Over the course of Spring history, creators have donated over $4,000,000 to fundraisers, relief efforts, charities, and movements worldwide. Our community possesses a unique talent in that they can turn good ideas into powerful personal brands—and many have chosen to give back to causes close to their hearts.
Any listings that donate a portion of their profits will feature a verified contribution badge. This badge reassures fans their purchase will benefit the indicated charity. Conversion rates for verified listings are 45% higher than non-verified fundraising listings.
How to donate profits from sales
If you would like to add a charity donation to your listing, please contact creatorhelp@spri.ng with the following information once you’ve created the listing:
Listing URL
Name of the charitable organization
Official website of charitable organization
Percentage of profit to donate – you can donate anywhere from 10% to 100% of your profits to the charity of your choice
Please note, only verified and certified non-profit organizations are eligible to be the recipient of the “Verified Charity Contribution” badge. In the US, qualified 501c3 charity groups or non-profit organization can be considered for the badge.
Tip: When promoting your listing, be sure to let fans know that a portion of your profits will directly support the cause of your choice.
Things to note
Each listing’s estimated profits will reflect the amount you’ll take home, minus the amount that will be sent directly to charity.
You will have both the option to view listing-specific donation amounts, as well as an all-time donation amount. This number will also include any funds raised from verified donation listings you’ve run in the past!
The verified donation badge is available for US-based charities only. US-based charities will receive funds in the form of a check processed through bill.com.
Once your listing’s print cycle ends, you will be able to cash out your profit as usual. Your donation will be sent automatically to the charity you’ve chosen.
Tax implications
Please note that we simply facilitate the processing of the donated profits to the intended charitable organizations. As such, Spring is required by the United States Internal Revenue Service to report donated profits on the creators’ annual Form 1099.
For more information about filing taxes in the US, please see “Filing Taxes (US)”.
Sharing photos of excited fans wearing or showing off your products affirms the quality of the products you’re selling and increases interest. This is an effective way to increase product sales and make your fans feel special.
Collecting content
There are several ways your community can share their photos and videos with you.
Ask fans to tag you in their photos on social media in your YouTube videos, Instagram stories, or social posts, etc
Ask fans to use a specific hashtag when posting photos with your products on social media.
Check out the clip below to see how YouTuber @JessicaKellgren-Fozard [637K subscribers] asks her community to use the hashtag #LovelyPeopleMerch on Twitter and Instagram when their orders arrive.
Other engaging ways to collect valuable content:
Offer prizes for people who submit their photos. Host a selfie contest and ask fans to submit their photos. Whichever photo has the most likes/votes wins a giveaway.
Feature a “follower of the month” (fan of the week, etc.) on your social accounts. Ask people to submit photos and choose one to feature each week—add a link in the post to the product they’re wearing in case other followers want to purchase it too.
Ask subscribers to send in photos of their new purchases in your stream. Highlight supporters who send photos on stream and thank them.
@JessicaKellgren-Fozard [637K subscribers] engages with followers who’ve shared their selfies with Jessica’s custom hashtag on Twitter.
Currently to use Spring’s custom stores feature, you need to purchase a third-party domain which can then be pointed to your store. This means whenever someone enters your URL, i.e example.com, it loads up your custom store. Follow these steps to get started.
Purchase a domain using a third-party domain registrar (Skip this step if you already have one)
Receive to temporary site URL from account manager
Add these DNS settings through your registrar
Contact your Account manager to let them know this has been completed
Purchase a domain
You can purchase a domain from any domain registrar which allows you to control your DNS settings.
When your site is ready to go live your account manager will provide you a preview in the form of a temporary URL such as mycooldomain.netlify.com. If you have not received this yet you will have to wait before continuing the rest of the setup.
Add DNS settings
In order to point your custom domain to your branded store, you’ll need to edit your DNS settings in your domain registrar’s control panel to include a CNAME and A record that points to your store.
-Adding a domain
In this example, we’re connecting the domain
www.mycooldomain.com to mycooldomain.netlify.com
Record type
Host/Name
Value
A
Leave blank*
104.198.14.52
CNAME
www
mycooldomain.netlify.com
Note: Some providers require you to add @ as a value
Adding a subdomain
In this example we are connecting the subdomain shop.mycooldomain.com to mycooldomain.netlify.com provided by your account manager
How are my profits calculated for digital products?
You can add digital products to your Spring store for free. When you make a sale, a 20% processing fee and a $0.40 transaction fee will be applied. For example, if you’re selling Lightroom Presets for $10, you’ll earn $7.60 in profit for each sale ($10 – $2.40). Remember, you’re in full control of your profit margins and can adjust the selling price at any time.
What should be the retail sale price (RSP) of my digital product?
The selling price of your digital product depends on what you are selling. Wallpapers range between $2.99 and $9.99 and coloring pages or e-books between $5.99 and $12.99. Research examples of digital products that have been already launched and decide what price makes sense for your product. Also consider the time spent creating it and the value it offers to your community.
Why was my listing disabled?
All products for sale (including digital products) must comply with Spring’s Terms of Service, our Intellectual Property Policy, and our Acceptable Use Policy. Once you upload a digital product for sale, it could be taken down if it’s reported for violating our policies. Products may be removed for several reasons, for example:
it contains infringing content such as another brand’s trademarks or other intellectual property
It contains prohibited content, such as nudity or offensive material
It does not match the listing description
If you believe that your product was removed by mistake, please contact us at policy@spri.ng .
What digital products should I sell?
You can create just about any digital product to sell to your community using Spring. Tailor your products to your audiences’ interests and needs. Think about the kind of content you share, your brand, and the value you can offer your fans through downloadable content. Check out this blog post for inspiration and tips for creating your first digital product.
Can I add digital products to my existing store?
Creators can add digital product listings on their current stores. Digital products exist in the same place as physical products.
Can I sell music or audio files?
In order to sell music or other audio files, you must own the rights to that content or have a license to distribute it. If you’re already working with a distributor, they may require that all digital distribution be done through them. Please carefully review your content and be sure that you comply with the terms of agreement with your distributor when selling audio files on Spring. Spring is not responsible for violations of intellectual property rights or breach of any agreements you may have with third parties, and all liability for such breach will fall on you.
From chefs, cartoonists and vloggers to scientists, influencers and photographers, Spring is for all creators. You don’t need to have design experience to create the perfect products for your community. Keep reading for our tips on how to get started.
You’re already a brand…
You have a community behind you, whether it’s a small following on TikTok, a handful of listeners of your podcast, or 500k subscribers on YouTube. This is a great starting point—now all you need to do is understand what makes your online presence unique and translate that into your next design. If you have a logo already, then this is a great place to start. A logo design works well to unite your fans and is good to have available as a staple in your store.
Community-driven ideas
The most successful designs are inspired by great content, trends, slogans and inside jokes that resonate with your community. Do you have a catchphrase that your fans can’t get enough of? Was there a fan comment that really stood out? Think about the kind of content you share with your fans and what gets them talking. Think of moments or phrases you’ve shared with your community that are unique or memorable. Not only does involving fans in the design process make them more likely to support you, but it also builds hype prior to launch.
Catch phrases that resonate with fans.
Memorable channel slogans.
Run polls to get your communities feedback on ideas.
Have fans suggest ideas. Ask on a live stream for suggestions or feedback.
Dive into comments to see what fans are talking about.
Calendar events
Don’t forget to release products for calendar events like Halloween, Christmas and Valentines Day—you can get really creative around these moments and make them your own. (Sometimes these moments are just a good excuse to release a new collection at a time when fans are expecting to buy something new) See how Moriah Elizabeth took her most popular character, Pickle, and gave him a seasonal twist for Christmas, Halloween and Valentines Day.
Collab with other creators
If you’ve got the following but don’t have the creativity or vision (or you have tons of design ideas but are still building your community), consider collaborating with other types of creators from different industries. Share each other’s skills and values and work together. Not only does this enhance your opportunity to come up with an amazing design, it also means you can widen your fanbase through joint promotion.
Once you have an idea, it’s time to bring it to life.
See our range of design resources and tools to help you get started. We’ve also partnered with 99designs to provide you with an extra layer of design support. This service allows you to collaborate with world class designers to create custom, quality designs for your products. Find out more.
Here are some answers to common questions concerning the Form 1099:
Who needs to file a Form 1099?
In the US, you are required by law to file a Form 1099 if you receive more than $600 in profits from Spring (previously known as Teespring). Creators with multiple accounts will need to update their account information on all of their accounts, as we will be merging their payout amount into one 1099 form. Only INDIVIDUALS will receive a Form 1099 from Spring. All other types (Corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and international entities etc.) are responsible for reporting taxes themselves by consulting a tax accountant.
What information will be included in my form?
Your name, address, SSN and payout amount received during the year will be included on the form so it is important that this information is accurate and up to date.
Additional information and examples of Form 1099-MISC can be found here.
When will I receive my Form 1099?
1099 Forms will be sent out by January 31st of each year, or, if January 31st falls on a non-business day, they will be sent out the following business day. They will be mailed to the address you’ve indicated in your Spring profile.
How is my Form 1099 payout amount calculated?
The amount is based on cash paid out during the year, not cash earned during the year. For example, if you end a listing in December 2019 but do not request the payout until January 2020, the amount earned for this listing will be excluded from your 2019 Form 1099.
For tax purposes, it’s best to look at the total amount paid to you over the tax year. The best way to verify that information is to go to the Payout section of your dashboard. On this page, you can add up the payout request amounts which you have made in the past year.
The Creator Dashboard reflects all payouts for all-time profit, including non-listing payouts that you may have received, such as affiliate fees, referral fees, or competition winnings (i.e. Merch moment contest). We suggest cross checking with the “Payouts” section of your dashboard to cover all bases in the event of a glitch or bug that may cause calculations to differ.
You may not receive a Form 1099 if:
You did not receive payments of $600 or more within the calendar year.
You are a Corporation, LLC or international entity/seller.
Please contact us if:
1. You have received a Form 1099 mistakenly.
2. You think you should have received a Form 1099 from Spring but have not.
3. You feel the Form 1099 you received includes inaccurate information.
Charity Payouts:
You will see all payouts, even those that went directly to a charity, reported on your 1099. If you have questions about how to report your charitable donations on your taxes, please consult a tax professional.
If you still have questions regarding a 1099, please contact creatorhelp@spri.ng
Spring is here for creators. With a friendly team of support agents dedicated to assisting you to thrive and continue to grow. Contact our creator support team at any time to ask questions or ask for help. To contact our team, all you need to do is email creatorhelp@spri.ng. If you’re contacting us regarding a listing, be sure to include the listing URL in your message and explain how we can help. If you’re having issues on the site or with any of your Spring tools, it’s always helpful to also include screenshots and a description.
Creator Support services include:
Answering questions related to selling with Spring
Recording bugs for our tech team to investigate
Anything else that is directly related to your listings or your Spring account
You may find the answer you’re looking for on our FAQ page too.
Creator support hours & availability
Our creator support team is available 5 days a week, between Monday – Friday 8:30AM – 9:00PM EST.
Email Support
We aim to answer all messages sent to creatorhelp@spri.ng within 24 business hours. When you contact the Creator Support Team via email, you should receive an auto-reply email containing your case number. If you do not receive an email with your case number, this could mean we have not received your email (please check your spam box to see if the auto-reply message was sent there). If you do not receive an auto-reply message within an hour, please try resending your message.
Social support for creators
We’ve got dedicated social media platforms especially for creators. That way, whenever you have a question or a query, you can reach out to us directly.
Twitter support for creators: @spring_help
Facebook: @springhelp
Live Chat Support
You can access live chat simply through landing on your dashboard. The chat box should appear in the right hand corner of the screen within 2 minutes.
Support hours and availability for your fans
Don’t forget we also offer top quality support for your fans. If your community has questions or needs assistance with their order please direct them to one of the following resources, our team will be happy to assist them.
Live chat for fans: Live chat assistance is available for fans 5 days a week. Chat assistance can be accessed on the Creator’s Store front or the buyer FAQ site. The chat box will show as soon as an agent becomes available.
If you have potential fans asking about Teespring’s return policies or guarantee it’s best to direct them to our customer policies or encourage them to use this form to contact us.
Email support: Fans can contact our team by submitting a request via this form or by emailing us directly via fanhelp@spri.ng.We aim to respond to all enquiries within 1- 2 business days.
Social support: Customers can tag our Twitter and Facebook accounts for assistance.
Fulfillment time is the time it takes to produce an order and prepare it for shipment. We guarantee to produce all orders and provide a shipping tracking number within 10 business days of the order date. Please note that fulfillment time doesn’t include the time it takes for an order to be delivered. To check your order status, view tracking information, or make changes to your order, visit https://teespring.com/track and enter the order number provided in the order confirmation email.
If a shipping tracking number is not assigned to your order within 10 business days of the order date, we will refund the shipping fees associated with the order. To request a refund, please contact Support here. To ensure you receive the quickest support possible, please enter your contact information, order number and select “I have a question about my order” as the contact reason.
Please note that the 10-day fulfillment guarantee does not apply to pre-order products.
Shipping Availability
Due to their current status, we have temporarily stopped shipping to the following countries:
Belarus
Honduras
Iran
Russia
Ukraine
Yemen
NOTE: Normal delivery times will still apply when shipping to all other countries.
Estimated Shipping Timelines
Shipping time is the time it takes for an order to be delivered once it’s been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery. Please keep in mind that the shipping times below are estimates, not guarantees. The estimated delivery times are based on business days and do not include weekends or holidays. .
Timeframes for shipping vary and depend on a few key factors:
Standard or Rush shipping.
The location the order is shipped from, and where it will be delivered to.
The monetary value of your order. Higher valued orders can potentially have larger quantities which take longer to print and can impact the delivery timeframe.
The type of products ordered. Orders with multiple types of products may come from different printers because they specialize in specific print-on-demand products. This means your order can arrive in separate packages, at different times, and from different countries.
You can track your order here to see what your shipping status is.
Estimated Shipping timelines: US-bound orders
US-bound orders are estimated to arrive within 4 – 7 business days once the order has been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery.
Rush shipping is also available for orders that are produced and shipped within the Continental US. An option for Rush shipping will be displayed for eligible items at checkout. Rush orders are estimated to arrive within 4-5 business days once the order has been produced and handed over to the carrier for delivery.
Estimated Shipping timelines: EU-bound orders
UK-bound orders are estimated to arrive within 7 – 12 business days following production.
For France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden orders are estimated to arrive within 7 – 12 business days following production.
For all other countries within Europe, orders are estimated to arrive within 10 – 16 business days following production.
Please note that tracking is not available for orders fulfilled and shipped from the EU.
For international orders shipped from the US, we do not track packages once they reach their destination country.
How do I know if my order is fulfilled in the EU or US?
Normally the fulfillment region is determined by the delivery address. You can identify the fulfillment region by clicking on “Delivery Details” on the product listing page.
Shipping Costs
Shipping fees are calculated at checkout and are based on the weight of the order, the number of packages needed to fulfill the order, the location the order is shipped from and the delivery location. To get an accurate price quote for shipping, please add the items you want to your cart and proceed to checkout, then select your shipping destination country from the checkout’s drop-down menu.
Orders shipping internationally from a third-party fulfiller based in the United States may be subject to pay fees for delivery, such as customs charges, duties, VAT’s or other fees.
Fans should check in with their local laws regarding any taxes or fees they may have to pay once the order arrives. Local postal services may also require a fee for the completion of delivery. These fees, like customs fees and taxes, are not included in any calculated shipping charges, and we’re not able to calculate the amount you may be charged for customs on our end of things. We are also not able to mark any orders as ‘gifts’ nor are we able to adjust the price declared on an order. We do not issue any refunds for customs fees, shipping, or the cost of an order should your customer refuse to pay the customs fees.
Shipping Cut Off Dates
As a general rule, Creators should use the estimated fulfillment and shipping timelines above to calculate the last day to ship for on-time delivery and share this cut off date with their Fans. Once the standard shipping cut off date has passed, Fans will have the option to select Rush shipping for eligible products at checkout. With Rush shipping, you don’t have to end the print cycle by a certain date—but Fans will need to place their order and select Rush shipping by the cutoff date to receive expedited fulfillment. Learn more about ending print cycles here.
Facebook’s collection of commerce tools and content features make it a powerful platform for promoting your Spring store.
Create a business page
You should create a Facebook business page if you haven’t already. By setting up shop, you’ll be able to unlock more tools, analytical features and boost your brand’s discoverability. Once your page is live, you can update your ‘About’ section with links to your channel, store, social accounts and more.
Your Facebook cover photo is a prime location to promote products and announce sales. @SimonsCat [5.1M subscribers] creates cover photos during the pre-order period of their limited edition products. Include a link within the caption of the photo, so fans can find your store. Choose ‘shop now’ as your page button and link to your store to create another pathway.
Set up your shop
Creators who open a Facebook business page may also be eligible to utilize tools like Facebook shopping. While viewing your page, look to the left sidebar to see if you have the ‘shop’ tab. Click the tab, write a description for your shop and add your products one by one by pasting each listing URL. Once added, your community can click products and complete their purchase on Spring by going straight to the listing page on your store.
Publish posts
What to include in Facebook posts:
Always include a link to your listing or store when sharing your products
Include visuals in your posts—whether it be a photo wearing your product, showcasing your digital product, a promo gif or video.
We also recommend sharing the story behind your design and why it’s important to you and your community.
If you’re running a sale, it’s a good idea to call out the promo code and the sale end date in your post.
Last, you’ll want to remind followers to share photos of their products once they receive their order so you can reshare them.
@ColeandMarmalade [1.29M subscribers] show off a variety of their holiday collection in this Facebook post by posing with their samples.
@Mississippi_golden_gurls [324k followers] has posted a photo with several of their products. In the description, they’ve included their store link, and shared a promo code for a sale they’re running.
Tracking tips:
Remember to use clean product and store URL’s when sharing online. Remove any additional tracking parameters like ?tsmac=store&tsmic=simonscat that might be added to the URL if you’re copying from the Spring website.
To shorten the link or to track the number of clicks it generates, consider using a bitly link.
Going Live
Sharing video content via Facebook live is an incredible way to engage with fans. @Mississippi Golden Gurls [314K followers] reveals a new product in this live video to show fans personally, as well as engage with their community in real-time.
@Givling [67.7K followers] noticed a significant increase in engagement and sales when they announced new products and giveaways using Facebook Live.
Pinterest is a visual social media platform used to “pin” or collect images from the web. With 335 million monthly users reported at the end of 2019, Pinterest can be an effective social platform to promote your Spring store and build your brand’s presence and identity online.
This platform is probably best known as a mood boarding tool for inspiration, but there’s a huge online community to tap into—83% of weekly Pinners make purchases based on content they see on Pinterest.
Set up a business profile
To make the most of this creative platform, set up a business Pinterest account. You’ll be able to access extra features, such as analytics, advertising, and custom profiles. With analytics you are able to keep track of your pins’ engagement rates and discover which ones are performing the best.
Pin your products
Compelling images, colorful graphics and on-trend visuals are the types of content that drive the most engagement. There are loads of ways you can create effective Pinterest content using your products.
Always include a link to your listing as the destination link of each post.
Always include visual content in your posts—whether it be a photo wearing your product, a mockup or gif.
If you’re running a sale, it’s a good idea to call out the promo code and the sale end date. Include this in the pin’s description or as a part of the image itself.
By creating pins using your listing URL, fans who click on the pin can access the products easily. Consider using UTM parameters on your links using bitly, which will track the number of clicks your pins are generating. If you want further analytics insight like the number of visitors and purchases your pins are driving, you can take advantage of Spring’s Google Analytics Integration.
Share real photos
Wearing your merch in promotional content can increase your sales significantly. Lifestyle images always win. In the example below, creator @megmatable [659 followers] wears one of her samples and links the listing URL in the pin so fans can easily discover her store.
@johniejaysworld [836 followers] has utilized the ‘Shop the look’ feature by including all the products featured in the main pin. As long as you create a pin for each specific product that you want to feature, this is easy to achieve by following the steps here.
Offer a discount
During key shopping dates like Black Friday means sharing images of your products with a discount included can literally 2x your purchases compared to images with no discount offered. @allisonbickerstaff [5.6K followers] incorporates text into her images to promote a sale, including the promo code in the description of the pin.
If you don’t have any images or graphics to use yet, consider creating product mockups using your designs. These are a great alternative to presenting your product on a person without taking your own images. Also fill up your Pinterest board uploading content from fans featuring your products. Use platforms such as PlaceIt with over 7,000 templates. Placeit offers Spring creators unlimited features for a discounted subscription per month. Learn more here.
