at least 5mm width for each letter. For lines, we suggest a minimum thickness of 1.25mm.
Choose your design carefully
The more simple your design, the more impactful it will be. Complex designs are unlikely to look good once embroidered.
For example, a photograph will not work well, remember you only have 6 colours for embroidery. Here are examples of how the less complex a design is, the more impactful the final result will be.
Match our thread colours
For the optimum designs, we suggest matching the colours in your artwork exactly with the choice of 16 colours we have available. This means that when you import your design it will match perfectly with our thread selection. Remember to set your artwork to only have 6 colours.
If you have any questions about setting up embroidery on your dropshipping products, please contact us.
For premium retailers only.
This provides the ability to add a sew-in label. You must provide us with a stock of labels which should be produced to our specification - available on request only. The image you upload provides our production team with an indication of which label should be attached to the product - therefore please upload a photograph of the label.
Please watch the video to understand how to add labels to your products. Note that labels must be added before you export products to your store.
We are pleased to offer our customers a choice in the products they choose to sell through their stores. Many of our products are organic or made from recycled materials and carry responsible manufacturing accreditations. Brands such as Stanley/Stella and Awdis Ecologie offer planet friendly ranges. Additionally, GoCustom Clothing operates a carbon-negative status through the purchase of carbon credits.
DTG (Direct to garment) printing by its very nature is eco-friendly as we only produce products that customers have ordered, rather than holding lots of stock, some of which invariably goes unsold.
The inks which are used are water-based,100% non-hazardous and 100% toxin-free, contain no animal by-products and are safe for infants and babies.
GoCustom Clothing is ISO 14001 Environmental Management certified by BSI under certificate number EMS 548983. More info can be found here.
To create your first product, head to the Products page, select a product, upload and position your design and select the [Create product] button.
Watch the video below for a demonstration of using the product designer.
The Designer
The product designer has several tools at your disposal.
You can view all the different positions available for customisation (e.g. Front, Rear, Nape). This differs from garment to garment.
Your design for each position can combine multiple images and text, but must be within the dotted boundary line.
The toolbar provides 6 tools which offer great flexibility when designing your products.
- Upload an image (see artwork requirements below).
- Use an existing design (you can copy an existing saved design to a new product).
- Text editor - a flexible editor with a choice of fonts and styles.
- View a rendered mockup of your design.
- Download the mockup (useful for marketing material or to add to your website).
- Removes all of the designs currently applied to the position you are viewing.
Save your product
Once you have finished designing your product you need to save it. Failing to save your product means that you won't be able to export it to your store.
To save your product click on the [CREATE PRODUCT] button.
At this point the size and colours of the garment are not important, we will do that later when you export the product to your integrated store.
You can also manually order a product from this screen by choosing [ADD TO BASKET] - especially useful if you would like to order a sample.
If you need to reconnect your Etsy store, this is how to do it.
In your GoCustom account go to Integrations > Etsy > Settings.
Click on disconnect and wait for the screen to refresh.
Now click on Connect My Store, An Etsy screen will appear, make sure you are linked to the correct account and click on verify. Your account will now reconnect.
A good way to check it is working correctly is to go to 'Link Products' and the system should show you all the products you have linked with Etsy. If products show less than 100% linked, consult this help info.
Nobody wants to have their products created with low-quality prints, which makes us look bad, and you look bad in front of your customers.
When you use the garment designer our platform performs several checks to try and ensure that the artwork is suitable to print. You may see several warnings (which we will describe below), you can choose to ignore these warnings, but note you do this at your own risk. Our system asks you to accept the warnings in case you decide to continue. GoCustom is not responsible for the quality of the artwork you add to the system.
Image Types
The only file types which you can upload are PNG (best option) or JPG. If you try to upload any other file type you will receive a warning that it is not compatible.
PNG files will print best and will also include any transparency that you may have in your artwork. We recommend working in RGB colours for your artwork creation.
For the best output use our design templates which you can find on the 'Artwork Templates' tab on every product page.
PPI warnings
You may see warnings that your image is either 'Bad quality' or 'Average quality'.
When you upload an image, we check the PPI (Pixels Per Inch). We recommend that the artwork is uploaded as a 300 PPI PNG file. But it's not as simple as just saving your image at 300ppi, you should also pay attention to the size that you would like the artwork printing at.
The size is important as you want to avoid stretching the artwork to fit your required position on the canvas. For example, a 200 x 200-pixel image will look horrible when stretched the full width of a T-Shirt canvas (just over 4000 pixels), even if it is produced at 300ppi.
Take a look at the images above. The left shows an image uploaded which is only 400 pixels wide, this is showing the PPI warning. The right shows an image uploaded which is 4600 pixels wide, this is perfect for printing and does not show any warnings.
Scaling up your images
Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can open your image in photoshop and scale it up or save it with a higher PPI. Unless you are scaling up the original vector artwork, this isn't going to work.
Templates
The best way to ensure you create artwork that will print satisfactorily is to use our photoshop templates. On each product page, you will find a tab which includes an artwork template for the various print positions. Use these templates as a guide and output a png file from them.
Exceeding boundary warnings
The dotted line shown on the garment is the printing area, if your text or images sit outside this area you will see a warning about the artwork exceeding the boundary. Always make sure that your items sit within the dotted line, otherwise, they will not be printed on your garments.
Accepting the warnings
When you have finished designing your product you will click on 'Create Product', at this point you will be presented with any remaining warnings. Clicking 'Continue' here means that you accept the artwork and are happy for us to print exactly what you have created.
This acceptance is stored with your product, we cannot accept any issues if you are not happy with the print quality due to poor quality artwork.
It is free to create a GoCustom account, integrate your store using our e-commerce integrations and create products.
The only set-up charge we have relates to when you require embroidery. For every new or altered embroidery design, there is a set-up charge of £15+vat. This is only charged once per design/alteration. When you add or alter an embroidery we will contact you separately to request payment of the set-up charge.
Integrations to the supported platforms are designed to be straightforward to implement, though you may find you require some assistance with setting up your store, such as your shipping options. GoCustom Clothing is not able to assist you with your chosen e-commerce platform, our services apply only to the GoCustom platform and associated apps.
GoCustom reserve the right to discuss fees where we must provide in-depth onboarding services.
Etsy products can sometimes become unlinked if you make any changes to the Etsy listing after exporting, this error relates to Etsy functionality and is currently beyond our control.
This error could also be related to products, sizes or colours which have been discontinued, in this case see this help section.
Have you got orders on Etsy but you can't see them in your GoCustom account?
Firstly, let’s not disappoint your customer! To do that, can you please place a manual order from your GoCustom account – using the customers details for the delivery address. We will then get that order moving for you once it's in the paid status. (you can use any of the payment methods normally available to you).
Now let's fix the problem
You are going to need to check your products and re-link them.
You can see if any products have lost their connection by going to your account > Integrations > hover over your connected store and select > Link Products.
or simply go to https://dropship.gocustomclothing.com/etsy-link-products
The % bar should be showing 100% if it is correctly linked. If it shows less than 100% then some or all elements of the product has become unlinked from Etsy.
You will see all the products that are in your connected store (not only products from GoCustom Clothing). Fully connected products show 100% in the connection bar. Products with issues from Etsy (or discontinued products from GoCustom) will likely show less than 100% or even 0%. See this example here:
Click to edit and search for the item(s) which are disabled in the list (without a tick).
This product is connected ok to your store - [Ticked]
To relink a product:
- Click on Edit
- Check that the colour and size match on the left and right of the screen
- Select your Brand in the brand section
- As you do this for each colour/size you will see the % progress bar turn green. Once this is 100% order will be received correctly.
- You can press SAVE (at the top or bottom of the page) at any time to save your progress.
This product variant has lost it's connection - [not ticked]
You can see that the product variant originally requested is no longer available for sale. If you check the box you can make the relevant selections for the correct variant. If you see the message in red it means that this product is no longer available.
You can choose to leave this setting as it is, orders for the other variants will work correctly. But you must ensure that this variant is no longer listed in your store. If you delete a variant from your store you may notice this list shows 100% again, or you may need to [tick] each item to reconnect it again.
We recommend that you periodically check that your products are 100% linked
Before you create any products, you must set up at least one brand. You can add several brands to your profile.
The brand you create allows for specific elements to be assigned, including your logo, colour and various settings for your branded packing slips.
Start creating your brand by going to the 'my brands' page and selecting [Add new brand].
You will need to provide a brand/company name and upload your logo. This logo will be printed on packing slips.
You will then be asked to supply customer service details - this is essential as your customers will not be able to contact GoCustom if they have any issues, they will need to contact you.
On the same page, you will also define the main colour for your brand and other information to personalise your brand packing slips. This information is optional but leads to a much better brand experience for your customers.
Packing Slip
There are 3 layout templates for you to choose from to create your packing slip. You can preview each layout. Select the radio button next to your chosen layout and press save. Now all your orders will be sent with the chosen packing slip included.
Example packing slip (these are printed on A4 Paper)
Labels
These are entirely optional items which are charged extra. These are covered in a separate FAQ
When it comes to choosing the variants for your store, it is unlikely that you will wish to show every colour or size.
You can control the variants you require by making the relevant selections on the product export screen.
Scenario: You have a product which you have already exported to your store, but now you want to edit that product design and update your store.
First, it's important to understand that our integration partners limit our ability to update products through the integration. This means that a product should be re-exported to your store as a 'new' product once you have made the design changes in our platform.
How to do it
To update the design of an existing product go to your products page
Select the design you wish to change and select 'manage'.
Select the product with that design which you wish to update and select 'manage'.
Make any edits you require to the design. You can remove existing artwork or text and make whatever changes you wish. When you have completed your changes select the gear icon near the bottom right of the screen and select 'Save as new product'
You will now need to export this new product to your store with the required size and colour variants. Select 'Export', configure the product for export and then click 'export to . . .'
Your store will now have the old and new versions of the product. You will need to disable the old product in your store.
Did you receive an email to tell you that a product has been updated?
This may mean that some products or variants (certain colours or sizes) may have become unavailable. You can see if any products have lost their connection by going to your account > Integrations > hover over your connected store and select > Link Products.
You will see all the products that are in your connected store (not only products from GoCustom Clothing). Fully connected products show 100% in the connection bar. Products with changes from GoCustom will likely show less than 100%. See this example here:
Click to edit and search for the item(s) which are disabled in the list (without a tick).
This product is connected ok to your store - [Ticked]
This product variant has lost it's connection - [not ticked]
You can see that the product variant originally requested is no longer available for sale. If you check the box you can make the relevant selections for the correct variant. If you see the message in red it means that this product is no longer available.
You can choose to leave this setting as it is, orders for the other variants will work correctly. But you must ensure that this variant is no longer listed in your store. If you delete a variant from your store you may notice this list shows 100% again, or you may need to [tick] each item to reconnect it again.
You want us to work fast on your orders, that's why our order management system is automated. This means that as soon as an order is verified as paid, it moves directly into our production workflow. If an order is in the production workflow it is unlikely that it can be cancelled.
If your order is in the status 'received', you will have the option to cancel it as it is still awaiting payment. Do this by going to your order tracking page. You will be able to find the order you wish to update and select the option to cancel the order.
For orders that are already marked as paid, you will need to send the team an email with the order number (the easiest option is to reply to the order confirmation email with your request). If we receive your request within the same working day we may be able to cancel the order, though this is not guaranteed.
Back to dropshipping
When you export a selection of different coloured garments to your store, we will automatically create mockups for all positions in the first colour, but you will only find the front of the garment is automatically created for all the other colour variants.
The example from Shopify below shows the front and back for the Ash Grey colour, but only the front for the yellow.
Most of the e-commerce platforms will allow you to manually add other images for each of the colour variants you wish to sell. You can do this by manually creating mockups from your products in your GoCustom account. Here is how to download mockups in any colour you choose.
In August 2023 we updated many products with improved printing positions. Any positions which have been replaced were re-named as 'Legacy' Positions. We will be completely removing the legacy positions after 30 November 2023, they should not be used for any new designs. We are asking that any designs you wish to continue using should be used on the new positions. This change has caused designs to potentially be shown in the wrong positions when you view the designs.
Any products which you had already exported to your stores prior to Aug 2023 will not be affected by this. But if you wish to place any manual orders with existing designs, or export again existing designs to your stores, you will need to check all the artwork is in the correct positions you expected. Please follow this video for more information.
Be advised that the mockups provided are exclusively digital representations of the final product, and therefore are not a 100% representation of the final product. There will be slight variations between your mockup and the final product.
Garments vary in size, and several factors will dictate the size and location in which your designs will be created. This is especially important if your account has the setting for image scaling enabled (Default is set to on!) - More about scaling >
The mockup may not exactly represent the colour of the garment chosen, this is due to differences in colours displayed on screens and the technology we use to simulate your design overlayed over the garment.
If you wish to more accurately represent your products to customers on your website we highly recommend that you order samples and photograph your products.
The GoCustom Dropshipping team offer high-quality embroidery across a wide range of garments. On selected products, you will be able to mix embroidery and printing on the same garment. For example, you may wish to have an elegant logo embroidered on the left chest of a sweatshirt and a bold large print on the rear. This flexible approach allows you to make the garments that are right for your audience.
Getting Embroidery Right
Embroidery is a complex process, there's lots to consider when thinking about getting a design ready for embroidery, we recommend you view our design guidelines.
Embroidery design guidelines
How Embroidery Works
When you choose a garment that includes embroidery options, you will need to select the design area you wish to be embroidered. Make sure you have 'embroidery' selected and not 'Printing'.
When you upload your design our software will interrogate your design and automatically allocate up to 6 thread colours. Designs can only be embroidered with a maximum of 6 colours.
Threads are automatically allocated, but you can also manually choose the thread colours that you would like to use. 
Thread Colours
Our system currently allows you to choose from 16 different thread colours.
Embroidery Digitisation Charge
Unlike digital printing, we can't just send your design directly to the embroidery machine. We need to have a digitisation specialist prepare a special embroidery file from your design. We will prepare a proof of this design and ask you to approve it before we produce any garments. Note that for every new or altered embroidery design, there is a set-up charge of £15+vat. This is only charged once. When you add or alter an embroidery we will contact you separately to request payment of the set-up charge.
Note that for new embroidery designs, the lead time for the first product will be longer than our usual 3-5 days.
Order A Sample
We suggest that you order a sample of any new embroidery designs that you create. This allows us both the time to prepare and agree on your embroidery file before you make the product available for your customers to purchase.
The other benefit of ordering a sample is that you can use it to take photographs of your products for merchandising, photography of embroidery is usually better and more convincing to your customers than the computer-generated mockup.
Exporting products to your store
We suggest that you do not export embroidery products to your store until you have signed off the digitisation proof and are happy with the sample you have ordered.
Can I use the same embroidery design on different garments?
If the size of the embroidery area is identical, you can use it on lots of different garments and positions. However if the size is even slightly changed, this will be treated as a new file and a new set-up charge will be levied. For example, it is unlikely we can use the same set-up on a sweatshirt and a baseball cap unless you set the max height of your design at 55mm for both garments.
Stitch Count Limits
When we digitise your design, we will analyse the number of stitches required to produce it. We have a standard limit of 12,000 stitches for each embroidery position. If your design exceeds 12,000 stitches we may try to simplify your design or our experts will discuss with you how to change the design.
I want my embroidery to be bigger
Unfortunately, as per the stitch limit above, we cannot allow for embroidery areas larger than those defined on the garments.
At GoCustom Clothing, we are continually seeking ways to enhance your experience and the quality of our print-on-demand fulfilment service. We understand that consistency in product quality is paramount to your business's success and brand reputation. As such, we are excited to announce a significant update to our Dropshipping platform, one that many of you have been eagerly anticipating – the introduction of automated scaling for design prints.
We are thrilled to let you know that on Monday, February 19, 2024, GoCustom Clothing will usher in a new era of precision and consistency in print-on-demand fulfilment with the official launch of our automated scaling technology. This significant upgrade is engineered to ensure your designs are presented accurately across all garment sizes, maintaining brand integrity, and supporting the premium look of your products.
Streamlined Consistency Across All Sizes
Until now, the artwork submitted to us has been printed at a uniform size across all garments. This one-size approach meant that designs on an XL t-shirt compared to an XS t-shirt could appear disproportionately sized, affecting the overall aesthetic and potentially diverging from your online product images. Our production engineers have been manually scaling down images to fit onto smaller garments; however, this manual process occasionally led to inconsistencies due to its inherent nature.
Note that scaling doesn’t apply to the following:
- Nape position
- Label position
- Embroidery designs
A Seamless Transition for Superior Results
To facilitate a smooth transition to this cutting-edge feature, we have made the automated scaling option available in your account settings as of today.
Here’s How It Works:
- Automated scaling automatically adjusts your designs to fit various garment sizes while maintaining the original proportions. This ensures that your designs retain their intended appearance from XS to XXL, enhancing customer satisfaction.
- If your preference is to keep your designs at a fixed scale without automatic adjustments, you may opt-out by switching off this feature in your account settings.
- Even with automated scaling disabled, our skilled engineers will continue to ensure that any artwork too large for smaller garments is manually adjusted.
- When automated scaling is activated, it applies to all apparel with Direct-to-Garment (DTG) print positions, streamlining your production process. Please note that this feature does not apply to embroidery.
- Scaling is only applied to garments which come with multiple size variations, it does not affect items such as mugs and bottles.
- Artwork will only be scaled down; we will never scale up the size of the artwork as this may degrade the quality of the printing.
Action Steps for GoCustom Partners
As part of our commitment to providing you with a user-friendly experience, we've ensured that the default setting for automated scaling is turned on for your convenience.
- If you wish for automated scaling to be applied to your designs, no action is required on your part.
- To opt-out of automated scaling, simply navigate to your account, visit the ‘My Designs/Products’ page and switch off the feature.
Your Success Is Our Blueprint
This advancement reflects our dedication to offering you a service that's not only efficient but also meticulous in detail, assuring that the quality of your merchandise is second to none.
At GoCustom Clothing, our innovation is driven by your feedback and our pursuit of excellence. Embrace the benefits of automated scaling and let us help elevate your brand to new heights.
Watch this video to learn how to integrate GoCustom Clothing's print-on-demand platform with your Etsy shop.
Important
You must create an account with GoCustom Dropshipping before you attempt to connect to your Etsy shop. You will also need to have created an Etsy shop before attempting the connection.
Etsy installation video
Esty delivery profiles
It's important to make sure that delivery profiles (shipping charges) are set-up correctly in your Etsy store with GoCustom's shipping keywords.
The term “Etsy” is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This application uses the Etsy API, but is not endorsed or certified by Etsy, Inc.
Watch this video to learn how to integrate GoCustom Clothing's print-on-demand platform with your WooCommerce store. There is no plugin required to complete this integration.
You will then learn how to export a product you have designed to your WooCommerce store.
You must set up the correct weight-based shipping settings in your WooCommerce site so that we know how to ship your customer's orders and how to charge you the correct shipping amount. Look at this video and the FAQs for more information and help.
Watch this video to learn how to integrate GoCustom Clothing's print-on-demand platform with your Shopify store. This integration requires you to install a Shopify app*.
*Not compatible with the Shopify Starter Plan, minimum requirement is the Shopify Basic Plan.
Shopify installation video
You must set up the correct weight-based shipping settings in your Shopify site so that we know how to ship your customer's orders and how to charge you the correct shipping amount. Follow the video below and look at the FAQs for more information and help.
Setting up Shopify weight-based shipping
Before you can create any products you will need to register for a dropshipping account.
You will then be asked to supply your name and company details to complete your registration.
We will send you a welcome email that talks you through the next steps to complete your profile, integrate your stores and create your products.
Prices are in GBP. Whilst you can opt to view/pay in other currencies, those prices are automatically calculated from the GBP price.
The individual price for each product can be found by browsing our product catalogue.
By default, the prices shown include the relevant VAT. You can opt to show prices with or without VAT.
The initial price you see for each product is the base price, then as you add customisations to the available positions, the price will automatically adapt.
Customisation charges:
- Standard/Large/nape Print: £3.50
- XL Print: £6.00
- Printed Neck Label: £1.50
- Embroidery: £6.50
Note that for every new or altered embroidery design, there is a set-up charge of £15+vat. This is only charged once. When you add or alter an embroidery we will contact you separately to request payment of the set-up charge.
Depending on your account settings you may also see options for items such as swing tags or neck labels, these are added to the product price if you opt to use them.
When you or your customers place an order, we will charge you for:
The product cost + customisation cost + optional extras such as labels + shipping + VAT
Remember that you can charge your customer any price you like.
At GoCustom Clothing we use the latest technology to provide high quality, vibrant and sustainable prints.
We print garments using a process called DTG – Direct To Garment printing. Ink is applied directly onto the garment using inkjet technology.
Compared to traditional screen printing we can achieve a lot more detail and easily use a lot more colours. We use water-based NeoPigment™ inks which are non-hazardous and non-toxic. As printing systems go, it's the most eco-friendly printing solution on the market.
Setting up a TikTok shipping template for weight-based shipping
TikTok currently allows only one shipping method with this integration. Therefore all items sold through the TikTok integration will be delivered with our Royal Mail Standard 48 service. You can charge whatever you like for shipping (even give it for free), but we will charge you the shipping rate relevant to the weight of your orders. Note that orders over 2kg in weight cannot be shipped at the Standard rate, so they will instead be shipped using Royal Mail Tracked 48.
You can see the current shipping rates here.
TikTok requires you to set up a weight based shipping template, without it you will not be able to list your products for sale. See below for an example of a shipping table that matches our Royal Mail 48 service.
In your TikTok seller centre goto > Shipping > Shipping Options
Here you need 'Shipped from Seller' to be selected.
Now go to Shipping > Shipping Template
Set your 'Shipping from' county to Shropshire (this is where we ship your orders from)
Now you can set-up your shipping template. You are required to include shipping up to 30kg weight. Remember that you can charge whatever you like here (even give it free), we will always charge you our advertised rate based on the weight of the order.
More detailed information about setting up shipping can be found in the TikTok Academy when you are logged into the TikTok seller centre.
When you first export a product to your Etsy store, it automatically creates a delivery profile in your Etsy shop based on the weight of the product.
In most cases, you don't need to make any changes to these settings, other than the prices you may wish to charge your customers.
For each product you add within the same weight band, they will be added to the same delivery profile. If you add a product with a different weight band, a separate delivery profile will be created for that band.
Shipping method keywords
The name of each delivery profile created contains a keyword. When your customer places an order, the keyword is transferred with their order so we know which method to use and how much to charge you.
It's important that you do not remove the keywords, otherwise, your customer's orders will not work.
The keywords are as follows:
Domestic/UK shipping:
- UK Royal Mail 24 (Standard) Keyword: 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 (Standard) Keyword: 48
- UK Royal Mail 24 Tracked Keyword: 24 tracked or tracked 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 Tracked Keyword: 48 tracked or tracked 48
- UK Courier Keyword: courier
Rest of the world shipping:
- Europe Royal Mail standard Keyword: Europe
- Europe Royal Mail Tracked Keyword: tracked
- Rest of World Royal Mail standard Keyword: Rest of world
- Rest of World Royal Mail tracked Keyword: Rest of world tracked
Editing or creating new delivery profiles
You can edit or create as many delivery profiles as you like, though products can only be assigned to one at a time. If you create your own delivery profiles please make sure the title of each matches the keyword list above - otherwise, you may be charged the wrong amount or your orders will not work at all. For more about editing delivery profiles please consult Etsy's help files.
We require you to use weight-based shipping in Shopify otherwise your orders will fail. Make sure that your Shopify store has the correct unit of weight setup. Go to your Shopify settings and scroll down to the 'standards and formats' section. Make sure that units are set to 'metric system' and that weight is set to 'Kilograms'.
Shipping method keywords
Once you have a plugin installed you can configure the required weight-based shipping. We require that each of your methods uses a keyword. When your customer places an order, the keyword is transferred with their order so we know which method to use and how much to charge you.
The keywords should be included as part of the title that you give to each of the weight-based shipping rules you create.
The keywords are as follows:
Domestic/UK shipping:
- UK Royal Mail 24 (Standard) Keyword: 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 (Standard) Keyword: 48
- UK Royal Mail 24 Tracked Keyword: 24 tracked or tracked 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 Tracked Keyword: 48 tracked or tracked 48
- UK Courier Keyword: courier
Rest of the world shipping:
- Europe Royal Mail standard Keyword: Europe
- Europe Royal Mail Tracked Keyword: tracked
- Rest of World Royal Mail standard Keyword: Rest of world
- Rest of World Royal Mail tracked Keyword: Rest of world tracked
Set up the zones and shipping rates
In Shopify go to Settings > Shipping and delivery > Manage.
Now follow the instructions in this video to set up each of the shipping methods you wish to offer. Remember that you only need to create the shipping methods you wish to offer your customers and that the prices you set are what you charge your customer. We will charge you based on the chosen method and the weight of the order.
The best way to set up weight-based shipping in WooCommerce is to use a plugin. If you search 'Weight based shipping' in the WordPress plugin section you will find lots of options, choose the one that is most suitable for you.
For this example, we use a plugin from weightbasedshipping.com
Shipping method keywords
Once you have a plugin installed you can configure the required weight-based shipping. We require that each of your methods uses a keyword. When your customer places an order, the keyword is transferred with their order so we know which method to use and how much to charge you.
The keywords should be included as part of the title that you give to each of the weight-based shipping rules you create.
The keywords are as follows:
Domestic/UK shipping:
- UK Royal Mail 24 (Standard) Keyword: 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 (Standard) Keyword: 48
- UK Royal Mail 24 Tracked Keyword: 24 tracked or tracked 24
- UK Royal Mail 48 Tracked Keyword: 48 tracked or tracked 48
- UK Courier Keyword: courier
Rest of the world shipping:
- Europe Royal Mail standard Keyword: Europe
- Europe Royal Mail Tracked Keyword: tracked
- Rest of World Royal Mail standard Keyword: Rest of world
- Rest of World Royal Mail tracked Keyword: Rest of world tracked
Set up the zones and shipping rates
In Wordpress go to your WooCommerce settings page and select 'shipping'. Now follow the instructions in this video to setup each of the shipping methods you wish to offer.
When your customer places an order on your online store you must offer them 1 or more shipping methods. Offering your customers a choice of delivery methods and costs can lead to more sales conversions.
For us to know your customer's chosen shipping method and to charge you the correct rate, you will need to set up weight-based shipping that matches our shipping methods and rates.
You can see our current methods and rates here.
Shipping of orders differs based on weight, location, speed and if tracking is required. You only need to configure the options that you will offer your customers. For example, if you only wish to sell in the UK you could choose to only offer Royal Mail 48 standard. You also charge your customer whatever you wish, even offer free shipping - but we will always charge you the appropriate rate.
We calculate what we charge you based on the weight of the items in the order. On each product page, you will find an approximate garment weight. Depending on your chosen integration the weight should automatically be transferred when you export the products from our platform to your store. It's a good idea though to check that the weights are correctly identified in the backend of your store otherwise shipping could fail. Every garment has differing weights based on sizes and batches etc, so we have set a standardised average weight for each product.
Set shipping rates for Shopify
We use weight-based shipping
GoCustom Clothings dropshipping service uses weight-based shipping. This is so that we can calculate the cost to you based on the approximate weight of the garments in your orders. For any eCommerce store that you integrate you will need to make sure that your shipping is set up to match our shipping matrix, otherwise, your orders are likely to fail or create errors.
Shipping prices
The prices shown on this page are what we will charge you, these are in addition to the production costs of your products. You can charge your customers whatever price you wish for shipping or even offer free shipping, but we will always charge you to ship your orders based on the tables below.
You can find the average weight for each of our products in the text at the bottom of the product detail pages. Depending on your integration, the weight of each product will be automatically set in your store when you export them, though you can also manage this manually.
The shipping times shown below are in addition to the production time. You can see our current estimated production times here.
Domestic (UK) |
|||||
| Weight (kg) | Royal Mail 24 |
Royal Mail 48 |
Royal Mail Tracked 24 |
Royal Mail Tracked 48 |
DPD Courier |
| <= 0.25 | £2.44 | £1.94 | £4.45 | £3.53 | £5.60 |
| <= 0.70 | £5.11 | £3.81 | £5.15 | £4.20 | £5.60 |
| <= 1.00 | £5.11 | £3.81 | £5.15 | £4.20 | £6.40 |
| <= 2.00 | £5.32 | £4.13 | £5.40 | £4.20 | £6.40 |
| <= 5.00 | Courier | Courier | £5.40 | £4.20 | £6.40 |
| <= 30.00 | Courier | Courier | £5.40 | £4.20 | £6.40 |
| Estimated Delivery Times |
1 to 3 days | 2 to 5 days | 1 to 3 days | 2 to 5 days | 1 day |
International |
|||||
| Weight (kg) | Europe | Rest of World | |||
| Royal Mail Standard |
Royal Mail Tracked |
Royal Mail Standard |
Royal Mail Tracked |
||
| <= 0.25 | £5.91 | £11.37 | £8.94 | £14.45 | |
| <= 0.50 | £12.23 | £13.64 | £20.12 | £18.17 | |
| <= 0.70 | £14.07 | £15.09 | £23.25 | £22.22 | |
| <= 1.00 | Tracked | £16.17 | Tracked | £25.95 | |
| <= 1.25 | Tracked | £17.20 | Tracked | £29.51 | |
| <= 1.50 | Tracked | £19.14 | Tracked | £32.48 | |
| <= 2.00 | Tracked | £22.06 | Tracked | £34.59 | |
| Estimated Delivery Times |
3 to 5 days | 3 to 5 days | 7 to 10 days | 7 to 10 days | |
Learn how simple it is to get started with GoCustom Clothing's print-on-demand platform. We will show you how to create an account, add your brand and build your first product.